The History of Potato and Corn
If our vegetables could talk -- What stories would potatoes and corn tell? Would they be fact or myth?
Read MorePotato Varieties and Potato Basic History
The first time you serve purple potatoes to some of the less adventursome members at your table might get you some strange looks and doubtful remarks -- but there is a world of wonderful tastes just waiting out there for those who dare to really know their potato varieties.
Read MoreHow to Choose Apple Tree Varieties To Grow and Eat
It is time we all started thinking outside the apple box. How many kinds of apple tree varieties can you name? More importantly, how many heirloom apple trees can you find in your local nurseries?
Read MoreWhere To Get Pumpkins and What To Do With Pumpkins
Pumpkins everywhere! Here are the big questions: What do you do with excess pumpkin? What do you do with pumpkins seeds? Where do you go to get the best pumpkins?
Read MoreParsley Flat and Curly Parsley or Chervil?
Is your parsley curly? Is your parsley flat? Or does your parsley taste of licorice and sparkle with pepper?
Read MorePumpkin Seeds - All About Pepitas
It's all about the pumpkin seed, not about the pumpkin without it being all about the seed. Pick the right pumpkin seed and you'll be guaranteed the right pumpkin for your needs. So many pumpkin choices. Which ones are right for you?
Read MoreGrowing Giant Pumpkins Successfully
Bigger is better at least when it comes to growing giant pumpkins. Here are a few tips for successfully growing your own giant pumpkin.
Read MoreVanilla Beans and Plants: The Fruit of Orchids
Did you ever wonder where vanilla comes from? Most people don't know that it is an orchid and the only orchid that bears fruit in the world.
Read MoreIndian Pink or Arethusa Orchid
Will you not know the pink purple orchid when you chance upon it? Will you know how lucky you are if you do find one of these rare native American orchids?
Read MoreGrowing Heirloom Grapevines
As we hear more and more about food shortages, droughts, and other catastrophic events that are currently hurting the pocket books of many people, not only in America, but all over the globe – hoards of gardeners are returning to the home garden for their family food needs - home grown heirloom grapes are one way the home gardener can fight back and win the food wars.
Read MorePink Lady Slipper and Native American Legends of the Ladyslipper (Cypripedeum Acaule)
One of America’s more rare and wonderful flowers is the Pink Ladyslipper. It is curiously both beautiful and at the same a whisper of a past we have lost when our continent was covered by plants of the deep, dark woods. This odd little plant is the substance of many varied legends held by native peoples.
Read MoreDesigning the Home Apple Orchard
Anyone wanting to have a home apple orchard can easily have one as long as you take into a few key considerations, like location, spacing of apple trees, varieties of apple trees, amending poor soil, and the pollination of apple trees. Since the average American
Read MoreUsing Cotton In The Garden and Butterfly Gardens
Cotton literally is a plant that surrounds us in our everyday life and while it is a huge commercial plant grown for the fiber to make clothing and other everyday articles, it is also a wonderful ornamental plant addition for any serious garden design. Cotton flowers are known butterfly attractors and for that reason alone they should be promoted as plants to include in any butterfly garden. They are also beneficial to bees, which as most of us know are in serious need of all the beneficial plants they can get.
Read MoreCrape Myrtle Cultivation for New Gardeners
One of the things that make crape myrtles attractive to gardeners is the fact that they are known to bloom the first year just from planting the seeds. They also grow readily from cuttings and that is usually the way they are cultivated. Young cuttings are simply set out in the fall and often bloom profusely the following summer.
Read MoreGrowing Cacti and Where To Plant Cactus
One fun element in garden design is to grow what doesn’t naturally grow in your region. That can be a challenge, but it can lend itself to more creativity. For example, while some succulents grow naturally in Florida, one of the design elements in our backyard garden is the cacti that we grow. As a native Californian, and someone who lived among cactus for a good part of my life, growing cacti was not my first choice. Yet, my husband was apparently completely captivated by the idea of growing them. So when he found that a neighbor had chopped down significant sized pieces of cactus, he “rescued” them from a trip to the local landfill.
Read MoreHam and Eggs In the Garden – Growing Lantana
One of my favorite perennial flowering plants is the Lantana. I like it because it is a no fuss stick it in the ground and only water it when it hasn’t rained in a while plant. Lantana is a member of the verbena plant family, verbenaceae. Originally it was native only to tropical regions in all the Americas and Africa but long introduced into other regions so people enjoy this little plant/shrub in many parts of the world.
Read MoreHow To Grow Love In A Mist - Nigella
Beautiful lacy bracts surrounding the smaller flower sport shades of blue, lavender, white, and pink – depending upon the variety give them their popularity. Other colors that show up with these annual flowers are mauve, and deep purple. They are a sought after, often heirloom favorite since Victorian days and before. Native to Southern Europe and popular in English cottage gardens since Elizabethan times they are a favorite for those who like to dry flowers and paint floral pictures.
Read MoreCallistemon or Bottlebrush Trees and Shrubs
If you were to crush their leaves in your hands you would find a delightful perfume just waiting for your discovery. Your butterfly and insect friends love the bright red, purple and pink flowers. Then there is the sheer beauty of the flowers and the evergreen factor that make this ornamental a must for many gardens.
Read MoreHow To Grow Passion Fruit Vines
One of my favorite plants and fruits is the passion fruit and knowing how to grow passion fruit vines is relatively easy. This vining herb has fragrant lavender and white flowers that are followed by delicious fruits. First, let’s explore the history of this fascinating fruit that not everyone is aware of.
Read MoreBleeding Hearts and Their Medicinal Uses
There’s a wordless tune from some old Native American song from my childhood that sometimes haunts my memories – a one chance encounter humming in a barely whispered Hodge posh of unintelligible lyrics and music from the cracked lips of a sad elderly Pacific Northwest beggar at a farmer’s market. He was there peddling his bleeding heart plants harvested no doubt from the forest floor of a nearby wildlife preserve.
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