Tuesday February 9, 2010
A few weeks back, I wrote about growing fig trees in colder climates. We were talking about the extreme cautions gardeners take to protect their fig trees in winter. Kitty informed us that there are fig trees out there that have been bred to be hardy as far north as USDA Zone 5. She recommended 'Chicago Hardy'.
Magnolia trees can also be over looked by northern gardeners. Magnolias are associated with the Old South and a gentler lifestyle. Magnolias are a natural choice in the South, but there are plenty of magnolia trees for cooler climates and less hospitable locations. David Beaulieu has featured the Saucer Magnolia, Magnolia x soulangiana, with its impressive pink and white, spring blooms. Saucer magnolias grow in Zones 4 - 9, although they can lose buds to late spring frosts and winds. I've used David's suggestion to avoid planting them where they'd have a southern exposure, to delay blooming long enough to get past the period of frost danger, with other tender spring bloomers.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.
Monday February 8, 2010
A lot of roses are being ordered this week. Getting roses is a wonderful treat, especially in winter. Maybe it's got you thinking about ordering a few rose bushes?
We all know that roses aren't a holiday treat for gardeners. Every garden should have at least one rose bush. And if it can be an old fashioned fragrant rose bush, all the better. Here are my Top 10 Great Roses for Fragrance, to add to your garden.
Read more:
Photo of 'Easy Does It' Rose Provided by AARS
Sunday February 7, 2010
I've always found the idea of companion planting fascinating. I wouldn't swear it always works, but I suspect there's a lot more substance to it than its detractors will admit. Gardeners have been fine tuning it for years and there's no substitute for experience. Today I'm combining two of my gardening loves: growing tomatoes and companion planting. I culled through a few dozen articles and books and my own experience and pulled together my list of companion plants for tomatoes. Since you're going to grow some of these plants anyway, why not experiment with growing them together? There's still plenty of time to start some seeds.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Saturday February 6, 2010
Where on earth do all those aphids come from? Seriously, how do they find their way into our homes in the dead of winter? What were they living on until I so graciously started some seedlings?
What they lack in size, they make up in numbers. Debbie Hadley, About's Guide to Insects, says "...a single aphid could produce 600 billion descendants in one season." What chance does a gardener have against those kinds of odds? And they apparently have some type of twisted relationship with ants, who protect them in order to get their fix of honeydew. Debbie sheds some light on these little suckers of the plant world.
Photo: rgrabe / stock.xchng.
