This time of year, everyone is itching for spring to arrive so we can head on out and play in our gardens once again. While you’re waiting for the snow to melt, here are five things you can do from inside your warm house to prepare for the new season.
Some plants are just better together—a concept that has given rise to the idea of companion planting. If you grow vegetables, you may be familiar with this term. There, companion planting is more about one plant attracting or deterring insects from the other or about plants creating physical support for one another. When it comes
It’s late August in Michigan and as I am sitting here looking out my window into my garden, I’m seeing an incredible number of bees whizzing by while a beautiful yellow Eastern swallowtail butterfly hangs upside down to feed on my six-foot tall ‘Uchida’ lilies. I am blessed to welcome so many pollinators into my
The Butterfly House at Garden Crossings Here in West Michigan, the “Butterflies are Blooming” event at our local botanical garden, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park is one of the biggest attractions every year in late winter/ early spring. So, we thought, why not build a butterfly house right here at Garden Crossings? We love watching butterflies
Got deer? Gardening where Bambi calls home can be a real challenge, but we are here to help. There are a few traits to look for when selecting plants deer won’t eat. We refer to them as the “3 Fs and a P” – fine, fuzzy, fragrant and poisonous. If you struggle with deer browsing
If you enjoyed some blueberries in your cereal this morning or a thick slice of tomato on your BLT sandwich, you have a bee to thank. Native bees, of which there are approximately 4,000 species in North America, are the primary pollinator of many of our agricultural crops. They are generally far more efficient at
Lots of people who like to garden also like to collect plants. We find irresistible plants everywhere we go and one by one, our gardens grow. And grow. And grow! While it’s perfectly OK (and fun!) to collect lots of different kinds of plants, we need to get smarter about which ones we allow into
As with most things in life, gardening is more fun when you are faced with fewer challenges like clay soil, hungry deer or full shade—that is, until you know how to meet and defeat those challenges. It takes some practice, but in time, you will learn which kinds of plants you can grow without any
If you are like many people across the country this year, your area may be experiencing drought. While extreme drought tends to end the gardening season due to severe watering restrictions, it’s possible to keep your garden going in areas that are experiencing mild drought by growing plants that can adapt to drier soils. Below