EAT YOUR VEGETABLES: Carrie Lyle posts on vegetable gardening each Tuesday. 

Like most vegetable gardeners I know, I accumulate seeds. When the catalogs start to arrive in January, I've been starved for months of anything green. The vibrant photos and mouthwatering descriptions of vegetables sucker me in. Before I know it, I've ordered a new variety of summer squash, despite the five perfectly good seed packets I have left over from previous seasons.

This year, in the interest of saving money, I'm resolving to use up my seed stash. Many vegetable seeds can be viable for up to 5 years, as long as they've been stored in a cool, dry place. Most seed packets have the date they were sold printed on the package — but not all do. (I'm looking at you, John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds.) But even if you do know how old the seeds are, it's still a good idea to do a simple germination test.

Here's how: 

First, moisten a paper towel and arrange 10 seeds on it. Fold the paper towel onto itself, so the seeds are covered, and seal it in a plastic bag. Don't forget to label the bag if you'll be conducting more than one germination test. Place the bag in a warm spot, out of direct sunlight. (Mine is on top of the fridge.) Check daily to make sure the towel is still damp and to see if any seeds have sprouted.

The percentage of seeds that germinate will give you an idea of how many to plant in the garden. If 50% germinate, you'll want to plant twice as many to make up for the lower germination rate. Consider buying new seed if your rate is lower than 30%, as the seed may be too old to produce healthy plants.

If you do plan to order seeds, check in next Tuesday for a rundown on favorite vegetable seed catalogs.

Posted by Carrie Lyle at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Vegetable gardening
        

EAT YOUR VEGETABLES: Joannah Hill posts on vegetable gardening each Tuesday. 

It’s easy to spot a gardener. Especially at this time of year. They’re the ones with the downcast eyes, stooped posture and the slow pace as they walk around the yard studying the ground for that first hint of a green shoot or examining a bare branch for the promise of a bud.

They are also the ones who are checking the weather forecast and waiting for the day they can start planting. The good news is, the wait is over for vegetable gardeners in Zones 6-7.

Cole crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts are tolerant of cool temperatures and can be started now as either transplants or seeds. But to my mind, these veggies have always seemed more like fall crops: hearty, sensible fare designed to get you through the winter.

For me, spring vegetables mean fresh, tender and fleeting — peas, salad greens, spinach, radishes, green onions, carrots, beets and asparagus. Sure, carrots and beets are keepers and can be grown in the fall, but baby carrots and spring beets can be almost candy sweet.

I will be growing peas for the first time in about seven years. Peas are easy to grow and should be sown directly into the ground. If you can work the soil and it’s not soggy wet, you can plant your seeds.

Peas are climbers and need some support. The first time I grew peas I built a trellis — a simple structure of a couple of supports with netting in between. I found this terrific how-to on The Compost Bin if you want to give it a try.

But you can also grow peas on fencing, a row of twigs or even let them scramble over low-growing shrubs. Since I have limited space, I’m improvising with a bean tower, which is just an extra-tall tomato cage. It’s always good to innovate and use what you have on hand, so feel free to experiment.

Plant peas in rows about an inch apart. If you do successive sowing, you can stretch out your harvest. I’m growing Dakota, which is a short season crop, and Canoe, which takes a little longer. Peas are nitrogen fixers, so when the plants are done don’t throw them in the compost bin, just dig them back into the soil.

Since I love to cook, I’m already thinking about peas tossed with ricotta, lemon and orecchiette, peas and potato bhaji and spring pea risotto. I will be sharing recipes and if anyone else has ideas for serving up spring veggies, let me know.

Photo credit: iStock

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Categories: Vegetable gardening
        

This month's edition of Real Simple magazine is dedicated to the basics of spring cleaning.

But in an article titled "42 Mood-boosting Ideas to Bring Joy to Every Day," one of the suggestions is: Stop and smell the alyssum.

The editors suggest you purchase a "Grow Your Own Alyssum" kit for $20 from anthropologie.com.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 6:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Magazine rack
        

I have a rock garden. Last week three of them died. -- Richard Diran

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Categories: Garden quotations
        

Professor Mike Raupp of the University of Maryland is talking about bees again this week in his Bug of the Week blog.

"In a few weeks many native bees will awaken from their winter respite and begin the vital work of pollinating a multitude of flowering plants," writes Prof. Raupp.

 "Before we learn more about our native bees, Bug of the Week makes one last stop in Belize to visit some close relatives of our domestic honey bee. While visiting a rest camp near the Mayan ruins at Xunatunich, we discovered several colonies of stingless bees occupying cinder block walls of buildings."

To read about the dramatic "attack of the stingless bees" when Prof. Raupp gets too close, check out today's blog post.

He has great pictures, too.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden blogs
        

Apparently there is one more thing you need to do regularly - in addition to flossing.

Prune your hollies.

Watch the video of Mike Dudderar, landscape supervisor of Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, and his crew as they give my Nelly Stevens holly a pretty dramatic hair cut.

Mike explained that a Nelly Stevens wants to grow to 35 to 45 high and extend about 12 to 15 feet at the bottom. I was a rookie gardener 25 years ago when I planted this holly about 6 feet from the corner of the house.

Mike also explained that pruning the holly at this time of year - between February and May - will cause it to release hormones that will sustain a growth "flush." That means the holly will quickly fill in any bare spots that might reveal themselves during such a close cut.

That's the good news. The bad news is, the growth spurt also means this holly will probably need another trimming in the fall to get it into is attractive cone shape. I waited too long - about 2 years - between prunings.

When choosing a tree for your yard, Mike advises, not only look for trees that do well in your area, but take a look at how large they become. That will help you know what to choose and how to place it near your house.

PS. Don't try this at home. You will need professionals to help you shape a tree this size.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Garden tips
        

When Joe and Jessie were little, my Mother's Day gift was the same each year: six tomato plants and the time to plant them.

  Gardening was something I did on my time off from mothering, but it doesn't have to be that way. You can get your kids started early, and you don't need much more than a couple of large pots on a deck or patio.

  Now is the time to plant lettuce or spinach seeds in one of those pots. Even little hands can sprinkle the seeds, with your help. If you are planting lettuces, choose a colorful mesclun variety. They produce a gourmet salad in a pretty short time.

   As greens grow, you and the children can thin the seedlings and then harvest the tender leaves. Leave the plant and its roots in place and it will sprout new leaves for another harvest, something that I bet will amaze the kids.

Strawberries are another kid-friendly crop, and you can plant those now as well. They make nice ground cover if you have a spot for them in one of your beds.

  When Mother's Day rolls around and it is time for those tomatoes, you can use large deck pots again, this time to plant a couple of cherry tomato plants. These tomatoes come in wonderful shapes and colors and are just the right size for little hands to pick and pop in the mouth.

   I have this idea that my children will remember that their mother gardened. How much better for yours if they actually do it with you.

  Let's hear your "kids in the garden stories. To get you talking, we have a contest. A winner will be chosen at random from those who comment to score a copy of Grow It, Cook It: Simple gardening projects and delicious recipes. It is perfect for gardening kids and their gardening parents.

The catch? You've got to enter your e-mail address when you comment so I can contact you afterwards, but rest assured that we will not publish your e-mail address. That's between you and me.

Tomato photo courtesy of Park Seeds.

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Categories: Kids in the garden
        

God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. -- Author unknown.

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Categories: Garden quotations
        

P. Allen Smith, host of the weekly public television show "P. Allen Smith's Garden Home," has published a beautiful new coffee table book, Bringing the Garden Indoors.

Going from room to room, he demonstrates how to the use the bounty of the garden to decorate inside your home with more than 60 projects and bouquets.

One of the most impressive parts of the book is Smith's instruction on how to make the entrance to your home - from the walk to the porch - inviting in ways that can change from season to season and make a stunning invitation into your home. Cost: $32.50.

Tell me about your favorite coffee-table garden book. I will pick a post at random and send you this copy of Smith's book. Remember, you have to include your email address in your post so I know how to reach you if you are the winner.

Photo courtesy of Clarkson Potter

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden books
        

There is peace in the garden. Peace and results. -- Ruth Stout

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Categories: Garden quotations
        

The editors at Garden Design magazine are recommending the first hand-held wire trimmer powered by a standard 16.4-ounce propane canister instead of gasoline.

Environmentally friendly with zero evaporative emissions, and this weed trimmer has no messy gasoline spills, with the resulting evaporating carcinogens. Propane also burns much cleaner than gasoline and has a much longer shelf-life than gasoline's 45 days.

And propane is produced domestically in North America, so it isn't necessary for the United States to import tanker ships full of liquid propane.

In addition, with this weed trimmer there are no messy mixing of oil and gas, no winterizing, lower maintenance and fuel costs. Standard propane containers are also readily available.

In addition, the company has a propane-powered leaf-blower/mulcher.

Learn more at golehr.com.

Photo courtesy of Lehr

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Categories: Garden tools
        

Though an old man I am but a young gardener.

-- Thomas Jefferson.

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Categories: Garden quotations
        

Guest blogger Joannah Hill on hellebores:

 If your hellebores look particularly tatty this year they are likely suffering from winter burn. The harsh winds and temperatures we experienced this winter can leave the foliage looking brown or even black. Cut the damaged leaves off at the base to make room for new growth and flower stalks.

Photo credit: Joannah Hill

Posted by Joannah Hill at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden tips
        

Get out in the garden and get to work! There will be plenty of time to admire your handywork in June. In the meantime....

• There is still plenty of time to order perennials for this season, so get your catalogs out and make a list. Also, now is the time to order your summer-blooming bulbs. They will give the garden color in the late summer when other perennials start to fade.
• Think about planting cool season annuals, such as pansies or primroses. They will dress your garden up until the blooming really starts.
• Transplant roses, shrubs or ornamental trees before the leaf buds open.
• Fertilize, using a slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote. Scratch it into the soil around perennials and shrubs.
• Watch your peonies and feed them with a low nitrogen fertilizer when they are about 3 inches tall.
• Clean the debris out of your water features, gutters and rain barrel. Turn on your hose.
• To repair bare spots in your lawn, the folks at P. Allen Smith Garden House suggest combining 5 shovels full of sand, 1 shovel full of grass seed and 1 cup of slow release fertilizer. Cover bare spots, tamp down and water.
• According to the Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center, March is the perfect time to trim your roses into shape and cut off all the dead wood. Only cut out dead wood in climbers, don’t trim.
• Don’t wait much longer to call a landscape designer if you are planning new beds or major changes. In a few weeks, they will be too busy to call you back.
• Don’t forget your trees! Fertilize them now and call soon to have them professionally trimmed and shaped if they need it.

Speaking of trees. Homestead Gardens is supposed to arrive today to trim the giant Nelly Stevens Holly at the front corner of my house. Check back for pictures - maybe even video - of the process.

Photo by Susan Reimer

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Categories: Weekend Chores
        

 The garden is the best alternative therapy.

 -- Germaine Greer.

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Categories: Garden quotations
        

There is still time to enter the 2009 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards competition for community and public gardens.

Groups and organizations that are “greening” their communities, parks, schools and public spaces--by planting trees, shrubs and other plants--are eligible.

The Grand Prize winning garden project will receive $2,500 in plants from Nature Hills Nursery, while the First Prize and Second Prize winners will receive plants worth $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.

The plants can be any combination of trees, fruit trees, bushes and shrubs, perennials and vegetable seeds that Nature Hills Nursery offers.

 Applications for the 2009 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards will be accepted until April 1.

Winners will be announced on April 17, 2009.

To apply, go to Green America Awards.  

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden contests
        

   Anne Arundel Community College is offering a variety of classes and workshops for the gardener. Special thanks to my friend Susan Gross for this information.

     If you’d like to create gardens that help nature and the environment but you don’t know how, sign up for one of Anne Arundel Community College’s one-session noncredit, continuing education courses this spring:

• “Smart Landscape Design for the Environment” (ENV 508), $60. Learn to use native plants and good environmental practices to create a beautiful landscape that conserves land and water. Class meets 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 4, at the AACC at Arundel Mills facility, 7009 Arundel Mills Circle, Hanover. 
            
•  “Perennials and Grasses for Landscaping” (ENV 509), $60, helps you design a Bay-friendly landscape plan that uses perennials and grasses to prevent erosion. This new course meets 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 25, at the Glen Burnie Town Center, 101 N. Crain Highway, Glen Burnie.
  

            Most of the other courses are two-hour courses on weekday evenings at AACC’s Arnold campus, 101 College Parkway. They include:

• In a new course, “Designing a Cutting Garden” (HOR 359), $35, helps gardeners create a cutting garden in every season of the year. It meets 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 22.
• Another new course, “Perennials 101” (HOR 358), $35, a certified horticulturist gives tips for reducing maintenance and protecting the environment while creating a year-round perennial garden. It meets 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 6.
• Discover ways to compost with the help of worms in “Vermi Composting” (ECO 347), $39, 7-9 p.m. Thursday, April 23.
• Attract a variety of birds and butterflies using a birdbath, bucket, twigs and rocks in “Backyard Wildlife Habitat” (ECO 344), $29, 7-9 p.m. Thursday, April 30.
• A similar course, “Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden” (INT 353), $37, tells what flowers, plants and feeders attract butterflies and hummingbirds and meets 6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 13.
• Learn how to protect waterways, shellfish and grasses while gardening in “Clean Water” (ECO 346), $29, 7-9 p.m. Thursday, May 7.
• Try also “Growing Annuals” (INT 361), $30, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Monday, May 18, to find ways to add color to the garden throughout the growing season.
• Head to Willow Oak Herb Farm, 8109 Telegraph Road in Severn, to learn ways to be successful in “Container Planting” (INT 337), $45, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30, and “Extra-Large Container Planting” (HOR 352), $70, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 2.   
•  Have a green thumb? Sign up for AACC’s online class, “Growing Plants for Fun and Profit” (INT 349), $88, which runs April 15-June 5. Focus on licensing, site preparation, supplies, equipment and marketing.
             

  Registration is under way. For information or to register, visit the Web site, or call 410-777-2325.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Gardening classes
        

9 a.m. Saturday at Valley View Farms: Spring Pond Opening Workshop. Revitalize and re-start your pond with tips from water garden expert Tim McQuaid. The workshop will includ advice about fish and plant care and methods to re-start pumps, filtration systems and other pond components. There will be a door prize, too.

11 a.m. Saturday at Valley View Farms: Oh Deer! Coexisting with Wildlife in the Garden. Proven techniques, lists of deer resistant plants and how to garden with deer, squirrels, rabbits and other wildlife will be presented. Also, new research on wildlife control conducted by Cornell University and the University of Maryland.

Photo courtesy of Valley View Farms.

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Categories: Garden events
        

If you want to read about and learn about all things related to plants and gardens, the Weekend Gardener is one of the best places on the Web to go.

This is an on-line gardening magazine and every month they add fresh new articles and informative "How To" tutorials. The information is always current and up to date, and there is an excellent archive. And it's free!

This site is written by garden industry professionals, and is for any level of gardener, so you should be able to find all the answers you need.

Sign up, and they will e-mail you each new addition of the "magazine."

Photo credit: Weekend Gardener

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Categories: Gardening on the Web
        

Local native plant nurseries will offer an extensive selection of plants at the annual Friends of the National Arboretum Native Plant Sale Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Admission is free and growers will be on hand to answer questions.

Also Saturday at the Arboretum in Northeast Washington, the 23rd annual Lahr Symposium will be held, exploring the many ways that native plants are essential to successful garden design and landscape architecture. Registration fee of $85 includes lunch and early admission to the Native Plant Sale. For more information call 202-245-4521. The Symposium runs from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

And finally, take a self-guided tour of the Arboretums' diverse collection of flowering cherry trees  from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Discover the wide range of sizes, shapes, colors and bloom times of this ornamental tree. Free.

Photo credit: National Arboretum.

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Categories: Garden events
        

I am pretty sure my job costs me more than I earn, especially when I write about gardening. And that was certainly true this week.

Seeing all the orchids for sale in grocery stores made me wonder if they were really as tough to grow as their hot-house reputation suggests. I did some reporting, and the results are in my garden column today in The Sun.

But when I visited the orchids in Tom McBride's and Gary Krause's Little Greenhouse on Harford Road in Parkville, I was finished. I couldn't leave without one. It was like that with the daylilies, too. But that's a whole 'nother story.

This is the orchid I purchased, Phalaenopsis Goldsmith. Tom suggested it because there are still buds waiting to open. It should bloom for me for months.

It cost $30 - more than the $15 to $20 I'd have paid at Whole Foods or Home Depot. But it is very well established and has two wonderful flower spikes and large, glossy, flawless leaves.

How am I going to keep it alive? Different orchids require different growing conditions and Tom and Gary helpfully provide an instruction sheet with each purchase.

Here's what I need to do for my new orchid.

1. Provide a bright window, preferably an east window, but not hot, direct sun.
2. This orchid likes temperatures above 60 at night and between 75 and 85 during the day.
3. Tom recommended a thorough watering once week, allowing the excess water to drain out of the pot. It should never sit in water and it should be allowed to get very dry between waterings.
4. To provide humidity, set the plant on a tray of pebbles partially filled with water. Mist the plants during dry weather.
5. Tom suggested that I fertilize, using something like Miracle-Gro at half-strength, every fourth or fifth watering. Don't overdue the feeding. These are fast-growing plants, so less is more.
6. When the last flower drops, cut the flower spike halfway down the stem. Continue caring for it and wait for a possible rebloom. This orchid flowers 12 months out of the year, but cooler temperatures and some nitrogen fertilizer should help kick-start new blooms.

Wish me luck. And check back for updates.

 Photo credit: Susan Reimer

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Categories: Plant Wish List
        

Better Homes & Gardens blogger Alicia has a fun post about the use of misprinted cans to create art.

It seems that VivaTerra is grabbing up misprinted soda, juice and soup cans that were headed for the landfill and making word art out of the colorful and patterned metal bits: words such as “garden,” “grow,” and “dream” to be hung on walls.

I am wondering what this word art might look like on a garden fence or the side of a shed? Or on the wall of a screened-in porch?

 Check out her post  on "From Trash to Art" for some more ideas about doing "recycled crafts" with your kids.

Photo courtesty of Viva Terra

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Categories: Garden blogs
        

Our own Jon Traunfeld, from the University of Maryland Extension Service, will be on The Martha Stewart Show Friday (March 27) at 11 a.m. on WBAL Channel 11.

 His topic? Salads tables – a kind of elevated garden for different varieties of greens.

 If you miss the episode with Jon, you can  watch it online.

Jon will be blogging on vegetable gardening because, he said, the economy is making it a huge topic. Homeowners want to grow their own for health reasons, too, and, if they need help getting started, Jon can provide it.

 “Creating your own small food garden in 2009 could be an answer to many of life’s big issues,” he writes in his first post.

His blog is Grow it Eat it, and it will be up and running April 1. You might want to check out the Grow It Eat It Web site, too.

Photo credit: University of Maryland College of Agriculture.

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Categories: Gardening on television
        

You can grow ‘em. Or you can get Brent and Becky to do it for you.

Brent and Becky of bulb fame also produce bouquets.

From March 15 to Oct. 15, you can order fresh, farm-raised (sounds like beef) mixed bouquets. (I am guessing that this is Becky with the bouquet. And I am also guessing you don't get that many flowers.)

You never know what will be in bloom when your order, but let them know whether you like pastels, hot colors or patriotic colors. “If there is a color you just can’t abide, we’d like to know that, too,” says the catalog.

These aren’t greenhouse flowers and that means the weather can be a problem, but either Brent or Becky will call you.

In any case, the flowers are shipped overnight, so give an address where someone will be available to bring them inside.

You can order the flowers witha vase or without for $60 and $75, respectively. Check out their Web site and go to item numbers 103-01 and 103-02.

Photo credit: Brent and Becky's Bulbs.

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Categories: From the catalogs
        

"My garden will never make me famous.

I’m a horticultural ignoramus."

--Ogden Nash

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Categories: Garden quotations
        

 Photos of raised bed, potato bag and self-watering planter courtesy of Gardener's Supply

It looks like the folks at Gardener's Supply, one of my favorite gardening resources, have been swamped by questions from all the first-time gardeners who are jumping on the grow-your-own bandwagon this season.

 Here's a look at their advice.

1. Where Do I Put the Garden?

For optimum health and productivity, most vegetables require at least eight hours of full sun each day. The more sun, the better, so it makes sense to locate your garden in the sunniest part of your yard. Since your garden will need to be watered at some points during the growing season, you'll also need access to a hose -- or be prepared to carry watering cans.

2. How Do I Start? Do I Just Start Digging?

New vegetable gardeners may want to start growing in either a raised bed or in a container that's specifically geared toward growing vegetables. Gardener's Supply's self-watering Organic Tomato Success Kit or Potato Bins, for example, can be used to grow tomatoes or a number of other vegetables in a small space.

A self-contained raised bed garden that's approximately 3' x 6' will accommodate a dozen different crops in a small space - and more beds can be added as enthusiasm and experience grow. There are a variety of raised bed styles to choose from or you can just purchase the Raised Bed Corners and make your own.

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Categories: Garden tips
        

Guest blogger Joannah Hill on the White House vegetable garden:

As a longtime gardener, I followed the coverage of the announcement of the first White House vegetable garden in 60-plus years with a mixture of pride and envy. 

Proud that the First Family is giving a shout-out to fresh, local produce and sustainable gardening practices. Envious that first lady Michelle Obama could look so soignee while busting sod. I realize the ground-breaking was largely symbolic and a photo op, but I have a suspicion that Michelle will always look fresh and chic while gardening. Some people just have the knack -- like tidy painters. I don’t.  

I am generally covered from head to toe in dirt after a few hours in the garden. I have friends, though, who even in the height of summer, can peel off their gloves after an afternoon of weeding and look perfectly presentable. Simple chores like harvesting green beans leave my thumbnail stained green. Picking a fresh tomato results in yellow streaks of pollen on my clothes and skin. Watering leaves me mud-splashed. 

It will be fun watching the progress of the White House garden, and my only advice to the first lady is: Think earth tones.

Photo credit: Ron Edmonds/Associated Press

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Categories: Garden news
        

EAT YOUR VEGETABLES: Carrie Lyle posts on vegetable gardening each Tuesday.

Several of my friends are growing vegetable gardens for the first time this year and have been asking questions about starting seeds at home. For those who'd like to try, it's not too late.

You'll find very detailed information online about starting seeds, but don't be intimidated. My own setup is as low-key as you can get. I use a desk lamp with a fluorescent grow light, a seed starting tray bought years ago at Meyer Seed, containers I've saved from past plant purchases, and a soilless seed-starting mix. Some people advise using a heating pad under the tray or covering it with plastic, but I've never bothered with that and still had good luck.

To plant, wet down the seed-starting mix and follow the instructions on the seed packet. For insurance, I usually sow two seeds per pot and pinch the smaller plant off if both germinate. Check every day that the soil is moist, but not damp. Some people water with spray bottles, but I like to pour water into the tray so it's slowly absorbed through the bottom of the containers.

Once the seeds germinate, make sure they get plenty of light. If you're using a grow light, keep it on for at least 12 hours a day. Otherwise, placing the containers on a south- or east-facing windowsill should do.

What sorts of vegetable seeds should be started at home? Don't bother with root vegetables like beets, carrots and radishes. They're best sown directly in the garden, as are beans, peas and corn. It's better to start warm-season vegetables — tomatoes, eggplants, peppers — to get a head start and have a longer harvest. Some people also start summer squash, melons, cucumbers and basil, but I find that once the warm weather hits, those direct-sown outdoors catch up very quickly to their transplanted peers. I'll be swimming in basil by July no matter which planting method I choose.

Now that I've explained how I start seeds, I have to confess: I don't do it anymore. I have a curious cat who loves to eat tender leaves, and the door on the only south-facing room in my house doesn't latch. Sure, I could fix it. But then I wouldn't have an excuse to visit my favorite garden fairs in May to pick out my seedlings.

Photo credit: istockphoto

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Categories: Vegetable gardening
        

EAT YOUR VEGETABLES: Joannah Hill posts on vegetable gardening each Tuesday.

Two of the most important things to consider when starting a vegetable garden are location and soil condition. Fate played a role in the placement of my vegetable garden when a 50-year-old oak tree fell down, leaving me with a big hole in the ground and plenty of sunshine in a previously shady backyard.

Most vegetable gardens need a minimum of four to six hours of sunshine a day. With the tree gone, this was no problem, but preparing the soil was another matter. Rocks, twigs, tree roots, leaves and thick chunks of clay had to be removed and amended with compost, fresh topsoil and horse manure. That was three seasons ago, and this year I finally decided to have the soil tested, something I probably should have done a while ago.

Adding organic matter to the soil should be standard, but checking the soil's pH -- the measurement of acidity and alkalinity -- can troubleshoot any nutrient problems the plants may be experiencing.  Testing can also determine the presence of heavy metals in the soil, such as lead. Those who garden in the city may want to consider this kind of testing. The Maryland Cooperative Extension has a great link to choosing a soil testing lab.

If you're just looking for a soil tuneup, home test kits can be purchased from local gardening centers. Valley View Farms, where I took my samples, does free soil testing while you wait and can offer on-the-spot suggestions for soil enhancers. When taking a sample, dig 6-8 inches and take samples from more than one area of your garden. The ideal pH for vegetable gardens is in the 6.2 to 6.8 range.  

My soil fell squarely in the neutral range with a pH reading of 7.  Since I'll be growing tomatoes and peppers, it was suggested I add lime to the soil and a general 3-3-3 fertilizer. A gardening friend also suggested adding three to four crushed eggshells in the planting hole to give tomatoes and peppers an extra calcium boost.

Once your prep work is done you can get to the fun part -- planting.

Photo credit: Dreamstime

Posted by Joannah Hill at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Vegetable gardening
        

My first-ever vegetable garden, more than 25 years ago, was planted in exactly the same spot where Mrs. Tucker, matriach of the Tucker Hill farm in Annapolis, had planted hers. Her daughters, four of whom still lived in the neighborhood, noticed right away and told me I had stumbled on their mother's long-ago garden spot.

The Tucker Hill farm house had been demolished and the property sub-divided. I was the lucky new homeowner with the fertile corner in an area that was largely clay.

Vegetable gardening ended for me when my neighbor's Linden tree grew too large and the shade too deep. Mrs. Tucker's vegetable garden is now part of my shade garden, and the plants continue to do remarkably well in that spot.

You can't have a garden blog if you don't write about vegetable gardening - and it helps if you have one - and for thorough coverage of that topic I am turning to my friends and colleagues Joannah Hill and Carrie Lyle, both Master Gardeners.

You will be hearing from them every Tuesday, and perhaps on other days as well, as they chronicle the life of their vegetable gardens this season and help you with yours. In the current economy, suddenly everyone wants to have a vegetable garden.

I have asked Joannah and Carrie to tell you a little bit about their gardening life.

This, from Joannah

'I started out gardening in South Florida where vegetables are planted in October and hibiscus bloom year-round.

Since then I've grown beautiful strawberries and lettuces in the brief, but bountiful growing season of Eastern Washington and harvested what seemed like an endless crop of tomatoes from Georgia's red clay.

I've been a Master Gardener since 2006, and now garden in Baltimore County.''

And this from Carrie

"I have been been growing organic vegetables in my Baltimore community garden plot since 2002. I learned most of what I know by screwing it up the first time around."

I don't know about you, but I think Tuesdays are going to be the liveliest days in the garden!!

Photo credit: Marty Ross

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Vegetable gardening
        

I'm Mary McCauley, and I work with Susan. I write about theater for the Sun and contribute to our Read Street blog, but in my spare time, I play with dirt.

After moving into my new condominium in July of 2000, I quickly appropriated an unloved 10 foot by 11 foot patch of mud. As my poor, aching back was to discover, the plot was filled with stones and tree roots. But, it also was surrounded on two sides be a wall, on the third by a staircase, and was conveniently accessible to a faucet.

My little garden faces southeast, but is directly under a maple tree. The light on two sides is blocked by four-story apartment buildings. Though the plot gets full sun from roughly Nov. 15 to April 15, only the last month of that period does me any good. I take the most of the rare opportunity provided by Mother Nature, and fill my plot with bulbs.  

Right about now, my garden is at the height of its cuteness. The bulbs that are up are all miniatures less than a foot tall, nothing has died yet, and the plot is a symphony of my favorite color combination: blue, purple, white and yellow.

I ADORE iris -- it's probably my favorite flower -- but because of my sun Issues, the only type I can grow are the late winter iris reticulatas. ("Harmony" is pictured.) Still, it has a big flower for such a small stem, and it lasts at least as long as the Dutch irises that bloom in May.

The second photo is an overall view of my stolen plot; I'm probably an even worse photographer than I am a gardener. In the summer, the pipes on the back wall are softened by a climbing rose, The rose blooms once a year in May before it gets shaded out and then is through until the next year, but anything is better than bare metal.

The jolt of fuchsia is provided by Camellia April's Kiss. This shrub clearly an over-achiever, since despite its name, it has been in bloom since the second week of March. Camellias are GREAT bushes. Not only are they true evergreens, with thick, glossy leaves that persist through winter, not only do they bloom quite happily in bright shade, but the flowers of some varieties resemble roses.

If you like this plant, look for the "April" series and the "Winter" series developed by William Ackerman. These varieties are hardy to 5-15 degrees below zero. Remember when we had that freezing spell in January? My camellia's leaves curled up, but they uncurled right back as soon as the temperatures warmed up slightly, and the cold didn't seem to bother the buds. Behnke's Nurseries usually have a good selection.

And, then there's the crocus. I can never get enough blue in my garden. In the summer, surrounded by pinks and red, I long for blue, yearn for blue and it's promise of cool. Crocus Tommasinianus Ruby Giant (set off so nicely by the pure white Jeanne d'Arc) is not only squirrel-resistant, it is the deepest purple of the early crocuses I have found.  

I'll check in from time to time to write about the joys and travails of shade gardening. Please send me your tips and war stories -- I need all the help I can get.

Hi. Susan here. Mary is the first to share pictures of her garden, but I want to hear - and see - from all of you about how your gardens are doing. I know it is early in the season and there might not be much going on beyond hellebores and daffs. But as your garden progresses, send you pictures and your garden story to gardenvarity@baltsun.com.

Posted by Mary McCauley at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Your garden
        

 Sherwood Gardens, 1959

My colleague Paul McCardell, who writes the blog "A Century in Maryland," posted this memorable picture of Sherwood Gardens in Guilford, a floral sanctuary on what was once part of the estate of A. S. Abell, this newspaper's founder.

Sherwood Gardens is Baltimore's most famous garden. It was a gift of John W. Sherwood, who opened up his gardens to the public. Today the Gardens are in the care of the Guilford Association with help from Baltimore City.

Paul also posted links to a gallery of photos of Sherwood Gardens through the years, as well as a link to a column by our own Fred Rasmussen on the history of the gardens.

Check out Sherwood Gardens,  in person or here!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Garden inspirations
        

University of Maryland entomology professor Michael Raupp noticed during the cicada mania of 2004 a remarkable desire on the part of regular people to know more about bugs.

With that in mind, he began "Bug of the Week," his Monday morning blog about, well, bugs.

"It is really kind of a blue collar approach," he said. "I simply get up in the morning, walk out of my front door and find a bug. If there is a silverfish in the bathtub, I photograph it and write about that.

"But what I am most likely to do is go into the garden or to a trail or a park. The focus is not on big showy, exotic bugs. Just the average-guy bugs."

Raupp follows the seasonal arch of bug-dom. He is writing about bees this week and last because they will begin to be active soon. Then he will probably begin talking about the Eastern tent caterpillar because you will begin to notice their nests as soon as the forsythia blooms.

He started with about 50 or 100 hits a week. Now he is up to 20,000 hits a month in the summer. It has become a part of many home-school science programs. He has a substantial archive of past bugs, too.

Raupp isn't into killing these bugs, as you might imagine. "Absolutely not."

But for the the particularly egregious ones, such as the yellow jacket, "I will tell you the environmentally responsible way to off those things."

Photo of boxwood aphid courtesy of Michael Raupp.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden blogs
        

The Perennial Plant Association has named Hakonechloa macra "Aureola" the 2009 perennial plant of the year, and fellow garden blogger Margaret Roach of A Way to Garden  lists it as "a plant I’d order," which is high praise, considering gardeners desire many more plants than they actually purchase.

She has also posted this wonderful picture of the grass in among ferns and hostas, and it looks very dramatic.

This long-season ornamental grass looks kind of like an Asian style liriope, as well it should. It’s common name is golden variegated Japanese forest grass.

It can be used as a ground cover or a mass planting or along the front of a border. Hardy in zones 5 to 9, it likes partial shade in hot climates like ours. It also likes moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil, but then what plant doesn’t?

The Perennial Plant Association began the plant-of-the-year program in 1990, selecting a perennial that is suitable for a wide range of climates types, is low maintenance and has multi-season interest.

By the way, the PPA will holds its symposium and trade show in St. Louis July 19-24, with lots of lectures and seminars. E-mail ppa@perennialplant.org for details.

Tell us what’s on your list of "plants I’d order." Mine is really, really long.

Photo credit: A way to garden.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Plant Wish List
        

It is s Sunday. You've spent a long weekend in the garden and I bet you are sore. Really sore.

I swear, gardening should have a pre-season – like spring training when baseball players gradually work themselves into shape and none of the games count.

I started grabbing the occasional warm day in February to begin cleaning up my beds (I have too many and they are too large.) And I broke my garden down into what I thought were bite-sized sections.

But still, at the end of the day, I felt like I had fallen down the steps. And there is still so much left to do.

 There are two ways to ease the pain of the start of garden season, and a hot tub and a glass of wine is one of them.

The other is to soak in a hot bath of Epsom salt – the same salt you might be putting around your roses – for at least 30 minutes. Use about two cups.

 Epsom salt contains magnesium sulfate and when it is absorbed through the skin, such as in a bath, it draws toxins from the body, sedates the nervous system, reduces swelling and relaxes muscles.

It will also help you soak out thorns or splinters. After your soak, rinse off, pull on a soft robe and rest for 20 minutes.

If you are like me, the resting for 20 minutes is the hard part. There is always something more to do in the garden.

Oh, and drink plenty of water to rinse the toxins out of your muscles.

 Any other home remedies out there for the pains of the spring garden?

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden tips
        

 Tracy DiSabato-Aust – The Queen of Deadheading - has taught me, and a great many other gardeners, how to keep gardens looking sharp and well-cared for.

 She’s the author of The Well-Designed Mixed Garden and The Well-Tended Perennial Garden, which is the best-selling title under the Timber publishing imprint and widely considered the bible of perennial maintenance.

She’s taken a different tack with her latest book, 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants. All the plants are show-stoppers, but they have another advantage. They have passed Tracy’s test for toughness, beauty and durability.

These are plants for the busy gardener who doesn’t have time for staking or heavy fertilizing, wants lots of blooms and doesn’t need anything that has to be babied through a hot August.

Among her choices are a couple of my favorites from my own garden: Gateway Joe Pye weed, with its beautiful cloud like pink masses that tower 5 feet high in my garden, the delicate blue false indigo, and hellebores, which are producing lovely flowers right now.

The author suggests a plant that went right onto my list of “plants I want to order.” That’s Acanthus spinosus, Spiny bear’s breeches, shown here.

Cover photographs by Dianna Jazwinski, Richard Bloom and Adrian Bloom. Author photograph by Deb Goff.

Additional photo by Richard Bloom from 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants, Timber Press 2009

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden books
        

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a column in The Baltimore Sun listing my favorite – make that indispensable – garden tools.

Then I went out to work in the garden and realized I’d forgotten a very important one – my adjustable rake.

The steel tines on this 1½-pound leaf rake expand to 21 inches wide for yard-size cleanups or squeeze down to 7 inches for digging stray leaves out of tight spots around shrubbery. Its handle also collapses from 69 to 35 inches so you can tuck it neatly out of the way.

Made by Amleo, it costs less than $20 and is available in lawn and garden centers.

Tell the rest of us about your favorite garden tool. Or are you like me and use the same garden knife for just about every job, short of opening a bottle of wine at the end of a day in the garden.

I'll choose at random from among your responses and send you one of the cool tools that have come across my desk as The Baltimore Sun's garden columnist. The catch is, you have to send me your e-mail address so I can contact you. Don't worry. I won't share it with anyone else.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Garden tools
        

It is Saturday morning, and all the household chores that don't get done during the work week are staring me in the face.

A sink full of dishes from dinner last night with friends waits for me. A week's worth of dress clothes is scattered across the bedroom, making me feel like a lazy teen-ager.

Groceries need shopped for. Nothing has been crossed off my list of (stupid) errands. Mail needs opened and the bills paid.

But if I don't pull on my work jeans and my work shirt and tie on my old shoes and head straight to the garden, I will never get there.

Gardening isn't something you do at the end of a Saturday, after doing a bunch of other stuff. Gardening is what you do first, with the full force of your daily energy allotment.

So, on Saturday mornings. I go straight to the garden. I do not pass "Go" and I do not collect $200.

Photo credit: istockphoto.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden inspirations
        

Yesterday, Amanda asked for our help: How do you keep your rooftop garden watered?

Carrie Lyle, my colleague and an exceptional gardener in her own right, reminds us that one of last year's garden contest winners was Greg Bathon, who has a penthouse balcony garden in Federal Hill.

He uses an Israeli drip irrigation system, something he found pretty inexpensive and easy to set up.

In this video, you can listen to Greg describe his oasis high in the sky and explain his unique irrigation system.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Garden tips
        

First Lady Michelle Obama will break ground today, along with some Washington schoolchildren, on a vegetable garden to be planted on the South Lawn of the White House.

News reports say that the garden will include arugula, a fancy salad green that got the president in trouble with regular folks who thought he was being elitist. But it won't contain beets because he doesn't like beets.

The produce -- there will be 55 varieties of vegetables planted on 1,100 square feet -- will be used for family and formal White House dinners and the whole first family, plus the neighborhood school kids, will tend the garden.

Not everybody is entirely happy. There have been calls for the White House and Congress to compost their food scraps. And some want the garden's bounty shared with food banks and the poor in Washington.

The schoolchildren who help with the garden will have the bonus experience of helping White House chefs prepare them. Mrs. Obama says she hopes this will improve eating and nutrition in families "from the ground up," as it were.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Garden news
        

Fellow gardeners!

I would love to see, and post, pictures of your gardens. Please send them to me gardenvariety@baltsun.com

Tell me a little bit about what we are seeing ...what county or neighborhood, what season, what kinds of plants. And perhaps a little bit about what your garden means to you ... or what frustrates you about it!

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Your garden
        

Bring pencil and paper, everybody. You are going to need to take notes.

• Saturday at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, there will be a lecture at 11 a.m. and a book-signing at 12:15 with Allan Armitage, author of Crazy Plants for Crazy Gardeners.
• And on Sunday, as Homestead wraps up its spring garden show, there is a class at noon with Rita Calvert of Buy Fresh, Buy Local on smoked tomatoes.
• At 2 p.m., there is a panel discussion on regionally grown, sustainable and organic gardening, moderated by Renee Catacalos, editor of Edible Chesapeake magazine.
• All the events are free and open to the public. Homestead is located near the intersection of Routes 424 and 214.
• Valley View Farms in Timonium will hold a spring lawn clinic Saturday at 9 a.m., featuring Bill Trembley from Jonathan Green Lawn and Garden Productions. He will talk about seed, fertilizers and other products, but he will also discuss methods to keep your lawn healthy, like aeration, thatching, grub control and mowing.
•  Bring a small soil sample for free pH analysis.
• At 11 a.m. at Valley View, Suzanne Barton and Joann Weber will teach a class on growing cool weather vegetables and herbs, such as asparagus, broccoli, collards and rhubarb.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden events
        

Fellow gardeners, Amanda has asked for our help. How in goodness' name do you water a rooftop garden?

I am thinking of planting herbs on the roof of a bird house, but Amanda is much more ambitious than I am.

Any help out there?  

And, hey, Amanda. Can you post a picture of your garden perhaps from last season? I'd love to see it.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden tips
        

Suiseki is the Japanese art of collecting stones that appear to be miniature landscapes, like the one at the left from the collection of Jim Hayes.

The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the National Arboretum in Northeast Washington is featuring an exhibit of these remarkable stones until March 29.

In this exhibit, the stones from the rivers and hills of Pennsylvania have been collected by long-time suiseki enthusiasts Hayes and Sean Smith.

Admission is free.

Photo from the collection of Jim Hayes

Posted by Susan Reimer at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden events
        

Done and undone. Two areas of my garden in Annapolis. One has been cleaned up. The other, not so much. Photos by Susan Reimer

If you have gardened for more than a single season, you don't need me to tell you what needs to be done as the weather warms and the ground thaws.

But indulge me.

I am one of those people who needs to make lists. It makes me feel like my life has order, even if it doesn't.

Here's a list of some of March's garden chores. Don't look now, but you are two weeks behind.

• Before you do anything else, clean the dead leaves, desiccated perennial foliage, twigs and debris out of your beds. Cut back ornamental grasses and liriope.
• Remove the weeds, especially the chickweed, which are already growing. Consider applying Preen, a product which retards weed growth in your beds.
• Break up last year’s mulch, which might have formed an impenetrable crust over some places in your garden.
• Turn your compost pile, which will start to heat up soon. You probably ignored it all winter. Harvest the newly minted "dirt" from the bottom of the pile and, using a hand cultivator, work it into the soil around your perennials, being careful not to damage the roots.
• Your bulbs are no doubt emerging. Dust around the shoots with Bulb-Tone to ensure strong bulb growth next year.
• Take your lawn mower in for blade sharpening, an oil change, new spark plugs and an air filter. This is the busy season for such work, so you may have to wait several weeks before your mower is done. Remember next fall to do it after your last mowing of the season so you won’t be up against a spring deadline.
• Apply crab grass preventer and fertilize your lawn.
• Plant lettuce and spinach seeds. You can plant parsley, now, too, as well as onion sets and peas. But make sure the soil isn’t too soggy.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Weekend Chores
        

I am showing my age here, but wasn't it Jimi Hendrix who wrote a song about a purple haze?

Me? I like the red haze.

You can see it now, in the woods that line the highways on your drive to work.

Against the backdrop of evergreens and the gray trunks and limbs of deciduous trees, there is the faintest cloud of red.

I am no arborist, so correct me if I am wrong, but I think that red haze comes from the buds of maple trees. The October Glory in my backyard has lots of them right now.

That red haze - more than the red breast of the robin - is the surest sign of spring for me.

Soon, perhaps by the first of May, the red haze will be replaced by the softest, green haze.

The green haze means the trees are leafing out. And that means spring is no longer just arriving. It means spring has taken hold and the long dark night of winter is behind us.

To paraphrase Jimi, "scuse me while I kiss the sky."

Photo credit: Susan Reimer

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Garden inspirations
        

As Thomas Jefferson might say, I am an old gardener but a young blogger.

If you are like me and new to blogging, you probably need a few pointers. I have asked my friends, dining blogger Elizabeth Large and Charm City Moms blogger Kate Shatzkin to give us all some tips.

--What's the URL, or Web address? You should only care about this if you have a blog of your own you'd like people to know about. If so, fill it in and your name will be linked with your address -- a bonus for your own blog. Otherwise, just leave it blank.

 --Do I have to include my e-mail address? Nope. Just leave it blank if you like. Fill it in if you'd like me to be able to contact you, but rest assured I won't share the address without your permission. It might be handy to include in case a gardener wants to contact you privately about an issue you've raised, and you want me to be able to pass on that person's e-mail address without identifying yours. You will also need to leave your email address if you'd like to win one of my prizes! I'll need to know how to contact you.

--Do I have to put in my full name? Not if you don't want to. You can use your full name, your first name, a fancy nom de jardin or no name at all. Just comment.

--What's this funny letter I have to put in the box before posting? Is it important? Yes; it helps us weed out spam. And don't forget to hit "Post" once you've filled it in.

 As for the site owner approving the comment before it's posted, that's me. I read over a comment to make sure it a) isn't computer-generated spam, b) doesn't contain obscenities, c) doesn't involve personal attacks on other posters. (I'm fair game, but I do prefer you make your criticisms in a constructive way.) I don't edit it for spelling or grammar. Then I post it as quickly as I can.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Blogging etiquette
        

It’s Ladies Night (Is that Kool and the Gang that I’m hearing?) at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville tomorrow night at 6 p.m.

Events coordinator Stephanie Saarbach says there will be food tasting, wine tasting, jewelry, cosmetics and spa services – all from local purveyors – in an evening designed to pamper women customers.

In addition, Chesapeake Bay Roasting Co. will be on hand to serve cocktails made with coffee.

And there’s no cover charge for ladies (Just kidding. Events are free to everyone). Plus there is a 25 percent discount on purchases made between 6 and 8 p.m.

Above, check out a Sun staff video of Homestead Gardens annual spring show by Leeann Adams. The show runs through Sunday.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Garden events
        

Photo credit of Scott Hamilton Kennedy: Christina House, for the Los Angles Times

You can view a special screening of Scott Hamilton Kennedy's Oscar-nominated documentary, The Garden, tomorrow night at 7 at Baltimore's Contemporary Museum.

It is the true story of a 14-acre community garden in South Central Los Angeles that grew out of the ashes of the LA riots.

The largest community garden of its kind in the United States, it sustained a largely low-income, immigrant population and was a community meeting place.

Then the developers arrived.

The Garden is the story of the residents' attempt to save their garden.

The screening is free, but a donation of $5 will help fund the upcoming conference, The City from Below, to be held March 27-29.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Garden events
        

 No One Gardens Alone. That's the title writer Emily Herring Wilson gave her biography of famed garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence (1904-1985).

It is an ironic title, because, in a sense, everyone gardens alone.

For me and so many others like me, the garden is the place I go to think alone or work alone. It is a good gardening day when I can spend a couple of hours in my garden without interruption from the outside world.

This blog, Garden Variety, will be my tip of the hat to author Wilson. It is where I hope to meet you and hundreds of other gardeners, a place where we can share our passion, our frustration, our failures, our successes. Garden Variety will be a place where we gardeners can be with other gardeners. 

So join me on this cyber-gardening adventure, whether you are gardening for the first time this season, or whether your garden is a regular stop on garden tours.

I want you to send pictures of your garden or your favorite flowers. I want you to send lots of pictures. You can e-mail them to gardenvariety@baltsun.com.

I want to hear about why you garden, and what drives you crazy about your garden. I want to hear your questions, and I will try my best to get answers for you.

I want Garden Variety to be a clearinghouse for garden events, so send me news of your plant sales, your garden tours, your lectures and seminars, your meetings and your trips and anything else you have on your garden calendar.

And I want Garden Variety to be a place you go when you can't get out to your garden, a place where we do not garden alone.

My Garden. Photo courtesy of Susan Reimer

Posted by Susan Reimer at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Garden inspirations