Gardening

I’ve never been a fan of vines. I think they may look adorable in other people’s gardens. I drive regularly in a house with a beautiful antique wisteria, but I have never been able to grow a vine that I liked. They tend to look messy and require too much …

You can have my portion of ivy in this world. Ivy looks very elegant on university buildings and large manors. It is, however, a parasite. I have seen him suffocate trees, tear bricks and swallow other plants. It is not a friendly plant and it is a terror to be …

I know that when I say that I’m crazy about vines there will be many people who think I’m certainly crazy, like crazy. Yes, vines can be invasive, rampant and, if left unchecked, downright destructive – but I love them anyway. My love for growing vines What is not to …

Nasturtiums are beautiful and edible, so it can be disheartening that these wonderful flowers don’t work as expected. The goal of Gardening Know How is to help you avoid, or at least modify, the problems of nasturtium by providing the best possible information for your garden to flourish – and …

It is simply not summer without sunflowers. For me, summer is synonymous with sunflowers. Every year I grow them from seeds carefully saved from the previous season and every year I am again amazed by their size, beauty and subtle ability to remember to turn my face to the sun, …

The large and showy flowers are beautiful. They make great table decorations, but when it comes to edible blooms, I prefer smaller and more modest flowers than some herbs. They make excellent teas and work well in desserts and cocktails. Some of my favorite edible herb flowers are lavender, sage …

For me, summer is really here in Michigan when peonies bloom. The showy, huge flowers of this perennial open in late May and mid-June, just in time for the summer solstice. Inspired by a wonderful peony garden many years ago, I started growing my own. Michigan Peony Garden My love …

When I started gardening, much of my attention was focused on sustainability. In my small courtyard, I wanted to grow the garden as efficiently as possible, gradually introducing new plants that would be useful. Although the garden was mostly full of vegetables, there was always a flowering plant in the …

Like daffodils, tulips are an iconic flowering spring bulb, filling gardens with colour well before most other flowering plants have gained momentum. The plants have two to six spacious, strappy leaves with a waxy coat which provides them a blue-green colour. The blossoms are often cup-shaped, with three petals and …