-
1 week ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi |Mary Engisch
When it comes to choosing berry-bearing shrubs to plant in your yard, first ponder if feeding birds is part of your plan. If it is, then the choice is clear: native berry bushes are the way to go. The benefits of planting native shrubs — especially for birds — comes down to the berries' higher nutritional value. The sorts of feathered visitors that come to your yard are either migrating or overwintering birds.
-
2 weeks ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi |Mary Engisch
If you forage and eat wild greens like wintercress in early spring, you’re already a fan of their flavor and texture. Now, seed companies offer certain cultivated wild greens that can be planted in your backyard gardens and raised beds. You’ll have a ready-to-pick selection of delicious wild microgreens that also look beautiful and have a milder flavor than their wilder cousins. The shining star of wild greens might be the leaves of the common and cheery yellow-flowered dandelion.
-
3 weeks ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi
Pruning hydrangeas is a spring gardening chore you can do now, as weather permits, so long as you know which type of hydrangea you have growing in your yard. And the key to knowing when and how to prune also depends on when your hydrangea blooms. Late spring and early summer bloomers have branches that overwinter. Those bloom on the previous year's growth, or "old wood." This goes for hydrangea types like blue or pink hydrangea, mophead, lacecap, oakleaf or climbing hydrangea.
-
1 month ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi
As flowering bulbs like crocuses, tulips and daffodils emerge in your lawn and gardens, now is the time to check off an early spring garden task: Feed them! By providing the bulbs with a bit of nourishment from fertilizer, you can boost their growth early on, and ensure they'll blossom into their full glory soon.
-
1 month ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi
If you start tomato plants from seed indoors, you'll be able to begin that project in just a week or two. Whether you're starting indoors or looking towards getting your hands in the warm outdoor soil to put in tomato transplants, now is a great time to choose which types of tomatoes you're going to try this year. Two variations come straight from Italy and have a unique shape, color and flavor. You can use them in salads, make them into your favorite sauces or just enjoy eating them out of hand.
-
1 month ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi
In certain climes, perennial evergreen vines are loaded with flowers right now and buzzing with insects, hummingbirds and butterflies. Though we can't grow these same flowers as perennials, home gardeners in our region can grow some of these flowering vines as annuals. If you're up for trying some exotic annuals, the first group to look at is Thunbergia alata,also known as the black-eyed Susan vine. It looks like the black-eyed Susan, which is a rudbeckia, but this flowering vine is not related.
-
1 month ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi
In 1913, the now-famous Chelsea Flower Show debuted in England, where garden designers from around the world came to create intricate garden designs. But as far as indoor flower shows — which are a kind of unique American phenomenon — the Philadelphia Flower Show has been going strong since 1829. For a hint of spring in the colder months, indoor garden and flower shows are where it's at. The Philly one is a 10-day show, with upwards of 300,000 attendees.
-
2 months ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi
In its native clime in South Africa, this amaryllis-type flower is known as the bush lily, Natal lily or umayime in Zulu. In the Western botanical world, it’s known as the clivia — so named for a British duchess who, in the late 1800s, brought the plant from a province in South Africa to her Northumberland greenhouses to cultivate it there. These plants are easy-care and thrive in dark and dry conditions — perfect for a New England home in winter. But their price tag can cause some sticker shock.
-
2 months ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi
If you've got some spring-flowering plants in your yard — like forsythia, flowering quince, Cornelian cherry or witch hazel — they will begin to blossom in a few months on their own. You can trick them into thinking spring has come earlier by cutting some branches and getting them to bloom indoors. And while you're out gathering branches to force-bloom, this is also a great time to prune your trees and shrubs. First, head out to your yard with a good pair of pruners.
-
2 months ago | 
vermontpublic.org | Charlie Nardozzi
Though your garden is dormant under that protective blanket of snow and ice, this in-between time is perfect for several garden-prep chores. It will be weeks until the weather turns and the soil warms up, but do these tasks now so you’ll be ready come spring. Sow onions and leeks indoorsIf you’re antsy to start planting, this task is right up your alley. You can begin seed-starting indoors now for onions, leeks and scallions.
