Still stuffed from your Thanksgiving feast? Me, too. That’s why I’ve got an easy question for all you gardeners today. What’s the most popular flower sold at Christmastime? That’s right: the poinsettia. According to growers, about 75% of us buy red poinsettias for our holiday decorations. But why settle for red, when there are so many beautiful varieties out there? One of [...]
Hey—anybody out there? I thought so. You’re all out shopping, searching for sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving that signals the start of the retail holiday season. I don’t blame you. (Guess where I’m going as soon as I finish posting this message?) But you’ll be back, because there’s leftover turkey in the fridge, and cranberry sauce, and maybe a slice of pumpkin pie that [...]
From most accounts, the Pilgrims weren’t exactly savvy gardeners when they arrived in the New World. The Native Peoples had to teach them about cultivating corn, pumpkins, squash, and beans in a climate very different from England’s, or they might have starved while walking around in those funky shoes and weird hats. But at least the Pilgrims got one thing right. After [...]
All right, garden-lovers. The question of the day is: What can you grow in cement? We’re not talking about that hard, dry, sun-baked red clay that passes for our soil here in Georgia. It is cement-like, but for today’s purposes, we’re asking, what can you grow in REAL cement? Answer: Nothing, of course! If you said anything [...]
Every plant looks good in blue–a blue ribbon, that is. So how do you get one for your gardening specialty? Simply enter one of the 2009 Southeastern Flower Show’s juried competitions. You don’t have to be an expert; beginners are welcome, too. Remember, this year’s theme is Passion: How Do You Bloom? Here’s how just one of the [...]
Thanksgiving is almost here. Are you panicking yet? Suddenly I’m slamming into a boatload of things I meant to do before the holiday. I was going to polish the furniture with the good paste wax; clean the windows; iron my best tablecloth; wash the pretty glasses that never get used until company comes, and….well, you get the [...]
When I opened my mail today, the first thing I saw was a catalog reminding me that “Books Make Great Gifts.” Colorful gardening books with glossy pages are especially welcome at this time of year, when the landscape itself is becoming pretty dull and dreary. If you’re looking for a holiday gift for your favorite gardener–or [...]
There are many things that gardeners can grow besides flowers and veggies. Take our families, for example. What parent doesn’t want to produce great kids? If you’re into gardening, nothing is better than sharing your passion with the younger members of your family. Gardening encourages them to forget about the TV and computer for awhile and become stewards [...]
With Atlanta’s temperatures hovering around 40 degrees all day today, wind gusts that took your breath away, and the mercury plummeting into the 20s tonight, I’ve got to ask: Is it cold enough for you? Don’t you hate people who ask silly questions? Sorry, but I had to, because I wanted you to notice something about the picture that’s [...]
Remember that Oscar-winning movie from 1987 called Wall Street? Michael Douglas played an absolutely snarky, loathsome character who believed that money was everything. His mantra was, “Greed is good.” His motto was slightly off, of course. As every gardener knows, “GREEN is good.” In fact, green is good no matter how old you are. Did you spot the [...]