Each year Bonnie Plants, the largest producer of vegetable and herb plants in North America, delivers cabbage plants across the country to third grade classrooms whose teachers have signed up for the National Cabbage Program. Bonnie Plants initiated the program in 1996 around their headquarters in Union Springs, Alabama, with a mission to inspire a … Continue reading National Cabbage Program
Gardening in March
Daylight Saving Time has arrived and supposedly we’ll have more daylight during which to plan some future gardening chores. The reality is that since we’re expecting a blizzard, we’ll have more daylight to shovel our steps, front walk, sidewalks and driveway. Hellebores, snowdrops and scillas are already in bloom in the garden. Green stems of … Continue reading Gardening in March
David Austin Roses
We have always been intrigued by beautiful roses, especially repeat-flowering fragrant ones with pink blossoms. So, it was exciting to receive information about one of the two new 2017 spring introductions from David Austin Roses, named ‘The Ancient Mariner’. Inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the hybrid, bush-type … Continue reading David Austin Roses
New Year Resolutions
My 2017 UMass Garden Calendar is doing its job. Not only does it give me the daily sunrise and sunset times, but it also gives me great horticultural reminders and hints. And, yes, the days are getting longer in this New Year. We had our first blizzard on January 7 but the past few days … Continue reading New Year Resolutions
Poinsettias Are Holiday Favorites
The plant we know today as the poinsettia has a long and interesting history. The fact is, that the lovely plant many of us place in our homes during the holidays was once used as a fever medicine. Native to Central America, it flourished in an area of southern Mexico known as Taxco del Alarcon. … Continue reading Poinsettias Are Holiday Favorites