How to Get Rid of Whiteflies on Plants | 14 Ways to Kill Whiteflies

Out of the leaf litter they ascend.When I purchased this native of woodsy streambanks in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon for my New York garden, it was still called Peltiphyllum peltatum. I have a thing for big-leaved plants (likeAstilboides, its cousinRodgersia, and even thuggishPetasites). I had to tryDarmera, whose leaves can reach 18 in

I was happy to see a really good selection of G. phaeum, including ‘Samobor,’ in this year’s catalog from Digging Dog Nursery, whose amazing Northern California gardens made the cover of Martha Stewart Living’s 2006 annual March garden issue and will be featured in May 2009 in Gardens Illustrated.G. phaeum is called “the mourning widow” for its downward-facing, eggplant-purple blossoms. (Click on the top photo to really get the idea.) In the case of ‘Samobor,’ the widow wears dark chevrons on her foliage, too. Not all of them dress alike: G.p. ‘Lily Lovell’ has slightly bigger flowers and bright green leaves (no markings); ‘Langthorn’s Blue’ has subtle dark speckles on its leaves and brighter, violet blossoms; ‘Album,’ as its name suggests, is white-flowered, with green leaves.I grow the phaeums in deep shade to half-day sun, and they sow themselves around, some individuals proving more or

Four Winds Growers was founded around the idea of developing and promoting dwarf varieties of citrus to fit the scale of the new-home boom in post-war California and beyond–including on all those patios, and also in pots as the container-gardening trend began to take hold. Four Winds remains a family business, and a multi-generational one. It was taken over by the founder’s son, who ran it from the early 1950s until recently, when his son took charge, along with his daughter; her husband, and a grandson.In his own home garden, Four Winds marketing director Ed Laivo has potted citrus that he has been growing for “upwards of 25 or even 30 years.” He joined me on the radio and podcast to share his tips on container growing and pest control. (The transcript of the Nov. 3, 2014 show is below.)citrus-growing q&a with e

Before we get started, the BirdNote backstory: In 2002, the then-executive director of Seattle Audubon heard a short public-radio show called StarDate. “We could do that with birds,” she thought. In 2005 the idea became a two-minute, seven-day-a-week public-radio “interstitial” (short program) that recently caught my ear. I asked BirdNote to help answer the recent questions you had asked me. (In case you missed installment 1, we tackled How do birds make themselves at home—even in winter? Week 2 was about birds on the move: the miracle of hummingbird migration, and on flying in formation. Week 3: on daring behavior, such as when a mob of small birds chase after a bigger one, or a woodpecker drums on my house.)Parts of Ellen’s answers below are in 2-minute audio clips to stream (all in the green links–or you can read the transcripts at those links if you prefer):Q. How long do birds live? Can you give some examples that hint at their lifespans?A. A

THE ADVENTURE IN Mollie Katzen’s “The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipes for a New Generation,” begins even before the first recipe page. It starts in the delicious, intimate endpapers—which came from illustrated journals that the author has been keeping since she was a teenager, which were also the origin of her beloved, bestselling “Moosewood Cookbook.” The musings (that’s one in the photo above), in drawings and hand-lettered words, speak to how Mollie—a keen gardener, and the guest on my latest radio show—approaches food today. Learn how she suggests we re-define “vegetarian;” how she “paints [her] rice,” and makes her simplest, most delicious tomato sauce. And maybe win her newest book, too. 

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 didn’t even remember the botanical Latin name for the ubiquitous dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, below, until I became a regular on the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station “weed gallery” recently. The Rutgers weed tool is generally appropriate for my region, and  I can browse by common names or by thumbnail photos (or by Latin names if I ever know one). The University of Minnesota’s “Is This Plant a Weed?” tool is another place you’ll find me, narrowing the field of possibilities until I get an ID by clicking through a series of photo-based prompts (such as grass or broadleaf….upright or creeping…and so on). It almost makes weeds fun. (Note the almost.)Steve Brill, the so-called “Wildman” forager who teaches in Central Park in New York City and elsewhere, has p

A lot of gardening, and especially writing, is done on one’s own as a solitary pursuit, but the book brings to life a sense of community and common purpose among the women portrayed, despite their different career choices—from research scientist to floral designer to operating a seed company and more—and despite the fact that they hail from around the globe.Jennifer Jewell is author of “The Earth in Her Hands” (affiliate link) and is also the creator of the popular“Cultivating Place” podcast, produced with North State Public Radio in Chico, California. We talked about some of the women profiled in it, from seed experts Renee Shepherd and Ira Wallace, to Annie Hayes of Annie’s Annuals mail-

I find much of my garden design inspiration in the natural beauty of the chaparral ecosystem that once flourished in my area.By planting native species like white sag

Raspberry fruitworms, also known as raspberry beetles (or raspberry fruit worms), are members of a small family of beetles known as the Butyridae.The damage caused by these beetle

When I was seventeen years old, I visited Knott’s Berry Farm with my then-boyfriend (now-husband) and his family on a spring break trip to southern California.He’d grown up enjoying the famous boysenberry pie and chicken dinn

Elm trees are some of the most majestic and resilient plants in nature. Their iconic features make them stand out amongst other species as a symbol of strength and fortitude.We link to vendors to help you find releva