Spring Ideas, Tips & Guides

Rhubarb is a beautiful, easily cultivated perennial with large, ruffled leaves and tall stalks of pink or scarlet with a delicious, sharply tart flavor.The pretty stalks of this herbaceous vegetable (or fruit, if you pref

We all know what it’s like to come home from the grocery store and dig into the strawberries only to find them too bland, too tart, or too far gone.And when we get a nice, sweet, juicy batch we inhale them within a

Spinach has gotten a bad rap over the years for being a pungent vegetable that kids would rather toss than digest.However, I’ve watched my six kids eagerly devour theirs at every meal,

Also called double late tulips or double hybrids, peony tulips (Tulipa x hybrida) are round and layered with scores of ruffled petals, which makes them resemble a real peony (Paeonia lactiflora).But the two are entirely different flowers.

When you’re growing spinach in your garden for use in fresh spring salads or warming autumn stir fries, knowing when and how to harvest can help ensure you extend the growth of your crop, and enjoy more meals from your plants.Packed with nutrition, this h

Columbine, or Aquilegia, is an intriguing member of the Ranunculaceae family with exquisite petals that give it an ephemeral quality, like a briefly glimpsed hummingbird.It is an herbaceous perennial that blooms from sp

Every gardener out there can benefit from having floating row covers on hand. They’re lightweight, easy to store, and inexpensive. And their uses go well beyond frost protection.Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t up for building a mini h

The tulip, Tulipa spp., is a spring-blooming bulb flower in the Liliaceae, or lily family. It has a waxy, cup-like flower available in every color except blue, a bare vertical stem, and fleshy green foliage that is sometimes variegated with red or white.After blooming, the foliage feeds the bulb so it can

While its brilliantly-colored beauty is enough to make even the sourest puss happy, a crocus poking its brightly hued head through the snow is known to trigger frenzied joy in those who feel perpetually winter-afflicted.Many gardeners look to the appearance

Have you ever seen a lawn or hillside dotted with nodding yellow and white daffodils in spring?Most likely, those lovely springtime flower

Hyacinths are a perennial, bulbous spring flower from the genus Hyacinthus in the Asparagaceae or asparagus family.Sweetly fragrant with a delicate, fresh scent, ea

There’s no better way to brighten up a dreary winter day than with a basket of bright flowers, or a vase of fragrant branches.We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If

Are you pining for spring? Try growing Galanthus flowers. More commonly called snowdrops, they are some the first to bloom in the late winter and early spring.We link to vendors to help you find rel

Container herb gardens are among the easiest and most rewarding of garden projects.A must-have for cooks, herbs

Cauliflower, Brassica oleracea var.botrytis, is a vegetable in the Brassicaceae family that includes broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, kale, and kohlrabi.It is a cool-weather crop often referred to as a “brassica”or “cole

Good ol’ bok choy… where would we be without you?A leafy green superstar in Asian cuisine, b

Cauliflower, Brassica oleracea var. botrytis, is a brassica, or cruciferous vegetable in the cabbage family.It grows best in cool temperatures in USDA Hardiness Zones 2 to 11.Companion plants are those that sha

Since bok choy is suitable for cultivation in USDA Hardiness Zones 2 to 11, just about anyone in the US can grow their own supply of the cruciferous leafy green.And don’t rule yourself out just beca

Forsythia is a non-native deciduous shrub best known for its profusion of bold yellow blossoms that appear just as winter yields to spring.There are 11 species in the Forsythia genus and numerous c

Bright and cheerful with a heavenly fragrance, daffodils are among the most beloved of spring’s harbingers.The flowers are notable for their hues of yellow or

If you’re growing bok choy, aside from dealing with potential pest and disease issues, the last thing you want is for your crop to go to seed.When bok choy bolts, the leaves an

I love those funny jokes about spinach. You know, the ones where people poke fun at the way you can put an entire bag of spinach in a pan to saute, but you’ll only have a teaspoon of the green once it’s done cooking?Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration –

Swiss chard is exceptionally beautiful on top of being delicious, which makes it doubly frustrating when the leaves turn up with unsightly holes or yellowing leaves.When pests attack, you need to take s

If you’ve never grown root vegetables in containers, now’s the time to try.Parsnips are in the Apiaceae family,

Living in a cold climate doesn’t mean you have to miss out on colorful flowers in your garden.While the growing season may be shorter, by sel

If your garden to-do list includes planting drifts of naturalized daffodils, carefully arranged to look like they popped up and spread of their own accord, it’s important to choose the right varieties.Cultivars that will work for this purpose might be descri

The first time I encountered lily of the valley, I smelled it before I saw it.I was hiking near a forested swamp and was caught off guard by something that

Rembrandt tulips are literally the stuff of legend.They represent some of the most expensi

I’ve got to admit, I have a laissez-faire attitude when it comes to gardening.I don’t mind leaf litter scattered around, and I l

Are you searching for a palate-pleasing lettuce? Tired of the old standby ‘Iceberg’ and varieties of romaine? Then ‘Buttercrunch’ might be just what you’re looking for.Any time the word “butter” appears in the name of a vegetab

Kale has quickly become one of my favorite foods.In addition to having a very distinct flavor, which reminds me of a mild cabbage, i

Come late February or March, the winter is on its way out over much of the country. It’s pruning time for folks who have woody-stemmed plants that bloom or hedges and shrubs that need shaping up.But how and when to prune are puzzli

I’m here to make a confession: when I first started gardening, I planted four broccoli seedlings in a container, I grossly underestimated how big they would get.They started from such tiny s

While brussels sprouts may get a bad rap in some culinary circles, they don’t fare so poorly in my household.On the contrary, my family wi

Cabbage plants grow firm, round heads surrounded by large, loose outer foliage.Tying up the outer leaves is not a

There’s nothing like waking up one late-winter day to a field of gorgeous crocus blooms in your own backyard.But when, exactly, do yo