This Banana Peel Water Can Boost Plant Growth Quickly

SITTING AT A KITCHEN TABLE with like-minded neighbors in her English hometown several years ago, Pam Warhurst helped found a dynamic greening group called Incredible Edible Todmorden. No board meetings, no surveys or reports first, she says: They did it “without a flippin’ strategy document,” because they thought that creating gardens–especially food gardens–in unused spaces around town, reconnecting citizens to the source of their food as a first step toward sustainability, was very simply a good idea. “We call it propaganda gardening,” she says. Indeed.

But Deb, up the hill, outdoes us all. Deb leaves dirigibles. You know: like the Hindenburg—but of shallots, that is. “What in the world is that?” I asked in my email reply after the hefty thing had landed (pictured above, with two good-sized onions and a coffee cup for scale). And Deb emailed back thus:“It’s a banana shallot,” she wrote. “I first saw banana shallots, also known as chef’s shallots, on one of Jamie Oliver’s cooking shows. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the thing–it is enormous, as big as a good size yellow onion and in truth, bigger than some bananas!  I love shallots (the onion’s sweeter sister) and have grown the traditional variety for years from sets (or bulb-lets). The possibility of growing this new variet

FORUM MEMBER TERRYK IS SO RIGHT TO ASK: Whether or not we can add weeds to our compost heaps without risking weed-filled finished compost is a confusing topic. Won’t all their seeds sprout, or runners survive–especially in a slow-cook, not-so-hot heap? This week, we have the answer in the Urgent Garden Question Forum…thanks to some advice from our English gardening brethren (and a couple of giant plastic bags).

MY GARDEN MENTOR’S NAME is Marco Stufano, and so when, in a Google search for something botanical, I happened on a result that said “Stefano Mancuso,” I just had to click. Had they jumbled my Marco’s name? No; it yielded a 2010 TED Talk by an Italian plant scientist, and though not the answer to what I had been seeking, it perfectly summed up how I (and Marco) feel about plants.

In late winter or early spring phrases like “slow to establish” are heard from frustrated gardeners seeing maybe 2 of the 200 they planted last fall actually doing anything.Years ago I recall reading upstate New Yorker Kathy Purdy’s frustration on her Cold Climate Gardening blog, and how she’d since learned about soil pH and its effect on winter aconites, as Eranthis are commonly called. In a vintage how-to column in “The Telegraph,”

It’s not that hard, despite the sometimes-tenacious, gooey green stuff. And most important: There is no other feature of the garden that brings more joy—or sustains more wildlife, from birds to dragonflies, salamanders to frogs–than a pool or pond. My essential spring water-garden care tips:1.Reduce debris (organic matter such as leaves on the bottom of the pool), which adds nutrients to the water as it decays and can thereby “feed” algae growth. I always do this just as soon as the ice on the pool allows—ty

Garden designer Nick McCullough and his wife, Allison, are the team behind an Ohio-based landscape design firm, and also behind the new book, “American Roots: Lessons and Inspiration from the Designers Reimagining our Home Gardens” (affiliate link). Nick shared some takeaways he gleaned from the process of making the book.Plus: Enter to win a copy of the new book (out later this month) by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the Oct. 10, 2022 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my a

Even if you’re not an ideal plant grower, and you can plant these vining and climbing houseplants indoors in decorative vases and glasses in water without worrying about maintenance.

Are you looking for the Best Hanging Houseplants that Won’t Die Easily? We have the most low-maintenance ones lined up for you that you can display beautifully in hanging baskets!

 Learn How to Make a Pebble Tray for Houseplants to Increase Humidity and help them thrive in the drier months of the year!

Iris ‘Benton Olive’ in Sarah Price's garden

These Modern Hanging Glass Planter Ideas are great for vining plants like Pothos, Philodendrons, English ivy, Arrowhead plant, Hoya, Air plants, along with small and vining succulents.