The basics

Bright sunshine

It’s hot out!

Tips for helping your garden beat the heat. In case you haven’t been outside lately… It’s hot out there! The dog days of summer usually mean hot, humid weather, but this year the dogs have been barking pretty early. Is the heat this year due to climate change? Probably not. We get these hot, dry

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Monarch butterfly on milkweed

What now?

Rethinking the garden after a disaster The drought finally broke in the garden this week, at least for a while, but drought or no drought, the wild bergamot burst into bloom, each blossom like little lavender fireworks, and the bees went wild for it.  So while I was pretty down for a couple days about

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when good plants go bad Photo of purple flower

When good plants go bad

Invasive plants aren’t always what we think. This is creeping bellflower. It’s cute, it’s a pretty purple, the bees love it.  And I hate it. I noticed this slim, delicate flower the first summer after I moved into my house. I thought, I’ll leave this alone and see what it turns into. Big mistake. Six

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What do I do when a plant dies photo of dead plant

My plant died! What to do when things don’t work out in the garden

I really want a butterfly weed in my milkweed garden. Their bright, deep orange blossoms look spectacular against their dark green leaves, they’re a native plant for my area and they’re part of the milkweed family, so—butterflies! But alas, the one I planted a couple weeks ago promptly died.  Where did I go wrong?! It’s

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