Confined spaces, like in most greenhouses, need organization. The goal when working—seed sowing, transplanting, potting up —is to be able to grab the best tool for the job as soon as you require it, and smaller sized tools are easier to store.  You can line them up, place them on a shelf, hang them on […]

Last month I attended the Garden Communicators International online conference. One of the presentations by the National Garden Bureau and All-America Selections featured the best new plants that will be available in nurseries next spring. These introductions are the result of years of development—chosen for better form, tougher hardiness, or disease resistance. So, as the […]

With the cost of produce steadily rising, greenhouse owners may want to try growing their own vegetables this winter. Quite a few plants will continue growing in cool conditions as long as they don’t freeze. The minimum temperature in your greenhouse should be somewhere above 40°F during the night and on cloudy days, although at […]

In my neck of the woods, being the foothills of Pikes Peak in Colorado, the old chestnut about making hay while the sun shines, is rehearsed by me and my gardening clan as “make haste while the sun shines”.  Old man winter is just around the next corner, and she who snoozes loses. Last week […]

Shrubs are the easy-care backbone of any garden, whether you have sun or shade. And the National Garden Bureau (NGB) knows how to pick the most outstanding. Recently, I attended a virtual Garden Communicators International conference, where we were given a presentation of the NGB’s 2023 choices, from ornamentals to edibles. The official rollout for […]

Mandevilla, with their numerous, large, brilliantly colored flowers, are highly prized for the tropical look they give to summertime decks and patios. Knowing that these plants originate from South America, mostly Brazil, gives a clue to the conditions they prefer – warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine. In general, mandevilla need at least six or […]

Lately, I’ve given much thought to an age-old question, why do we garden?  First posited by Methuselah – I jest, but my favorite essayist, Sir Francis Bacon reasoned–and rightly so–in 1625, that the garden first created by the Almighty, remains “the purest of human pleasures. [and] the greatest refreshment to the spirit of man…”.  Bacon […]

My watering can sprang a leak and I went online to find the best one for watering greenhouse plants. Frankly, from what I found, very few cans were worth spending a lot of money on. Most were cheap plastic cans that will spring a leak if you try to use them more than twice. (Then […]

Writing this on the first day of autumn, whistling a sigh of relief that we got all the tomatoes and peaches in before frost turned them to mush or the squirrels got them. I the garden is taking on the shades of fall, burnished gold, steely blue, burgundy purple, while the rugosa roses are setting […]

Once I had a kitchen garden. It was a large space, surrounded by a trellis fence so that it didn’t appear part of the “proper” garden, because it was a hard-working space, with a small glasshouse in one corner, compost heaps in another, and two long parallel rows of four-foot-wide raised beds. These were not […]

You can use your greenhouse not just for growing existing plants but also for obtaining a great many new ones, all for free. One way to do this is by propagation using cuttings. Another way is by harvesting seeds. Here’s more on each of these methods. First, let’s look at growing plants from cuttings. In […]

With that glorious scent, and unusual habit of flowering and fruiting at the same time, it’s no surprise that citrus plants are often the first choice to grow in a home greenhouse. To discover the best tips for success, this month I’m turning to Sam Hubert, Nursery Manager for the West Coast mail-order company, One […]