Getting a jump on summer bulb planting


Wed. Mar. 1, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Getting a jump on summer bulb planting

Get a jump on summer bulb planting! Karen is an expert at Gertens Garden Center in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota and shares some great info. Oh, and I share some too!

You can purchase bulbs from local garden centers or maybe you dug up your gladiolus, cannas, your dahlias or your tuberous begonias last Fall and want to get started.  PS, as Karen says, if you get it a little be  … [Continue reading]

New shrubs for 2023


Tue. Feb. 28, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: New shrubs for 2023

‘Purpink’ you say? Why, yes I do!

I’m sharing new shrubs for 2023. Introducing a new Proven Winners Bloomerang Lilac ‘Purpink’! Since they couldn’t decide if the flowers were a lovely shade of purple or pink, they chose to name the plant combining the two colors!

With incredible rebloom and disease resistance, this is a perfect shrub for spring from zone 3a (the tundra) all the way to zone 7b. It grows 3  … [Continue reading]

Fireflies and plants


Mon. Feb. 27, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Fireflies and plants

Have you noticed over the past several years seeing fewer and fewer fireflies? Or maybe you call them lightning bugs? They were always such a delight when I was a kid seeing them light up and chasing after them.

Fireflies are a type of beetle and there are over 150 different species in the United States alone with Britannica reporting over 2,000 species worldwide.

And here’s more from pestworld.com.

Prairie Moon Nursery, a  … [Continue reading]

GMOs and more


Fri. Feb. 24, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: GMOs and more

Earlier this week I discussed seed terminology and briefly talked about GMO’s and GE’s. I offer a little more clarification on today’s Garden Bite. This is a big topic and I have links to more information below.

First, modifications, genetic mutations take place in every living thing naturally. When 2 people have a baby, there’s some mutation going on. Not sure that’s real romantic but you catch my drift. 

Hybridizers have been modifying plants since

 … [Continue reading]

Small space garden plants


Thu. Feb. 23, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Small space garden plants

 A small space doesn’t mean you can’t have a garden!  I have a raised bed for my vegetables but I also plant in pots. I like to have a few cucumbers but don’t want to give up space for them. ‘Patio Snacker’ is the perfect size cuke to plant in a 15 inch pot with a trellis for the 3 to 5 foot vines to grow on. Bonus, they mature in 50 days!

Peppers  … [Continue reading]

Seed buying 101


Wed. Feb. 22, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Seed buying 101

 Tis the season of seeds! A perennial topic this time of year as we really start the gears rolling on early seed starting. All America Selections put together some great information regarding seed terminology. Descriptive terms to know as you search out seeds. Click on that link for more.

So what is a “cultivar”? It’s often presented as the ‘variety name’ after the genus and species in seed catalogs. So ‘San Joaquin’ is the cultivar  … [Continue reading]

Popular annuals for 2023


Tue. Feb. 21, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Popular annuals for 2023

The plant breeder, Proven Winners, analyzed the most sought-after annuals from nurseries who purchase seeds and/or plugs of plants to grow for their upcoming season and came up with some predictions for the most in-demand Proven Winners annuals for the spring of 2023.

Supertunias tops the list and they happen to have a brand new one called ‘Persimmon’.

First, Supertunias are petunias with more vigor and a more mounded habit. ‘Persimmon’ flowers  … [Continue reading]

Mexican vacation and plant discoveries


Mon. Feb. 20, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Mexican vacation and plant discoveries

As you know I was on vacation in Mexico a couple of weeks ago and did manage to take a few pictures of the plant life! The hibiscus were blooming. That was a welcome sight in the middle of winter!

Correctly identifying the other flora pictures turned out to be more challenging than I thought.

The one I id’d easily was Monstera deliciosa. The leaves are WAY larger outside in their native  … [Continue reading]

How invasive species get around


Fri. Feb. 17, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: How invasive species get around

We have many invasive plants and insects that affect our ecosystems. It’s hard to imagine NOT having them based on the fact that humans are a traveling invasive species! Centuries ago our ancestors traveled to the Americas bringing with them all kinds of plants and taking other plants back to their homelands.

There wasn’t a thought to the ramifications of what one species would do to the local plant and/or insect populations.  … [Continue reading]

Should we plant more trees or not?


Thu. Feb. 16, 2023

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Should we plant more trees or not?

Is planting trees enough to reverse climate change? Short answer: no.

Last week I re-aired Garden Bites from last year as I was on vacation. One of those was titled a Change of Climate for gardening and I talked about the various ways to help our planet including planting trees.

My arborist friend, Faith Appelquist of Treequality, came out with another awesome article regarding that very thing. She got a  … [Continue reading]