Serenity in the Garden

Worm tubes from National Gardening Association  Want to know a great way to  enhance biological activity in  your garden? Think of it as adding  probiotics to your soil.... Worm Tubes!  It is a fun way to use your vegetable food waste without the hassle of true composting. Worm tubes attract worms to your garden and this, in turn, creates rich, worm casting-filled composted soil for you to use.  Josh shows us how - click here And did you know that  worm compost suppresses plant diseases ? Research has shown that worm compost can successfully suppress  Pythium aphanidermatum  - a mold responsible for the dreaded 'damping off', where seedlings and young plants rot away at the base of the stem. The microbes  in the compost are key. They chemically prevent (disrupts the signalling)  the  Pythium  pathogen from accessing the plant.  This is why you should consider making worm compost with a 'worm tube' in your garden. They attract worms to your garden and

Electric Blue Gecko Elephant Ears Want to create a bold statement in your garden this summer? Elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta) sport large, colorful leaves and  give your garden an instant tropical effect. They  like sun, moist soil and warm weather (zones  8-11 ) .  Great in pots - source: Logees The Gecko series from breeder Brian Williams of the mail order nursery,  Brian’s Botanicals  in Louisville, KY is vigorous and change color like a true gecko.  'Electric Blue Gecko'  grows 3 ft x 3 ft and has foliage that can look deep purple, black or even metallic-blue in different light.  It has maroon undersides.  It looks great against coleus and colorful annual flowers!  NYBG - Electric Blue Gecko with coleus and more  Deep blue stems hold the foliage high which makes it look great in a container or in  mass plantings and in the front or middle of the border. It likes  moist but well drained soil - not too soggy.

never use hot wood ash....  Now that winter is coming to a close you can utilize a valuable soil amendment from your fireplace: Wood ashes. They are rich in Potash which “sweetens” the soil by r aising the pH (more alkaline). Sweet soil is the balm of lilacs and other flowering  shrubs .  If your lilacs produce too few flowers, Potash can help.  Composting ashes is an ideal way to put them to use in the garden. Decomposing materials in the compost pile can become acidic and wood ash is more alkaline and helps offset this. Apply r egular wood-ash applications on soil beneath your shrubs in fall, winter and early spring.  You cannot apply too much; rain and snow dilute the concentration of Potash considerably. Empty  t horoughly cooled   fireplace ashes into a large container and then pour a large amount in a wide circle beneath the drip line of  mature lilac shrubs. For small ornamental, herb and vegetable plants,  pour about a cupful beneath them. wood ashes H

from Debs Garden What is evergeen,  deer resistant , thrives in shade, has flowers and comes back every year? You could answer Andromeda (Pieris) - but it doesn't really like shade. Perhaps you answered Hakonechloa (Japanese Forest Grass) but it doesn't have flowers. Daffodils are not evergreen. Grasses, Boxwood and sedges don't meet this criteria either.... from Pine Knot Farms The problem free, shade loving Hellebore is the answer. They are a perfect plant for your garden. The Perennial Plant Association's Plant of the Year for 2005, Hellebores bloom from winter to early spring across the United States, depending on zone and variety. They are hardy from Zone 5 - 9.  They like light to moderate shade, especially an area shaded by deciduous trees, and protection from summer heat. Hellebores sport drooping, buttercup-like flowers colors of pink, mauve, white, green, burgundy, yellow, black-purple, bi-colored, speckled and m

Longhouse Reserve - Easthampton, NY - a great place to visit Valentines’ Day is synonymous with  RED  - red roses, red hearts and red carnations. Red, the hottest of the warm colors, is the color of love, romance, passion and energy.... (and of Target dept.store). Brides wear red in China, India and the Islamic countries. Audrey Hepburn wore it in Funny Face: Red arouses, excites and evokes strong emotions. In fact, studies show that seeing red can stimulate your body to pump out more adrenaline and increases blood pressure, respiration and pulse rate. I remember the first time I saw how powerful red could be - it was in the movie GiGi by Vincente Minelli. I was very young and I sat in the movie theater looking at the magnifent red salon in Paris, thinking how dull our little rooms in my Queens, NY apartment were.   Minelli, a film director, was a  master of color ,  saying,   "I use colors to bring fine points of story and character. "

What blooms earlier than forsythia, has a delicate fragrance and is an easy-to-care for  compact delight ?  That is also hardy to USDA Zones 6-9 and native to Japan and Taiwan? Photo by Richie Steffen - Great Plant Picks Buttercup winterhazel  ( Corylops is pauciflora)   Toward mid April (depending where you live), the bare branches of buttercup winterhazel hang with inch-long clusters of soft yellow flowers that appear as little lanterns.   The fragrance is noticeable, making it perfect near a sitting spot.   It was awarded the  Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 1993.  Missouri Botanical Garden photo Winterhazel is good in a small city garden or as a woodland underplanting in open shade.  It glows in front of evergreens and is a perfect pairing with purple   Rhododendron mucronulatum since  they flower at the exact same time.  And  winterhazels look wonderful with snowdrops and hellebores!  Portland Nurse

“In Hindi, seed is  bija  or ‘containment of life." Vandana Shiva Ah, so true.... One of the most alarming films I have seen in a long time is Seed the Untold Story.   Please get your library to get it! It is not to be missed! So where should we buy our little 'containments of life' these days? Here are a few seed companies that are worthy of a look: Renee’s Garden Check out their Basil collection of seeds and their "Rainbow Kitchen Garden",  5 packets of colorful vegetable varieties that are easy to grow and great for anyone starting a garden from seed. Includes: Farmer's Market Lettuce Mix : rainbow of colors and textures Garden Candy Cherry Tomatoes : red, orange, yellow and sweet as sugar Tasty Duo Scallions : red and green skinned, savory and crisp Tricolor Bush Beans : purple, yellow and green pods Tricolor Zucchini:  gold, light and dark green, with buttery flavor Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds  - This group offers

Plants are always talking - you just have to take the time to listen. Eeyore is very wise. They peek their heads out and say, 'Hey look at me!' They hang over the edge of a planter and look up saying, 'Happy Summer!" And they grow in a bunch holding forth to anyone who hears them.... Thank you, A.A. Milne.

This is from Proven Winners