But just because we’ve done something for a long time, that doesn’t make it necessarily useful. The idea of gardening with the moon is an ancient one. People have been doing it for as long as we’ve kept records about gardening. Websites offer advice on which part of the lunar cycle will help your veggies grow big and juicy. Or they may guide you to which astrological phase has the most influence on the flowering of your bushes....

They may develop unsightly balls of spores called galls, or sori. Inside are masses of teliospores. As the galls age, they release clouds of spores that waft through a growing space and land on foliage and soil. Ustilaginomycetes Smut fungi, or Ustilaginomycetes, are parasites that infect plants with teliospores that enter plant tissue, and have the ability to overwinter and return from year to year. They are known as “true” smuts....

The juicy berries are a source of food for more than 40 species of songbird, including the American robin, mockingbirds, woodpeckers and finches. Callicarpa americana How can you not immediately fall in love with a plant called “American beautyberry”? It just makes the heart swell. Here, take a Kleenex. The emotive lexicon is well deserved. This large, deciduous shrub, native to the southeastern United States, is truly beautiful. With long, arching branches bearing large, light green leaves, and clusters of little flowers that morph into green and then brilliant purple berries containing three to four seeds each....

Are you planning on harvesting young leaves or large ones from this cruciferous crop? Will you be planting your leafy greens in rows, raised beds, or containers? And what varieties will you be growing? When you plan your cool season vegetable garden, you’ll certainly want to include kale, the versatile star of many a plant-based meal – from salads and smoothies to stir fries and stews. But to harvest the most abundant and delicious leafy greens from this member of the Brassicaceae family, it’s important to provide adequate spacing between these leafy veggies....

My dad kept his eyes on… well, not on the road. I guess on the field… and he said to me, “That’s not a pine tree. It’s a spruce.” One of my earliest memories involves planting a spruce tree. We grew up in a very rural part of Pennsylvania, so when I say that my dad and I drove his pickup truck into the woods, I literally mean we drove his pickup truck into the woods....

You’ve no doubt noticed that nurseries put many plants on clearance in the autumn. Planting perennials like roses in the fall is my secret weapon. Okay, so it’s not exactly a secret, but even though it’s finally getting more recognition as a smart gardening practice, I’m surprised at how many people avoid it. Every time I sweep up piles of discounted plants during the autumn when nurseries are clearing out their inventory, gardeners ask me if it’s really a good time to plant....

Plants play a positive role in promoting a healthy day to day life by stimulating the five human senses – Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch. Here are some awesome Sensory Houseplants for a Stimulating Indoor Garden that you can grow with ease to add an appeal to your rooms and enrich the life experience. Have a look at the best medicinal plants you can grow here Sensory Houseplants for a Stimulating Indoor Garden Plants that Stimulate the Sense of Smell The sense of smell stays in the mind for a long and has a positive impact on your mood....

So, what are B vitamins exactly, and which types of veggies should you choose to grow at home to ensure that you’re getting enough of these essential nutrients? Let’s take a look. Since I’ve sadly outgrown the Flintstones Chewables stage of life, ensuring that I’m getting all of my essential vitamins can sometimes feel like a guessing game. As a dietitian, patients often ask me about taking vitamin supplements to address any potential deficiencies that they may have....

In this guide, I’ll cover how to grow chamomile as a ground cover to replace your lawn. Are you sick of mowing all the time? Why not replace that time consuming, resource draining lawn with a beautiful meadow of low-growing chamomile? Perfect for slopes and other hard to reach spots, a chamomile lawn requires no regular mowing, fertilizing, or watering. Furthermore, it can improve the soil, attract pollinators, and the flowers can be used to make delicious tea!...

The foliage can be solid green or variegated. There are even a few plants with dark red or chocolate-colored splotches down the center of the leaves. Pelargonium spp. Get ready to meet a plant that is a true delight to the senses. Scented geraniums taste delicious, smell wonderful, and they look pretty in the garden. They’re truly multi-talented ornamentals. Also called rose geraniums, sweet geraniums, or old fashioned rose geranium, scented geraniums are beautiful evergreen plants that all have various unique scents to their leaves and blossoms....

With various cultivars suited to spreading their leaves over wide swaths of the shaded landscape, miniature slow-growers that won’t take over, ground covers, and even plants that will do well in a special container on their own, there are so many gorgeous varieties of the genus Hosta to choose from. If you were lucky enough to spend a good chunk of your childhood in a beautifully and lovingly landscaped garden like I did, with hand-built stone borders and slate paths, shaded by mature tulip poplar trees and filled with birdsong and butterflies, perhaps you’re no stranger to the dappled sunlight and full forested shade that’s perfect for growing bleeding hearts, astilbe, and hostas....

You can eat this healthy vegetable raw or cooked. Kohlrabi is a fascinating and delicious member of my favorite vegetable family: the brassicas. Also known as “German turnip” in English, this veggie looks like an above-ground turnip, but it’s actually a cultivated form of wild cabbage, and a member of the same species as broccoli, cauliflower, and kale. The botanical name for kohlrabi is Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes, which means it’s part of the Gongylodes Group....

If you’re just getting started, you can find complete cultivation instructions in our growing guide. I absolutely love milkweed. When the towering stalks pop up each summer, I get to watch my garden turn into a monarch butterfly paradise! Milkweed is a central feature in my garden, and I want to make sure it has everything it needs to come back in the spring. Luckily, there isn’t all that much that you need to do – though there are a few tips and tricks that you should follow to ensure the perennial growth of healthy plants with an abundance of blooms....

Your crop should not be severely affected unless the weather is really wet during the spring and early summer, after the petals have fallen. Cladosporium carpophilum Peach scab is a hideous disease that is also known as black spot or freckles, due to its appearance on the fruit. However, the scab is usually superficial. Fruit that is peeled should be perfectly edible. The fungus that causes scab, Cladosporium carpophilum, is responsible for scab on peaches, apricots, nectarines, and plums....

That means you don’t have to toss them in the trash when winter comes knocking at your door. What is summer without a patch or pot full of geraniums? They’re so bright and cheerful, not to mention pretty easy to care for. But it’s painful to toss them out at the end of the year, isn’t it? Perhaps surprisingly, these plants are actually perennials – even though many gardeners treat them as annuals....

The best way to showcase the beauty of a plant is to grow it in stunning glass and vases. Growing Alocasia in Water is quite easy and helps you to enhance the beauty of its glossy leaves! Here are the most beautiful Alocasias you can grow Alocasia Plant Profile Native to tropical and subtropical areas of Asia and eastern Australia, the Alocasia genus is appreciated for spectacular heart or arrow-shaped, elephant’s ear-like leaves that can be a focal point of any room or garden....

Many bromeliads species become beautiful houseplants, including the pineapple plant. Their tolerance to low light conditions, air-purifying ability, and ornamental flowers make them one of the top search indoor plants! If you’re about to grow them in your home or office, it’s essential to learn how to care for bromeliads. Have a look at the most stunning indoor bromeliad pictures here Bromeliad Pot Size Apart from the metal pots, you can go for any material when planting bromeliads....

Or do we? Rhagoletis pomonella Us gardeners tend not to like sharing our fruits and vegetables, especially not with wriggling maggots, and least of all when we find them in one of our favorite types of produce: apples. Unfortunately, flies like Rhagoletis pomonella don’t ask before they lay their eggs on your fruit, so we don’t have much say in whether their larvae chow down or not. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

Muskmelons are often thought of interchangeably with cantaloupe, and, even though cantaloupes are in fact muskmelons, not all muskmelons are cantaloupes. Some types look and taste very different. Cucumis melo var. reticulatus If you’re a fan of muskmelons, you probably think biting into a slice is the best taste of summer. Their juicy, nutritious, and sometimes brightly colored flesh is the perfect addition to the picnic table, adding flavors that make your mouth water when you’re craving a cool, sweet treat after a barbecue or alongside a buffet of grilled foods....

Native to moist and shady tropical and subtropical forests, these frost-tender perennials of the Schlumbergera genus thrive in partial sun or shady gardens with moderate summer temperatures and mild winters. Highly popular houseplants, Christmas cactuses feature fantastic flowers that typically brighten our homes – but they can thrive in outdoor gardens too, provided your winters are mild enough. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....