Gardening

Setting up suet feeders is a great way to attract birds to your backyard. With their high metabolic rates, these tiny creatures need high-fat food content. Think of how quickly …

If I showed you my six-year-old kalanchoe plant, you’d be hard-pressed to identify what it actually is. It looks part succulent, part weird sculpture and part mythical tree straight out …

For years I kept a lovely pot of African violet leaves. I say leaves because the violets never showed up, so it was a pot of lovely emerald-green leaves. It …

Ready, set, wait. Just because you are ready to close your garden down for winter doesn’t mean that nature is willing and ready. And so it happened that in early …

It seems there are two types of Christmas cactus owners – those with large plants that bloom consistently every year and those who are frustrated with their stunted little plant …

Dang it! It’s a phrase heard at least once or twice a year when I’m handling a plant in a terracotta pot. It’s usually uttered moments after a loud crash. …

Have you ever heard of a pickle plant? (No, it’s not a neverending gherkin vine, as delicious as that may sound.) I hadn’t heard either until one beckoned to me …

There was a time when birdwatching was a hobby strictly for our grandparents and the serious ornithologist. But, like many things, the pandemic changed all that. While we were stuck …

A raised garden bed, freshly filled up with healthy soil for the first time, is a wonderful thing. The soil mix is fluffy and porous and an absolute delight to …

As a backyard bird enthusiast, I’m sure you’ve stood at your window, watching a handful of birds nibbling away at your feeder, only to see them scatter when a squawking …

Right about this time of year, when we’re getting ready to pull the Christmas decorations out of storage, my family faces a seasonal dilemma. Should we continue to use the …

If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’ve recently received a shock. You found out your treasured Christmas cactus is, in fact, a Thanksgiving cactus. So, you spent some time in …

Shopping for gifts for gardeners can be a challenge. After all, one can only have so many potted plants. If you’re seeking some inspiration for gifts that stand out, this …

Christmas cactuses seem to be one of those houseplants everyone has hanging around their home. They’re easy to care for and last forever. Maybe your grandmother gave you a cutting …

My first memory of cyclamen is tied to browsing through mail-order furniture catalogs as a pre-teen. I was more interested in the decorative houseplants than in the furniture. These weirdly-shaped …

A hori hori is really the ideal tool for us easily distracted gardeners. Maybe you know the drill. You set out into the garden with a specific task in mind …

If you’re like me and millions of other folks, part of getting ready for the holidays is purchasing a poinsettia…or three or four of them. While many stores set up …

Every Christmas, it seems we all receive at least one card with a familiar scene on it. There’s a snow-covered tree or branches, sometimes with glitter, and amid the white …

If you wander into the garden section at any store, inevitably, you’ll be met by a wall of orange pots – the terracotta section. If you’re new to gardening in …

Tell me if this has ever happened to you, my friend. Spring rolls around, and you’re ready to get out in the garden and start the season properly. Only you …

Right about now, there are boxes of poinsettias being loaded into the back of trucks, which will make their way to a store near you. Whether or not you end …

Every spring in temperate climates, shade trees wake up from a long winter’s nap. Their expansive root systems run deep into the earth, pulling up nitrogen and other important nutrients …

Caring for a compost pile is much like tending a garden. We feed it, we water it, we give it good airflow. And in return, we get to see the …

If there’s one thing my Rural Sprout colleagues and I have in common, in addition to our obsession with composting everything that dares move, is our hatred of waste. I …