With temperatures dropping and dusk arriving early, the firepit section of my garden has been on my mind. It’s a simple setup. Eight colorful Adirondack chairs are arranged in a circle around a stacked stone hearth, surrounded, during the growing season, by easy-growing, low-maintenance ...
I’ve planted the potted mums in the garden and packed away the scarecrows — now it’s time to deck the halls. That means filling vacant pots with evergreen branches foraged from my trees and shrubs, hanging cedar swags on the porch and placing a wreath on the door. They’ll look ...
If I asked you to name a holiday flower, my guess is poinsettia, amaryllis or paperwhite would be the first to come to mind. But there’s another, underused seasonal plant that deserves attention. Allow me to introduce you to cyclamen. There are roughly two dozen species of the ...
So, you want to grow an avocado tree from seed? It’s not only a fun off-season activity, especially for kids, but it’s also very easy. Just know that since avocados are tropical plants, they won’t survive winters outdoors in colder climates. Still, it’s possible to grow avocado plants indoors. They likely won’t produce fruit, but they make lovely houseplants. When I was growing up, it wasn’t uncommon for there to be a pit of some sort partially submerged in a glass of water, suspended by toothpicks, on a windowsill. Peaches, mangos, avocados — I tried them all. As an ...
It’s that time of year when many of us are thinking about Christmas trees. These days, growers offer a variety of trees to consider. Which is the best one for you? It often comes down to understanding what each tree has to offer and matching that with your family’s preferences and ...
The pollution from food is sneaky. Because the apple sitting on your kitchen counter isn’t really causing any harm. But chances are good that you didn’t pick it from a tree in your backyard. It required land and water to grow, machines to harvest and process, packaging to ship, trucks to ...
