Folk medicine has long employed a plethora of ingredients we can grow ourselves – like elderberries, garlic, ginger, and a variety of kitchen herbs. Are you looking for some much-needed relief from the symptoms of a cold or flu? Science has yet to find a cure for the common cold. But nature provides us with plenty of ingredients to help alleviate our suffering – with wholesome, natural ingredients right from the garden....

Let’s take a look at a few of our favorite onion varieties that will grow well in your garden, so you can pick the best cultivars to meet your personal taste preferences. There are so many different kinds of onions to choose from. Some are delicious when they’re picked early, lending a subtle flavor to salads and stews, while others prefer to remain in the soil for a full growing season and store well in cool, dry temperatures....

If you are new to growing these pretty winter flowers, see our guide to growing hellebores. The hellebore, Helleborus, is a member of the expansive Ranunculaceae family. It’s not one plant, but a family of approximately 20 species, plus various subspecies. And it’s often called the Lenten, Christmas, or Winter rose. Most hellebores grown in the home garden are assorted H. orientalis hybrids that are collectively referred to as Helleborus x hybridus....

In our guide to growing marigolds, you can read more about these wonderful plants and we share cultivation instructions. Tagetes erecta Many gardeners plant marigolds in their veggie patches to repel bugs and other types of pests. But let me tell you – marigolds offer so much more than pretty pest control. Tagetes erecta, or African marigolds, belong to the same genus as other marigolds, and they share many similar features and care requirements....

1. Vintage Toolbox Garden If you’ve got a vintage toolbox or old chest in your home, convert it into a toolbox garden like this one. The steps are here to follow. Also, these DIY Garden Projects you can complete using Junk Items. 2. Repurposed Rusty Planter Stand Now that’s a cool idea and if you like it–click here. 3. Valentine’s Windchime This Valentine’s wind chime project would be great for any outdoor space....

The blossoms are short lived, but with diligent deadheading they will bloom prolifically. And don’t toss away the flowers, this traditional medicinal herb makes a delightful tea or infused oil. Calendula is one of my very favorite herbs to grow in the garden. The bright, cheerful flowers provide a splash of color in the autumn months and bring light to even the dreariest of chilly days. On crisp fall mornings, I like to stroll through my little patch of golden flowers and each day I am pleasantly surprised with fresh blooms....

Ironically, almond hull rot typically affects trees with a heavy crop that have been well tended, ones that have been irrigated and fertilized properly. The first symptoms of this disease are the withering and death of some of the shoots. Rhizopus and Monilinia are the primary types of fungi known to be responsible for this affliction. However, you can greatly reduce the incidence of this rot by cutting back on your irrigation and fertilization practices....

And newer cultivars are even more versatile with tidier growth and spectacular multi-season color. Spiraea spp. Woody shrubs give wonderful structure to gardens and landscapes. And ones that add pretty flowers, luminous foliage, and multi-season color give even greater value – like spirea. Beloved by greenhorn and green thumb gardeners alike, their multi-season beauty, easy care, and fast growth make it one of the most popular of flowering shrubs. With a long-lasting bloom time, fine-textured foliage, and variable sizes, they’re suitable for any landscape, and can be used as groundcovers, hedging, in mass plantings, or in perennial beds....

Others do it so they can move the pots around as the seasons change, or even bring them indoors to grow types they wouldn’t normally be able to in their climate. I challenge you to find a neighborhood without a few lovely hostas hanging out in a shaded place. With their attention-grabbing foliage and beautiful flowers, they’ve earned their spot as garden mainstays. While they’re perfectly gorgeous growing in the ground, there’s no reason they have to stay there....

While fungicides are the standard treatments, there are some cultural practices that can help control this disease as well. While powdery mildews don’t kill their hosts, they sure do a number on them. And that is particularly true for powdery mildew of apples and crabapples, caused by Podosphaera leucotricha. This pathogen attacks both cultivated and wild apples and crabapples. And it occurs in the all regions of the world that produce apples!...

So what can you do? Just give up on growing the various Rosa species and turn to something else like peonies? Don’t abandon your rose garden dream. There is lots you can do to manage and prevent this increasingly common problem. Mention rose rosette disease or that your prize specimen has an unusual witches’-broom growing on it to another rose lover, and you’ll likely see a look of horror. Just the mere mention of this disease or its common symptoms is enough to send terror coursing through a rose grower’s heart....

On top of that, you have lots of options. You can take either hardwood or softwood cuttings, and propagate them in water, a soilless potting medium, or soil in the ground. With its highly sought after berries and incomparably fragrant blossoms, elderberries are worth growing in the garden. Sure, you can buy elderberry plants. But it’s so easy to propagate them from cuttings that there’s no reason not to give it a go....

Ready to learn how to harvest your boysenberries (Rubus ursinus × R. idaeus)? You’ve grown your own delicious boysenberry bush. The first plump reddish-purple berries are beginning to ripen on the vine. And then you realize that you’re not really sure exactly when or how to harvest these beauties. At what point are they actually ready? How do you separate the berries from their thorny canes? In this guide, I’ll give you all the answers....

These non-native, tender, tuberous flowering bulbs are perennials in USDA Hardiness Zones 8 to 11 and annuals in Zones 3 to 7, though they may make it through the winter with added protection in Zone 7, or the tubers can be lifted for storage and replanting. Dahlias (Dahlia spp.) add pizzazz to the landscape with bold single or double blooms in a varied color palette, including black, orange, pink, purple, red, white, and striking multicolor combinations....

As if that’s not enough to recommend them, they aren’t attractive to voles, deer, and rabbits. Being part of the garlic family, they resist a lot of the common pests and diseases that may plague other flowers as well. Allium spp. I’m an equal opportunity plant lover, but there’s something extra appealing about a plant that offers a whole lot of visual impact without requiring a whole lot of work....

There are two nutrient deficiencies in particular that may plague roses: insufficient nitrogen, or a lack of iron. A rose can be deficient in any nutrient, but these are the most common. Like all living things, plants need nutrients to survive. Most gardeners have heard of the plant macronutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), as well as minerals like calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. But they also need micronutrients such as copper, nickel, zinc, and boron....

Since I live in Vermont and tropical hibiscus is only hardy in Zones 10 and above, I thought I was out of luck. That is, until I learned it is actually quite easy to overwinter these plants indoors! I am a serious fan of hibiscus tea, and while a quality box of tea bags can do the trick in a pinch, there is nothing quite like a fresh batch of ice cold jamaica made with flowers grown and dried right at home....

In arid gardens where other plants flounder, this mint relative cheerfully keeps doing its thing. It also attracts beneficial insects and deters the bad bugs, which is a life-saving benefit for the rest of my garden. Marrubium vulgare Like many people, my first experience with horehound was crunching down on a hard brown candy that my grandpa bought me from a jar at an old fashioned candy shop. I remember thinking it tasted a bit like a sad version of root beer candy....

There are an endless variety of reels, but we’ve rounded up seven of the best that will work for any space or size of hose – and fit in any budget, of course. If you have a garden hose, you’re going to want to buy some kind of reel or other storage unit where you can tuck it away. Keeping a hose on a reel, as opposed to just coiling it up and leaving it on the wet, muddy ground, will protect it from dirt and stains, as well as other elements that can shorten its effective life span....

Ever wanted to push your garden’s production capabilities to the max? Well, there’s no better way to do it than with season extension! Season extension may sound like a fancy term. But all it really consists of is using certain techniques, hacks, and tips to make your growing season last longer than what nature’s parameters would typically allow. It’s All About Structure To have the biggest impact on maximizing your season, most gardeners – and even vegetable farmers in their businesses – turn to the help of certain structures....