Why More and More People Are Sticking to Low-Proof Alcohols

Recently, people have been exploring new ways to grow and cultivate their backyards, often with their local ecosystem in mind. As a result, we’ve seen a rise in meadowscapes and other options that attract pollinators, and one great new suggestion is a clover lawn rather than a grass lawn.

This is largely from a post I did in 2013 with some updates. Seeing the colour in my garden and watching the single flowers close up for the evening I decided to buy some more seeds for next summer (I hope I can find the space to do them justice) I opted for ‘Copper Swirl’ by TM and for an extra 99p I got ‘Golden West Californian Poppy’ thrown in.  I am tempted to sow half of each packet shortly although the blurb on the packet suggests waiting until Feb or March next year.

Girl dinner is the latest dining trend to take over social media. Many of us already knew it existed (we were eating it, after all), but it didn't have a name until a few weeks ago. At its most basic, it's a pantry clear-out, cheese-and-charcuterie, snacking kind of meal. You can eat it with your fingers and graze on it while watching TV, reading a good book, and just doing a little self-care.

Skylights are seemingly everywhere these days. From small and charming to large and elegant, these architectural features have enjoyed a huge comeback over the past few years, popping up in homes and new developments across the country. So what’s behind the sudden revival of this 1970s and 1980s era feature? According to experts, here’s what you need to know about the rise in popularity of skylights, along with everything you should know before installing one in your home.

When it comes totrailing houseplants, people always go for the most usual ones like pothos and philodendrons, not realizing that they are missing out on some species that are not really popular. Here’s one such list of 8 Cool Indoor Vines People Usually Don’t Grow, but you can try if you’re looking for alternatives.

Are you looking at plants in your garden and wondering why they aren’t flowering?

ONE OF THE FIRST FRUITS that Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge planted when they took ownership of historic Beekman 1802 farm in Sharon Springs, New York: gooseberries.  Now the city-turned-country pair are having a bumper gooseberry year—and Josh joined me on the radio to talk about that and other aspects of “The Heirloom Life,” the subject of the duo’s breakfast slide lecture in my town August 17 to help celebrate my next garden Open Day. I’ve pre-ordered a couple of copies of the “Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook” (due out in September) to share with some lucky winners, so read on for a chance to win–and some gooseberry lore, recipes and more.

IN OUR CHAT on my public-radio program, I learned why not to till when prepping a planting; how to help a desired species outpace an unwanted one by learning to manage and influence natural processes; and what the word “naturalistic” means today.what’s ‘naturalistic,’ anyway?Q. How did the native and natural become your specialty, Larry—did the education in landscape design come first, or the nature and science?A. My first experience in the landscape world was working in traditional horticulture—first a job, and then going to school for it. However my interest in it always came from the naturalistic end.As a kid, I grew up in the urban Philadelphia and I don’t think I even knew there was such as thing as a garden designer, until I got a job with a landscape firm, in the summer between high school and college.But the thing that always interested me was na

WHAT CAN I SAY? I’m shacked up over here with a whole lot of plants, I admit it. Click the photos to get to the third (largest) view for best effects. Enjoy.

Like all the seed farmers I’ve interviewed in this series (past links at bottom of page if you missed any), the Uprising Seeds team speaks of the mission, and meaning, behind what they do. It’s long, hard work—you have to believe to take it on.“Closest to our heart, and the main reason we do this work, is our celebration of the idea that access to open-pollinated seeds and the freedom to grow, reproduce, and share them is a basic human right that empowers community, tradition, and diversity,” says Uprising co-founder Crystine Goldberg (with Brian and their son in the photo up top). “And that the opportunity to select for those traits that are unique to individual climate and growing condition

HOW MANY MOMENTS LIKE THIS have we each had in our gardening lives? Moments when the mulch, just applied, by the next morning has run out of the beds and downhill after a flash storm, or the lawn we’d just cleared of winter’s debris is re-covered in it a day later when another swirling snow blows in. Moments when (fill in the blank with your latest mishap).

Background: Barry Glick–a serious plantaholic who’s even a vegan and is sometimes also referred to in mock botanical Latin as the Glicksterus maximus–is a native of the Philadelphia area, and has been gardening since childhood.  In 1972, he purchased 60 acres of a 3,650-foot-high mountaintop in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, that became Sunshine Farm and Gardens (which you can stroll though and shop from at sunfarm.com).  Barry’s a garden writer and a longtime lecturer—but most of all I love how he was described in one magazine article I read recently:“The Flower Child Who Became the Flower King.”snippets from my q&a with barry glickIN THE TEXT BELOW, I harvested just the briefest details from conversations with Barry before, after and during the show taping, so be sure to listen in as well as read (the podcast player is just above), for extra unexpected goodies. Examples: the fact that a Number 8 “camel-hair” brush—which Barry uses for hand-pollination of hellebores—is actually made fro