All the Dirt on Gardening

With 22-F as the high temperature for the day, let's talk about gardening inside the shed. But first, I want to tell you that the book sale is still happening at American Nurseryman. The website link is here. Timber Press is also having a 30% off book sale here . Now, on to growing things. Can you see both the flowers on the tag and the flowers on the plant? Talk about truth in advertising. Erysimum Jenny Brook has a nickname, Wallflower. Blooms of Bressingham sent me a tiny plant to see if it would grow in our zone. Click here to read all about her features, not the least of which is that she grows to 2-feet tall in poor soil and needs no deadheading. I could love this one. Three stems are blooming at once in the shed. We heat it to about 60-F in the shed every evening but on the 17-degree nights it drops down into the 40s. This is Ferry Morse pak choi . The little plants are doing decently in a south facing window. Also in the photo are the pots of the same seeds I planted a few...

For me, sometimes, less is more, and nurseryman Roy Diblik's new book fills a need I have had for a cookbook approach to solving a garden recipe problem. Don't get me wrong. I love my encyclopedias of plants but this paperback is 132-pages and has formulas for successful garden beds. User friendly. Roy Diblik's Small Perennial Gardens: The Know Maintenance Approach Diblik has 30-years of plant experience and is a co-owner of a Wisconsin nursery, Northwind Perennial Farm , where he and his two partners grow 400,000 plants - enough to know what plants need. Here's what I like - the entire book is focused on plants that grow in regular soil (no pH balancing required), all the suggested plants are compatible in their water and sun needs, dozens of plant schemes are divided into categories (calm, fresh, elegant and friendly) and there are photos of some of the finished beds. The artistically inclined will appreciate the finely drawn watercolors of plants and flowers by E...