Posts tagged with "gardens":

I consider myself lucky to live in a part of the world that makes gardening immensely rewarding without having to work very hard. Western Sonoma County northern California has a relatively short, mild winter, a warm summer moderated by proximity to the coast, and a long autumn which extends the harvest time of heat-loving crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, melons and peppers. My husband and I always plant vegetables in the part of the back yard that has a seasonal creek run through it in the winter...

Garden Pests: Cucumber Beetles The Pest: There are two types of cucumber beetles, striped (Acalymma vittatum) and spotted (Diabrotica undecimpunctata). Both types are about 1/4 inch long and yellowish-green in color (sometimes orangish-green), one with black lengthwise stripes and the other with black spots. Both types of cucumber beetles are found throughout North America. The Problems: Both types of cucumber beetles love to feed on cucumber plants and other plants in the cucurbit family such as...

Something I love about arranging flowers for weddings is incorporating native plants and herbs into my creations. Not many of my events pass by without snippets of rosemary, olive branches, or bay laurel foliage. I also love to cut herbs to use in cooking and baking or to bring a fresh scent into the house. In my yard, I have oregano and rosemary growing year-round, and sage and mint that thrive during wetter times of the year. I’ve also had gardens where I grew chocolate mint, lemon thyme, basil, and...

Mary started these seedlings of Gaura The Bride in wet paper towels on the top of a refrigerator in our office on April 6 as a germ test, and they'd already sprouted enough to transplant into cell packs on April 14, just eight days later. We kept the seedlings in a sunny, southwest-facing window where they have been very happy. Here are a few progress photos: Gaura seedlings on May 1 Gaura seedlings on May 24 Today, the gaura seedlings look like this: Over the next week, two of our employees will be...