Social media is buzzing today about a new USDA Hardiness Zone map for 2023 that puts much of the Twin Cities and a sizeable section of southwestern Minnesota in hardiness zone 5a. As one gardener noted on my Instagram post about this, this is an identity crisis for many of us who pride ourselves on being able to grow things…
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I love a good cooking show, and Beat Bobby Flay is a frustrating but fun one to watch. In it, chefs from around the country try to beat Bobby at making their “signature dish.” Way too often, Bobby wins. After watching many, many episodes, I figured out that Bobby’s secret was to use a few really flavorful ingredients over and…
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My husband loves bonsai — it’s actually the only garden/plant hobby he enjoys. But his success with bonsai has been . . . limited. So when I got a chance to go behind-the-scenes at the amazing Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia, I had lots of questions on how to grow better bonsai for Kevin Bielicki, bonsai curator at Longwood. Longwood is…
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It’s that time of the garden season when you start to think about what worked and what didn’t. Yesterday I shared with my email subscribers my favorite tomatoes, annual and rose for 2023. All of these are great plants that you may want to check out for your 2024 garden. Favorite Tomatoes I had two favorite tomatoes in my community…
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I recently posted a video on Instagram of the damage deer had done to the hostas planted on the edge of my patio. We moved to this townhouse last fall, so this is my first year with these plants. Uff da! Did the deer do a number on them. So, I asked the people of Instagram which plants deer don’t…
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