Monthly Archives: November 2008

Giving the Gift of Spring

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Pot your own bulbs for indoor blooms -- it's easy! Tuck hyacinth bulbs into a pot of soil before chilling in the refrigerator for 13 to 15 weeks. Flower bulbs are one of my parents’ favorite holiday gifts and something that they look forward to receiving each year. I'm not sure which they enjoy more: watching them grow or the ultimate flower display. Sharing the project with friends and family is no doubt part of the appeal, too. Amaryllis and paperwhite narcissus are the easiest Read more [...]

Let Them Eat Blueberries!

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Volunteers turn abandoned land into neighborhood treasure. Two of the Park's most committed volunteers, Mel and Delona, took a quick break to show me a new section they've begun clearing. Charlotte told me later, that these two, and another volunteer named Terry, logged 136 volnteer hours during October alone. Left to right: Mel, Me, Charlotte and Delona. Earlier this fall, I got to spend a couple hours with one of our 2008 Garden Crusaders, Charlotte Valbert of Tacoma, Washington. Read more [...]

Kale Too Good to Eat

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Leafy vegetable takes center stage as fall draws to a close. This kale does get top-heavy and I've staked mine with bamboo canes. Due to my haphazard staking job, the plants have fallen flat to the ground a couple times. But I've managed to right them in stages, doing it right after a rain when the soil is moist.One of the most impressive crops in my fall vegetable garden is a curly purple kale called 'Redbor'. I only have three plants, but they're located right in the middle of the garden and Read more [...]

Update on Bats

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Make these mosquito-eating fliers welcome in your garden. Bats taking flight from the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas, home to the largest bat colony in the U.S. Silverwing, one of the books my kids and I read when they were in middle school, made a lasting impression on us. The hero of the story is a young silver-haired bat named Shade. The characters are based on the lives of real bat species and the book takes readers through their adventurous, and often misadventurous, migration. Read more [...]

What to Eat in Mid-November

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Even though cold weather has arrived, the garden remains productive. Arugula It's mid-November here in zone 4, and there's still plenty to eat in my vegetable garden. Most prolific and versatile is the arugula. I have been eating it almost every day since September and there's still LOTS. I eat it raw as salad, chop and sauté it with shallots and mix it into pasta or white beans. I eat it on pizza, put it in sandwiches, or just munch on it when I'm outside. My next door neighbor comes over Read more [...]

Leaf Shredding is Fun

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Turn fallen leaves into a crumbly topping for your garden. The Deluxe Electric Leaf Shredder. Adding leaves in small amounts ensures good results. Even though I'm all grown up, I still get a boyish thrill from destroying things. The Deluxe Electric Leaf Shredder provides the perfect opportunity for some loud, violent destruction. And after a year of tending, coaxing, watering and weeding the garden, I'm ready for a little annhilation. The best part is that it's all for a good cause: Read more [...]

Last-Minute Fall Chores

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Bamboo teepee saves foundation plantings. Step 1: Set up bamboo teepee. In the winter, my foundation plants, both evergreen and deciduous, take a beating from the snow that comes off the roof of our house. Each spring they seem to be back to the same size they were three years ago when I first planted them. I have been planning to build some wooden shrub protectors, but this weekend I realized that it was already November and that wasn’t going to happen. Instead of doing nothing, Read more [...]

Uncommon Groundcovers

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Our staff gardener recommends four plants with a promising future. European Weeping Larch When I think of ground covers, I usually think of herbaceous plants, such as vinca, pachysandra and wild ginger, to name a few. If you are looking to cover a large area and wish to use something different than the old standby ground covers, you may want to consider using woody plants. In our display gardens in Burlington’s Intervale, we have a ground cover garden on a small, relatively steep bank. Read more [...]