Leaf Drop in Evergreens
You may have noticed your evergreen shrubs and trees shedding yellow and brown leaves this spring. It seems unusual, but it could be a normal leaf and needle drop. While some may believe that...
Author: Robert F. Polomski
Caladium
Caladiums (Caladium species) are in the arum (Araceae) family and native to Central and South America. They are hardy only to USDA zone 9 or 10; therefore, caladiums should be used as annuals in...
Sweetpotato
Planting The sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is a warm-season crop that is not planted until well after the last chance of frost in the spring. The soil temperature should be above 65 °F before...
To Shear or Not to Shear
Shearing hedges into cubes, globes, and squares is a form of architectural pruning that balances appearance with shrub health. This balancing act is most evident in the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden in...
A Shrub Do-over Involves a Makeover
Do your flowering shrubs need a makeover? Perhaps it’s the overgrown shrub that craves your contact whenever you use the front door or carport. Maybe it’s an old shrub that lost its vitality and...
Peace Lily
Peace lilies (Spathiphyllum species) are attractive indoor foliage plants that produce showy white flowers. They are not true lilies but a member of the Araceae family, which also includes...
Pawpaw
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba), also known as papaw, Indiana banana, Hoosier banana, Michigan banana, and poor man’s banana, is the only temperate member of the tropical Annonaceae family (custard...
Growing Gold in the Winter Landscape
I’ve made it clear in this blog that Winter is my least favorite season. Therefore, I always seek winter-blooming flowers to raise my spirits. However, before the yellow-flowered daffodils bloom to...
American Holly
While the Christmas tree takes the front-and-center stage during this holiday season, supported by a cast of poinsettias, cyclamens, kalanchoes, Christmas cactuses, and amaryllises, hollies often...
Living Christmas Trees
Living Christmas trees are container-grown or balled and burlapped Christmas trees that can be planted as landscape trees after the holiday season. This way of enjoying a Christmas tree is practical...
The Lovely Loquat
I have always been enamored with shrubs and trees that bloom during the fall months. Partly for the pollinators in search of sustenance during this season, but mostly for me who can’t accept the...
Potato
Potatoes are a very easy and fun crop to grow in the home garden. White-skinned and red-skinned potatoes can be grown as an early crop for new potatoes and as a late crop for storage. Choose an...