4 Essential Tips for Pruning Flowering Trees

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While it's all too easy to track in debris from the outdoors or fall victim to other common winter messes, professional cleaning and organizing experts are determined to help you keep your space looking as fresh as possible this season.

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How to Grow and Care for Camassia (Wild Hyacinth) Camassia spp.

Unlike exterior columns, interior columns can stick out like sore thumbs. Acting like visual barriers, they block clear lines of sight across a room or simply take up space. But if they are structural to the house, columns just have to be accepted as is—or, at least, that’s what you might think.

Are you looking for advice on the best plants for outdoor pots?

WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE about zinnias? Organic seed farmer and breeder Don Tipping of Siskiyou Seeds and I both vote an emphatic “yes” in favor of making zinnias a part of every garden year.

Sooner or later, every gardener falls in love with a few select perennials. Perennials are flowering plants that live many years, but die back during their dormant season which is usually winter. When planted under the right conditions, perennials grow and prosper for years, often with little attention. Each perennial has a peak season of bloom, usually lasting from one to three months. After the blooms fade, the foliage remains so the plant can renew its energy stores for repeating the show again next year. The tops of most perennials are killed back by frost, but they do return in the spring.

Choosing a palette of plants that will sustain pollinators throughout the growing season is a great start. However, the way you plant and care for your selections can provide additional advantages for the pollinators you’re seeking to attract. Here are some ways to make the lower layers of your garden even more beneficial.

I prefer to top-dress my flower beds while my perennials are napping safely underground, but I often find myself doing this while the plants are up. That chore is made much easier with a 58-ounce cast-aluminum scoop. It’s small enough to maneuver among plants but holds enough compost, mulch, or—as shown here—composted wood chips to cover real estate quickly. Lastly, it leaves a hand free to hold plants aside while I’m applying the product.

Once orchids bloom, we all want their beautiful flowers to stay forever! However, as that’s too much to ask for, we can help you keep them fresh for a long time!

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