Archive for the ‘Garden Books’ Category

Each gardening season, I regularly wander in local plant nurseries. I first purchase flats of familiar impatiens and begonias and several pots of geraniums. After these colorful garden staples are placed in conspicuous locations, I return to garden shops to fill those spots where I have problems finding “the perfect plant.”

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March and April are the most exhilarating times of the gardening season. The sunshine is at last warm enough to allow gardeners to comfortably clean out the remains of last year’s beauty. Bulbs’ green tips change into brilliant blossoms. Read the rest of this entry »

I encountered the destructive behavior of deer for the first time last spring. One morning as I strolled in my garden, I noticed that all my rose buds had been lopped off. The green stems, missing their pink, yellow, and red buds, had the same appearance as lollipop sticks sucked bare by children. Read the rest of this entry »

Moving several years ago from a shady garden to a sunny, rose-filled site was a joy to me. Although the former owner provided a list of the roses’ names in my new yard, I had no idea what kind of roses they were. Read the rest of this entry »

Summer was its usual hot, dry self.  I spend at least an hour daily in tiring heat, watering and weeding my own small garden. My life is ruled by roses, cleomes, lantanas, lilies, salvias, and huge grasses. Although the view from my deck is adorned with blues, pinks, oranges and various shades of green, I am considering simplifying my plantings this fall. Read the rest of this entry »

We gained an abandoned small water garden with the purchase of our current home. After our January arrival, it remained a green, sludgy, empty mess through the winter. Then one sunny day in spring, my non-gardener husband took responsibility for the dirty pool. He drained the water, cleaned the scum, installed water lilies, stocked it with goldfish, and fell in love with it. Read the rest of this entry »

Planting time has arrived. Every nursery is crowded with trees, perennials, annuals, shrubs, bulbs and seeds. Dark greens, chartreuses, silvers, blues, reds, purples and variegated leaves stun your vision as you wander among the plants. Read the rest of this entry »

What made the leaves turn brown? Why are the roots rotting? What kind of bug is eating my fruit? At least once a season gardeners ask similar questions. What’s Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?) by David Deardoff and Kathryn Wadsworth (Timber Press) is an excellent and well-organized reference to quickly identify the cause of plant worries and how to best organically rid the plants of them.  Read the rest of this entry »

January and February are the coldest months of the year. Trees are bare; brown earth glistens with morning ice. Low gray clouds dim the sky, and snowflakes float silently through the air. Days of cold, wet weather are perfect for studying seed catalogs and for dreaming of an early spring.  Planning time for your 2010 garden has arrived! Read the rest of this entry »

A young horticulture professor was hired by North Carolina State University (NCSU) in 1975 to convert eight acres of farmland near the state fairgrounds into an arboretum that would expand the university’s horticulture program. Read the rest of this entry »