Search Results for: label/books

Essential Reference Books for Gardeners

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Several years ago, I wrote a book called Passport to Gardening. Each chapter included a brief overview of a particular gardening topic (from annual flowers to water gardening) and recommendations for best books on the topic. In order to make these recommendations, I reviewed more than 400 gardening books. Most of them were sent to me free of charge because I was writing reviews. Can you imagine what fun it was to have 400 gardening books arrive…

Best Garden Books

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…’m willing to bet that nearly every garden center in the U.S. that sells trees and shrubs has a reference copy of Dirr’s manual, too. I used the first edition of the manual as an undergraduate horticulture student back in the 1970s. After five revisions, this bible of woody ornamentals remains fresh and invaluable. The current edition, released in July 2009, tops out at 1,325 pages. It’s organized alphabetically by plant genus and species. To ass…

1 Million People Want to Know

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…nd what went into producing it. So how come I can’t have the right to know what’s in the food I buy in the store? That’s the goal of the Just Label It campaign, which last month submitted a record-breaking 1.1 million signatures to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in favor of labeling genetically engineered (GE) foods. And in polls by ABC, MSNBC, NPR, the Washington Post, Consumer Reports and others, consistently…

Gardeners You Should Know: Allan Armitage

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Allan Armitage Allan Armitage is one of the world’s leading experts on perennials and annuals. Born in Montreal, Quebec, and now living in Georgia, he has experience gardening in zones 3 through 8. As a professor of Horticulture at the University of Georgia, he oversees the University’s test gardens and new plant programs. Over the last 20 years, Allan has introduced dozens of new plants to the gardening world, including the numb…

Autumn’s Secret Garden

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Savvy gardeners enjoy some of the sweetest harvests of the year when the rest of us are already raiding our freezers or resorting to supermarket vegetables. Plant peas in late July to early August for a delectable fall harvest. Plant cold-tolerant fall vegetable crops in midsummer for late-season harvests. For lots of folks, the Secret Garden isn’t a physical place; it’s a time of year. These savvy gardeners enjoy some of the swee…

Winter Flower Shows

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…American Horticultural Society’s comprehensive list of regional garden shows. 2010 Flower Shows Feb. 4-6: Southeastern Flower Show, Atlanta, GA Feb. 3-7 : Northwest Flower and Garden Show, Seattle, WA Feb. 18-21: The Rhode Island Spring Flower and Garden Show, Providence, RI Feb. 18-21: New Jersey Flower and Garden Show, Edison, NJ Feb. 28-March 7: Philadelphia International Flower Show, Philadelphia, PA March 6-14…

Update on Bats

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…ects each night, and nursing females eat twice that amount. Some are important pollinators, too. Austin, Texas is one place that bats are quite visible and celebrated. The crevices under the Congress Avenue Bridge house up to 1.5 million bats during peak season in late summer. Tourists flock to the area to watch the bats take flight each evening at dusk and can even call a hot line for information about best viewing times and locations. Bats r…

What’s Your Fertilizer of Choice?

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Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants. One of my favorite pots this season (see plant list below) with two of the three fertilizers that I’m applying and one of my trusty watering cans. Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants. Now, when there’s a pest problem in my garden, I run for a fertilizer rather than a pest control. In most cases, I…

Make Room for Parsley

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Flat-leaf parsley I used to do much more canning and freezing than I do now. With our household down to just two, we’re cooking smaller meals and don’t need to have as much food around. But there are still quite a few garden crops that I squirrel away in my freezer or pantry, and one of those is parsley. I can chop and freeze a huge basket of fresh-picked parsley in about 15 minutes. With a half-dozen sessions like that throughout the…

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Report Links Pesticides to Children’s Health Problems

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Though cold winds chill the air and snow blankets much of the U.S., pesticide use remains a hot topic — and not only among gardeners. The most recent comments come from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Council on Environmental Health, whose December 2012 policy statement makes a clear link between pesticide exposure and children’s health problems. Published in Pediatrics, the official journal of the 60,000-member AAP, “Pesticide Ex…