Home Works

By MELINDA MYERS No matter the season, size of your garden or climate, you can inject homegrown flavor into your meals. Just clear a shelf, countertop or windowsill and get busy planting herbs, greens and even tomatoes to enjoy year-round. For quick results, grow microgreens. These nutrient packed edibles are ready to harvest in as few as 10 days. Plant microgreen seeds in a quality potting or seed starting mix. A recycled fast food container or other shallow pot with drainage holes works well.  Plant the seeds according to … [Read more...] about Expand your edible garden indoors

By MELINDA MYERS Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day like a fresh bouquet of flowers.  Make sure your gift provides many days of enjoyment by selecting the freshest flowers and providing the best possible care. Take some time to evaluate the quality of the cut flowers you plan to purchase. Select fresh flowers with upright and perky flowers and lots of firm buds that are just starting to open.  Avoid flowers sitting in foul smelling water with drooping leaves and discolored slimy stems. Consider color and fragrance as well as … [Read more...] about Keep your Valentine flowers looking their best

By MELINDA MYERS Homemade gifts are a wonderful way to show you care. Making them from items grown in your garden adds that extra personal touch. And just like the plant, decorations and gifts made from milkweed pods are gaining in popularity. Considered a weed by some, common milkweed is making a comeback as more gardeners are growing this important food source for monarch butterflies. Harvest the seedpods and craft them into wreaths, stars and indoor holiday trees. Remove the pods from the plants, separate the halves and … [Read more...] about Turn milkweed pods into works of art

By MELINDA MYERS Add some unique beauty to your indoor décor or give the gift of low maintenance splendor with the easy-care cyclamen. You’ll enjoy the colorful plain or ruffled white, pink, rose or lavender flowers that look like shooting stars hovering over heart shaped leaves with silvery highlights. Best of all, there’s a size for every home and occasion.  Use miniatures as a place card holder at your next gathering, for added color in a terrarium or to brighten any small space.  Dress up the dinner table, mantle or side … [Read more...] about Brighten your spirits and indoor décor with a colorful cyclamen

By MELINDA MYERS The holiday tree is the center of many family celebrations. Ornaments collected over the years decorate the boughs while brightly wrapped gifts are carefully placed underneath. But the hunt for the perfect tree can be an important part of the tradition. Many try to find the right size and shape for the space allotted, a fragrance the whole family prefers and good needle retention for long lasting beauty.  Load the family into the car or walk to the corner Christmas tree lot and let the hunt begin. Size and … [Read more...] about Selecting and caring for your Christmas tree

By MELINDA MYERS In just fifteen minutes you can plant a beautiful garden guaranteed to brighten your spirits and indoor décor this winter. All you need is a container with drainage holes, potting mix and some tulips, daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs. Once you have gathered the needed materials, you can get started planting. Select bulbs labeled for forcing, shorter varieties that are less likely to flop or bulbs that didn’t make it into the garden this fall. Plant a container of one type of bulb or use a combination … [Read more...] about Now’s the time to force a few spring flowering bulbs

  By MELINDA MYERS Prepare your evergreens now before winter weather takes its toll on your boxwood, arborvitae and rhododendrons. Winter wind, sun, frozen soil, snow and ice can wreak havoc on our plants, especially evergreens. Water plants, especially evergreens and new plantings, thoroughly before the ground freezes. Evergreens continue to lose moisture throughout the winter even when the soil is frozen or dry. Apply a layer of mulch to the soil under and around trees and shrubs or freshen existing mulch. A two- to … [Read more...] about 6 things to help evergreens through winter

BY MELINDA MYERS Short or tall, big or small, ornamental alliums are a treat for flower gardeners and for butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Plant the bulbs in fall and enjoy months of colorful spring and summer blooms – this year, and for years to come. Just like their relatives, onions and chives, ornamental alliums are easy to grow and trouble free. Pest, diseases and even deer don’t bother them. Most types are reliably perennial and winter hardy in zones three to eight. Alliums prefer well-drained soil and full sun, … [Read more...] about Bold and beautiful alliums for every garden

By MELINDA MYERS There’s no doubt that managing critters in the landscape can be a challenge especially as food supplies start to dwindle. If you are battling with rabbits, deer, groundhogs or other wildlife, don't let down your guard as the growing season begins to wind down. Be proactive. Start before they get into the habit of dining on your landscape. It is easier to keep them away than break the dining habit. Fence them out. Fencing is the best defense against most wildlife. A four feet tall fence around a small garden … [Read more...] about Protect your winter landscape from hungry wildlife

By MELINDA MYERS Pick a few pansy flowers and add a smile to any occasion. No matter where you live, pansies provide color, and in some cases, fragrance to the garden and containers during the cooler months of the year. Pick a few flowers and freeze them in ice cube trays to serve in your favorite beverage. Or float them on top of your favorite seasonal punch. They will brighten any occasion, especially when snow is in the forecast. Set a few flowers on a bed of greens for unique flavor and added color. Or garnish your … [Read more...] about Pansies add color and interest to every occasion