Gardening Help

Bamboo is a trendy star of the eco-friendly construction movement, with a wide variety of flooring, furniture and other items being manufactured with the strong, fast-growing grass. However, bamboo production should be left to commercial growers. Bamboo’s hardiness and rapid growth make it a problematic plant for most yards. Here are the top five reasons not to plant bamboo in your garden.

1. Bamboo can spread into neighboring yards.

Many homeowners plant bamboo to create a fast-growing privacy screen around their home. Te

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Nuria Mora has a new installation on a rooftop by the East River in New York City.  It’s not jsut a painting, but a garden, in the most artisitc sense.  And I kinda adore it’s simplicity.   More about Nuria’s process  here.

And if this kind of thing intrigues you — check out this video.

It has been another long winter, and it seems that everyone is ready for spring.  Hopefully, the groundhog was right and it will come early this year.  Not only are we eagerly awaiting warm days, green grass, and spring blooms, we are also eagerly awaiting the next winners of the 2011 Nature Hills Nursery Green America Awards!

This is the third year that Nature Hills is offering the awards, and since the awards started in 2009, the response has be tremendous.  We have seen a lot of great plans for community gardens, and we have witnessed communites coming together to see their plans turn into reality, like last years winners, Cleveland Botanical Gardens (Cleveland, OH), Seeds Community Garden (Durham, NC), and Gifford Park Community Garden (Omaha, NE).  We applaud their efforts, and look forward to the next group of winners.

For those of you that have not yet submitted your appications, there is still time.  All applications must be submitted by April 1, 2011.  We love to see communities coming together, while making the environment a little ”greener” in the process. 

If you live in Western Massachusetts you might be familiar with Pat Leuchtman.  She has been writing her column, Between the Rows, for The Greenfield Recorder since 1980. (WOW! — do the math — that is impressive!!).  Pat grows over 70 varieties of roses and every June she opens her garden for her Annual Rose Viewing.   Perhaps you might want to make a visit or just join Pat for a bit more garden chat…you can visit Pat at her lively blog,  the Common Weeder.   Here is Pat to Chat with us about Romantic Roses….

Roses are among the most romantic and celebrated of flowers. Often relegated to rose-only beds, marching in straight lines where it’s easy to care for the hybrid teas that need cosseting, these beds lack the romance that appeals to me. The rich plumy p

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Flavor GrenadeA Pluot® is a plum-apricot hybrid favoring the plum parentage. Flavor Grenade is a recent introduction from Zaiger. Originally thought to be high chill, Flavor Grenade could possibly be one of the most widely adaptable Pluots to date, showing precocity and productiveness from the low chill southwest to severe winter areas, such as northern Idaho and Montana. Flavor Grenade chill requirement is not known for sure but is probably in the 200 to 300 hour range. This elongated green fruit has a red blush, crisp texture and explosive flavor. It’s a high scoring taste test winner. Best when pollenized with Burgundy plum or another Japanese plum or Pluot®. R

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