with Teri Knight
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Twas the Night before Christmas – garden style
It’s Christmas Eve and that means I bring you my gardeners version of an old classic poem written in 1823 by Clement Clarke Moore. I wrote my version well over a decade ago but it still holds true for me.
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
not a plant was stirring not even a sprout.
The seedlings were hung by the glow of a grow light … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: American hazelnut
While the American chestnut was for humans the American hazelnut is really for wildlife.
I planted them on some property years ago primarily for the wildlife including pheasant, turkey, deer, woodpeckers and little mammals. Okay squirrels LOVE them and that’s a bit of an issue but give the other wildlife time and they’ll find their way to the nuts.
The American Hazelnut, corylus americana, is native to the eastern half of the U.S. except for … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Winter seed sowing
Now that we’re officially in winter and many of us have snow on the ground, let’s talk about winter seed sowing! Prairie Moon Nursery encourages this method. I encourage you all to seek out native plant nurseries in your area. Prairie Moon is located in Minnesota and serves several states as does Prairie Nursery in Wisconsin!
They are a native seed and plant company out of Minnesota. I have ordered seeds and plants many times … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Winter solstice and Celestial gardening
Today marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year and the first day of astronomical Winter. For 2021 it happens at 9:59am central time. The Farmers Almanac has some interesting tidbits on the winter solstice celebrations.
This is all thanks to Earth’s tilted axis, which makes it so that one half of Earth is pointed away from the Sun and the other half is pointed towards it at the time of … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: The American Chestnut – demise and rise
Christmas week is upon us! In just days, all the effort you put forth for the holidays will climax into a frenzy of wrapper ripping, face stuffing, joyous abandon! Hopefully… it IS 2021… HOWEVER, part of the Christmas tradition of years past was a bit calmer – roasting chestnuts.
Years ago the American Chestnut was the most important tree in eastern North America. Supplying excellent lumber and tasty nuts that … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Seed ordering
The plant and seed catalogs for 2022 are starting to arrive. I just received one from a company I’d never heard of, Seeds N Such. I did a little research and found some mixed reviews. That got me thinking about how we order things and our own expectations.
I prefer to buy locally whenever possible. Many nurseries carry seed packets from companies they’ve already vetted. That’s not to say you shouldn’t order something you’d like … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Knock it off? Snow, that is
Well, we got snow! Now what about those evergreens?
Should I knock it off or not? That is the question some folks in the northland ask when faced with snow and ice covering their conifers and other shrubs and trees.
Our first instinct is to knock that stuff off, set the branches free, however, you might do more harm than good. And put your own safety at risk.
The ice that can … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Gardener gifts for “the Littles”
As you go about your gift shopping don’t forget the little gardeners in your life. Plastic has become passe unless it’s recyclable. And even then, most of the plastic garden tools of kids just isn’t worth buying.
In comes metal and wood tools styled to fit childrens hands. And bonus, they’re sturdier! There are a couple of companies worth checking out. EverEarth has a Childrens Gardening Bag With Tools set containing a … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Legends of holiday plants
Some holiday plants are heaped in legend. Starting with the Christmas tree which has several, but I’ll stick with this one… The primitive cultures of northern Europe believed that evergreen trees possessed godlike powers and also symbolized immortality.
The Germanic peoples would bring evergreen boughs into their homes during winter to insure the protection of the home and the return of life to the snow-covered forest.
The first record of a Christmas tree is … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Identifying holiday cacti
Let’s just clear it up! Identifying Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter cacti!
Every year there’s a lot of social media chatter about those holiday cacti. Is it a Thanksgiving cactus, a Christmas cactus, an Easter flowering cactus? Their common names suggest their bloom time!
The main thing we can all agree on is how lovely they are and it gets even better. Some of these plants have lived over 100 years! Can you imagine how many … [Continue reading]