Bob’s Blog
Growing Stonecrop
Today I got a Facebook message from Tena Roush wanting some help identifying a plant. The plant pictured is a favorite in the fall garden when it reveals cluster of beautiful blooms. Stonecrop is a perennial that provides beautiful foliage throughout the growing season and provides an impressive flash of color in the fall.
Brace Yourself
I hate to say it, but to quote Eddard Stark, “Winter is coming.” This week’s cooler weather has got me thinking about changing leaves, the smell of wood smoke, and frosty mornings. With the changing of the seasons, there are a number of things you can do now to prepare your landscape for winter and give you landscape a boost in the spring.
Late Summer Gardening
As summer begins to wind down toward fall, the spring-planted garden changes character. Once bright green and limber, the foliage darkens, dries, and makes a rasping, rattling sound as you wander through. In the late-summer vegetable garden, your plants are entering the seed making phase and require a little special attention to prolong their productivity.
Lessons from The Garden
One of my earliest memories as a child is following grandpa through the garden as he tilled between the rows with a push cultivator. My grandpa and my dad taught me everything I know about gardening. Growing up on a small farm in a small West Virginia community had an enormous impact on my life. Gardening is a great way to teach children lessons that will continue to grow throughout their lives.
Gardenias and Spider Mites, Yikes!
This week I got an email from Rebecca. She was trying to help her mother take care of a plant she got as a mother’s day gift from her brother. Her particular problem would’ve been a brain teaser for me had it not been for her excellent description and the photo she included.
Caring for Cyclamen
A native to the coasts of the Mediterranean, cyclamen is a plant commonly grown as a winter houseplant in our area. They come in shades of red, pink, and white. The foliage usually exhibits a beautiful marble pattern. Cyclamen are a tuberous plant that grows from a corm, a small, stem-shaped bulb.