I’ve been on a family vacation this past week. The weather was lovely – sunny, hot but not too humid, with no rain to put a cramp in our activities. Upon our return to Cincinnati, I found that the same hot, dry weather I loved on a lake in Tennessee, I loathe here – where [...]
Last year I purchased a small fig tree in a 2-gallon container near the end of the growing season. Since fig trees are not hardy in my zone 5 garden, I kept the fig over the winter in my unheated garage. In early spring, I repotted the fig into a larger and more decorative container [...]
I had the pleasure of visiting a local community garden this morning – the East End Veterans Memorial Garden. There I met with my friend Cindy Schrader and some folks from Cincinnati Magazine to do a photo-shoot for an upcoming article I’ll be writing about growing a cutting garden. Cindy’s is one of several gardens [...]
Another month, another Gardener’s Bloom Day! On the 15th of each month, gardeners from around the blogosphere tell us what’s blooming in their gardens. Here are a few things that are blooming in my Cincinnati-area garden. I’ve decided to feature annuals this month. These plants live for only one growing season, but they bloom their [...]
Like many people, I sometimes suffer from the affliction known as “Writer’s Block”. This is a condition in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. In my case, it’s simply a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. It’s usually a lack of inspiration [...]
Last spring, I wrote about planting potatoes, and I described how to use potato bags. They are working out wonderfully. The plants have been growing all summer. I watered them carefully from planting time through the flowering period, and then tapered off. Since then, I’ve dug out a few potatoes to use as “new potatoes”. This can [...]
I’m very good at reducing, re-using and recycling in the garden. Every bit of plant material goes back into the soil as mulch or compost. This includes kitchen scraps, dead trees and Christmas greens – even our holiday wrapping paper is recycled. I recycle my neighbor’s leaves, used potting soil and woody plant clippings, too. [...]