Melanie Mathieson – Gardening Guru

Fungus gnats are those little hopping bugs you see when you water your indoor plants. They are small, with black or gray bodies and clear wings, and look like a cross between a black fly and a fruit fly. Although not very strong fliers, they do fly around the house […]

Is the daylily the perfect perennial? They can grow in a wide range of soil and light conditions, have few insect problems, can tolerate drier conditions, and come in hundreds of varieties. Daylilies can be planted in a variety of landscape settings—positioned to make wonderful background plantings, naturalized in ditches, […]

The radish is a cool-season, fast-maturing, easy-to-grow vegetable and one of the first crops from the vegetable garden each year. Radishes grow well in almost any soil that is prepared well, fertilized before planting, and has adequate moisture maintained throughout the growing season. Slow development, usually caused by hot, dry […]

The cyclamenis offered to us as a houseplant often are found in the fall and winter at our local florists. Because of this, greenhouse-grown cyclamen usually are forced to bloom sometime around the Christmas holiday season and into the late winter. Cyclamen have sweet-scented, small flowers (half-inch to three-quarters of […]

Walnut is unquestionably one of the finest woods in the world as it finishes beautifully, is easy to work, shrinks and swells less than any other wood, and is durable, which is why our forefathers used it lavishly in homes, barns, and fences. The trees from the hickory and pecans […]

  Gardening doesn’t need a lot of fancy equipment and often gardeners make do with what they have. But having some proper tools can make all the difference in the making the job easier and more efficient. Here are some of the best garden tools I’ve invested in over the […]

  Some say that those who grow plants indoors are not gardeners. Well, I strongly disagree. I started growing houseplants when I was about five years old. I had houseplants long before I ever had my own property, where I could plant flowerbeds and a vegetable garden. I have vast […]

Here we are in the autumn of the year again. And that means, among other things, pumpkins. Pumpkin faces—either real or cardboard—spring up all over the place in late October. Along with witches, goblins, and ghosts, the pumpkin has come to be a symbol of Hallowe’en. The pumpkin that is […]

  For a gardener, it can be very rewarding to fool Mother Nature! When you force bulbs, you are, indeed, putting her to the test by forcing them to grow and flower indoors so you can enjoy blooming hyacinths, daffodil and narcissus species, tulips, and other as early as the […]

For a gardener, it can be very rewarding to fool Mother Nature! When you force bulbs, you are, indeed, putting her to the test by forcing them to grow and flower indoors so you can enjoy blooming hyacinths, daffodil and narcissus species, tulips, and other as early as the Christmas […]

This is the time of year when many gardeners start to lose their enthusiasm for the gardening and yard chores. But the actions you take now can affect the success of your garden next season. •The flower gardenWatering in the perennial garden is a must. Although perennials may be slowing […]

When starting seeds indoors, you do not have to worry about the weather, insects, or the myriad of plant diseases and fungi that can affect your outdoor vegetables, trees, or flowers. There is, however, one disease you must be concerned with when starting seedlings in the house or greenhouse and […]