what’s wrong with this picture? (hint, it’s april!)

Read McKendree

Caitlin Atkinson

Anna Stathaki

If you love plants but don’t like the mess of handling the soil they come with, then don’t worry! For people who hate dirt in their homes, these are the best Houseplants that Grow Without Soil!

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. 

No (snow) platforming this Easter

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

“There’s orange water coming up through the ground!” said the homeowner who called me last week, wondering what kind of contaminant had made its way into her yard. If you’ve ever come across this orange-tinted water in a stream or seeping up from the ground, you may have been alarmed too! Not only does the water appear “orange” or “rusty”, but it can also have a “fluffy” appearance. Not to worry, this is nothing more than iron-oxidizing bacteria. These bacteria are not harmful and occur naturally in streams, lakes, and ditches. They are most commonly found in streams or seeps fed by groundwater rich with iron. Even though they’re not harmful to humans or aquatic organisms, they may cause some odor and taste issues if found in well water.

It is Spring! And I am so excited to get back into the landscape to clean and update my landscape beds. But, oddly, as excited as I am, I realize this month also consists of a lot of “hurry up and wait” due to our unpredictable weather.

Don’t be horribly alarmed; I didn’t fail to notice an entire branch emanating from the ground-level root zone. This is a high-grafted tree–a weeper made from combining roots and a trunk of one variety with the desired flowering and fruiting head of another–so the branch came from just below the union where top meets trunk, sneaky thing that it is.I don’t have the heart to prune off the errant branch until some bird or another comes to enjoy those little golden gems, but then I promise: I will. I do know how to prune, I do. I just sometimes don’t know how to pay attention, apparently.

MELISSA CLARK IS ONE OF US. The prolific cookbook author and “The New York Times” food columnist has a homegrown Dahlia (her young daughter); knows a rutabaga from a turnip (so many people don’t!), and is intrepid in harvesting year-round farm-and-garden gleanings—if not in her own backyard, then in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza Farmers’ Market, where she has been a year-round customer for years, come hell or ice age. With her latest, “Cook This Now,” the hard part will be figuring out which of 120 recipes to start with. Win one of two copies I’ve bought to share—and get her recipe for Carroty Mac and Cheese right now.

YOU CAN READ IT RIGHT UP TOP, BELOW MY LOGO: Horticultural how-to and woo-woo practiced here. After the question of “Where’d you get that plant?” (alluding to whatever oddball thing I post a picture of), the second-most common question I’m asked is, “What’s up with the woo-woo, Margaret?” The video above–my first, since I am happier behind a camera than in front–attempts to explain. Woo-hoo! Er, no, sorry: woo-woo.