5 Important Fall Jobs For Everyone Growing Roses
Roses are the one garden ornamental that has never gone out of style or fallen out of grace. They’re no longer confined to formal gardens, and seeing them tumble out …
Mickey Gast
I like to think of myself as a writer who gardens and a gardener who writes. I was hooked into this lifestyle more than a decade ago, when I decided that my new husband’s tomato patch had to be extended into a full-blown suburban veggie paradise. It was a classic story of “city girl trades concrete jungle for kale jungle.”
Before that, it was a humble peace lily that gave me the houseplant bug, so I have her to thank for 15+ years of houseplant obsession. I get a kick out of saving and reviving houseplants that others write off, although my greatest sin is still overwatering.
When we went back to renting in cities, I gardened in community gardens, campus gardens and post stamp-sized balconies. Setting up gardens from scratch in three different (micro)climates taught me to stay humble and to always keep learning.
Nowadays, when I’m not writing, you’ll probably find me pottering around my suburban backyard where I’m creating a pollinator paradise, complete with herbs, veggies and flowers.
If you’re nosy like me, you can follow my plant experiments on Instagram @greenwithpurpose. I also write about plants, gardens and books on my website, GreenWithPurpose.com
30 Plants You Should Never Prune in Fall
I love a messy garden! And not just as a self-confessed prune-crastinator. To me, a messy garden is a living garden. A diverse garden. And a welcoming garden. So that’s …
30 Plants You Should Cut Back This Fall
Have you heard the term “underpruner” before? I honestly hope you haven’t, because if you have, that would mean I haven’t just made that up. Which I totally did. To …
15 Popular Perennials You Should Never Divide & What To Do Instead
As a recovering pessimist, I have become quite adept at not making a big deal out of gardening mistakes. Sometimes, my plan(t)s don’t work out because the elements conspire against …
50+ Perennials You Can Propagate by Layering This Fall
Back in August, we published an article in which I was advising our readers on what plants we can take cuttings from. Next to dividing plants (which I also talked …
30 Flower Seeds To Sow Outside This Fall
Both the garden and I get a second wind in September. After the mellowness of summer months, and leisurely August pastimes, my mind craves a refocus and regroup. It’s not …
Pop! 13 Garden Plants with Exploding Seeds
I got the idea for this article just as I get most of my inspiration: working in the garden, noticing something, and thinking to myself, “I wonder if anyone else …
10 Perennials You Should Divide in September
There’s a subtle shift in the air when September rolls around. I can sense it, without even the slightest glance at a calendar. The light changes. The breeze changes. And …
10 Perennials You Should Never Plant in the Ground
As a gardener and a garden writer, I enjoy taking photos of plants, in all their stages of growth (and sometimes demise). Most photos I take for my own record-keeping, …
10 Flower Seeds You Need to Save in August
One of the things I’m becoming more aware of about gardening is how much it is a continuum. Like a talent show in which contestants follow one another – and …
10 Popular Plants to Propagate from Cuttings in August
I was reading a gardening magazine recently, which proclaimed that September is the most productive month in the garden. With veggies basically jumping into our harvest baskets, there’s little arguing …
13 Plants You Should Deadhead in August
For me, August is the month of lunching al fresco in the garden, a fresh meal sandwiched between getting a suntan in the morning and sipping cocktails on the terrace …
The Top Reason For Poor Rose Blooms (& How To Fix It)
In a classic tale of taking over someone else’s choices when you buy a place, when we moved into our current home and garden, I inherited a rose plant. I …
Why You Should Add Volcanic Rock Dust To Your Soil
I could spend hours at my local garden store. I find it infinitely relaxing to look at what plants they have in store and imagine the possibilities, the layouts, the …
12 Popular Perennials You Should Never Fertilize
One of my plant-buying pet peeves is when plants come with labels that do more harm than good. Most of the time, it’s just confusing or incomplete information. (Such as …
Fertilizing Roses in Spring for Stunning Blooms (& Bonus Tip for More Flowers)
I was thinking recently about gardening expectations. About how, if certain plants don’t do so well one year, I’m ok with that. But when other plants fail to meet my …
How & When to Fertilize Hydrangeas for Vibrant Summer Blooms
Spring is in full glorious bloom in my garden which can only mean two things: Well, maybe a couple of months before we get full hydrangea blooms. But all the …
4 Spring Jobs For Stunning Lavender Blooms All Summer Long
I once again have lavender on my mind. My husband and I were walking through our residential neighborhood this past weekend, noticing how spring is well and truly here in …
How to Keep a Gift Hydrangea Alive & Planting It in the Garden
As we are entering the season of spring celebrations, many hydrangeas will take their pride of place as the centerpieces of our Easter brunch table settings. Or as Mother’s Day …
6 Spring Jobs For Huge & Happy Hostas
I was having a good laugh with one of my gardening friends the other day at the expense of her beloved hostas. We were both chuckling at the (entirely made …
My Easy Trick To Prune Ornamental Grasses (But Should You Even Bother?)
Are you growing ornamental grasses in your garden? If you are, congrats! You have officially elevated your gardening game to a whole new level. For the longest time, I didn’t …
4 Spring Jobs for Thriving Peony Blooms
I recently wrote an article in which I wondered why peonies are so expensive compared to other perennials. I have seen baby peonies going for anywhere between 35 to 80 …
Essential Iris Spring Care to Get Magnificent Blooms This Year
I knew it was the right time to write about irises when someone in a local group posted a wheelbarrow full of them with the message: Hi, I’m lifting bearded …
How To Plant Hydrangeas The Right Way (& The “Magic Dust” That Makes A World Of Difference)
If you had to guess how many hydrangeas were sold in the United States in a year, what would you go for? Maybe 100,000. Perhaps half a million. Shall we …