Ten Vegetables You Can Grow in Shade

Posted February 2007
It's a common misconception that the only site to grow vegetables in s one that's in full sun. For some vegetables, such as tomatoes, peppers, and squash, this is entirely true. But those of us who have shade are not doomed to a life without homegrown produce.

Basically, a good rule to remember is that if you grow a plant for the fruit or the root, it needs full sun. If you grow it for the leaves, stems, or buds, shade is just fine. [continue]

Shrubs for Winter Interest

When the growing season is over, the winter landscape can often look desolate. Shrubs are the answer to any gardener's winter interest wishes. By mixing different shrubs, your winter landscape can look almost as pretty as your summer landscape. This article focuses on attributes of each shrub that make it great for the winter garden, but be assured that every one of them are beautiful in spring and summer as well. [continue]

Ten Favorite Plants for Autumn Interest

Autumn is my favorite season. I suppose it might be a little strange that as a gardener I like fall better than spring and summer, but I always have. By fall, most of your hard work is done, and, if you plant even a few of these plants, you will still have beautiful color in your yard that will only accentuate the gorgeous reds, yellows and oranges of the leaves and the clear blue skies of autumn. I just want to enjoy my garden in the fall, [continue]

Ten Favorite Long Blooming Perennials

These are my picks for the best long blooming perennials for Michigan gardens. There were three criteria I used in selecting these ten. First, they had to be very low maintenance plants. Second, they had to be easily located in local garden centers, or, at the very least, in most catalogs. [continue]

Summer Blooming Bulbs

The following list contains bulbs that are planted in the spring and give your garden color anywhere from early summer through first frost. These are not hardy, so they need to be treated differently than your typical, fall planted bulbs. If you want to keep them from year to year, you need to dig up the bulbs before the ground freezes and store them in a cool, dry place for the winter. [continue]

Plants for a Cutting Garden

The following plants are perfect for bouquets. Plant just a few different ones, and you'll have bouquets all through the growing season. [continue]

Perennials that Bloom the First Year from Seed

Balloon Flower
Black-Eyed Susan
Blanket Flower 'Goblin'
Cardinal Flower 'Fan' series
Carpathian Bellflower 'Uniform' series
Columbine 'Song Bird' series; 'McKana's Giant' mix
Coreopsis 'Early Sunrise'
Delphinium [continue]

The 5 Most Useful Garden Tools

If you're just starting out as a gardener, the plethora of gardening tools available in the market can be mind-boggling. Which kind of shovel works best? What's the difference between a shovel and a spade? Do you really need a bulb planter? To save you some time, money, and room in your garden shed, I've compiled a list of the five tools I use most often in my garden. I have a shed full of tools (sometimes I just can't resist the promise some of them give of making gardening easier!) but I always return to these old favorites. [continue]

Spring Blooming Bulbs

Name Colors Height Depth Spacing Blooms
Allium Lilac, Purple 20 to 30 in. 3 in. 6 in. May-June
Notes: Full sun, plant in groups of 3 or more.

Name Colors Height Depth Spacing Blooms
Crocus White, Yellow, Purple, Lavender, Blue 5 to 6 in. 2 in. 3 in. March-April
Notes: Plant in clusters of 7 or more, can be planted under trees.

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The Top 5 Seed Starting Mistakes

Starting your own seed is a frugal and fun way to get a gorgeous garden. There are a few common goofs, however, that can take all the fun out of seed starting. [continue]

Watering Tools

There are so many tools for watering, everything from your everyday watering can to sprinklers that look like little tractors and travel the length of your hose while watering. If you're not lucky enough to have a built in sprinkler system (as I suspect many of us are not) the choices can be daunting. So here are the best tools I can recommend for making any watering chore easier. [continue]