New England Regional Report

Your Garden Symphony Starts with Spring Bulbs

Some people describe gardens as paintings -- blank canvases of soil that you "paint" with flowers and foliage plants. I prefer to think of gardens as symphonies. Throughout the growing season, there are crescendos as the showiest plants come into bloom,...
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Resources

International Flower Bulb Information Center
Cover Vegetable Beds with Leaves, and Lots of Them

One More Weeding
Pot Up Amaryllis and Paperwhites
Protect Trees from Deer Damage
Invite Winter Birds
Drain Irrigation Systems

For the Love of Alliums

Looking for some eye-catching, easy-care, hardy, deer- and rodent-resistant plants for your garden? Look no further than the ornamental alliums. Like daffodils and tulips, alliums grow from bulbs, and now's the time to plant them for blooms in late...
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Resources

Fall Events at the Arnold Arboretum.
Buy Bulbs and Help Nonprofits with Bloomin' Bucks

Plant Specialty Bulbs
Edge Garden Beds
Mulch Cold-Hardy Root Vegetables
Add Lime to Gardens and Lawns
Hoard Leaves

Drying Late-Summer Flowers

The last few weeks have felt like a gift. It's already the second week of October and we haven't had a killing frost yet here in northern Vermont. Since a frost can come as early as mid September, it feels a little like we're cheating nature. (A...
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Resources

Incrediball Hydrangea
Planting for Pollinators

Prepare Tools for Winter Storage
Prepare New Beds
Enjoy Tender Annuals Indoors
Harvest Dried Beans
Rake and Shred Leaves

'Tis the Season

What glorious weather we've been having! Especially compared to the rainy, cloudy start to the summer. It's the season for enjoying the fruits of all your efforts. Sometimes, though, that means a little more work. This is catch-up time for me. I...
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Resources

The Magic of Lanterns 2009
Gold Medal Plants

Begin Harvesting Winter Squash
Move Peonies -- If You Must
Pot Up Bulbs for Forcing
Divide Iris and Daylilies
Move Houseplants Indoors

Rudbeckias for Every Garden

Newly released rudbeckia varieties don't seem to get the fanfare of, say, new echinaceas, but that doesn't mean they're not worthy of a closer look. The National Garden Bureau named 2008 "The Year of the Rudbeckia" for good reason. Rudbeckias, commonly...
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Resources

Flower Bulb Information
Guide to Trees and Shrubs

Be Prepared for Early Frosts
Stockpile Pine Needles
Bring Houseplants Indoors
Compost Old Mulch
Dry Petals for Potpourri
Be Prepared for Early Frosts
Stockpile Pine Needles
Bring Houseplants Indoors
Compost Old Mulch
Dry Petals for Potpourri

Compost Musings

Any how-to composting article worth its salt will tell you to build a pile that's at least one cubic yard, to mix nitrogen-rich and carbon-rich materials in just the right ratios, and to turn the pile to mix the materials so they decompose evenly. I'll...
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Resources

Green Cone Composters
Calendula

Sow Spinach
Prune Dead Branches
Allow Rose Hips to Form
Plant Garlic
Prepare New Garden Beds

Japanese Beetles

Japanese beetles are difficult to control. Unlike many garden pests that come in, do their damage, and then leave, Japanese beetles emerge in June and hang around for months. And while many pests are host-specific, attacking just one type of plant,...
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Resources

Resource Guide for Organic Insect and Disease Management
Help Gather Information about Viburnum Leaf Beetle

Watch Weeds
Preserve Herbs
Share the Wealth
Shade Tender New Plants
Keep Garden Clean

Stalking the Wild... Parsnip?

Because I'm growing flowers for a friend's wedding in September, I'm on the lookout for wildflowers along the side of the road and in fields... Just in case my zinnias succumb to powdery mildew or we get another hailstorm that flattens the cosmos. I...
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Resources

Resources on Wild Parsnip
Hand-Pick Japanese Beetles in Cool Temperatures

Stop Pruning Roses
Plan for Vacation
Tending Plants in Rainy Weather
Collect Seeds
Cut Back for Rebloom

It's Not Too Early for Late Blight on Tomatoes

If your tomatoes are struggling this year, you're not alone. Late blight, the disease that caused the Irish potato famine in the mid-1800s, is affecting tomato plants across the Northeast. The late blight fungus, Phytophthora infestans , isn't uncommon...
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Resources

Plant Disease Diagnostics
Identifying and Managing Garden Pests

Protect Blueberries
Think Fall
Rejuvenate Dry Container Gardens
Harvest and Freeze Berries
Save Seeds

Lily Leaf Beetle

If you grow lilies, you're probably familiar with the scarlet lily leaf beetle ( Lilioceris lilii ). And if you don't know this pest, be on the lookout. Both the larvae and adult beetles eat lily foliage; a bad infestation may reduce plants to naked...
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Resources

Resource Guide for Organic Insect and Disease Management
Chocolate Joe Pye Weed

Harvest Crops at Their Peak
Prune Tomato Suckers
Use Fabric to Tie Up Plants
Watch for Cabbage Loopers
Water As Necessary

A Late Start to the Summer Garden

Are the plants in your vegetable garden growing as slowly as they are in mine? It's been a challenging spring if you're a tomato or pepper plant, or the gardener trying to grow them. We can be thankful for the plentiful rain, considering how much of the...
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Resources

Gardening Resources at Cornell
Nail Brush

Discourage Mosquitoes
Cut Back Shrubby Perennials
Control Slugs
Install Plant Supports
Plant Wisely Around the House

New England Regional Report

Your Garden Symphony Starts with Spring Bulbs

Resources

Reminders

For the Love of Alliums

Resources

Reminders

Drying Late-Summer Flowers

Resources

Reminders

'Tis the Season

Resources

Reminders

Rudbeckias for Every Garden

Resources

Reminders

Compost Musings

Resources

Reminders

Japanese Beetles

Resources

Reminders

Stalking the Wild... Parsnip?

Resources

Reminders

It's Not Too Early for Late Blight on Tomatoes

Resources

Reminders

Lily Leaf Beetle

Resources

Reminders

A Late Start to the Summer Garden

Resources

Reminders