Upper South Regional Report

Garden Gadgets, Gifts, and Gewgaws

Basically, my mother gardened with little more than a decades-old hoe that had been worn down to almost nothing from repeated sharpening, a basic garden rake, a fox-hole shovel from the big war, a mattock that she called a grubbing hoe, a watering can...
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Resources

Cover Crops for Home Gardens
Baked Miniature Pumpkins

Observe and Shop for Fall Color
Pick and Choose Your Fall Cleanup
Give Hardy Annuals A Head Start
Start Feeding Birds
Plant Garlic and Shallots

Native Persimmons for Garden Bounty

For anyone who has ever eaten an unripe persimmon, it may be difficult to grasp that the genus name, Diospyros , means "food for the gods." Yet when frost-tinged and squishy ripe, the native persimmon ( Diospyros virginiana ) loses its astringency and,...
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Resources

Southern Comfort Alumroot
Persimmon Pudding

Give Amaryllis a Rest
Fertilize Rhubarb
Harvest Winter Squash and Pumpkins
Use Those Leaves
Revel in the Beauty

Success with Bulbs

In fall, as days shorten and leaves turn to autumn colors, gardeners everywhere are busy planting the tulips, daffodils, and other spring-blooming flower bulbs that will brighten the post-winter landscape. It's hard to believe these glorious flowers...
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Resources

Spring-Blooming Bulbs
Fireworks Goldenrod

Bring Herbs Indoors
Dig Up Gladiolus and Dahlias
Stockpile Straw
Get Houseplants Ready to Come Indoors
Take Cuttings or Pot Annuals

Fall Fun

Even before the leaves start to change colors, there's a change in the air, the quality of light, the sounds. And, of course, there's that signature crystalline blue sky. No doubt, fall is fast approaching. So why not get started enjoying the fun...
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Resources

Ohio Gourd Show
Full Moon Coreopsis

Shop and Plant
Harvest Potatoes
Keep Trimming
Plant and Divide Peonies
Plant the Earliest-Blooming Spring Bulbs

Heavenly Hydrangeas

When it comes to trees and shrubs in the garden, late summer can be somewhat monochromatic. But, for me, this is exactly when I want some flowers, so my garden is plentifully planted with crape myrtles, caryopteris, shrub roses, rose-of-Sharon, and,...
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Resources

Hydrangeas
Drying Hydrangeas

Evict Moles in Low-Tech Ways
Plant Foxtail Lilies
Preserve Tomatoes
Stake Floppy Perennials
Harvest Fruit

Tall and Terrific

For years now, the trend in flower breeding and selection has been to make plants smaller and more compact. But short, dumpy mounds do not always a garden make. Tall and statuesque can be a good thing, even in a small garden. Tall perennials,...
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Resources

The Dog-Scaped Yard
Quick Berry Vinegar

Eat Lots of Tomatoes
How to Pick a Ripe Melon
Continue to Care for the Strawberry Patch
Save Flower Seeds for Next Year
Rescue Bedraggled Beds

Fragrance in the Garden

Through the open door and windows of my office, the delightfully sweet scent of the appropriately named summersweet ( Clethra alnifolia ) makes sitting inside in front of a computer bearable. Relaxing on the porch in the evening during summer is made...
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Resources

Fragrant Plants
Hyperion Daylily

Share the Bounty
Plant More Vegetables
Shape Up Annuals and Containers
Keep Up With Rose Care
Preserve Herbs and Start Seeds

Summer's Fast Food

It struck me as amusing when I recently read in a cooking article online that "summer stretches out long and languid." Obviously, this wasn't written by a gardener. Before catching your breath as you finish picking blueberries, the blackberries are...
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Resources

Crocosmia
Critter Ridder

Keep On Weeding
Makes Notes and Take Photos
Divide and Replant Iris and Daylilies
Plant Potatoes
Pick a Bouquet

Renew, Re-Purpose, Restore

Having just finished the final restoration work from the damage caused by Hurricane Ike coming through the Ohio Valley last fall, plus doing a lot of other work in the garden, "recycling" in its broadest sense is much on my mind. I'm the daughter of...
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Resources

Blueberries
Bird Netting

Have A Berry Nice Time
Visit Daylily Gardens
Control Japanese Beetles
Check Container Plantings Daily
Start the Late Summer Food Garden

Mr. Tradescant's Namesake

There are flowers that beguile us with their flash. Think German iris, peonies, poppies. Then there are the ones that are more subtle. They charm us in other ways, perhaps with their indomitable natures, their adaptability, their long season of bloom....
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Resources

The National Center for Home Food Preservation
Fountains

Eat and Preserve Asparagus
Choose the Best Winterberry
Maintain Hummingbird Feeders
Keep An Eye on Newly Planted Plants
Check Mower Blades

Love Conquers All

What a glorious time of year! So many colors and scents in the garden. An early morning walk among the flowers is a great gift to give to yourself. Like a bumblebee, I flit from one flower to the next, thinking in turn that each one is the best ever....
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Resources

Armitage's Manual of Annuals, Biennials, and Half-Hardy Perennials
Ketzel Levine's Talking Plants

Deadhead Rhododendrons and Lilac
Rose Care
It's Not Too Late
Be Ruthless
Chrysanthemum Care

Upper South Regional Report

Garden Gadgets, Gifts, and Gewgaws

Resources

Reminders

Native Persimmons for Garden Bounty

Resources

Reminders

Success with Bulbs

Resources

Reminders

Fall Fun

Resources

Reminders

Heavenly Hydrangeas

Resources

Reminders

Tall and Terrific

Resources

Reminders

Fragrance in the Garden

Resources

Reminders

Summer's Fast Food

Resources

Reminders

Renew, Re-Purpose, Restore

Resources

Reminders

Mr. Tradescant's Namesake

Resources

Reminders

Love Conquers All

Resources

Reminders