I love the term “putting the garden to bed” for when you cut back your plants and add a layer of compost or mulch for the winter. I can imagine the little plants lying under their blanket of mulch, waiting to wake up and peek out in the spring! But not everything should be cut [...]

I love getting out in the cool, crisp autumn air after the first few frosts of the season to do some fall cleanup. The garden looks more attractive in winter without the tattered stalks and dead leaves, and removing plant debris helps reduce insect pest and plant disease problems later on.  So here is what [...]

I gave a talk on the onion family, the Alliums, last Wednesday at the Civic Garden Center. We discussed onions, garlic, leeks, shallots, chives and garlic chives, with a nod at the ornamental alliums. The enthusiasm among the attendees makes me want to encourage everyone to plant garlic! Garlic is easy to grow, and should [...]

I resisted starting this blog for a long time. I wasn’t really sure people would read it. I would have to learn a new technology. It would take a lot of time to keep it up-to-date. And after all, there are already a lot of gardening blogs out there! Although there’s a lot of information [...]