Monthly Archives: January 2011

Perennials to Grow from Seed

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I can't help but cringe when I browse the perennial section of seed catalogs and see finicky flowers like Himalayan blue poppy without any comments about the challenges of starting them from seed or how many years it will take the plants to bloom. Some perennials are notoriously finicky to grow from seed; others are as easy to grow as cosmos and zinnias. I can't help but cringe when I browse the perennial section of seed catalogs and see finicky flowers like Himalayan blue poppy Read more [...]

Rooting for a Good Cause

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To make good on our promise to support the gardening community, we're lending a hand to Pete's Greens, an organic farm in Craftsbury, VT. An early morning fire in January destroyed the farm's barn, along with stored crops, meats, coolers and vegetable cleaning and processing equipment. To show our support, our stores in Williston and Burlington will match up to $2,000 in donations. At Gardener’s Supply, we believe that gardening can bring about positive change in people’s lives, in our Read more [...]

New Kitchen Garden Planner

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If you want your 2011 vegetable garden to produce more food for your table, planning is the key. No matter how much experience or growing space you have, taking time to map out your garden is the best way to maximize your efforts. If you want your 2011 vegetable garden to produce more food for your table, planning is the key. No matter how much experience or growing space you have, taking time to map out your garden is the best way to maximize your efforts. Our Kitchen Garden Planner Read more [...]

Visiting Vizcaya

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If you find yourself in the Miami area this winter, be sure to check out Vizcaya Gardens. It contains 50 acres of formal gardens, a villa and native hammock (jungle forest) on Biscayne Bay in the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami. Expansive gardens combine Italian and French design with an American content. “An array of statues of Carrara marble and urns from Messina fountains and architectural follies.” says the pamphlet I read in the shady garden, under Spanish moss and gumbo limbo trees. Rococo Read more [...]

New Compact Light Stands

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As much as I appreciate living in a region with four distinct seasons, winter's gray skies and the frozen tundra outside my back door can start to wear me down. The seed catalogs, with their glossy photos of colorful flowers and vegetables, can seem like a tease — I know spring will come, but I'm antsy to get out in the garden. When this feeling begins to overwhelm me, I know it's time to start some seeds indoors. For my first few years of seedstarting, I used an unwieldy, homemade set-up of Read more [...]

Snowy Morn in Vermont

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It's interesting to see how a foot or two of snowfall will change the look of your garden. Much gets covered by the thick blanket, and what remains is often beautiful in a new way. It's interesting to see how a foot or two of snowfall will change the look of your garden. Much gets covered by the thick blanket, and what remains is often beautiful in a new way. Valerie Ryan, who works in our Customer Contact Center, took this photo of her Bottle Tree after yesterday's big snowfall Read more [...]

Bressingham Gardens

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Take a slideshow tour of the English gardens of the Bressingham family. Adrian Bloom has developed dozens of superior perennials, many of which have a horticultural heritage in North America and made them available through the family nursery, Blooms of Bressingham. One lifetime isn't long enough to complete a garden. Alan Bloom was a passionate, incredibly industrious, lifelong plantsman. Though he lived to the ripe old age of 98, when he died the gardens surrounding Bressingham Hall, his home in Read more [...]

The Best Harvest

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Try our Family Food Garden, a new online garden planner. Our goal is to redesign the family garden and grow a new generation of gardeners. Instead of growing a bed of one crop, each Family Food Garden plan has a variety of plants. That adds visual interest and breaks up gardening chores into bite-size pieces, which is critical if you want to garden with kids. The Family Food Garden section of our website has plans you can start with, easy shopping lists, and plant care tips. Try the Family Read more [...]

Garden Goals

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What's ahead for this year's garden? It's the time of year when folks are making all kinds of resolutions. Like most gardeners, I've made my share of pledges for the new season. I spend the winter creating the lists, prioritizing and dreaming. Come fall, when the season ends, some resolutions remain unfulfilled. But, you know, I'm OK with that. I've learned that for me, gardening is more about the doing than it is about the results. I love the planting, the weeding, the staking. Oh sure, I Read more [...]