10 Most Googled Houseplants of the Year So Far

Are you frustrated because there are dandelions and other weeds in your lawn? Did you know that dandelion flowers provide one of the first springtime sources of pollen for bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects?

MY GARDENING LIFE STARTED with a hedge—cutting one back hard, specifically. It was the threadbare, tall old privet surrounding my childhood home, and I was determined to “rejuvenate” it, after reading about the process in a book. No artful hedge has ever been created by my hands, though—a fact that feels all the more lamentable after watching Sean Conway’s video tour (above) of designer and nurseryman Piet Oudolf’s garden in the Netherlands. What magic.

I was already thinking about succulents, after writing a story about succulent-wreath how-to with Katherine Tracey of Avant Gardens. Remember? (That’s another of her creations up top: a box of succulents, meant to be hung vertically, like a framed mini wall garden. Here’s Katherine’s how-to on making a mini-wall garden.) Then during spring garden cleanup, I noticed that some Sedum ‘Angelina’ (a gold-colored, ferny-textured groundcover type) had fallen out of a big pot I’d placed on the terrace last summer, and planted itself in the gravel surface, and the surrounding stone wall. (Again, those succulent voices: “Hint. Hint.”)The next nudge came when I spontaneously pulled into a garden center last month—one I’d never been to—only to find an irresistibly low price on overstuffed pots of hens and chicks. I brought home a bunch.And then the final push: At Trade Secrets, the big annual benefit garden show held in nearby Sharon, Connecticut, it was as if someone had announced a theme: Every vendor seemed to be featuring succulents in one way or another.Dave Burdick (remember him?) of Daffodils and More in Dalton, Massachusetts, whose specialties include not just rare

You can order the plan, a pdf, from Wave Hill’s shop. My pairs were adapted from there–made in cedar, not pine; the arms slightly longer; the wood slightly thicker and so on–and a savvy carpenter can adjust the angle of the seat and back before screwing everything together, to be more upright or less so. Follow the plans to the letter…or have some fun with them. Order the Wave Hill chair plan by calling the Wave Hill Shop at 718.549.3200 x 249, or email jenahb at wavehill dot org.Want them painted? My expert woodworking neighbor recommends using Benjamin Moore Aura exterior on top of an oil-based primer to help stop any tannin bleed (assuming that the material is cedar, which is the best choice if you plant for long life of the chairs, or to leave them outdoors in winter). If there are knots, use oil-based Binz primer on the knots only.You may recall my recent interview

These may remind you of my popular vegetarian baked heirloom beans, but lentils cook much more quickly, and I don’t use molasses or the same spices in these as I do in the beans. That said, you could alternate either flavor with either “pulse,” and simply vary the cooking time.barbecue lentils, minus the grillingredients:1¾ cups lentils, rinsed (I use the basic greenish kind; black “caviar” ones are fine, too) Water to cover the lentils to twice their depth (about 4 cups) 1 medium onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 Tablespoon oliv

LAST FALL, a month apart, the earth lost two of it great plantswomen. They were from opposite coasts, and one—Californian Ruth Bancroft, at 109 years old—was twice the age of the other, New Englander Elizabeth Farnsworth, 54. Both were individuals of great focus and optimism and energy whom I enormously admired, and will not forget.

I always think of the big panicle hydrangeas, Hydrangea paniculata, as serving this freshening role around August onward, when much of the garden is just too tired. But the trend of summer whites really starts now, with plants like these:Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snowflake’MY FRIENDS at Broken Arrow Nursery recommended I try the oakleaf hydrangea called ‘Snowflake’ (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snowflake,’ Zones 5-9), with its distinctive double blooms (detail above). Broken Arrow calls this shrub a “wow” plant because of its foot-long flower tru

Yes, each female makes only one such mass; I have it on good authority fromCharley Eiseman, author of the field guide “Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates” and the most fun person ever to take a walk with. But I digress. Today’s topic:Guess I will soon be Aunty to a lot of little Sallys.Unlike frog eggs, masses of salamander eggs are encased in a big blob of extra protective Jello; each egg isn’t just covered in a small bead of it (something Charley taught me last year). For example, some wood frog eggs are shown just below for comparison to the salamand

Yes, we know the labels on various commercial nursery plants, like a coneflower, or lupine, or Coreopsis, may say “native,” but keen gardeners probably have figured out that that’s often used quite generically in marketing, perhaps implying U.S. native, or maybe regional native at best.As I consciously add more natives to my garden, I wanted to learn how to get a little more precise than that. Who better at the time to ask for guidance than Elizabeth Farnsworth, Senior Research Ecologist for what was then called New England Wild Flower Society, now Native Plant Trust? No matter where you live, Elizabeth helped map out a strategy for learni

I was recently treated to a conversation with the Society’s Senior Research Ecologist, Dr. Elizabeth Farnsworth, who agreed to indulge my insatiable curiosity first-hand on all that—and about topics as diverse as why to love (not loathe!) ants, or what roles ferns play in ecosystems, and her bottom-line optimism despite so many despairing headlines environmentally.Elizabeth, who has worked at the Society since 1999, has directed several special projects there, including more than one-hundred Conservation and Research Plans for rare plants, and the building and promoting of Go Botany—an online resource that we’ll hear more about in a moment. She has conducted research on plant ecology, physiology, evolution, and responses to climate change, serves on several graduate faculties, and has authored and/or illustrated seven books.Read along a

1. Developing a signature garden style, even in a small space, with designer Susan Morrison2. Overwintering tender plants, plus issues with hydrangeas (a reader and listener Q&A session), with Ken Druse3. Vegetable and mushroom soup ideas, with Alexandra Stafford of Alexandra Cooks dot com4. Cattle-panel DIY ideas (creating tomato cages and more garden organizing tools with wire fencing), with Joe Lamp’l5. Asian jumping worms, and research around these terrifying invasive species, with B

Toshi is in his third year as director of horticulture at the former estate called Wethersfield garden in Dutchess County, New York, with its 3-acre formal gardens plus 7 acres of wilderness garden and commanding views of the Catskills and Berkshire Mountains.Toshi and his team are bringing the gardens back to life, and he told me about the place, and specifically about the tasks of editing and dividing that every perennial gardener needs to do, whatever their garden scale. (Above, a tangle in one of the Wethersfleid cutting garden’s annual beds, with Gladiolus ‘Wine and Roses,’ Zinnia ‘Benary’s Giant Lime,’ Rudbeckia hirta ‘Indian Summer,’