A tutorial for a long and elegant table centrepiece | House & Garden

“Last year [2012] at the overwintering sites, the area occupied was at only 60 percent of its previous low,” she says. “It had been declining, but that was astonishingly low.”The migration-monitoring program Journey North also reported lower stats in 2013’s cold spring. And though the numbers were only preliminary when we spoke that fall, University of Minnesota’s Monarch Larva Monitoring Program seems to indicate that “we’re at about 20 to 30 percent of our average,” Oberhauser says, acknowledging that these drastically lower numbers might be a “new normal.” But she’s not sounding defeated, by any means.A big positive: A lot of people are interested in monarchs. “Though it will be difficult to make up for all the habitat we’ve lost, we can make that ‘new normal’ as good as we can.”  (Ways to help are father down this page.)what going wrong for monarchs?MONARCH

I met Glenn more years ago than I care to admit, when I wrote one of my first stories for “Martha Stewart Living,” even before I went to work for Martha fulltime. It was a story about heirloom squash and pumpkins, and to the delight and astonishment of the photographer and art director and food editor, I called in every manner of wacky-looking Cucurbita from collectors and growers around the country, to have their photos taken.If you want to grow unusual sweet potatoes next year, be sure to reserve your “slips” the moment the 2013 catalog arrives; they’re always sold out fast. What? Not on the Sand Hill Preservation Center mailing list? You can correct that (and besides all the squash and sweets, you’ll be amazed at their collection of things like beans and corn and even heirloom poultry breeds). Tell Glenn that Margaret sent you.More on the sweet potatoes after dinner, but for now, just this: Thanks!Update: the view inside the sweets (can you believe!?!?!?!):Categoriesfrom seed vegetables

IMUST GO TO MY ROOM, WITHOUT SUPPER OR FURTHER DELAY. Right now—to my room.

I love them with little yellow fruits (like ‘Bob White’) or giant, gleaming red ones (like ‘Ralph Shay’, whose fruits are just below). Regular-sized red fruits are wonderful, too.If I had to recommend only one…I couldn’t, but I most of all love the crabapples with Malus sargentii “blood”—the wider-than-tall genes of the Sargent crabapple, like my pink-flowered ‘Candy Mint’ plants (the two paler-pink ones in the photo), or beautiful ‘Tina’ (a variety I don’t have—yet). I like the Sargent types because they lo

‘DAYS ARE LONGER,’ I wrote ever so carefully 54 years ago, hoping for a star in penmanship from the teacher. It was May 4, as in 5/4 (and if you like numerology, it will make you smile that I was born in 1954 to boot).

I guess that’s why she titled her 2011 book, “The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener: How to Grow Your Own Food 365 Days a Year No Matter Where You Live.”Niki’s vegetable garden in Halifax just got a facelift to become even more productive. She is one of the contributors to the blog Savvy Gardening and creator of the award-winning radio program, The Weekend Gardener, that’s heard throughout Eastern Canada. And we spoke just in time for all of us us to order the seeds and learn the tactics we’ll need to grow our own offseason gardens, too.Read along as you listen to the Aug. 8, 2

About 10 years ago, Dan Furman joined the nursery and mail-order operation his parents Kasha and David had started in 1989 in Connecticut to specialize in Chinese tree peonies, which are still a mainstay of the family business. Well, Dan brought with him a growing interest in edible ornamentals, he says, “to make landscapes more bountiful, not just beautiful.” And with lots of personal research and experimentation, he has added a great assortment of them to the Cricket Hill lineup. That’s Dan, below, in a recent video he did on Cricket Hill’s Instagram, praising Aronia fruit (chokeberry).Read along as you listen to the September 16, 2019 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).unusual fruits, with dan furman of cricket hillMargaret Roach: Welcome Dan. I’m so excited that I saw you at the booth the other day.Daniel Furman

“What holds the garden together in such a moment?” he asked as we chatted, and as he looked out the window at the scene above.Texture, primarily we agreed. And at Ken’s, especially some refreshing splashes of variegation and definitely the freshness of some white flowers. Using all of those effectively is our topic today, along with some favorite plants (like his Hiba arborvitae or Thujopsis dolobrata, below, a conifer with great texture a

Radishes are one of those first treats to come from the spring garden. There is nothing like pulling out a colorful root veggie, giving it a little dust and polish, and biting into it before it has a chance to see the kitchen. Did you know you can also enjoy fresh radishes in the fall, as well? In this article, I’m going to explain the difference between spring and winter radishes, and share some tips on growing radishes from seed for a spring crop and for a fall crop. Timing your radish seeding is simply a matter of counting forwards or backwards to frost-free and frost dates.

Maybe you’ve heard of xeriscaping. It’s a type of desert-style landscaping, right?Actually, I’m here to tell you that it’s way more!

Create a stunning display in pots and containers with these best lilies for pots and containers. Discover the perfect lilies that thrive in limited spaces, bringing beauty and elegance to your garden.

Harry's Chelsea garden, The School Food Matters Garden