According to the “Ask Dr. Knowledge” column in the Boston Globe (10/31/00): Hybridization is a word used to describe any time when genetic material from one organism is mixed with genetic material that has different heritable characteristics. There are many ways to do this. For example, you can just “cross” two species – if they … Continue reading Hybridizing vs. Genetic Altering
Landscaping Helps Homes Sell Faster
If you’re putting your home on the market, be sure to pay attention to the outside, too. At the least, you should cut the grass, weed the beds and fill the flower boxes. According to Holly Cuny, editor of Garden Center Magazine, “Freshening up a landscape makes a home sell faster – 15 days faster … Continue reading Landscaping Helps Homes Sell Faster
Sharing Information About Peonies
Peonies are native throughout the northern hemisphere and have been cultivated for centuries both in Europe and Asia. Like most perennials, they take three years to become fully established in our gardens. They follow the well known truisms: first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap; or first year roots, second year shoots, third … Continue reading Sharing Information About Peonies
Flowers Not Cause of Pollen Allergies?
There was an interesting letter to the editor in the June 10, 2008 edition of The Boston Globe, signed by Doug Brugge, an associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. We quote some of it: …I have long complained about the use of flowers in ads for allergy medications. In fact, flowers, because they … Continue reading Flowers Not Cause of Pollen Allergies?
Soil Improvement Never ‘Done’
“There’s no such thing for me as just racing around sticking things in [planting]. I feel compelled to go with my bucket of leaf mold and my bags of finished compost and garden fertilizer, digging and improving each spot where a plant or group of plants is to go. And I DO know, beyond a … Continue reading Soil Improvement Never ‘Done’