Add Some Beauty to Your Fence With DIY Decorative Plates

Garden designer Alison Jenkins in her Somerset smallholding

Water is like gasoline: you don’t miss it until it’s gone. Benjamin Franklin succinctly stated it this way: “When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” So, while you may not be contemplating a hot, dry, sun-baked summer now, it’s important that you create and maintain a landscape that can stand up to whatever’s in store for us this summer.

Ranunculus (Ranunculus species) is an often-overlooked fall-planted and spring-flowering bulb that has recently become one of my favorite spring flowers to grow. It’s an attractive addition to flowering borders when interplanted with other spring-flowering bulbs like tulips, daffodils, anemones, and hyacinths, and it even performs and looks great in containers! Plant habit also comes in many forms, from compact and stout to plants with long flowering stem lengths, perfect for cutting. I particularly love using the multi-layered, almost paper-like blooms in flower arrangements, as they have an excellent vase life as well.

Are these gloomy winter days getting you down? One way to brighten up your home is the addition of tropical houseplants. Some of my favorite flowering ones are moth orchids (Phalaenopsis species), amaryllis (Hippeastrum species), cyclamens (Cyclamen persicum), kalanchoes (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana), and African violets (Saintpaulia ionantha). I also like adding interesting foliage plants such as bird’s nest (Asplenium nidus) and rabbit foot ferns (Davallia fejeensis), pothos (Epipremnum aureum), heartleaf philodendrons (Philodendron hederaceum), and snake plants (Dracaena trifasciata). An indoor garden, especially during the winter, helps satisfy my need to be surrounded by plants. My husband claims he’s living in an indoor jungle but secretly enjoys being surrounded by plants.

One of the best resources ever for those wishing to know their weeds is the book “Weeds of North America,” published in 2014 by University of Chicago Press, and co-authored by Richard Dickinson, with France Royer. Since its release, it is always at the ready here—with information about 500 species, plus photos of most every one at every life phase from seed to seedling to full plant and leaf and flower detail. There will be no mistaking weed from wildflower or garden plant again. Toronto-based Richard Dickinson has taught plant taxonomy for more than 25 years, and he joined me to talk about every gardener’s favorite—or is it unfavorite?—subject, weeds. I learned how they get so good at being weedy, and what their environmental impact is beyond taking space awa

While I can name my local mammals, birds, amphibians and reptile species, I admit to using the word “bee” a little, shall we say, generically, not even sure I know exactly what a bee is—and isn’t.Dr. Olivia Carril has that covered, and then some. She is a PhD plant biologist who has been studying bees and the flowers they visit for nearly 20 years. Olivia is also co-author with Utah State biology professor Joseph Wilson of “The Bees in Your Backyard,” the new book that

We’ll encourage you to feed your curiosity and indulge in snooping for easily overlooked garden plants and animals during a joyful ramble through the “classroom” of Margaret’s garden and the natural areas at its perimeter, with both formally landscaped patches (featuring mostly exotic “collector” plants) and wilder areas managed for natives.See Margaret’s various experiments with making a mini-meadow, creating “snags” or wildlife trees and “unmowing” some new areas to discover what happens–and we’ll get Conrad and Claudia’s insights on how to fine-tune and enhance them with a more expert eye.Led by what

It’s called the Habitat Network, a collaboration between Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Nature Conservancy, and powered by a powerful mapping program called YardMap. It provides a suite of tools that doesn’t just help the scientists learn more from your inputs, but actually helps you map and then manage your own home landscape ecologically—to be a better habitat-style gardener, if you will. Citizen science is a participatory effort—when non-scientists like myself help collect more observations, or data, from more locations than scientists could without our help. Besides the feel-good part, you get t

That the world would be a much worse place without wasps, if it were a place at all, is what I came away thinking about after reading Eric’s new book. Eric is previously lead author on the “Insects of North America” volume (affiliate link) in the popular “Kaufman Field Guide” series. We talked about fear of wasps, yes, but also about how much they contribute to the environment–in pest control, pollination services, and figs, among other things (yes, tiny wasps make figs happen).Plus: Enter to win the new book by commenting at the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the May 10, 2021 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes)

Charles Dowding is often called the guru of no-dig gardening, which he practices today in his organic market garden in Somerset, in South West England. He began experimenting with no-dig in 1982 and, over the years since, in his many books and in person and online teaching, including his massive YouTube channel, Charles has brought countless people into the no-dig fold.His most recent book is “No Dig: Nurture Your Soil to Grow Better Vegetables With Low Effort,” about making and managing a vegetable garden without tilling.Plus: Enter to win a copy of “No Dig” (affiliate link) by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the January 30, 2023 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to al

A new awareness of ecological and conservation concerns has resulted in a rising interest in growing native plants and trees. Why are native trees important? One of the main benefits of planting native trees is their adaptability to their specific region. Living in their natural habitat means native trees require less water and fewer herbicides and pesticides to keep them healthy. Trees in their natural environments are also hosts to local wildlife, providing them with food and habitat.

Hector Sanchez