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Welcome to our library of articles, where you can search and browse over 2,000 articles written by our own team of garden writers. Interested in becoming a Dave's Garden writer? Submit an article to apply.
Love is spoken here, there and all over the world in the language of hearts in nature. Have you seen heart shaped leaves and flowers? Have you seen a heart in an empty space between tree leaves, in rocks, in cut trees, in tomatoes, in seeds? Enjoy the pictures of heart shaped items in this article. Not all of the hearts are perfect; a few of them are camouflaged.
You might think from reading the title that I live in Africa and have panthers in my garden. I am sorry to disappoint you but I live on Reunion Island (pretty close to Africa!) and the panther is actually a chameleon, so let me introduce you to this intriguing creature.
My love for the garden and all the natural beauty contained within is not a secret. I speak of tending to my garden to all who will listen. There always seems to be some sort of plan for my garden. Today, I realize it is actually my garden that has plans for ME.
Dozens of kinds of vegetables grow in home gardens. But nearly all of those crops have their "roots" in just a few plant families. Look at vegetable gardening with a family focus. Understand the special needs and attributes of vegetable families when planning and tending your garden. In this article: tips and tidbits about onions, garlic, and other members of their family, Alliaceae.
The kids at school said there was a bear on my side of the mountain. They said it was on the Virginia side but they reckoned that the Virginians had run it clear across the mountain and now they just knew it was on my side.
Cumin has been used in Indian cooking for thousands of years, and in Latin America ever since it was introduced in the late 15th century. What makes this one seasoning nearly as universal as salt? Read about cumin--its uses, its history, its growing habit and ......... how to pronounce it.
"A gleaming, cold battle machine is on patrol, red glowing eyes ever searching for the enemy. The slightest movement focuses the attention of this guardian, enabling it to determine if the intruder is friend or foe. Suddenly, a stirring in the soil alerts those ever-watchful burning eyes. A tentacle is seen extending furtively towards an unprotected root, intent on infecting, dissolving, digesting and destroying it. Instantly, the T-22 springs into action, training weaponry on the invader and dooming it quickly to a vapory oblivion..." Science fiction? Not any more, because gardeners today can call on a real live T-22 that can help protect their valued plants. Read on. . .
Gloxinia is the beautiful plant with big bell-like flowers and large hairy leaves. At least that is what I knew before I heard about the New World names for Gloxinia. What is the New World names? If you didn't know, you are about to find out now.
Mushrooms growing amongst pines in a forest can be indicative of much more than merely the rotting of organic matter. Many fungi have symbiotic relationships with vascular plants. These relationships involve trees such as pines, oaks, and eucalyptus, and include your garden vegetable plants and flowers. Knowing about mycorrhizae, what they do for plants, and how you can grow them with your plants can enable you to obtain their benefits for yourself in your own garden plot or yard.
Gardeners have a keen sense of humor and we know that you'll enjoy adding your family-friendly quote or description to the image. We'll supply the picture and everyone can post their funniest title. We can't wait to see what you come up with!
Dripped, perked or pressed. Even iced. Cafe latte, cappuccino, French vanilla. Instant, if desperate enough. The little bean that can cause total panic in an otherwise normal human being.
Frugal Gardeners are found world-wide and we constantly search for money-saving ways to stretch our garden budget. This Saturday feature will spotlight projects gardeners can create for inexpensive garden art and gifts. We hope our projects will inspire you to become a Frugal Gardener too!
Since waving goodbye to my 40s more than a few years ago, kneeling, squatting and working in the garden are getting harder with each passing season. Stools and new tools are on my supply list for next year, but how will I know which are best?
Yes, we did enjoy delicious juicy sweet cherries for Christmas and although we are now into the new year, we still indulge daily in those great fruits.
If you have a backyard feeding station, you undoubtedly receive visits from the mourning dove, the most abundant of our native doves. Unlike its extinct cousin, the passenger pigeon, the mourning dove is a highly successful species. It's also the most frequently hunted bird in North America.
Living in the colder areas of the world can sometimes be a strain on your gardening sanity. Planting early emerging perennials is a good way to quell your winter blues as you can watch them pop up before everyone else in the spring. The following is a list of plants that would qualify as early emerging perennials in Zones 4-6, especially areas with drier climates.
We've all seen the movies and television shows. Rickety wooden buildings line a deserted street. A slight breeze kicks up some dust and a tumbleweed rolls across a side street. Tumbleweeds are iconic symbols of the American West. However, tumbleweeds are not native to the West, but to Eurasia.
I grew up in a family of hand quilters. I didn't like to quilt but I surely did love to dye the bleached muslin that was pieced into the quilt. It went right along with all the discoveries that I made with my great Aunt Bett.
In a world of limited time and space, container gardens seem to make more and more sense. Containers allow you to enjoy growing plants in places that might be thought of as impossible or unthinkable in which to plant. I’ll take you through the steps from choosing containers, soil mixes and everything else you need to know about planting a successful container garden.
It all started in September in the Cottage Gardening forum. It was innocent enough. A forum regular wanted to organize a seed swap just among a few others on the forum to increase our "cottagey" plants for the coming year. This is the story of what it grew into.
The catalog read, “Carex morrowii ‘Aurea-variegata’ (Japanese sedge). Graceful swirls of handsomely variegated leaves, green with a central yellow stripe, form neat, rounded clumps and are fully evergreen in the South and partially so in more northerly areas. 10 to 12 inches tall and easily grown. Zones 5 to 9. One-quart container. Each $12.95.”
Now that it's winter again, I guess this is a good time to discuss cold hardy palms. Every year growers in marginal climates repeatedly experiment with hundreds of species of palms, pushing them to their limits and trying to find a few gems to add to their list of what can survive in their less-than-ideal climates. This article is primarily a discussion of the better known palms to give the would be grower in a marginal (non-tropical) climate some ideas of what palms are available for their climate, and a good place to start experimenting on their own.
Gardeners have a keen sense of humor and we know that you'll enjoy adding your family-friendly quote or description to the image. We'll supply the picture and everyone can post their funniest title. We can't wait to see what you come up with!
Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow? This is what is on most of the country’s mind today for if legend has it, if this particular groundhog sees its shadow then there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, it will be an early spring!
Gardeners love books, as the number of titles devoted to the subject attest. We hope this spotlight on some of our members' favorites is a nice change of pace for your Saturday morning.
Fiddleheads, one of the first forest delicacies to emerge in the spring. As soon as we started thinking Mothers Day, Dad would pile us kids into his truck and we would scan our favourite swamps, looking for signs of the newly emerging fronds.
Few flowers are more imbued with meaning than the rose. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” according to Shakespeare. "My love is like a red, red rose," sang the poet Robert Burns. “Every rose has its thorns,” “seeing the world through rose-colored glasses” and “everything is coming up roses” are sayings familiar to everyone.
Are you the gardener in your group with the geek status? That's me...there's a gardener in my soul, but the computer systems analyst in my head pays for the plants. You need some computer savvy to learn to use some of the garden design software that is available, but you certainly don't need to be a 'PC professional'.
There have been many articles written about starting seeds but I think that all of us can continue to learn. I have been a gardener for over 50 years and I continue to pick up tips and information on a variety of gardening subjects. I have been chairman of our Master Gardener greenhouse for a number of years and I have gleaned some information on starting seeds and growing plants that will be beneficial to gardeners both novice and experienced. I’ll take you through it all, from where to get your seeds to transplanting your seedlings into the garden in the spring.
So you've decided to take the plunge and try growing some of your bedding plants on your own from seed. Or perhaps you're already among the initiated, but have had some disappointing failures. I've found that instructions from seed sellers can vary considerably regarding the appropriate germination and growing conditions of a particular plant.
Dozens of kinds of vegetables grow in home gardens. But nearly all of those crops have their "roots" in just a few plant families. Look at vegetable gardening with a family focus. Understand the special needs and attributes of vegetable families when planning and tending your garden. In this article: tips and tidbits about cabbage, broccoli, and the numerous members of their family, Brassicaceae.
Nothing can cheer up a drab winter day as looking out of your window and seeing a parade of brightly colored songbirds at your feeder. I’ll be discussing how to attract them to your yard and more importantly keeping them coming back
The mysterious workings of compost seem like so much black magic to many people – a power that could fall into the wrong hands if many, many rules are not followed. But let’s lay all that to rest.
We all know potatoes (and maybe carrots) belong in stew (especially rabbit stew). But many of us are confounded when facing any of the “other” common root vegetables, such as turnips, parsnips, or rutabaga. If you’ve only eaten these vegetables mashed, then you haven’t really eaten them. They are superb roasted, and they are the foundation for fabulous winter soups and stews.
A little over a year ago, I stumbled across a little plant in a pot at a botanical garden plant sale. It immediately brought back childhood memories of the same plant growing in a pot in my parents' living room. As a child, I was fascinated by the way the plant, which my mother called a Piggyback Plant, would reproduce. Instead of setting seed or sending out runners, it formed dozens of tiny plantlets along the jagged edges of the leaves. When I found a specimen again as an adult, I had to purchase it! I thought it would be interesting for my own kids, as well as in the classroom. Let me introduce you to this fascinating plant!
Gardeners have a keen sense of humor and we know that you'll enjoy adding your family-friendly quote or description to the image. We'll supply the picture and everyone can post their funniest title. We can't wait to see what you come up with!
I love blue, and this interesting member of the Parsley family is one of the easiest blue flowers I know. Drought-resistant and un-fussy about soil types, Sea Holly is a wonderful addition to any perennial garden.
Gardening is both art and science, with some luck and skill thrown in for good measure. A big part of what attracts people to Dave's Garden has always been our forums, where gardeners ask and answer questions for one another. Occasionally we come across a question that we find particularly interesting or intriguing. We hope you find these questions (and answers, penned by our admins and writers) helpful as you grow your gardening knowledge!
