For most gardeners, fall is the time to wrap up the garden for the year. By mid-September to mid-October, depending on your climate, most of your garden plants have died off for the year. While many gardeners hang their hats up in fall, garlic lovers are just getting started. Why? Because you can plant a...

Spider plants are one of my favorite types of plants. They’re really easy to propagate and make more of, they don’t require very much attention at all, and they can really add a fun splash of foliage to any indoor space. Plus living in a home barely larger than the average tiny house, it’s nice...

Philodendrons can be one of the most elegant plants you could have in your household, especially the heartleaf-shaped ones. However, philodendrons tend to become long and leggy which takes up a lot of space. Luckily, it’s very easy to propagate a philodendron if you’re wishing to scale it back or start over! Pruning back some...

Growing pumpkins is a true delight that I never miss out on. I don’t think in the last decade there has been a summer where I didn’t grow a pumpkin or two. They’re my favorite fall decoration, and when they start to rot, my chickens love to feast on them. But part of growing hearty,...

Spider mites are a very common pest among indoor houseplants. They damage plants, like cactuses, by consuming juices from the inside of the plant. Even though cactuses generally look pretty tough, with their thick leaves and bases and thorny exteriors, they are susceptible to infection by spider mites. Treating cactus spider mites in a timely...

Mandevilla, which is sometimes called rocktrumpet, is a flowering perennial vine when grown in hardiness zones 10 and 11. In cooler climates, it grows as an annual. Gardeners like keeping this vine because of the stunning, pink flowers with yellow centers that the vine produces. All plants can experience health problems, just like us. One...

Basil is a really popular herb for gardeners everywhere. It’s easy to grow, produces amazing, fragrant leaves and flowers, and goes in a ton of different culinary dishes. My personal favorite way to use basil is in making pesto. But all plants can be susceptible to problems and basil is one of them. One of...

Acorn squash is a type of squash related to other summer varieties of squash, like zucchini. It’s often referred to as a winter squash because of its use in more winter culinary dishes. Acorn squash is an easy type of squash to grow that produces delicious food straight from your garden. Knowing when and how...

I have a long-running affinity for Christmas cactuses. They’ve been in my life pretty much since the day I was born. When I was young, my mom had a Christmas cactus that she got from her mom (and still has) that to this day still erupts in bright pink flowers every December. I feel lucky...

Occasionally, a post to Facebook detailing how to do something eco-friendly will go viral, but sometimes the information contained in these posts isn’t all that great. A viral post made in 2020 and another made in 2022 detailing eco-friendly ways to dispose of old rotting pumpkins are two such example. The first viral post, shared...

As a kid growing up in the midwest, the arrival of brief, glowing streaks of light around the yard at night signaled the real arrival of summer. My friends and I would catch fireflies, sometimes referred to as lightning bugs, and keep them in a jar, letting them illuminate our bedrooms at night. But since...

If you want to be a successful gardener, there’s one thing you absolutely must know: your hardiness zone. Having a successful garden in Seattle means knowing when the first and last frost is likely to take place and how cold it gets in the winter. The modern hardiness zone, sometimes called a growing zone, was...