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Beech Creek Botanical Garden & Nature Preserve
Touring a botanical garden with children in tow can be a challenge. But this is not so with Beech Creek Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve. This delightful garden center seems tailor made for kids and is the perfect way to introduce them to flowers and nature! This delightful botanical garden is located in Alliance, Ohio and […]
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What To Plant for Fall Gardens
For many of you, vegetable gardening is coming to an end. My beans are almost done, tomatoes are long gone (thanks to my squirrels) and lettuce bolted long ago. Fall Gardens often look bare, but there are plenty of vegetables that will actually produce if planted in late summer. There are still a few flowers […]
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Cleveland Zoo Visit
Our summer vacation this year was a mainly tour of Historic Homes and Botanical Gardens in 7 Eastern and Midwest States. But while we were in Ohio, we stopped into the Cleveland Zoo and spent a few hours admiring the animals. This big zoo houses 3,000 animals of over 600 species on abut 180 acres […]
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Perserving Herbs by Drying and Freezing
Fall is the time to start thinking about preserving herbs that seem to be in abundant supply right now. It is getting to that time of the year again. My vegetable gardening projects are slowing down and I have to start thinking about the first frost. No worry though. It’s easy to preserve herbs by […]
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10 Tips to Make Gardening Easier
Most gardeners love being out in the garden, but few want to see it as a chore. Even though the temperatures are getting cooler in most of the country, there are still lots of opportunities to make gardening easier. With a bit of planning and a few easy tricks, your time in the garden can […]
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Trench Composting with Kitchen Scraps
What can you do if you don’t have the time or space for composting in the traditional way? This is where trench composting is your friend. Most organic vegetable gardeners are aware of the benefits of having compost pile. Adding kitchen scraps to a bin or mound of decaying plant matter gives the perfect mix […]
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Best Gardens – Creative Gardening Ideas
Here are some of my favorites gardening ideas from the best of the internet. The ideas range from soup to nuts. There is something for all gardening styles here. My only requirement for a recipe to land on this page is that it must inspire me and have something to do with creative gardening. Searching […]
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How to Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden
If you want to attract hummingbirds to your garden, there are a few things that you should keep in mind when planting. The right type of flowers and color are the key to attracting these beauties. There is nothing quite like the sight of hummingbirds around a feeder, fluttering their wings the way only hummingbirds […]
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Best Topsy Turvy Planters – Creative Gardening Tipsy Pots
I was getting my hair done a few months ago and my hairdresser showed me her latest creation – a topsy turvy planter creation (also called Tipsy Pots.) At that point I had not seen topsy turvy planters, they they are now appearing everywhere on social media. They take the term creative gardening to a […]
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How to Propagate Spider Plants from Babies
Love having new plants for free? This project is for you. It is super easy to propagate spider plants from the babies that the mother plant sends out on the ends of long arching stems. Spider Plants – botanical name Chlorophytum – are one of the easiest of plants to propagate. I first became familiar […]
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11 Best Herbs for Kitchen Gardens
And growing herbs for kitchen gardens is so easy to do that any home cook can have a supply of them on hand all the time. Why pay retail prices for herbs? There is nothing quite like growing herbs to add tons of flavor in recipes. They add a fullness of flavor that dried herbs […]
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Nectar plants for Swallowtail Butterflies
These swallowtail nectar plants are great at attracting butterflies to your garden. They just can’t resist them! Nothing makes me smile more than going out into my garden and seeing swallowtail butterflies fluttering around. Did you know that planting certain plants will make sure that you have these pretty visitors to your yard? Swallowtail butterflies […]
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Regrow Your Food From Kitchen Scraps
I love to save money and I don’t like to waste things that can be reused or recycled in another way. Did you know that many common vegetables are very easy to regrow from ordinary kitchen scraps? I love the idea that you can use to regrow your food. What a great way to […]
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Succulent Bird Cage Planter – Super Easy DIY Garden Project
Today’s project is going to be to transform an old birdcage into a succulent birdcage planter. I just love using household items in my garden in a creative way. If you love succulents as much as I do, you will want to check out my guide for buying succulents. It tells what to look for, what […]
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50+ Tried and Tested Uses for Vinegar
There are dozens of vinegar uses in the home. From soaking your sponges to keeping your counters free of ants, this product is a must have. Vinegar is a versatile and effective household product that is more useful than just for making salad dressing. There are many vinegar uses around the house and garden. One of the […]
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Declining Bee Population – How Important are They?
I, for one, and many of my gardening friends have noted the declining bee population. And those that do visit our yards are the bumble bees, rather than honey bees. With all the talk of GMOs, pesticides and large scale farming, one has to ask the question “How important are bees to our Food Supply and to […]
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Tips for Dealing with Invasive Pests
Critters in the garden range from beneficial to invasive. Some actually are listed by the US Department of Agriculture as invasive pests that need to be controlled. See my tips for dealing with these unwanted bugs. This post was sponsored on behalf of the United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection […]
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Garden Tour – See What is Blooming in July
It’s time for this week’s garden tour. I love July in my summer garden. It’s the time when everything is really blooming but it is not too hot, yet The color is amazing and there seems to be something new for me each day as I wander around my garden beds. Grab a cup of […]
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Air Plant Holders – Containers to Display Your Tillandsia Collection
These air plant holders are cute. compact and perfect to display your tillandsia collection. Air plants are not only fun to grow, they are also fun to display. So many household items can be fashioned into containers for these sweet little plants that don’t need soil to grow. Succulents like tillandsia are drought smart plants […]
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Growing Hollyhocks – A Traditional Cottage Garden Favorite-
If you love plants with a long blooming season, you will likely have a fondness for growing hollyhocks. This lovely biennial is a popular garden favorite that flowers throughout most of the summer months. Hollyhocks (Puccinia malvacearum) are often found in cottage gardens. They make a great background plant for shorter plants and come in […]
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Balloon Flower – Tips for Growing Platycodon grandiflorus
Balloon Flower, or Platycodon grandiflorus, is also known as Chinese Bell flower. The common names of this pretty perennial plant come from the plump found flower buds that resemble hot air balloons or Chinese lanterns before they open. Blue flowers are unusual in the garden. Keep reading to find out how to grow this flower with a […]
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Growing Sweet Tomatoes – Tips, Tricks and Myths
Have you ever wondered what you need to do to grow sweet tomatoes? Vegetable gardening is so satisfying and home grown tomatoes are at the top of my favorites list. The taste of home grown tomatoes is nothing at all like those that you buy in the stores. Even the vine ripened ones can’t compare in […]
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25+ Best Summer Blooming Plants
We are right in the middle of the hottest part of the summer. The early spring bloomers are finished and now it is time for the tough summer blooming plants to be the stars in the garden. Summer blooming plants have to be able to withstand the high temperatures that come with summer. They also need […]
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Poison Ivy and Poisonous Vines – Natural Preventative Measures
Since I don’t like to use chemicals in the garden, I have been trying to find natural treatments for poison Ivy prevention so that I don’t have to use poisons We have a patch of poison ivy that seems to keep re-appearing in one of my garden beds every so often. You have all heard […]
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Controlling Monkey Grass – How to Get Rid of Liriope
Depending on your point of view, you will either consider monkey grass a lovely ground cover or an unwanted weed. If the latter is more of your mindset, these tips for controlling monkey grass will help you get rid of your unwelcome garden visitor. Check Craig’s list free advertisements on most weekends in the summer here […]
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Natural Vinegar Weed Killer – The Organic Way
This natural vinegar weed killer is easy to use and so much better for the soil. Do you love growing perennials but don’t like the weeds that need pulling? The next time you walk outside and see a garden bed full of weeds and reach for the Roundup, why not stop and ask yourself a […]