Striking houseplant choices


Wed. Dec. 16, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Striking houseplant choices

How about a rattlesnake in your house?  Houseplant that is!  Since we’re mostly indoors now, our houseplants serve as our “nature respite” in the warmth of our homes!

How about adding a little bite, with the striking foliage of the Rattlesnake Plant also known as Calathea lancifolia. It’s leaves are various shades of green with wavy edges and a reddish-purple underside.  The leaves alone can grow to 30 inches!   As a native of Brazil, this  … [Continue reading]

Holiday plants and their meaning


Tue. Dec. 15, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Holiday plants and their meaning

Since we talked about holiday cacti yesterday, I thought it would be fun to share some tidbits on other holiday plants. One thing I forgot to tell you yesterday is that the Christmas cactus stands for answered prayer, the perfect symbol for 2020.

Ahhh but for 2021, Holly may be in our thoughts! Holly stands for good luck! The ancient Romans and Greeks were the first to deck their halls with  … [Continue reading]

Holiday cacti


Mon. Dec. 14, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Holiday 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?

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 flowers they’ve shown off during that time!

Although true cacti, these plants are native to rainforests. The need  … [Continue reading]

The story of the Poinsettia – Flowers of the Holy Night


Fri. Dec. 11, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: The story of the Poinsettia – Flowers of the Holy Night

Tomorrow, Dec. 12th, is designated National Poinsettia Day.

The Poinsettia is a native of Mexico, where it grows like a weed and can reach 10 feet tall.  Mexican legend holds that the leaves, shaped like the star of Bethlehem, first bloomed red for a poor girl who wanted to bring a gift to the manger scene at the local church but had no money.  Her cousin, who  … [Continue reading]

2021 AAS winners


Thu. Dec. 10, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: 2021 AAS winners

The 2021 AAS plants are being introduced and I’m going to share some beauties and a tasty fruit. Wow, wow, wow is how one judge describes a new zinnia Profusion red/yellow bicolor.

This gorgeous annual plant starts the season with a bold vibrant red center ring surrounded by golden-yellow outer petals. As the season progresses, the aging flowers morph into soft, beautiful shades of apricot, salmon, and dusty rose! Yowza! From late spring  … [Continue reading]

What is AAS and how did it begin?


Wed. Dec. 9, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: What is AAS and how did it begin?

With the huge increase in new gardeners this past year, I wanted to explain AAS. Their selections are a great resource for new gardeners!

All America Selections was started in 1932 by a man named Ray Hastings.  He 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 grounds  … [Continue reading]

Ironwood tree


Tue. Dec. 8, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Ironwood tree

If you have a lot of shade but would love to have a tree in your landscape, consider the native Ironwood tree. Ironwood is a common understory tree throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin’s upland deciduous forests.

Highly shade tolerant, it is slow growing in understories where it rarely grows into the canopy. Its branches are often broadly horizontal and retained fairly close to the ground.

In open sunnier sites it will grow more quickly and could reach  … [Continue reading]

Gardener gifts for the “Littles”


Mon. Dec. 7, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Gardener gifts for the “Littles”

With so many staying home this past season, it IS 2020, the family really got into the gardening craze! What a perfect time to continue a love of gardening for the kids with garden tools to fit them! 

Since we’ve become more environmentally friendly, let’s skip the plastic tools and get our “Littles” some quality metal tools!

I’ve posted about getting the right fitting tools for your little gardeners  (in this link is  … [Continue reading]

2021 vegetables


Fri. Dec. 4, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: 2021 vegetables

The gardening industry had a huge year as so many of us turned to the outdoors due to covid-19. It’s the healthiest thing we can do now and in the future and for so many reasons. I won’t list them all today, instead I wanted to share some 2021 vegetable introductions!

As always, you need to understand what will work in YOUR garden situation but let’s consider these tasty options! Johnny Seeds is introducing ‘Butterbaby’,  … [Continue reading]

Gardener gifts


Thu. Dec. 3, 2020

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Gardener gifts

Gardening took on a whole new meaning this year and lots of you got a real “taste” for it! When loved ones ask what you want for Christmas, tell them tools! As an essential part of gardening, these are worth spending the extra dollars for quality.

One of the top tools, as I’ve mentioned before, is the Hori Hori Japanese gardening knife.  Hori means “digging” in Japanese. This knife has been called the MacGuyver of gardening  … [Continue reading]