debunking myths about spiders, with burke museum’s rod crawford

Egypt Sherrod | Design: Better Homes & Gardens

There’s an ugly truth behind those beautiful alstroemeria, dahlias, and roses we adore—80 percent of them are grown overseas and imported on gas-guzzling jets—often soaked in pesticides—despite the fact that they can be grown right here in the U.S. These blooms are often called “fresh” cut flowers, but they’re anything but. 

In an oval roundabout in Menston a dozen Poplar trees were planted in the 1970s. As you can see only about half survive and these have been mistreated by polling them to restrict height.

A happy and pleasant surprise has just arrived through the post at home.

Hippophae Rhamnoides also called Sea Buckthorn, is related to Elaeganeous and is shown here and below with it’s heavy crop of attractive Apricot coloured berries. The shrub can grow to over 15 feet but makes a nice ornamental feature. It flowers in spring followed by narrow silvery leaves through summer. Each plant is either male or female and you need both for pollination and only the female produces these great berries.

There are numerous jobs to start in February and most gardeners will be very busy. Perhaps too busy to read this article. Still Gardeners Tips tries to help new and experienced gardeners with a series of tips and job lists that should save time in the long run.

For over 25 years I have gardened a rockery or rock garden on a triangular patch of poor soil. I progressively scrounged and collected a range of granite, limestone and sandstone rocks and added them piecemeal. I aspired to growing alpine plants and recognised good drainage and shelter from winter wet weather would be key but that is as far as my planning would go. For the first couple of decades I was busy at work and wasn’t able to put in the effort of looking after small but hardy alpines.

It dawned on me that many tree leaves are shared in one form or another. Mine get blown over the wall on to the road and into neighbors gardens. The ones that are collected and bagged to make leaf mold are shared with worms and micro organisms in the circle of life. Those under hedges do more good than harm.

Blossom end rot is a troubling disorder of tomatoes that affects home gardeners and commercial growers alike. Numerous foliar calcium sprays are available that claim to solve this problem, but are they really the answer?

When landscape trees are stressed and declining, folks commonly notice a greenish/grey, frilly growth on the bark. This growth is an organism known as a lichen and is frequently blamed for the failing health of the tree, but is it the real problem?

Consumer demand for organic food has increased dramatically over the last few decades. Numerous grocery stores and restaurants pride themselves on their selection of organic offerings available to customers. Additionally, home gardeners commonly desire to manage their vegetable gardens organically. While the demand for organic products continues to rise, many believe growing crops organically means they are grown free of pesticides. Is this belief accurate?

First, of course, you want to make sure the crop you’re considering saving seed from is open-pollinated, not a hybrid. Hybrids won’t “come true” from saved seed one generation to the next.“Start with the super-easy things,” said Ken, “like anything with a perfect flower and a pod—beans, and peas, for instance.” Perfect flowers contain both male and female parts, or stamens and pistils, such as lettuce, tomatoes, brassicas, beans; in imperfect ones, such as on squash and cucumbers, there are separate male and female flowers.“Before you even transplant your first seedling, you can start thinking about seed saving,” Ken said, and also wrote in a new article on the Seed Library blog.For beginning seed-