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For decades, zinnias have been the flower of choice for spreading glorious colors throughout the garden as well as for cutting to bring indoors.   But it wasn’t always so. When the Spanish first saw zinnia species in Mexico, they thought the flower was so unattractive they named it mal de ojos, or “sickness ofRead more

Today, eggplants are appreciated for both their inspiring beauty and delightful flavor. An essential ingredient in cuisines around the world, it is the essence of Greek moussaka, Middle Eastern baba ganoush, Italian eggplant parmigiana, and French ratatouille. The emergence of Asian cuisine has introduced a whole new range of eggplants flavoring delicious stir-fries and curries.Read more

Sweet peppers bring a rainbow of colors and a plethora of shapes to the table. It is easy to value them for looks and flavor alone, but sweet peppers are a nutritional powerhouse as well. A serving of the most popular type in the USA–the sweet bell–contains more vitamin C than the average orange, aRead more

All About Tomatoes The modern age of the tomato was ushered in by hybrids such as Big Boy, which is still offered today. The early ripening red tomato was an instant success. Thousands of hybrids have followed, offering gardeners desirable traits such as earliness, crack-resistance, and compact habits. Continued breeding efforts have produced more healthfulRead more

Did you know that cucumbers are one of the top five most popular garden vegetables? They are also very adaptable; they have been grown in space as well as a mile underground in a nickel mine. Cucumbers are native to India, where it has been grown for almost 3000 years. Although the first wild cucumbersRead more

Just because summer comes to a close doesn’t mean the homegrown harvest has to end. Written by Niki Jabbour Savvy Gardening In my large vegetable garden, I plant new seeds and seedlings from mid-summer through early fall so that we have plenty of vegetables to harvest in autumn and even winter. And I live inRead more

Classic AAS Winners for Your Garden! Written by Mark Dwyer Landscape Prescriptions by MD When I was the Director of Horticulture at Rotary Botanical Gardens (Janesville, WI), we enjoyed our relationship with All-America Selections (AAS) and we were always proud to display a wide range of award-winning plants with a heavy focus on the annuals.Read more

From seed to harvest, learn the secrets to growing a bumper crop of delicious summer and winter squash. Summer and winter squash are crops that offer huge payback. They’re both easy to grow, fairly low maintenance, and there are so many delicious varieties to try. Summer squash plants yield tender fruits all summer long whileRead more

The key to a high-yielding raised bed vegetable garden is to grow healthy plants. Vegetable plants that are provided with plenty of sun, consistent moisture, and a steady supply of nutrients are more likely to produce a heavy crop. The great thing about gardening in raised beds is that they offer so many advantages toRead more

8 AAS Winners that bring Boldness to your garden Boldness in the garden can be achieved in many ways. Written by Mark Dwyer Landscape Prescriptions by MD Commonly, it’s through the intentional use of interesting and intense color combinations provided by flowers and foliage. In other instances, boldness in the garden can be expressed throughRead more