the beetles are coming! the beetles are coming!
written by Lisa Briggs
It’s June and by the end of the month, many a gardeners’ most hated day of the entire summer will be here – the annual emergence of the dreaded Japanese Beetles.
sparkling summer nights
written by Lisa Briggs
Are they fireflies, glowworms or lightning bugs? It doesn’t really matter what you call them because one of our favorite sights of summer are those yellow-green orbs flashing against the backdrop of the garden at dusk.
the glorious month of may
written by Lisa Briggs
Although June usually ushers in the gentler garden, the kaleidoscopic colors of May might linger with us a bit longer.
why grow your own?
written by Lisa Briggs
Gardeners are experiencing this spring at a frenzied pace. There seem to be enormous questions that need answers every single day.
ready? set? grow!
written by Lisa Briggs
The cool spring held spring flowering trees in check, but this week’s heat is pushing plants hard, all at once. Every yard in my neighborhood reminds me of a technicolor Munchkinland when Dorothy steps out of that fallen house.
it’s been a roller coaster
written by Lisa Briggs
April’s crazy temperature swings have had gardeners racing from the urge to get tomatoes in the ground and the scrambling to dig up floating row covers from the back of the garage. I don’t believe that there is any group of folks more obsessed with the weather than gardeners. Including meteorologists!
hey plants? wake up already!
written by Lisa Briggs
There are many commonly-planted trees, shrubs and perennials that are slow to emerge in the spring, especially after this spring’s roller coaster. I like to think of these plants as teenagers, lolling about in the garden bed late on a Saturday morning, while the rest of the family members in our borders are up and flaunting spring color.
will april showers bring may flowers?
written by Lisa Briggs
The past few warmer days gave us hope that spring would be early this year, but the week’s end is taking a nosedive. Clearly Old Man Winter is delivering a one-two punch.
spring’s most fleeting flowers
written by Lisa Briggs
Every spring, gardeners hold their collective breath as we wait for the first green shoots pushing through the warming soil. To be a perennial gardener in this climate requires great faith in your choices.
say no to strip-mined tomatoes!
written by Lisa Briggs
There are good reasons to grow vegetables from seed, the biggest being that there are so many more choices when you’re buying seeds.
