PLANTS THAT PRESS THE SNOOZE BUTTON ON SPRING

Stacey Hirvela, Proven Winners® ColorChoice®

Imagine a beautiful spring day: sun shining, sky as blue as can be, birds singing, and everything in your yard is starting to wake up after the long winter. Well, almost everything. "Why isn't x showing any signs of life when everything else in my yard is?" you start to wonder. "Is it dead?" Don't panic!

THE SEASONS OF YOUR GREENHOUSE

Hartley Botanic

Springtime is a gardener’s dream, as it marks the beginning of preparation for the upcoming year. To ensure a fruitful harvest, it’s crucial to plan, pot, and sow. Installing staging and shelving in your greenhouse provides useful work and storage space, while also showcasing your plants and seedlings. Learn more...

PLAY IT COOL

Delilah Onofrey, Suntory Flowers

When is it safe to begin your annual flower plantings? More garden retailers are offering early-season plants that can handle the occasional cold snap. Vibrant Senetti pericallis plants from Suntory Flowers will tolerate temperatures down to the low 30s.

ANSWERS TO YOUR OUTDOOR LIGHTING QUESTIONS

Unique Lighting

Lighting is just one of the many aspects to plan when taking on an outdoor landscaping project. If you’re in the beginning stages of the process, you may have questions. To help alleviate your stress and give you insight, our outdoor lighting expert answered a few of the most frequently asked questions about outdoor lighting.

SPRINGING INTO ACTION: A GUIDE TO PLANTING YOUR COVER CROPS

Ashleigh Smith, True Leaf Market

As your seedlings are growing indoors, don’t forget to prepare your planting beds. Cover crops are the perfect way to improve soil quality before transplanting warm-season crops and in preparation for approaching the winter season. These crops include a variety of plants known to provide lasting benefits to the soil over time. 

WELCOME MIGRATING BIRDS

Therese Ciesinski, GardenSMART

In the past week or so, I’ve heard more birdsong than I have in the last few months. Is it my imagination, or is the approaching spring bringing more birds to my area, and energizing the ones that stayed the winter? Or were they always singing, and in my winter funk, I didn’t notice? Probably all of the above. February and early March begin the return of migrating birds to North America. 

NAVIGATING FROST DATES: A GUIDE BY USDA PLANT HARDINESS ZONES

Park Seed

As gardeners from coast to coast welcome the spring warmth and look forward to the balmy, sunny days of summer, we're reminded that a fundamental aspect of thriving gardens is the knowledge of first and last frost dates within our specific USDA Plant Hardiness Zone. 

THREE EFFERVESCENT CORAL BELLS

Dan Heims, Terra Nova Nursery

Hey campers, you can tell we have a lot of fun naming our plants. Today we examine three fizzy varieties of coral bells, all named after soda pop! These plants will add a sparkle to your garden.

5 TIPS FOR STRESS-FREE MONOCULTURE CONTAINERS

Heather Blackmore, Proven Winners

Using monoculture plantings is an easy design technique to master that will help you achieve a curated look. If you are a budding container gardener or are seeking some new inspiration, consider this foolproof method. Here are five tips to get you started. 

SWEET PEAS

Therese Ciesinski, GardenSMART

Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) are a lovely, old-fashioned flower, quite popular in Victorian times. Easy to grow, the dainty flowers come in shades of pink, purple, blue, red, and white, as well as bicolors. Some (but not all) varieties are fragrant. They are attractive to pollinators and make a wonderful cut flower. 

GREENTERIORS: PLANTS FOR BIOPHILIC DESIGN

Justin Hancock, Costa Farms

Who doesn’t love the natural power of plants to help reduce stress, improve our moods, and enhance the quality of our air? Scientific studies have proven being around indoor plants is associated with a calming effect, positive emotions, and enhanced cognitive performance.

EMBRACE SPRING 2024 WITH 6 FRESH GARDEN FINDS

Garden Media Group

As the buds begin to bloom, it's time to welcome Spring 2024 with open arms. And what better way to usher in the season of growth and renewal than by exploring the latest gardening and green living innovations? Garden Media Group unveils its much-anticipated lineup of Garden Superstars for Spring 2024.

DISCOVER SPRING MAGIC AT GIBBS GARDENS

Barbara Schneider, Gibbs Gardens

Spring begins at Gibbs Gardens as millions of daffodil blooms blanket valleys, hillsides, and fields across 376 acres. “Gibbs Gardens stages the county’s largest daffodil extravaganza,” wrote Flower Magazine, naming the gardens one of “The World’s 10 Best Places to See Daffodils.” Here's a peek at how beautiful the gardens are right now.

A MOST BEAUTIFUL TREE

Therese Ciesinski, GardenSMART

Ginkgoes are beautiful trees, tall, solid, and stately, with leaves that look like a geisha’s fan. They turn a brilliant gold in autumn, and when the wind blows the whole tree looks like it shimmers. Learn more...

GEAR UP FOR THE 2024 GARDEN SEASON

Melinda Myers

It’s never too early to prepare for the garden season ahead. Having the right tool for the job saves time, reduces the frustration of trying to make the wrong tool work, and allows you to garden longer with less muscle fatigue. Here are some tool suggestions.

EARLY SPRING GREENS

Home Garden Seed Association

If you do nothing else in early spring, plant a row of salad greens. Sow them in a big pot, in multipaks for transplanting, or directly in the garden. Wherever you plant your seeds, the rewards will be well worth the minutes spent sowing them!

COMPOST TIPS FOR SPRING

Therese Ciesinski, GardenSMART

Ahhh, March. It’s staying light longer now, and while temps hover around freezing here, it’s warm in the sun, and there’s a fresh breeze in the air. And in my house, the gardening itch has hit, bad. But it’s way too early to plant or even work the soil. So I’m searching for tasks to keep me busy while I wait for warmer weather. One thing I can do is tend to my compost pile.

SELECTING A GOOD FERTILIZER

Eric and Pamela talk fertilizers, and about a mistake he's made many, many times: applying too much. He sees his plant looking a little chlorotic, the leaves a little yellow. The lesson is not to be too heavy handed. Watch the video...

CONTAINERS ELEVATE A DESIGN AND CREATE EXCITING FOCAL POINTS

In this episode GardenSMART addresses one of Eric’s favorite topics - container gardening. This show is packed full of many tips you need to know to get the most out of your containers. Learn more...