Category: Presenting “The Curious Gardener”

It’s time to publish Ruth Clausen's list of heat and drought tolerant perennials. The heat came early this year and it is taking its toll on some plants.  Over the years I have been planting many of the perennials on her list, with the goal of creating a water-wise garden! By drought tolerant we mean they can withstand dry conditions for a few days and will recover from drooping during the day.  It doesn’t mean they should stay dry for…

Moving young seedlings (and houseplants) that have been growing inside your home to a garden outside can be a traumatic experience for them. Outdoor environments bring fluctuating temperatures, rain, wind and humidity. If the plant isn't prepared for conditions such as these, they may not survive their new outdoor environment.  The good news is that you can harden off plants beforehand to make the transition smoother and less stressful. Start Early Ideally, you should begin hardening off your seedling about…

Greenhouses come in all shapes and sizes.  A small container with seed starting mix and a clear plastic top serves as the simplest of "greenhouses" for seedlings because it provides shelter for plants.  A step up from that is a temporary greenhouse that can be assembled and disassembled each year, and sits on a deck or on a patio next to the house. It consists of a lightweight metal frame with shelves covered in clear plastic with a zippered window…

Can you answer these 15 True/False and multiple choice questions?  Many of the answers can be found in earlier Curious Gardener articles. Answers are at the bottom of the page, but try not to peek. 1. Which one of the following is NOT a method of plant propagation? (multiple choice) a) Plant division b) Layering c) Conditioning d) Seed germination 2. Which of the following perennial plants are drought resistant? (multiple choice) a) Stokesia cvs (Stokes Aster) b) Baptisia cvs (False Indigo) c)…

In The Old Farmers Almanac there is a name given to each full moon of the year. These are mostly adapted from early Native Americans who kept track of the passing seasons and tied their calendar to the full moons. The Hunger Moon, which is Saturday February 24th this year, falls at the end of winter when game is scarce and predators are particularly hungry. Names for the moons varied between different indigenous peoples, but they carried similar meanings.  The Hunger…

The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen-- It’s not always easy to find organically grown produce, but one nonprofit group called The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has compiled a list of the 12 fruits and vegetables that are the most pesticide-contaminated and are to be avoided if they’re not organically grown. The group updates the list of the Dirty Dozen every year. The list includes strawberries, spinach, kale/collard and mustard greens, peaches, pears, nectarines, apples, grapes, bell and hot peppers, cherries,…

We're all houseplant gardeners at this time of year. Some of our houseplants are outdoor plants during the warmer months and they're brought indoors when the weather turns frosty or just plain chilly, and some seem happiest indoors all year long. I keep my clivia miniata indoors year round because the one time I put it outdoors on a hot sunny day the leaves got burned and discolored. For the same reason I keep my fiddle leaf fig tree and…

Given an uptick in media attention recently, gardeners may be questioning whether or not they should undertake a full autumn cleanup, particularly when it comes to fallen leaves. Is it better to remove them or keep them? It’s a question that doesn’t have a clear-cut answer. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, there are 40 million acres of lawn in the United States, three times more than any irrigated crop. Many of those lawns are dotted with deciduous trees,…

We consulted with our friend, horticulturist Ruth Rogers Clausen, about pruning shrubs in the fall. There are primarily three reasons to prune a shrub: To get rid of any dead, damaged, diseased or dying wood (The 4 D's), or crossing branches To shape an overgrown or lobsided shrub To encourage more flowering Fall is a good time to prune away dead, damaged, diseased or dying branches. This will improve the health of the plant, and it can be done anytime…

Cinderellas, snowballs, goblins and knuckleheads. Knuckleheads? You know them by their all-encompassing name: pumpkins. With fall arriving just last week, farm fields and farm market tables are groaning with pumpkins, those multi-colored signs of the season from the Cucurbita genus (the Latin word for 'gourd').  While orange sugar pumpkins and big jack-o’-lantern pumpkins are commonly seen in fall displays, there are many more varieties available for eating and decorating. Perhaps one of their most appealing attributes is their names. With…