In most of our areas, hard frosts have come by mid-November. Mild weather sometimes holds until Thanksgiving, leaving some hardier annuals such as snapdragons, stocks, sweet alyssum, lobelia, verbena, and petunias still in bloom if they have been protected. Garden mums and roses can be expected to supply great colors right up to a general … Read more
Plants growing in poorly drained soils are far more subject to winter damage than those growing in well-drained ones. They also tend to grow more readily when the host leaves the ground in spring. Plants growing in well-drained soil have more luxuriant roots that penetrate more deeply. Such plants are more resistant to low-temperature injury … Read more
Colors will be subdued, to be sure, but the winter details in a garden need not be drab and dull. The textures of many plants, dormant or dried, are handsome and worthy of special consideration for winter beauty. And many are the objects you can add to provide interest points along a winter garden path. … Read more
October is planting time for many things in the South. All the way from the Virginia seaboard to the Texas plains it is considered the best time to plant daffodils. Here in the South we need many more of these bulbs. In late winter. February and March, no other flowers give its such an invigorating … Read more
Perhaps the one time that indoor plants are most appreciated is in the long gray wintery months that precede spring. Average Indoor Plants Foliage plants, African violets, gloxinias, and begonias are about the extent of what the average indoor gardener has to work with. Summer Months: Growth and Bloom of Plants Actually, with proper light, … Read more
Tired of looking at unsightly burlap winter covers on your evergreens? Spraying Shrubs With Wilt-Pruf You can banish burlap from the winter scene and protect your choice shrubs by simply spraying them with Wilt-pruf, a transparent plastic that nurserymen have been using with amazing results for several years. Besides being a winter protector, this plastic … Read more
We must realize that many of the perennial plants we grow in our gardens need special protection to live from year to year. Some bulbs, corms, and tubers need to be dug and placed in storage for winter because they do not survive the temperatures out of doors. Those needing such treatment include gladiolus, cannas, … Read more
House plants and those grown in a greenhouse will benefit from a location outdoors during the summer months and can make an attractive addition to the outdoor living area. As soon as nights are mild, say safely over 55° degrees Fahrenheit, it is generally satisfactory to put most plants outside. Often, in a few weeks, … Read more
On a spring day back a year ago, I enjoyed a tour through one of the Deep South show gardens when our guide pointed toward a passage through a hedge and said, “Now we look at the Amer-gorillas!” I was prepared for anything since he had shown us the “high-biscuit” bushes earlier. But it was … Read more
Every gardener knows what a late frost in the spring or an early frost in the fall can do to his prized plantings. Among the more common victims at one end of the season are dahlias, tomatoes, iris, peonies, and peaches. In fact, practically any more tender flowers, vegetables, and fruits are susceptible. Sometimes it … Read more