Amaryllis
I have no idea what I was thinking trying to brighten up the winter by planting paperwhites in bowls filled with colorful glass marbles and water all these years. Yes, sure, the flowers are nice enough. But that sickly sweet smell they give off is worse than being trapped with a bunch of over-perfumed grannies in a hot elevator.
That’s why this year, even though red is my least-favorite color, I brought home a couple of big-ass amaryllis bulbs and gave them a try. (There are other colors, just not at my local garden center on the day that I thought I must buy some.) Wow! I’m going with these every year from now on. Not only do they have no smell, these long-blooming flowers—four from each bulb—are huge. And I have to say that even midlife-crisis-sports-car red has definitely lifted my spirits during this cold, gray stretch of the season.
Read More»Crocodile Fern
The crocodile fern (Microsorum musifolium ) really couldn’t be more aptly named. Exotic yet easy to grow as a houseplant (if you can find it), this fern has fronds that look remarkably like crocodile scales. I snapped this at our local conservatory, which was filled to bursting with Minnesotans looking to get out of the cold this weekend.
Of course if you live in a warmer place, you can also grow these outdoors. I’ve got a friend who says they carry crocodile ferns in big-box stores in the South. Luckies.
The Truth About Tulips
- On May 20, 2011
- By Meleah
- In Annuals
0
How to get a repeat performance out of tulips is always a hot topic in the spring. The truth is, most hybrid tulips just don’t come back year after year the way we’d like them to. That’s why some gardeners treat tulips as annuals, planting them in the fall and digging them up and tossing them into the compost pile once the blooms fade.
Read More»New plants for 2011
- On March 14, 2011
- By Meleah
- In Annuals, Perennials
- 0
Whether you have room for something new in your garden or not, it’s hard not to at least peek at the plants that are introduced each year. I’ve drooled over much of what I’ve seen on tap for 2011, and here is a roundup of the things I fell for that are suitable for our Zone 4 climate. If you’d like to see more of what’s new for 2011, go to the websites of any of the nurseries or growers I mention here. You can also just type “new plants for 2011” into a search engine, like Google, and you’ll get all kinds of results and photos.
From our very own Bailey Nurseries, located in Newport, Minn., we have Hydrangea arborescens (‘PIIHA-I’) Bella Anna, a new hydrangea in Bailey’s Endless Summer collection. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of many of the poofy-headed hydrangeas in this collection. But Bella Anna stands out in my mind for being only 3 feet tall, having unusual pink blooms that last from early summer through fall, and for being able to withstand severe pruning and our harsh winter weather.
Read More»A dog-friendly garden (sort of)
- On June 10, 2009
- By Meleah
- In Annuals, Organic Gardening, Perennials
- 0
In June, we got Lily, a nine-week-old puppy that the Humane Society described as a lab/spaniel mix but is very likely turning out to be a border collie. She, of course, is the inspiration for this column.
There are so many articles out there about creating dog-friendly gardens and, honestly, up until now I haven’t read many of them because I never needed to think about the subject. Now, though, I have a dog who has rapidly gone from 11 pounds to 20 and may well reach 60 come spring. So lately I’ve been trying to separate these articles into two categories: (1) Complete hooey that will never work (2) Things that sound reasonable enough for me and, perhaps, some of you everyday gardeners out there who have dogs, to try.
Read More»Starting Seeds Indoors
- On March 16, 2009
- By Meleah
- In Annuals, Indoor Gardening
- 0
Summer is still a dream, I know, but I sure am glad to be starting up my column again and, at least, beginning to think about gardening. Last year, about this same time, I devoted half of my column to starting seeds and I got so many questions from readers on how to tackle specific things, I’ve decided to write on the subject again. This time, though, I’ll go into more detail. (Of course, you’re still welcome to e-mail questions if something seems confusing, or you want to know more.)
If you’re looking to save some money on plants, growing at least a few from seed is the way to go. While perennials can sometimes be a little finicky, annuals are usually easy to grow — even if you’ve never started seeds before. One thing I really appreciate about growing my own plants is that it allows me to have some things in my garden that I just can’t find in stores, such as love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus), sea holly (Eryngium spp.) and Chinese lanterns (Physalis alkekengi).
Read More»
