MARGARET ROACH A WAY TO GARDEN

I always say that birds taught me to garden, as I watched their behavior here at my place, and added more of the plants and features they seemed to like and use most, and I have been blessed to have... Read More ›

We talk about pollinator gardens, and seek out the plants that provide that essential nourishment to bees and butterflies and moths, for example. But insects do not live by pollen alone: To make our gardens places of life-sustaining habitat, we... Read More ›

I wish that when I was a college freshman, a course like Harvard’s seminar called “Tree” had been part of the curriculum, because since I learned about the class last year, I’ve never looked at a tree quite the same... Read More ›

You’ve seen and heard the list of no-no plants that were showy longtime nursery and garden standards, but have proven invasive and need to go. Yes, we can yank out the Bradford pears and butterfly bush and the rest of... Read More ›

When spring approaches and we get out into the garden again, it’s easy to get distracted by the to-do list, or just by the latest pretty thing that’s emerging after winter’s relative blank slate. But there’s a whole other layer... Read More ›

Margaret Renkl’s newest book “The Weedy Garden: A Happy Habitat for Wild Friends,” is aimed at children, but it’s really for everyone, she says, and indeed we grownups, too, often need a reminder that our gardens are not just “our... Read More ›

When growing from seed, the long list of decisions starts with what turns out to be the simplest question of all: which variety of bean (or tomato, or zinnia, or basil) to order. But then things get more complicated: questions... Read More ›

What do you say we explore expanding our herb-gardening efforts to include some goodies to fill those jars in the spice rack, too? Most of us have probably grown cilantro, for instance, with its distinctive-tasting bright green foliage, but I... Read More ›

“The dream has always been a rainbow of peas,” Dylana Kapuler said to me more than a decade ago, and that dream continues to fuel a passion for breeding colorful, edible-podded peas at the organically managed Oregon-based seed company called... Read More ›

Goldenrods are powerhouses – keystone plants that serve as hosts for more than 100 species of butterflies and moths, and rich late-season sources of pollen and nectar for countless beneficial insects followed by sustenance in the form of seed for... Read More ›

IT WAS 1 degree Fahrenheit outside when I looked at my electronic weather station readout this morning – a perfect time for some winter-defying tactics like talking tomatoes. Organic seed farmer and breeder Don Tipping of Siskiyou Seeds in Oregon... Read More ›

Every year when I get to the sweet pea listings in the seed catalogs, I think this is the year, the year I’ll organize some supports in the garden for them, and indulge in their unmatched extravagance of color and... Read More ›

Until I met today’s guest, James Young, early in 2025, it hadn’t really registered in my brain that some of the familiar annuals I grow from seed, like cosmos and marigolds and even purple basil, could also double as dye... Read More ›

I’m letting myself be transported away from the winter scene outside my window, burying my nose not in the snow but instead in the spring-into-summer possibilities depicted in seed-catalog pages. I have familiar, favorite varieties I grow every year –... Read More ›

I put out my first bird feeder of the season around Thanksgiving or so each year and get the party started. But there’s more to feeding the birds than just filling the feeders, like how to keep them safe in... Read More ›

The earliest references to people cultivating trees date back to 6000 B.C., and there are records of tree-care tactics in the Bible, too, and from ancient Egypt. These person-to-tree interventions were the start of the science and art of arboriculture,... Read More ›

Not so many years ago, relative to the history of horticulture, even a now-ubiquitous phrase like “pollinator plant” wasn’t part of our everyday gardening language and mindset the way it is today. Our collective consciousness about the importance of native... Read More ›

If I say: quick, name a holiday flower, you might first answer poinsettia. But the poinsettia wasn’t always synonymous with this time of year, today’s guest tells me – like once upon a time more than a century ago the... Read More ›