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Container Gardening How To

Category: How-To Projects, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

In one of the classes I took at the NY Botanical Garden I learned about the container gardening concept of "Thriller, Filler, Spiller". 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. I followed this concept with the container I…
In one of the classes I took at the NY Botanical Garden I learned about the container gardening concept of "Thriller, Filler, Spiller". 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…

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DIY Hypertufa Plant Containers

Category: How-To Projects, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Hypertufa containers offer the perfect environment for succulents and alpine plants. They're porous and provide a good vessel for the arid, fast draining soil required by these types of plants. They also have an unmistakable charm if you're a pushover for anything made of stone or resembling stone! What is hypertufa? Hypertufa is a manufactured substitute for natural tufa, which is a slowly precipitated limestone rock. Hypertufa is a man-made rock composed of various…
Hypertufa containers offer the perfect environment for succulents and alpine plants. They're porous and provide a good vessel for the arid, fast draining soil required by these types of plants. They also have an unmistakable charm if you're a pushover for anything made of stone or resembling stone! What is hypertufa? Hypertufa is…

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Protecting Container Plants in Winter

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

When Rebecca asked me for advice on protecting her potted plants over the winter, I had a few suggestions as follows: Huddle the pots together in a protected spot next to the house and bury them in shredded leaves or surround them with hay bales.…
When Rebecca asked me for advice on protecting her potted plants over the winter, I had a few suggestions as follows: Huddle the pots together…

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Organize A Milkweed Plant Giveaway

Category: How-To Projects, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

For two years in a row our local land trust has sponsored a milkweed giveaway at our local farmers market. The momentum has grown and this year we had an eager crowd of friends and neighbors waiting to receive their plants. In addition, there were plenty more who did not yet know the value of milkweed and were delighted to learn they could make a contribution to improving our local ecosystem! We contacted two sources for our milkweed plants this…
For two years in a row our local land trust has sponsored a milkweed giveaway at our local farmers market. The momentum has grown and this year we had an eager crowd of friends and neighbors waiting to receive their plants. In addition, there were plenty more who did not yet know the value of milkweed and were delighted to…

vaccinating a dog

Meeting Martha Stewart

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Last week I visited Martha Stewart's estate (aka 'farm') in Katonah, NY, just 30 minutes from where I live. My garden club had arranged a special tour by Martha's head gardener, Ryan McCallister, and Martha herself was our host for tea on the terrace and a question-and-answer session in her vegetable garden. I found her to be a friendly and hospitable host, and it was fun to see her gardens, her greenhouse and her collection of animals (dogs, horses and…
Last week I visited Martha Stewart's estate (aka 'farm') in Katonah, NY, just 30 minutes from where I live. My garden club had arranged a special tour by Martha's head gardener, Ryan McCallister, and Martha herself was our host for tea on the terrace and a question-and-answer session in her vegetable garden. I found her to be a friendly and…

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Happy Mother’s Day Mom

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

My mother is a vigorous lifelong gardener with varied and naturalistic gardens on her property in northwestern CT, and a small pond which provides a focal point behind the house. She also has a raised bed vegetable patch which produces broccoli, brussel sprouts,  lettuce, tomatoes and beans.  She finds that the rule in her garden is ‘one for me and one for the rabbits.’  Sometimes it’s two for the rabbits to her one. Recently I spent an afternoon gardening with my…
My mother is a vigorous lifelong gardener with varied and naturalistic gardens on her property in northwestern CT, and a small pond which provides a focal point behind the house. She also has a raised bed vegetable patch which produces broccoli, brussel sprouts,  lettuce, tomatoes and beans.  She finds that the rule in her garden is ‘one for me and…

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Caring for Bulbs After they Bloom

Category: Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Where I live in Dutchess County NY, daffodils are one of the few bulbs deer do not graze so gardeners are planting more varieties of daffodils to get variation in their early spring gardens. After your bulbs are finished blooming, remove flowers so they won't put energy into producing seeds. For naturalizing, however, leave flowers and allow reseeding. At the NY Botanical Garden, daffodils are allowed to…
Where I live in Dutchess County NY, daffodils are one of the few bulbs deer do not graze so gardeners are planting more varieties of daffodils to get variation in their early spring gardens. After your bulbs are finished blooming, remove flowers so they won't put energy…

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A Cold Snap in Early Spring

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Sometimes in early Spring after bulbs have emerged from the ground and are beginning to flower, a sudden cold snap will bring temperatures down below freezing for a few days. More often than not, I’m amazed at the resiliency of these hardy plants. We are experiencing a cold scap in the northeast and we had snowfall on two consecutive nights earlier in the week in our Zone 6 region. The exact effect caused by a sudden cold snap depends on…
Sometimes in early Spring after bulbs have emerged from the ground and are beginning to flower, a sudden cold snap will bring temperatures down below freezing for a few days. More often than not, I’m amazed at the resiliency of these hardy plants. We are experiencing a cold scap in the northeast and we had snowfall on two consecutive nights…

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Our Favorite Early Spring Table Decorations

Category: Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Egg-shaped pinch pots by Amanda Ann Palmer Passover table decoration from thejewishhostess.com Easter table from marthastewart.com Bleeding hearts and lilies of the valley Eggshells become votive candles on babble.com Jelly beans hot glued to tree branches on craftysisters-nc.blogspot.com Ornamental cabbage ‘Crane’s White’ on gardenista.com tradgardsflow.blogspot.se Lilac and lilac-colored eggs at architectureartdesigns.com Lily of the valley -daffodil posies, gardenista.com    
Egg-shaped pinch pots by Amanda Ann Palmer Passover table decoration from thejewishhostess.com Easter table from marthastewart.com Bleeding hearts and lilies of the valley Eggshells become votive candles on babble.com Jelly beans hot glued to tree branches on craftysisters-nc.blogspot.com Ornamental cabbage ‘Crane’s White’ on gardenista.com tradgardsflow.blogspot.se Lilac and lilac-colored eggs at architectureartdesigns.com Lily of the valley -daffodil posies, gardenista.com    

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How To Grow Microgreens

Category: How-To Projects, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

The Early Spring issue of Country Gardens with a feature story on our greenhouse also has an interesting story about growing microgreens. Here's a link to the Country Gardens website with How To information on growing microgreens. I started 3 crops myself, using 3 handmade plates by the talented Vermont potter Amanda Ann Palmer. Because microgreens are harvested a couple of weeks after the seeds are sown, a shallow dish with no holes for drainage is perfectly acceptable. [caption id="attachment_2262" align="alignleft"…
The Early Spring issue of Country Gardens with a feature story on our greenhouse also has an interesting story about growing microgreens. Here's a link to the Country Gardens website with How To information on growing microgreens. I started 3 crops myself, using 3 handmade plates by the talented Vermont potter Amanda Ann Palmer. Because microgreens are harvested a couple of…

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