I hold a special place in my heart for orange, because it’s one of the school colors of the University of Illinois. I challenge anyone who is regularly exposed to brilliant construction-orange over several years to not develop a special appreciation for this often overlooked color in gardens. Here are my orange plant picks that …
Continue reading “Orange is for Zinnia, Nasturtium and Calendula”
R is the first letter in my pal Roy G. Biv’s name, so I’m going to start at the beginning and reveal which pretty and edible plants I’ll grow to highlight one of my favorite colors, red. Amaranth is an ancient grain crop from the New World that can be red, orange or green. A …
Are you looking for a WOW-factor experiment? Then this is the one! For maximum impact, I suggest the next-level option with the highlighter and black light. Plants are more complicated than they appear on the surface. But did you know you can reveal the framework of plant’s physiology in a simple experiment at home? What …
Everything isn’t sunshine and rainbows, except when you plant a rainbow-themed garden in the full sun! After a month of daydreaming, I’ve settled on a challenge for myself. I solemnly vow to fill my garden with colorful flowers and vegetables that represent red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, or as I prefer to …
How many of you immediately thought of the next line in this song? Anyone…Bueller? Bueller? I can’t recall when and where I learned this song, but I must have been a little tyke because I can’t remember. Years passed without thinking much of the song. Then, “BAM!” the first year after I graduated from college …
The plight of bees and monarchs are a cause for concern, and you might wonder what you can do to help them rebuild their populations. Allowing a few common milkweed plants, which can be found in at least 39 states and seven regions of Canada, to grow near your home is a fantastic way to …
My adventure in gardening this summer was all about one thing: the color purple. I ordered most of my plants through a seed catalog, so I’d have a greater selection, and then it was go time. There were some mishaps, such as the day I set my itty-bitty ‘Black Cherry’ tomato seedlings outside on my …
A few years ago I said to my husband, “Ugh, I really gotta dig out that chicory from the grass next to the road.” To which he responded, “What’s chicory?” Well, I couldn’t believe he’d never heard of chicory, “You know, that purple flowering plant that’s next to each mile of highway you’ve ever driven …
