Bok Choy Planting Time the planting of bok choy so that the plant matures before hot summer days or cold winter nights arrive. Bok choy doesn’t like to have its roots disturbed so it is best to directly sow it into the garden when temperatures are 40 to 75 degrees F. (4-24 C.). Since it does have shallow roots, bok choy does well in shallow beds or as container plants, and careful attention should be paid to spacing requirements for bok choy....

Are Sunflowers Edible? Most people grow sunflowers simply for their statuesque nature and cheerful, large flowers. You may also grow them to eat the seeds. Sunflower seeds are tasty and nutritious. Of course, they are also grown on a large scale to make oil, but you can even make a delicious seed butter out of sunflower seeds. Did you know that you can actually eat much more of the plant than just the seeds?...

How to Grow an Almond in a Container To grow an almond tree in a pot, start with a container that holds at least 10 to 20 gallons (38-75 L.) of potting soil. Be sure the pot has at least one good drainage hole. Consider a rolling platform or container because your container-grown almond tree will be very heavy and difficult to move. Mix in a generous amount of sand; a container-grown almond tree needs coarse soil....

Can You Regrow Green Onions in Water? We are often asked, “Can you grow green onions in water?” Yes, and better than most vegetables. Growing green onions in water is very easy. Usually, when you buy green onions, they still have stubby roots attached to their bulbs. This makes regrowing these useful crops an easy endeavor. How to Grow Green Onions in Water Cut the onions a couple inches (5 cm....

Care of Strawberry Spinach So exactly what is strawberry spinach? The strawberry spinach plant (Chenopodium capitatum syn. Blitum capitatum), also known as strawberry blite, grows in the wild across North America, parts of Europe, and New Zealand. It hasn’t gone through much cultivation, but even the commercially sold seeds are very easy to grow. Strawberry spinach is a cold weather plant that can withstand a light frost, but it’s more heat tolerant than true spinach....

Caring for Petunias in Pots Petunia container care is very easy. Soil in containers is prone to heating up and drying out much faster than soil in the garden, but petunias are particularly hot and dry hardy. This doesn’t mean you should neglect your petunias, but you should allow the soil to dry out completely between waterings. Every few days, give them a long, slow drink. Wetting the flowers and foliage can promote disease, so water either from below or close to the surface of the soil....

Cold Climate Herb Garden The colder your climate, the more your plants run the risk of not surviving the winter. Some cold hardy herbs (mint, thyme, oregano, sage, and chives) are very well adapted. In areas with frost, they grow as perennials, going dormant in the winter and coming back with new growth in the spring. A few weeks before the first frost of autumn, prune your plants, removing any woody or dead stems and snipping off the upper leaves....

Do Mayhaw Have Insect Problems? While several mammals and birds enjoy the fruit of the mayhaw as much as people do, if not more, there are really no serious mayhaw insect problems. That said, there is limited information on mayhaw pests and management, probably because the tree is rarely commercially cultivated. Pests of Mayhaw While there are no serious pest threats to mayhaw trees, that is not to say that there are no pests....

Symptoms of Eucalyptus Canker Disease Canker of eucalyptus was first identified in South Africa in 1988. Eucalyptus canker disease kills young trees in their first two years of life by girdling the stems at the base. The girdled trees wilt and in hot, dry summers, often die suddenly. Those that do not die immediately often have cracked bark and swollen bases. Initial symptoms of eucalyptus trees with canker is defoliation followed by the formation of cankers, infections of the bark and cambium....

What Bulbs are Deer Resistant? Bulbs, rhizomes, tubers and corms are all classified as geophytes. Many gardeners use them to add a splash of color among foundation plantings. Many times the bulb of choice is tulip, but if you have deer visiting your property, be forewarned: the deer love them as much as you do. If you want to plant bulbs that aren’t seen as food to the deer avoid the tulips and plant some of the deer resistant bulbs listed below....

What are Garden Ice Luminaries? Think of these as ice lanterns. A luminary is traditionally a paper lantern, often simply a candle set in a paper bag. The most common use of luminaries is to celebrate Christmas. Many people, and often entire towns or neighborhoods, set out lines of luminaries on one night, such as Christmas Eve. The tradition is thought to have begun in New Mexico, but it has spread throughout the U....

Do Butterfly Bushes Need Fertilizer? Before you start debating about what type of fertilizer to use, ask a simpler question: Do butterfly bushes need fertilizer at all? Every plant requires certain nutrients to grow, but feeding butterfly bushes is generally not required. The shrubs grow well on average soil as long as it is well drained. Many experts suggest that there is no reason to start fertilizing a butterfly bush, as the plant will grow and bloom perfectly well without feeding....

Choosing Low Maintenance Plants for Gardens Easy care gardening isn’t just about choosing from a list of low maintenance plants. It’s also about understanding your gardening environment and working with it. Plenty of plants grow wild in your area, and they don’t get any maintenance. You just have to figure out what they’re doing right. First of all, good low maintenance plants for gardens are the ones you only have to plant once....

What to Grow with Eggplants Eggplants need to absorb a significant amount of nitrogen, hence the use of additional fertilizer, but planting eggplant companions such as annual legumes (like peas and beans), will help eggplants since these veggies leach additional nitrogen into the surrounding soil. If you grow trellised beans or peas, be sure to situate your eggplant in the forefront so they won’t be shaded and alternate rows of legumes with rows of eggplant....

The perennial forget-me-not flower spreads easily, freely self-seeding for more of the wildflower to grow and bloom in shady spots where the tiny seeds may fall. Forget-me-not flower care is minimal, as with most wildflowers. Forget-me-not plants grow best in a damp, shady area, but can adapt to full sun. Forget-Me-Not Flower Care Forget-me-not flower care will likely include removing these plants from unwanted spaces. While the forget-me-not flower is attractive in many designs, the free seeding specimen may take over areas where other plants are planned....

Our sponsorship selection team aims for diversity and purpose as we choose who will receive the funds. Over the years we’ve selected a wide variety of applicants – from a soothing garden for Alzheimer’s patients, to inner-city food desert gardens, as well as educators establishing student gardens in their local schools. Meet Some of Our Past Recipients In March of 2022, as the media sponsor for the Great Grow Along virtual garden festival, Gardening Know How gathered four past recipients for a panel discussion on everything from how the projects began to the biggest roadblocks faced in the process....

Mites on Grapevines Grapevine bud mites are tiny, about 1/10th of a millimeter long, to be exact. Their size, coupled with their clear to white coloring, makes them impossible to see with the naked eye. You can spot them with a microscope, but the more common and much easier method is to wait for telltale signs of damage. The presence of grapevine bud mites can result in buds that are blackened, covered in white fuzz, and/or have a bubbly, rippled appearance to the surface....

Growing Bamboo in Containers Bamboo varieties can be split into two main categories: running and clumping. It’s the running ones that spread all over garden if you let them, while clumping varieties stay put and expand at a slow and respectable rate. Growing bamboo in pots is possible for both varieties, though there will be a difference in how quickly you have to repot them. Bamboo grows a lot, even the clumping kind, and leaving it in the same pot for too long will make it become root bound and weak, eventually killing it....

What is Cherry Laurel? Whether you want a lovely specimen tree or an attractive living hedge, cherry laurel shrubs (Prunus laurocerasus) are a beautiful addition to any landscape. Native to the eastern Mediterranean –the Balkans, Asia Minor, and areas bordering the Black Sea– this attractive, upright, evergreen shrub or small tree grows from 15 to 40 feet (4.5-12 m.) in height with a 10 to 35 foot (3-10 m.) spread. Hardy to zone 5, according to the USDA plant hardiness map, cherry laurel shrubs produce beautiful and aromatic white flowers in the spring....

Growing Parsnips in Winter Gardens Parsnip is a cool season root vegetable that is technically a biennial but is usually grown as a winter annual. They grow well in full sun to part shade in any rich, fertile, loose, well-draining soil. However, parsnips do have a hard time growing in the hot, arid conditions like those found in southern regions of the U.S. They can also be heavy feeders and distorted or stunted roots may form if there are not enough available nutrients in the soil....