Repotting Houseplants

The Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia) that I have been taking care of for my mother had been looking wimpy for a couple of weeks, so I decided to put it in a bigger pot. This plant is one of two I am babysitting this winter–and I hate to admit it, but I am the horticultural [...]

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SunPatiens and Plant Patenting

While visiting in Florida, I took some photos of my mom’s SunPatiens. This is her second winter season growing these sun-loving impatiens, which flourish even in the relatively warm and sunny courtyard outside her condo. She thought they were so great last year that I looked for some in Minnesota, but came up empty-handed.
It [...]

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Escaping to Florida

This past week in Minnesota was bone-chilling, but I missed most of it, thanks to a long-planned trip to visit my parents, who spend the winter in Naples, Florida. The weather in Naples was great, especially compared to the sub-zero temperatures at home. On our first day there, my mom and I visited the Naples [...]

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So Many Plants, So Little Time

Attending a presentation on great perennials is like going to one of those restaurants where the menu runs 10 pages. What to choose? What to choose? I felt that way last Friday at Richard Hawke’s talk on winning perennials from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s flower trials. Each year, the Chicago Botanic grows every available [...]

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Inside Information at the Green Expo

One of the great things about editing Northern Gardener is I get a chance to attend the Minnesota Green Expo, the annual trade show and educational event of the Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association (MNLA). I went to Minneapolis this morning to catch the last day of the show.
As always, the Northern Gardener bookstore was [...]

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Another Great Use for Cow Manure

Last night, I decided to start paging through the growing stack of garden catalogs. Currently half a crate full of them sits next to my reading chair, and the big rush won’t arrive for another week or two. As I mentioned in an earlier post, sustainability is a hot-button issue with gardeners and you can [...]

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New Northern Gardener Available

If you are considering a landscaping project for 2008, you may want to pick up the new issue of Northern Gardener. The January/February issue is devoted to landscaping ideas and inspiration, and without a doubt, this is my favorite issue since I began editing the magazine in 2005.
This special issue includes a useful article by [...]

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