with Teri Knight
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Living Coral – Pantone color of the year 2019
As we push headlong into 2019, Pantone has chosen the Color of the Year… Living Coral. As described on their website, it’s an animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge. I see it as kind of a pinky-orangy salmon.
So who is Pantone and how come THEY get to pick a “color of the year”. It’s a … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Clearing the air and a fresh start
The aromas of holiday cooking still linger in our minds and perhaps in the drapes too if we’ve burned anything! Not that I would know about that! But in case I did, I know a way to “clear the air”.
Plants! Decades ago NASA, yes the THAT NASA, proved plants could remove volatile chemicals from the air Including formaldehyde which is found in, or used to produce, a multitude of everyday … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Champagne History
From “Mad wine” to “the Bubbly” – a history of Champagne – the wine most associated with festive occasions!
The bubbles in the wine are a natural process arising from Champagne’s cold climate and short growing season. The grapes are picked late in the year. This doesn’t leave enough time for the yeast present on the grape skins to convert the sugar in the pressed grape juice into alcohol before the cold winter temps put a … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Deer resistant seeds?
I’ll admit, when I first saw the ad for “Deer resistant seeds”, I thought they were genetically modified somehow. That shocked me as the ad came from a highly respected seed company known for native plants! They wouldn’t genetically modify? Would they? No, of course not. So here’s what they did do….
Prairie Moon Nursery out of Winona, MN, has rolled out a deer-resistant seed mix for 2019. They are a native seed company focused … [Continue reading]
Click below to hear my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: A glimpse of 2019 AAS winners
As we start getting all those seed and plant catalogs and start plotting our garden plots… I’ll be sharing some 2019 All America Selection Winners.
Veggies are some of my favorites to begin with as I have a penchant for peppers and tomatoes!
‘Sparky’ is first on MY list. I love tomatoes and this little cherry is one of the few X-tended Shelf Life (XSL) cherry tomatoes available to home gardeners.
Click below to listen to my 2 min Garden Bite radio show: The creations of All America Selections
The All America Selections for 2019 have been released.
The A-A-S designation means those flowers and veggies have been vetted and come out on top! All America Selections.
In 1932 a man named Ray Hastings (who owned a seed company) encouraged all seed companies to set up trial grounds, cooperatively test new varieties and agree to develop marketing efforts for new vegetables and flowers. He recommended a national network of trial … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my Garden Bite radio show: Garden design wrap-up
We’re wrapping up our series on the 10 Garden Design Principles as we wrap our heads around this First Day of Winter! The shortest day of the year….
We’ve talked about using what you have, working with the soil you’ve been given, keeping it simple, planting in mass and trying not to overwhelm yourself by becoming too ambitious.
9. Paths should lead somewhere. When someone walks down the path in your garden, give them something to … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Garden design part 2
Andrew Sankey’s Garden Design Principles continue:
5. Use the whole plot. Keep in mind the entire area including your lawns, the kids sandbox, birdbaths, etc.
6. Don’t be afraid to change. Your plants OR your design. Sometimes that’s part of the fun! It may have worked 5 years ago but now you’re not feelin’ it…. let it go! Try something new!
7. Don’t be dotty! In other words, plant in mass. … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Garden Design Principles
Aside from plant diagnostics, Garden Design probably gives more folks a nervous tick. It doesn’t have to be that way. As we nestle in for Winter and ponder our landscapes, I thought I’d share, once again, Andrew Sankey’s 10 principles of design.
Many years ago Andrew spoke at the MN Landscape Arboretum. He is a lovely man and a wonderful speaker!
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Houseplants as gifts
Now it’s not like giving someone a pet as a gift but sometimes giving houseplants can be a bit tricky too!
There are certainly some easy care plants but there are also some that SAY they’re easy care when they’re actually kinda picky.
This plant is dramatically gorgeous and a bit picky! The Fiddle Leaf Fig! Say that a few times after some Egg Nog!
In the wilds of its native Africa, the Fiddle-leaf Fig … [Continue reading]