Topics
Special Series
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Zinnias—If You Plant Them, Butterflies Will Come
These cheerful annuals are enjoying renewed popularity as more and more colorful, compact, and disease-resistant varieties appear on seed racks.
By Claire Hagen Dole -
Milkweeds—Easing the Plight of the Monarch Butterfly
Modern agriculture has made much of the U.S. farm belt inhospitable to Monarchs. In the East, industrial, commercial, and residential land use is gradually effacing the habitat that supports them. This is where gardeners come in. We can make a big difference by growing the plants that are most important to the lifecycle of the Monarchs—milkweeds.
By Claire Hagen Dole -
Bumble Bees—The Essential, Indefatigable Pollinators
We live on a planet pollinated primarily by bees. Bees fertilize most of our favorite flowers, and pollinate a third of the plants we eat. They are also the exclusive pollinator of several rare and imperiled wildflowers, including native monkshoods and lady's tresses orchids. Without these essential insects, farm productivity would plummet and wildflowers would become extinct. In short, bumble bees and other bees are essential for our own well being and the survival of a good deal of the world's biodiversity.
By Janet Marinelli -
Wildflower Fever!—A Selection of Unusual Natives
Nowadays, I fill my garden with beautiful wildflowers. Besides increasing biodiversity in and of themselves by augmenting the shrinking populations and gene pools of native species, they provide a valuable source of food for insects and birds.
By Joan McDonald -
Growing Chile Peppers
You can grow chile peppers just about anywhere in the United States and southern Canada, as long as you prepare your soil, nurture your seedlings properly, and provide the plants with their basic needs.
By Doug Dudgeon -
Preserving Chiles
In midsummer, chile peppers mature, begin to ripen, and become more pungent. Some are fiery hot, while others are crisp, slightly sweet with just a hint of heat, and full of flavor. This is the time to put up that prize-winning corn relish, those pickled peppers, salsas of every kind, and hot pepper chutney.
By Susan Belsinger -
Aspidistra—An Alluring and Enduring Favorite
Aspidistra can endure temperatures as low as 23 degrees Fahrenheit and as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Aspidistra can survive extreme levels of urban pollution and dust, as well as light levels as low as 25 footcandles. Finally, as if attuned to the contingencies of modern living, they are forgiving of our inauspicious watering habits.
By Scott D. Appell -
Cardinal Flower—Spectacular Scarlet Blossoms That Hummingbirds Adore
In the early fall, as you approach the edge of a woodland stream or the banks of a secluded pond, you may glimpse a flash of red. This spark of scarlet is from what may be the most brilliant of our native blossoms, the cardinal flower.
By Dr. Cathy Donaldson -
Recycled Products—Turning Trash into Garden Tools
Recycling prevents global habitat destruction by providing industry with an alternative, ready source of "raw" material. It leads, therefore, to the conservation of energy, the reduction of industrial pollution, and the preservation of species biodiversity.
By Niall Dunne -
Using Vines in the Garden
It's often said that vines are the best friends of a passionate gardener with a small urban lot. And it's true: There's no better way to splash color and texture around a postage-stamp property than by collecting plants that grow skyward rather than sideways. But this doesn't begin to give vines their due, for there are no more versatile creatures in plantdom.
By Karen Davis Cutler
