-
HOME & GARDEN
-
Sections
-
Browse by day posted:Browse by week posted:
-
E-mail us: Send home and garden tips and ideas.
- IN THE GARDEN
-
The latest from Star-Ledger columnist
Valerie Sudol -
Latest posts
• Dear Santa.... 4:32 p.m. ET
• Clean sweep: Fall is the season to tidy up the garden 2:33 p.m. ET
- PLANT TALK
-
It's time to talk plants with columnist
Bill Hlubik -
Latest posts
• Salt from sidewalks, roads can damage landscapes 2:02 p.m. ET
• Protect holiday plants from cold 2:10 p.m. ET
- JUST IN
-
- USEFUL LINKS
Dear Santa....
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday December 10, 2008, 4:32 PM
A bulb garden from Jackson & Perkins, selling for about $50 at jacksonandperkins.com.What do gardeners really want under their Christmas trees or at the Chanukah candle-lighting?
I always hope for something extravagant, like a four-hour, all-you-can grab shopping spree at some upscale nursery or a string quartet to play classical ditties while I drink mint juleps in the garden next summer. I doubt Santa will oblige, but this is the season to believe in miracles, no?
Actually, I want to share with you some of my favorite things to give and to get, the never-fail goodies that solve many gift-giving dilemmas involving gardeners and the plant-smitten.
Continue reading "Dear Santa...." »
Post a comment | View comments (0)
Clean sweep: Fall is the season to tidy up the garden
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday November 12, 2008, 2:33 PM
By Chuck GarvinWith autumn rapidly dwindling, it's time to put the garden to bed for another season and head for the great indoors.
You (and your plants) will rest easier with a thorough cleanup accomplished, winter protection in place, and tools like rakes and pruners stored where you can find them come March. Didn't your mother always tell you to tidy up and put away your toys?
The view from the windows this winter and the onset of planting season next spring will be entirely more pleasant if you don't have neglected chores staring you in the face. Take advantage of the crisp fall weather to tackle a few jobs at a time until you've neatened up the place. You'll be glad you did.
Continue reading "Clean sweep: Fall is the season to tidy up the garden" »African Queen
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday October 29, 2008, 3:32 PM
Inexpensive and well-behaved, African violets are among the most popular of houseplants. That they bloom all year is a bonus that has won them devoted friends.
Join some of them this weekend when the Tri-State African Violet Society holds its 47th annual show and sale at Frelinghuysen Arboretum, 53 E. Hanover Ave., Morris Township.
On display in "Violets on Safari" are dozens of varieties, not only from the violet's native haunts in Africa and northern Tanzania, but also from modern breeders around the world. Part of the fun is taking home a few new specimens to brighten the windowsills through the winter ahead.
Show hours are 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. For more information and directions, see arboretumfriends.org or call (973) 326-7603.
Dawdling toward winter
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday October 29, 2008, 2:39 PM
With November straight ahead, I know I should be preparing the garden for winter -- but I just can't wrap my head around the notion that the end is nigh.
Sure, I've composted on the tomatoes, cut down the frost-blasted coleus and ditched a dozen pots of impatiens. The other night, with temperatures in the 20s predicted, I grabbed the flashlight and went out to shut off the most vulnerable outdoor water lines.
These provide water service to my little barn and to my big garden beyond it. I've broken the copper line attached to the barn wall enough times to know that if I do it again, my plumber is going to laugh at me -- out loud, to my face. And charge me on top of it.
Continue reading "Dawdling toward winter" »First frost puts chill on plants
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday October 22, 2008, 2:42 PM
On Sunday night, frost snuck into my garden, wilting the impatiens with its fatal kiss.
When I awoke Monday morning, every shingle on the porch roof was outlined in white and the lawn below sparkled with a layer of ice crystals. First frost -- beautiful and deadly -- warns that another year in the garden is coming to a close.
In our better insulated homes today, we rarely see frost painting the windows with the delicate traceries that I remember from childhood. Do you recall how you could sometimes watch the patterns grow like magic across the chilly glass?
Back then, I could welcome it with a child's wonder. Now, behind in my fall chores, I worry about the pots of tropicals still on my sheltered patio.
Continue reading "First frost puts chill on plants" »Fall foliage forecast
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday October 08, 2008, 4:10 PM
Several people have approached me lately to report that they have heard we're headed for a lousy fall foliage season. Their deep concern is obvious, which I find somehow touching, but it's left me wondering what state they live in.
"It's been too dry," is what they usually say. "Leaf season is going to be a bust."
For one thing, gloomy forecasts are premature, since we're a few weeks away from seeing much color in most of New Jersey. And while the bulk of the summer was on the dry side, drought was never an issue and rainfall has been plentiful in the run-up to leaf change.
You don't have to take my word for it since the guy who would know, state climatologist David Robinson, agrees with me on both counts.
Continue reading "Fall foliage forecast" »More butterfly chat
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday October 01, 2008, 5:03 PM
Unknown caterpillar spotted in East Windsor Township. Mail continues to pour in on the subject of butterflies, who seem to have fans in every corner of the state.
Since we started asking where the butterflies are this season, more of you have written in to share sightings, experiences and photos. Check out this portrait of an unknown caterpillar that Deanna Benitez found in East Windsor Township.
"...(this) suprisingly large caterpillar hung out in my driveway for a few hours last week. It captured the attention of the whole neighborhood!" she wrote.
Okay, caterpillar experts -- who is this character?
The jungle look: Make room for bamboo in NJ's temperate zones
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday October 01, 2008, 2:17 PM
Variation in bamboo is mainly in the culms, as shown by this selection from Little Acre Farm in Howell Township. From left, Phyllostachys aureosulcata; Phyllostachys glauca; golden crookstem, Phyllostachys aureosulcata aureocaulis; black bamboo, Phyllostachys nigra; Phyllostachys nuda; Phyllostachys aureosulcata spectabilis; sweetshoot bamboo, Phyllostachys dulcis; green onion bamboo, Pseudosasa japonica 'Tsutsumiana'; and Phyllostachys glauca yunzhu.In the popular imagination, this oversized grass is still associated with steamy climates, outlandishly fast growth and ambitions to take over the neighborhood, if not the world. Today its virtues and adaptability as a landscape plant are becoming more widely known, and bamboo is taking its place alongside other ornamental plants in our increasingly cosmopolitan
Ed Woolley, owner of Little Acre Farm in Howell Township (littleacrebamboo.com), has seen attitudes change in the years since he converted his family's former chicken farm into one of the largest bamboo nurseries in the Northeast.
Continue reading "The jungle look: Make room for bamboo in NJ's temperate zones" »Whoops! Wrong caterpillar
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Friday September 19, 2008, 2:09 PM
The photo at left that ran Thursday with an article on butterflies was misidentified as the caterpillar of a spicebush swallowtail butterfly. It is actually the mature larvae of a promethea moth, Callosamia promethea. The mistake made by reader Anthony Robbi is understandable, since this critter also feeds on the spicebush.
The caterpillar of the spicebush swallowtail butterfly.The real spicebush swallowtail caterpillar is another cute little fellow. The photo at right was supplied by Sharon Wander, Butterfly Count Editor for the North American Butterfly Association. It was taken in the garden of Louise Zemaitis of NJ Audubon Society down in Cape May. The prominent eyespots (not eyes) are meant to confuse predators.
Everybody loves butterflies
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday September 17, 2008, 2:39 PM
The spicebush swallowtail is among the species found in New Jersey.On the whole, populations seem to be sharply down in northern and central New Jersey counties this year, although there are some isolated spots where butterflies are still abundant. That's the numerical summary, but here's the more important finding of this little experiment: Butterflies have a lot of friends out there who are concerned about their welfare.
Twenty individuals registered to post comments on line at nj.com/homegarden, another 10 of you e-mailed me and two people took time to send letters. Most respondents live in northern New Jersey (Hunterdon, Morris and Warren counties) or central parts of the state (Middlesex, Union and Mercer counties), but we had one response from southern Ocean County and one -- go figure -- from central Wisconsin.
Continue reading "Everybody loves butterflies" »Taking inventory
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday September 10, 2008, 3:55 PM
Zinnias decorate the garden, fill the vases and feed the hummingbirds - give them an "A+."Tuck them in your pocket and head out to the garden for a very important exercise in better gardening: the end-of-season assessment of your best (and most futile) efforts.
You think you'll remember exactly what excelled and what bombed this year, but trust me, you won't. It's a far, far better thing to jot down some notes that will serve you well when the snowflakes fly and you're trying to plan your next horticultural adventures. Come along as I roam my grounds with a critical eye.
Continue reading "Taking inventory" »September garden calendar
by Valerie Sudol (text); illustration by Laurie Triefeldt, Star-Ledger Staff
Wednesday September 03, 2008, 6:22 PM
To see the September garden calendar, click here.
Going organic
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday September 02, 2008, 4:21 PM
Learn everything you wanted to know about organic growing (but were afraid to ask) in a Sept. 13 session with organic farmer Mark Canright at Bamboo Brook, 170 Longview Road, Far Hills.
The talk set for 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. is sponsored by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving New Jersey's natural resources. Canright and his wife, Amy Hansen a policy analyst with the foundation, grow organic fruits and vegetables at Comeback Farm, a 38-acre spread in Hunterdon County.
Including children's activities and seeds to take home, the event is free but registration is required. To save a spot, call (908) 234-1225 ext 105 or e-mail meghan@njconversation.org.
Over the top
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday September 02, 2008, 3:38 PM
What the groundhogs are doing while you're not looking.Stop! Thief!
Jared Guest of Hackettstown caught this groundhog in the act of scaling the fence in Adriane Fowler's garden. You would think that a sturdy wire fence would prevent break-ins, but obviously this groundhog has skills worthy of a prison inmate bent on escape or a rock climber ready to assault a vertical cliff. What's next? Groundhogs in hang gliders?
The traditional fix for fence-climbing critters involves leaving a loose flap of wire fence flopping outward above support posts. When the Edmund Hillarys of the groundhog set attempt to reach the summit, the loose fencing fails to support their weight, spilling them on the ground.
Groundhogs are more adept at climbing than you might think and don't actually need the ladder-like footholds provided by wire mesh. I have spotted groundhogs 20 feet up in my mulberry tree, grinning at me from a high limb like the Cheshire Cat. I have to believe they were after fresh mulberry leaves since at the time there was plenty of ripe fruit on the ground. I know that because the robins, crows, deer and foxes all dropped by to chow down.
What we think of as a garden the critters see as a handy convenience store. Kind of makes you sympathize with Farmer Brown and Elmer Fudd, doesn't it?
Fall cleaning
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday August 27, 2008, 3:06 PM
PetuniasWe can't ignore the cooler nights, the onset of the school year and the uptick in social obligations that September brings. But we can remain steadfastly in denial out in our gardens, where the season has another two months to go. Call me stubborn, but I'm not coming inside any sooner than I have to.
By summer's end, the garden often has gone a little wild, since who among us has been entirely faithful about the weeding and watering? Admit it: The vegetable patch is a jungle, the borders are a mess and the container plants are looking a little sad, all spent flowers and yellow foliage.
Continue reading "Fall cleaning" »Gardeners, get your tetanus shots
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday August 20, 2008, 2:40 PM
Gardening is generally considered a low-risk activity, more likely to stiffen your muscles than to threaten your life -- yard play with chain saws aside.
But a potential killer lurks in rich garden soil, fragrant manure, compost and potting mixes, and a scratch or puncture wound is all it needs to launch a hostile takeover of your nervous system. It's tetanus, of course -- the bacteria Clostridium tetani, and while it may seem like an old-fashioned threat, it's a modern problem.
The classic tetanus-inducing mishap is stepping on a rusty nail, but landscaping and yard work actually account for about a third of the cases reported in the United States. Encounters with shrubs have been fatal for women in Great Britain and Ohio within the past 20 years.
Continue reading "Gardeners, get your tetanus shots" »Suing on behalf of bees
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday August 19, 2008, 3:51 PM
What does the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) know about pesticide risks to honeybees, an important pollinator in alarming decline?
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is suing the EPA in hopes of finding out. The law suit was filed Monday in Washington D.C. after the federal agency failed to respond to a request for the data under the Freedom of Information Act.
Honeybee populations have plunged in the past two years with beekeepers reporting losses of 30 to 90 percent in what has been called "colony collapse disorder." Some scientists are blaming a rare virus new to the United States, possibly imported with bees from Australia. Others believe that pesticides are weakening bee immune systems leaving them vulnerable to pathogens.
Continue reading "Suing on behalf of bees" »Where are all the butterflies?
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday August 13, 2008, 3:04 PM
"Where are all the butterflies?!" was how the question went. My correspondent, who signed off as "Very curious in Hunterdon," knows how to lay an enticing table, too.
"The native phlox in the fields have come and gone, the nurseries are bursting with blooms on buddleias, zinnias and coneflowers, but there's not a butterfly fluttering in sight. My host plants are waiting -- black cherry trees, Queen Anne's lace, butterfly weed, rue and aster. Shouldn't some of the species be working on their second brood by now?"
Continue reading "Where are all the butterflies?" »Volunteers wanted for butterfly fest
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Thursday August 07, 2008, 5:19 PM
A monarch butterfly and a bubblebee face off on a coveted stalk of lavender.The eighth annual Butterfly Festival is scheduled Saturday at the Watershed Reserve operated by the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association in Hopewell.
Activities are set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Kate Gorrie Memorial Butterfly House, located on the reserve off Titus Road. On tap are guided tours, nature hikes, live entertainment, food vendors and children's events, including a butterfly costume contest.
The big draw, though, are the scores of native butterflies flitting around the butterfly house, a screened structure housing plants that serve these changeling insects in their caterpiller and adult stages. Learn to identify the most common species and how to attract them to your garden.
Admission is $5 per person or $15 per carload. Admission is free for volunteers, still needed for festival programs. To sign up, contact Lisa Jordan or Nancy Apple at office@thewatershed.org or (609) 737-3735 ext. 10. Volunteers get a free tee-shirt, too.
The tomato report
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday August 06, 2008, 3:43 PM
'Ramapo' tomatoes on the vine in the author's garden.Tomatoes I've bought from three different stands have been smooth, round, symmetrical and blemishless, but without much flavor. They all have had those fibrous white bits inside instead of presenting beautiful red color throughout. To my sorrow, they don't ripen further post-purchase.
It's the later varieties that I believe better represent the old-time Jersey tomato taste, blending sweet and tart in subtle harmony -- and the development of that flavor depends on plentiful sunshine, hot temperatures and time. The late types are later than usual this year, since the weather in May, cool and wet, did tomatoes precious little good.
Continue reading "The tomato report" »New World Heritage Site in Israel
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday July 30, 2008, 4:00 PM
The Baha'i Gardens in Haifa, already one of the city's landmarks, have been named a World Heritage Site.The latest site in Israel to win designation from UNESCO as a World Heritage Site is Haifa's Baha'i Gardens, a place sacred to what may be the least-known religion in the conflict-torn Holy Land.
The gardens, which climb from the base of Mount Carmel to its summit, include the Shrine of the Bab, a prominent Haifa landmark and a visual symbol of the Baha'i faith's emphasis on worldwide religious unity.
The domed shrine, completed in 1953, contains the tomb of Siyyard Ali Muhammed, a Persian who was the chief precursor of the Baha'i religion. He was executed for heresy in 1850 by Muslim authorities. His remains were brought to Haifa in 1909 and remained hidden for years before the permanent memorial was built.
Continue reading "New World Heritage Site in Israel" »The mimosa -- or is it?
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday July 30, 2008, 3:23 PM
MimosaAsk someone what it is and they will probably tell you it's a mimosa, since that is the commonest of its common names in the United States. In another one of those taxonomic boggles for which horticultural nomenclature is famous, this tree once found a home, briefly, in the mimosa genus, but it was long ago evicted.
The tree is properly Albizia julibrissin, or silk tree, if you will. The genus memorializes the Italian nobleman Filippo del Albizzi, who brought it to Europe in the mid-18th century from its native haunts in southeastern Asia (from Iran east to China and Korea). The species name is a corruption of a Persian word meaning "silk flower," and those pom-pom flowers do look like a cluster of silky threads.
Continue reading "The mimosa -- or is it?" »Keeping track of birds in the yard
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday July 30, 2008, 3:14 PM
The multi-year, $1 million study hopes to identify food and feeder preferences of birds that commonly congregate in American and Canadian backyards. Continuing through December, the study, funded by the Wild Bird Feeding Industry, is coordinated by David Horn, assistant professor of biology at Millikin University in Decatur, Ill.
According to the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, more than 55 million people feed the birds around their homes, spending more than $4 billion annually on seed, feeders, bird houses and bird baths. Bird-watching is, overall, the second most popular outdoor hobby, after gardening.
To participate in the study, complete an online survey at projectwildbird.org. The data, once compiled, will help pinpoint what combination of food and feeders will attract specific bird species.
Green peace
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday July 23, 2008, 5:17 PM
If the stress of everyday life has your shoulders bunched around your ears, learn how to undo those knots in the soothing surroundings of a woodland rock garden.
At 9:30 a.m. Saturday, the Leonard J. Buck Garden at 11 Layton Road, Far Hills, hosts a session called "Breathing Space: Relaxation Techniques in the Garden." Celeste Fleming, a biofeedback practitioner from the Bunker Hill Consultation Center in Princeton, leads the two-hour workshop.
Participants are coached in deep breathing techniques that relieve tension and anxiety, and are encouraged to reach a calm mental state through guided garden-inspired imagery. If you go, wear loose clothing and bring a mat or blanket.
The fee is $15 and pre-registration is required. To reserve a spot or check directions, call (908) 234-2677 ext. 21 or visit somersetcountyparks.org.
Roll out the rain barrel
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday July 23, 2008, 5:05 PM
Water is increasingly a precious commodity -- have you looked at your water bill lately?
Runoff from home roofs is usually wasted as it pours through gutters and downspouts, and onto the ground. One inch of rain falling on a 1,000-square-foot roof yields an amazing 625 gallons.
An old-fashioned rain barrel can help you capture some of that water for the garden. This one, made by the online gardening store Clean Air Gardening, has a flat back to fit against the house and a screen lid over the top that keeps mosquitoes out. Made of tough plastic, it is designed to look like a weathered woodgrain whiskey barrel.
Order it for $170 at cleanairgardening.com.
Protect yourself in the garden
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday July 23, 2008, 4:53 PM
Trowels, pruners, rakes and spades are essential gardening tools, but what about a kit for the gardener? It's too easy to forget your own needs when you've got tomato harvesting or a weeding marathon on your mind.
Don't go out in the heat of the day without sunscreen to ward off sunburn. The right time to slather on a product with a SPF rating of 15 or higher is 20 to 30 minutes before you head out the door.
Be aware that sunscreens have expiration dates, and out-of-date stuff won't necessarily protect you. Check labels and chuck the stuff that's been around too long.
Continue reading "Protect yourself in the garden" »Transplating irises
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday July 23, 2008, 1:38 PM
'Stepping Out' is an outstanding hybrid. Thousands of varieties have been developed since German irises became a popular perennial.Mid-July through mid-September is prime time for digging, dividing and planting German, or "bearded," irises, a favorite May-blooming perennial. Irises need warm soil to set new roots, so trying to transplant them in the spring or fall often leads to failure. Now is the time.
On the whole, irises are long-lived and trouble-free, but they do spread and multiply rather quickly. If you can't remember when you last divided your clump, it has probably been too long.
Continue reading "Transplating irises" »Hold the (Epsom) salt
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Thursday July 17, 2008, 5:00 AM
Every now and then, you'll hear some ordinary household product or comestible touted as the "secret" ingredient in a homemade garden remedy.
Greener lawns! Bigger tomatoes! Madly blooming roses! Who wouldn't be intrigued to think that the greatest growth enhancer since barnyard manure is lurking in your cupboard, refrigerator or medicine cabinet?
Take Epsom salt, for example. Recently, I received the annual press release from the Epsom Salt Industry Council (yes, such a thing really exists), promoting the use of this product in the garden.
Continue reading "Hold the (Epsom) salt" »The buddy system
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Monday July 14, 2008, 12:06 PM
Radishes planted around cucumbers help repel cucumber beetles.captionYou may have heard the term "companion planting." It's not about making your vegetables more social -- it's about giving them partners that protect crops from pests or enhance their growth.
This tactic has been around a long time, pre-dating the knee-jerk use of pesticides. The editors of Yankee Magazine have compiled a list of traditional "buddies" in "1,001 Old-Time Household Hints: Timeless Bits of Household Wisdom for Today's Home and Garden" (Rodale Press, 2005, $17.95).
Try a few of these in your own garden and test the theory for yourself:
Sculpture in the garden
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday July 09, 2008, 1:56 PM
So, you finally got a piece of ornamental sculpture for your garden.
Now what? Where do you put it to show it to best advantage?
Caroline Tilston, author of "Low Maintenance Gardens" (John Wiley & Sons, $16.95) has these tips for placing a sculpture:
-- It's difficult to get a piece to work as the center of a garden unless the scale and setting are exactly right. It's safer to position the sculpture to one side as something visitors will come across, rather than to give it center stage.
Continue reading "Sculpture in the garden" »Perking up potted plants
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday July 09, 2008, 1:30 PM
A little care will keep annuals blooming through the summer. This is calibrachoa 'Coral Pink.'One of the pleasures of summer is hanging out on your terrace, deck or patio with an array of potted plants.
Unlike the masses of flowers in your garden proper, these singular specimens remain up close and personal through the season, living right at your feet. There are plenty of occasions to observe the intricacies of their blossoms and foliage. Let's hope they stand up to intimate scrutiny.
Too often, the plants that looked gorgeous when first set out begin to flag in the heat and humidity of high summer, despite regular watering. Droopy petunias laden with spent flowers, verbenas with foliage browned by too much moisture and foliage specimens grown lank and stringy do not present that picture of perfection you had in mind back in May, I'm sure.
Continue reading "Perking up potted plants" »Woodpeckers gone wild
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday July 08, 2008, 3:44 PM
The downy woodpecker is among species common in New Jersey.Knock, knock. Who's there? Could be a woodpecker pounding on your cedar roof, your redwood siding, your fence or your lamp post.
Every year, woodpeckers cause damage to homes and drive homeowners crazy with their incessant pounding. You can't harm them since they are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Act, so don't go after them with a rifle like some real-life Elmer Fudd.
Some of the noise, especially during spring mating season, has to do with advertising a bird's territory. When a woodpecker chooses to drum on a resonant object like a gutter, chimney cap or antenna, it's broadcasting a message to rivals that it already has staked a claim in the neighborhood.
Roses in time-lapse
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Friday June 27, 2008, 2:18 PM
We see nature unfold every day, and experience the changes as incremental and barely perceptible. The camera lens can change all that.
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden has just posted a time-lapse video of its Cranford Rose Garden that encompasses three days at the peak of bloom. Watch as thousands of shrubs burst into flower.
You can view it here.
Favorite gear
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Friday June 27, 2008, 1:10 PM
Chain lock, a handy garden item, is available from Forestry Suppliers on-line, and other home and garden outlets.I never knew about plastic chain lock until I saw one of my landscapers use it to attach some newly planted trees to their stakes. Naturally, I had to have some, and I have since learned that this is a product with a hundred uses.
Strong, simple to use and virtually indestructible, the stuff is treated to resist the ultraviolet degradation that turns other plastic items left for long periods in the sun brittle and prone to breakage.
You just insert one end of a length of chain into a slit and twist to lock it. You've got a secure tie with no fancy knots or figure-8 lashings require. It's completely adjustable, too, and without picking apart a tightly tied knot or struggling to undo and refasten a short, sharp length of coated wire.
Dreadful little beasts
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday June 25, 2008, 2:09 PM
An adult female deer tick, left, and a nymph.Gardeners are vulnerable since they spend a lot of time knee-deep in vegetation, but anyone who likes to be outdoors in wooded areas, brushy verges or long-grass meadows should be aware that these are prime tick habitats. Children who play outdoors are especially at risk and should be carefully monitored.
April through September is traditionally the prime time for ticks -- with adults, nymphs and larvae reaching their peaks at two-month intervals. Other tick-haters have confirmed my impression that the onset of tick season was delayed by four or five weeks this year due to early spring's unusually cold weather.
Continue reading "Dreadful little beasts" »The backyard orchard
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday June 18, 2008, 1:31 PM
Chas D'Ovidio shows his daughter Isabella the fruit forming on a dwarf peach tree at their Cedar Grove home.He watches over his vegetables, berry plants, figs and grapes with the tenderness of a father and the enthusiasm of a sports fan. But when he's out in his garden, harvesting a handful of grapes or pulling up onions, it's his grandfather he has in mind.
D'Ovidio comes from a line of backyard produce-growers, the kind who revel in putting food on the table. It's a family thing, steeped in fond memories and unfailing optimism.
He's keen to pass on his love of gardening to his 20-month old daughter, Isabella, who already follows him around with her pint-sized watering can, tending the crops. If she catches the fever, she'll become the fourth generation of suburban farmers in the D'Ovidio clan.
Continue reading "The backyard orchard" »The adventures of Mr. Palm
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday June 18, 2008, 1:10 PM
Palm, version 4.0Our cottage at the edge of a cliff falling away to the turquoise sea was draped in bougainvillea and overhung with palms -- big rustling ones. Lying in bed listening to the trade winds blow through the palm fronds is a memory I'll never forget.
I can't say I'd given palms much thought until my friend Paul showed up with one the year I finally had my bluestone patio built. A patio palm -- of course! Exactly what I needed.
It was a little short on the rustle, rustle, rattle, rattle, but hardly short, as potted plants go. Standing a little over five feet tall, it was an impressive addition to the other container plants -- annuals galore and tropicals like cannas that should have made a palm feel quite at home.
Continue reading "The adventures of Mr. Palm" »Cheap thrills
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Monday June 16, 2008, 5:22 PM
Patience is a virtue, they say, and a gardener with a good supply of it can save a bundle.
With a property of more than a half-acre, a few six-packs of annuals and a couple of pots of perennials aren't going to make much of an impression at my place. If I bought all of the plants I really want at full price, I wouldn't be able to pay the mortgage. One must at least try to moderate one's manias.
I rarely indulge myself with full-grown perennials sold in most garden centers for $12 to $15 a pot. Instead, I'll cruise the sales that begin in mid July, pick up a container or two of something interesting and immediately divide it. Voila! Two or three plants for the discounted price of one.
Fleeting beauty
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Thursday June 12, 2008, 11:11 AM
Late-blooming peonies hardly stood a chance this year in the blistering heat wave of early June.
They bloomed, faded in the hot sun and browned off -- all in the space of a day or two. It was a crime against nature, this unseasonable weather, and it thwarted all chance of enjoying one of springs most lush and lovely perennials.
My enormous 'Princess Margaret' peonies, about the size of a grapefruit, went from deep rose to pale pink to dead in the blink of an eye. Such a pity, since the shrub-sized plant had more than 50 buds. The single and the double peonies, blooming from Memorial Day on, were pretty much doomed.
Getting the blues
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday June 11, 2008, 1:21 PM
Delphiniums for our clime.Who has not looked at pictures of English gardens and lusted after the delphiniums?
There they stand, tall and cool, with tightly packed spires of the bluest blue blossoms in Christendom. Close up, the flowers have a powdery coating that makes the color almost iridescent. Their contrasting centers, known as "bees," can be coal-black or white, adding just another irresistible feature to a knockout flower.
Delphiniums don't lie around the gardener's ankles like a clutch of pinks, for instance, or swath of lily-of-the-valley. No, at up to 6 feet, they look a fully grown gardener in the eye, or even tower overhead with a snobbish air. These are plants with real stature and undeniable cachet.
And there's that blue, true blue, the rarest color in the garden.
Continue reading "Getting the blues" »Thar she blows!
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday June 10, 2008, 5:30 PM
Call before you dig -- it's free and it's the law.According to a newly released study, Americans unintentionally strike underground utilities at the rate of once a minute. In other words, every minute someone risks cutting power to the neighborhood, blowing up the house or blasting themselves to kingdom come.
This is serious business. Within the past few years, contractors shut down Newark International Airport and blew up the Petco store in Eatontown after striking utility lines while excavating. Damaging gas lines or severing electrical conduits can have dire consequences, including death, injury, service disruptions, fines and repair costs. Don't let it happen to you.
Prevention is as simple as contacting a "One-Call" center to have technicians mark the location of all buried lines before putting a shovel -- or a front-end loader -- to work.The service is free and mark-outs are mandated by law for all contractors and property owners who plan to excavate.
Continue reading "Thar she blows!" »Surprise packages
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday June 04, 2008, 4:05 PM
Trumpet honeysuckleCan you remember what it was like to wake up on your birthday as a child, certain that the day would bring gifts, surprises and special treats? There was that stomach-fluttering sense of anticipation, that special eagerness to get out of bed and welcome the day.
I still feel something of that simple joy these beautiful mornings as I make my way down to the garden to see what new treasures await discovery. Maybe I'm just a child at heart, but to me, a flower freshly unfolded from its plain green wrapper packs much the same thrill as a gift box newly shorn of its wrappings.
Late spring is an especially fruitful time, since the arrival of June heralds the first peak bloom in the perennial garden. One day, it might be that the peony buds, as round and fat as Jawbreaker gumballs, have burst open and freed a double handful of silken petals. Another day might bring a puddle of pinks into flower, so vibrant that their hues are visible from 30 feet away.
Continue reading "Surprise packages" »Bleeding hearts: Pink, white and fringed
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Monday May 26, 2008, 8:53 AM
Old-fashioned pink bleeding heart.Not all bleeding hearts are left-leaning liberals -- some of them are graceful plants of the spring woodlands.
The most common is the pink "old-fashioned" bleeding heart, Dicentra spectabilis. Growing to shrub size, roughly 30-inches-by-30-inches, these emerge as the daffodils are fading in late April and bloom for two to three weeks in early May.
The long, arching stems hung with heart-shaped blossoms light up a shady spot. If you are inclined to play with your flowers, pick a single blossom, turn it upside-down and gently pull downward on each side. Do you see the pale "lady in the bathtub?"
Favorite gear
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Friday May 23, 2008, 3:06 PM
Some gardeners want to feel the earth between their fingers -- I prefer to wear gloves.
For one thing, they protect my hands from thorns, rusty ground staples, fencing wire and other hazards. For another, they make me a lot braver about encounters with worms, beetles, caterpillars and spiders. For a third, they help prevent blisters during extended bouts of shoveling and raking.
I won't say they protect my manicure, because like most gardeners, I don't pretend I can keep nail polish intact during the gardening season. Gloves do mostly prevent that painful thing, a nail ripped down to the quick.
Continue reading "Favorite gear" »Beware of the giant hogweed
by Valerie Sudol/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday May 21, 2008, 12:51 PM
The giant hogweed has a secret weapon: poisonous sap.Her