Category: Presenting “The Curious Gardener”

[This is a story I published several years ago on Mother's Day. My mom is now nearly 98 and is still enjoying her garden at her cottage in Salisbury, Connecticut where she lives with a companion, though she has hung up her garden gloves and tools.  The story speaks to a love of gardening instilled by someone we love.] My mother is a vigorous lifelong gardener with a variety of gardens on her property in Sharon, CT in the northwestern…

Reprinted and Revised from an earlier story in Curious Gardener I learned about the container gardening concept of "Thriller, Filler, Spiller" at a class I took at the NY Botanical Garden.  When you're selecting plants for your container, the Thriller is the central plant that grows taller than the others and is the focal point. The Filler is the plant or plants that surround the Thriller, and the Spiller is the plant that spills over the edges of your container.…

Dandelions are highly unappreciated. Lovers of emerald-green lawns may have them in their cross-hairs, but these golden pops of color provide spring nectar to bees, greens for your salad, and more. The more? They are the main ingredient in a delightful dandelion wine called Memento-Mori produced by Enlightenment Wines of Brooklyn, N.Y. Recently I joined about two dozen others for an afternoon of dandelion foraging at Fishkill Farms in Fishkill, N.Y. Picking dandelions is pretty straightforward, as one might imagine,…

Can you answer these 19 True/False and multiple choice questions? Most of the questions come from information in previous Curious Gardener newsletters. The answers are at the bottom of the page, but don't peak. 1. Which one of the following is NOT a medicinal plant? (multiple choice) a) Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort) b) Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley) c) Arnica Montana 2. Which of the following activities are best done in Spring? (multiple choice; choose any that apply)…

April may be the cruelest month, especially in the Northeast, but don’t let that stop you from jumping into garden mode. Working steadily now, you won’t have to be playing catch-up when the weather warms up for good. Step 1 If you haven’t already, do a thorough clean-up, gently raking away leaves and other debris to give your perennials some much-needed sun and fresh air. Eliminate any weeds that might be living under the surface, ready to pop up with…

Hay versus straw Hay is grown as food for livestock.  If you buy hay for your garden you will have seed heads that can sprout and create weeds. I learned this the hard way one year when I sprinkled hay over a newly seeded part of our lawn and large weeds emerged that were hard to pull out. Straw makes a great mulch and planting bed for your garden. It has no nutritional value for animals because it's made of…

When ecommerce spiked during the pandemic, consumers started worrying about the packaging that products were being shipped in. Were there eco-friendly choices? One company that designs for recyclability is EcoEnclose. Womanswork customers will recognize their green bird logo. Recently I interviewed Saloni Doshi, a business leader who has been on the frontline of this issue for seven years. As CEO and co-owner with her husband of the Colorado-based packaging company, she’s deep into sustainability research and making sure their products…

Pizza Toppings: Now is the time to think about your favorite toppings for pizza cooked outdoors in your new electric pizza oven or sprinkled on top of a no frills store-bought pizza. The most popular garden toppings are tomatoes, bell peppers and red onions. Have you thought of adding some thinly sliced zucchini, summer squash or even figs from your garden? Recently I read that pickles are a favorite pizza topping. My friend Michelle makes a topping of goat cheese…

A pot et fleur arrangement starts with a living potted plant to which cut flower stems are added. The live plant provides an armature for the cut flowers. I chose some clivia miniata plants I have growing indoors. They won't send up shoots with flower buds until early next year, so they're perfect for providing greenery around the cut flowers.  I went into our local grocery store and bought some cut flowers. I did not need to buy as many…

I love making paper ornaments for decorating gifts or hanging on the tree, so I often check Pinterest for new ideas. I saw an idea recently that I liked. Click here to see the video. On the 3rd try I was happy with the results. It's not difficult but you just need to know a few things to avoid the mistakes I made the 1st and 2nd time I tried it. The craft of making paper ornaments is becoming more…