With the heavy rains we’ve had this year, many gardeners are suffering from tomato problems. Blights and other diseases, cracking, blossom end rot, tomato hornworms — you name it, we’ve had it. This year, I’ve had a different sort of problem on what is my best-looking tomato overall. The tomato is a WonderStar Red tomato, a newish variety that I…
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Hedges can be boring – in some ways, that’s the point of a hedge. They are a straight line of the same plant, trimmed to a neat shape that creates a dividing line in a landscape and a backdrop for more exciting plantings. That’s all good, but why not mix up the plants in a hedge? That’s a question the…
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Digital is efficient, but often my preference is for the physical: books made of paper, fabric you can touch and playing cards that help you plan a pollinator garden. Deal me in! The Pollinator Garden Planning Deck is a new tool for deciding which plants will work best in your garden and provide the food, shelter and nesting sites pollinators…
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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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