Wellness Ideas, Tips & Guides

Don’t have a sunny part in your home or garden, but still crave for those lively blossoms? Don’t worry! We have some beautiful flowers that will be more than happy to bloom in no sunlight!

With the first official day of summer only a few weeks away, the editors at BHG have been gathering warm-weather essentials in anticipation for the months ahead—and we're sharing them with you! Prep for summer entertaining with suggestions from our home and food editors, including a genius charcuterie board that comes with compartments for all your favorite meats and cheeses. Spruce up your summer tablescape with checkered linen napkins, or take the party on-the-go with a padded cooler bag that's perfect for picnics.

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While doing a deep clean or a massive decluttering can be both satisfying and rewarding, most will agree that it’s generally better to tackle your chores on a regular basis. But if you’re trying to create a weekly schedule, where to begin?

It seems that everyone wants to get away for summer, ditching their routines for a blissful retreat abroad. But the key to a relaxing mood all summer long might just be doing the opposite—by bringing the vacation atmosphere into your home. There are so many ancient design legacies across the world that can enhance your abode and turn it into a space you’ll never want to escape. 

Why have boring fences and hedges around your house when you can fill them up with different shades of colors nature has on offer with its stunning blossoms!

Colorful and trailing—these are the highlights of tradescantia, and it is probably one of the most recognised plants in America, too. If you are wondering why, and don’t have one in your collection, well, you’ll get one after reading this!

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If you’re looking to update the flooring in your home—whether with a simple area rug or a full swath of hardwood or ceramic tile—don’t do so without first reviewing the potential missteps that may seem minor but can set back a flooring project or even larger home improvement goals if overlooked.

If you’re looking for the ultimate destination for gardening enthusiasts, then QVC is is the platform for you.

There is little you can do to control how much shade or sunlight a garden bed gets. Sure, you can cut down a tree to let in more sun or build a pergola for shade, but you can’t adjust the tilt of the earth. To find plants that will thrive in your garden, you need to get a handle on how much sunlight reaches each bed throughout the day and in all four seasons. Fortunately, with good observation skills and perhaps a new app on your phone, you can gather all the information you need to choose plants that will grow well in your garden’s brightest sun, deepest shade, and all the partially shaded places in between. 

This plan represents a bed along a property fence between the west side of a house and a large canopy tree. The edge of the border is curved because I find that adds visual interest. This plan includes many plants that are adaptable to sun and shade as well as some supporting players that add interesting textures and forms to the design and that provide repetition and rhythm. The plants are placed according to their needs:

Tested by Mark Dwyer

Name: Pycnanthemum albescens

Instead of filling your medicine cabinet to the brim, think about the types of bathroom items that you can house under the sink instead to save some space. While not everything belongs under the sink, there are many products that you can safely store there, experts say.

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May is historically the hungry gap in the vegetable garden, because it is the time when the winter crops run out and before the summer crops get going. If you have been well organised, you may have some early crops of salad leaves, broad beans, radishes and even strawberries to harvest towards the end of the month – as well as asparagus, which is at its prime now. But the main focus this month is the sowing, nurturing and tending of your crops, as growth accelerates. Potatoes should be earthed up so the tubers are not exposed to light, while peas and broad beans need supporting with pea sticks or canes and twine as they get bigger. Weeding must be done regularly (little and often is my motto) and, if the weather is dry, watering is essential. It is best done as a thorough soak every few days rather than a scant daily sprinkling. At the start of May, I sow tender crops like tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes in seed trays and individual pots. I keep these in the greenhouse until later in the month, when it has warmed up and they can go outside. As the month goes on, the focus shifts to planting out. I find it very satisfying to be able to plant a neat row of seedlings along a garden line, rather than try the lottery of direct sowing into the ground, then thinning out. Using the no-dig method, I will have already prepared my beds with a layer of well-rotted compost. Just before planting out, I will rake the bed to break down any larger clods and give the seedlings a better chance of establishing.

Madeline Tolle. Interior Design: Mandy Cheng

When we picture geraniums, we think about plants that are growing in the border, or small pots, or window boxes, thriving with beautiful flowers. However, do you know that these can be trained to grow as mini trees, too?

What makes these plants special in the world of gardening? Well, all of these bring something unique to the table (umm, the sides on the leaves or stems) that will enrich your plant collection!

As someone who shivers at the thought of a chilly breeze, I’m well and truly done with our long, wet, cold spring. So much so, that I find myself daydreaming of brilliant sunshine, blue skies and warm breezes.

If you’ve owned a TV set, chances are you’ve come across QVC before.

When you think about white kitchen appliances, chances are you’re transported back to the kitchens of the 1990s. If you’re picturing outdated kitchens with yellowing fridges, you aren’t alone. But it’s 2024 and white kitchen appliances are back with a completely new look that’s so chic—yes, really!

We have had some very pleasant days this week, warm and mostly sunny and never uncomfortably hot, so lots of gardening jobs have been done – perhaps as well, as our open days are suddenly creeping up really quickly.  I still took time out to go for a walk on one of the days, choosing a route I have avoided for some time because it crosses fields which will have been muddy and difficult to walk through for many weeks. Taking a slight detour, I entered a small woodland which from experience I know is host to naturalised bluebells. Unfortunately, a fallen tree and overgrown paths meant I failed to get the full experience this year, but it made me aware just how realistic our own little woodland is. Despite being planted with trees, bluebells, wood anemones, wild garlic, fritillaries, snowdrops, comfrey and more, many other things have arrived uninvited and there is a real woodland feel to it, even more so at this time of year, as the green canopy closes in and brings an air of coolness and greenness. Lovely…

Even if your vacuum cleaner has served you well for many years, all appliances have an expiration date and aren't meant to last forever. So how do you know for sure that yours is on its last leg?

There are certain points of contention in interior design: maximalist or minimalist, vintage or new, carpet or hardwood floors? Another question that seems to garner polarizing opinions: if headboards are really needed in the bedroom.

I have often thought of myself as “gardening against the odds.” My rural Black Earth, Wisconsin, garden is adjacent to a marsh and pond and is technically in Zone 5a, but the open farmland and subsequent winds around me place it closer to Zone 4b. I’ve lost plants to harsh winters, deer, rabbits, and woodchucks. I’ve had snapping turtles till up my garden beds to make nests and beloved woody plants destroyed by beavers. As if all that weren’t enough, the majority of the shade in the garden is from black walnut trees, which cause lots of problems, like robbing moisture and nutrients from surrounding plants.

Tulips are amazing flowers, but cultivating them everywhere is not possible. The reason why we have their lookalikes in this article to ensure you get their beauty without actually having them!

If you need Ways to Grow ZZ Plants in your Home and Garden, you’ve come to the right place. ZZ plants can be grown indoors and in the garden and are essential to your home. Here are amazing ideas you can copy to showcase your ZZ plants.

Harvesting lettuce is not always like snipping off the entire plant the moment you see the leaves plump and full. To make sure you let the plant stay to provide you more leaves, there’s an art to cutting its leaves and this is where we come to help you!

Ever dreamed of having a beautiful honeysuckle vine climbing up a trellis? Well, dream no more! Our guide is packed with Honeysuckle Trellis Ideas that you can use to grow your Honeysuckles.

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Craig Melvin is a busy guy: He’s a constant on NBC’s Today, he’s gearing up to head to Paris for the Summer Olympics in July, and he’s the author of a new picture book. At home, he’s husband to sports reporter Lindsay Czarniak and dad to Delano, 10, and Sybil, 7. He recently welcomed a new puppy, Myles, to the family. He’s even taken on a few cozy hobbies (more on that later). Amid all this, Melvin has turned his attention to making his home a sanctuary—and part of that is the rules, written or unwritten, that keep his house running.

If you see your plants growing in every direction – well, this is an indication that they’re on a leggy path. However, it may also have a deeper meaning!

There are a tonnes of trees in the nature with some having really interesting names, while some have funny ones. We have 15 of the latter examples!

There are some veggies out there that you can use to grow many palnts from! This means, more specimens, more harvest!