Hartley Magazine

All the latest news, hints, tips and advice from our experts

Written in United States

Forces of Nature in Garden Design

Sowing seed is the triumph of hope over experience, especially when seasonal conditions are wildly variable: Getting started takes a knock on the head as spring’s promise turns back to dour winter on a random schedule. Yet, growlights, warming pads, warm sweaters and other scientific advances aimed at greenhouse growing encourages us to get on […]

Written in United States

Christmas Trees Wanted: dead or alive?

 The holiday season is upon us and in the Clarke residence it shows its face with the resurrection and plugging in of the Psychedelic Christmas Tree. As a couple of old groovers, this totem has particular significance, marking our first Christmas in Iowa in a rental and not knowing a soul in the state. […]

Written in United States

Cleaning the Greenhouse, Hoovering the Garden

Autumn in my corner of the Rocky Mountain’s Front Range arrived on the dot – October 14th – and so began the great garden clean up, starting with the windows of my ersatz Greenhouse. The space is glassed-in breezeway, but it serves a purpose adequately. But to make the most of winter’s weaker (but by […]

Written in United States

Growing avocados and other exotic edibles

Hasn’t this been the challenging summer? Here in the Rockies, we’ve experienced cool days and regular drenching rainfall seemingly every afternoon from June to July — the garden loved it! But. Unseasonable cool days and nightime temps below 50° were not a joy for the edibles: Were I growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, the harvest […]

Written in United States

Lavender: which one to grow, how and where?

Spring is in the air on the western slopes of the Rockies, which means nights can still drop to 20 degrees F, but days are warm(ish). Yet our bluebird skies are scattered with fluffy white clouds, and we’re dreaming of gardens to come and greenhouses to fill. Our gardens beckon…as do the nurseries. Yesterday, I […]

Written in United States

Dark Gardens: Turn off the lights!

This is not about saving electricity, or about embracing solar power to illuminate our lives, but instead it about appreciating and enjoying darkness. Luxuriating in shadows, letting the stars and the moon be the radiance that punctures darkness ever so quietly. Especially in the greenhouse and the garden. I’ve been reading and absorbing a small […]