Potting soils are not all the same. It pays (literally) to pay attention to the contents.   >> read article

Here’s my pet theory. All of us gardeners fall into one of two camps: plant lovers or design doyennes. The former waxes eloquent in Latin nomenclature, often with anthropomorphic plant references while using words such as “cultural requirements” and “fastigiated branching.” The design doyennes look for the big picture in the garden and are less concerned with individual plants ...   >> read article

To many people, the beautiful Cattleya is what they think of when the word “orchid” is mentioned — and with good reason. The flowers of the cattleya orchid are large, showy and colorful. Because of their popularity for use in corsages, cattleyas are commonly known as “the corsage orchid.” Named for the English horticulturist William Cattley (1788-1835), Cattleya is among the easiest of the orchid ...   >> read article

As I skimmed through some of the State-by-State Gardening Midwest magazines, it occurred to me that readers in Northern states, for example in Zones 6 and 5 and in even especially warm spots in Zone 4, can, if done properly, grow crepemyrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). I have a test plot in Ft. Atkinson, Wis., and have had crapemyrtle surviving, growing and flowering the last three years. The first year the plants grew ...   >> read article

Many species of non-native invasive plants, insects and animals plague the Midwest. Why should gardeners care? Here is what you need to know. Chestnut blight in the early 1900s. Dutch elm disease in the mid-1900s. Emerald ash borer in the early 2000s. Asian longhorned beetle has been discovered in five states with the most recent find in Ohio. The list of invasive species goes on and grows ...   >> read article