Every winter, when my garden is just a sad, frozen patch of dirt, I like to curl up with a hot drink and flipping through seed catalogs. There’s something magical about those glossy pages promising lush tomatoes, towering sunflowers, and…
Last time, we covered the latest tree varieties for 2025—now let’s talk shrubs! If you’re looking for cold-hardy options, Hydrangea paniculata ‘Snow Blaze’ is a showstopper. This beauty thrives in Zone 3, producing massive, cone-shaped white blooms that slowly blush…
Last time, we covered the latest tree varieties for 2025—now let’s talk shrubs! If you’re looking for a cold-hardy shrubs option, Hydrangea paniculata ‘Snow Blaze’ is a showstopper. This beauty thrives in Zone 3, producing massive, cone-shaped white blooms that…
New Cold Hardy Trees for South Dakota (Zone 4) for 2025: For trees, the Betula utilis var. jacquemontii ‘Snow Sentinel’ (Himalayan Birch) stands out with its striking white peeling bark and narrow upright growth habit, adding winter interest to any…
The 2025 All-America Selections (AAS) winners include outstanding vegetable and flower varieties chosen for their superior garden performance through trials across North America. Here are some highlights: Vegetables: 1. Kohlrabi Konstance F1 – A National Winner is known for its…
The 2025 All-America Selections (AAS) winners include outstanding vegetable and flower varieties chosen for their superior garden performance through trials across North America. Here are some highlights: Flowers: 5. Petunia Shake Rasberry – Blooms of raspberry swirled with lemon-lime colors.…
Storing liquid garden chemicals properly is crucial for safety, preserving their effectiveness, and protecting the environment. Ideally, this should be a cool, dry, and well-ventilated space, such as a shed, garage, or outdoor storage cabinet. Avoid areas exposed to direct…
Ah, the gardener’s life this week in the garden! Let us summarize. It’s like a game of green thumb roulette every year. But, hey, this season had some major wins! Anytime the radishes and lettuce don’t bolt faster than you…
Not much is starting to bloom this time of the year in the garden this week. Two choices in vines are the silver lace vine and sweet autumn clematis. The silver lace vine is a tough vine growing to 15…
This week in the garden when your flowers and vegetables wind down, remove the dead plants to trash bags. This removes the potential overwintering fungus spores and insect eggs for next year. This also helps with aster yellows in the…
This week in the garden, if you have dead spotty areas in the lawn, try pulling the grass up. If it comes up like a carpet, then dig around to see if you have any grubs. They will be large…
Oh, the joy of this week in the garden! This week’s uninvited but fascinating guest: the humble sow bug. You may have noticed them lounging under the mulch or your garden boards. Fun fact: sow bugs are like the distant…
I had to take a long time to mow in the garden this week because I had to pick up all the frogs and toads in the grass and put them in the flowerbeds. It is all good because they…
Tent caterpillars are showing up this week in the garden. The eggs hatch and the little caterpillars spin a group web on the end of a branch. As they grow the tent becomes bigger. They do this for their protection…
If you had a low fruit yield in the garden this week, this was probably due to the high temperatures. Pollen in many varieties becomes sterile when the temperature is above 90 degrees. Keep a list of the varieties that…