Everyone is interested in growing gardens to support pollinators and butterflies. One of the stars of many pollinator garden is the milkweed. Monarch butterflies have an exclusive relationship with milkweed as a food source, so having this plant in your landscape with help them and many pollinators ..read more

It's been a great strawberry season in our garden, but our June bearing plants are winding down for the season. If you're growing everbearing or day neutral varieties, such as 'Ozark Beauty' and 'Evie2', you should continue having berries right until the end of summer ..read more

This time of year we're still trying to squeeze extra plants into our veggie garden. But instead of just planting more veggies, we like to take this opportunity to plant flowers and herbs that attract beneficial insects, are beautiful and some that can be eaten, too. It provides a pop of color in the veggie garden in summer while helping control harmful insects ..read more

Early summer is still rhododendron and azalea time. There are late blooming, evergreen, large leafed varieties and native azalea species still putting on a show ..read more

Most gardeners have planted their vegetable garden. But while it's tempting to sit back and enjoy your work, the planting shouldn't stop. Interplanting is mixing and matching vegetables with complimentary growth styles. It maximizes the production in a small space, saving room, time and effort ..read more

The lilacs have been beautiful this year and the flower show continues with some of the later blooming types such as 'Miss Kim' Korean lilac. Now is the time to do a little lilac care ..read more

As I nurse a sore shoulder, I'm reminder of all the things I should be doing to keep my body in shape for gardening season. It's so easy this time of year to do too much. There's flowers to plant, shrubs to dig and move, compost and mulch to spread and bags of fertilizer to carry. I think I'm keeping myself is pretty good shape through winter, but garden chores work a whole other bunch of muscles ..read more

It's peony season! The herbaceous peonies are blooming and they're a delight with their large white, pink and red, sometimes fragrant, flowers. But there is another group of peonies that gets less attention. The tree peonies are like their herbaceous peony cousins as far as plant and flower size. But the main difference is tree peonies are shrubs. They have a woody structure that doesn't get cut back in fall. If you're looking for a 3- to 5-foot tall shrub that flowers for weeks in spring and is low maintenance, consider tree peonies ..read more

Spring is a great time to plant a tree. Shade, fruit and flowering trees not only increase the value of your yard, they are great as wildlife habitat ..read more

It's Mother's Day soon. I was remembering when my mom was still living at her home in Waterbury. For many years we'd go Di Nunzio's greenhouses in Oakville in spring to buy flowers for her containers. She loved geraniums, but also my mom loved a good, vine ripened cherry tomato for salads ..read more