Connecticut Garden Journal

It's hard to think about winter with such warm, fall weather, but spring flowering bulbs need to be planted soon. If you want to enjoy your spring flowering tulips, daffodils, crocus and other bulbs a little earlier in spring or if you don’t have a garden, consider forcing them in containers. 

You can plant two different ways. Either plant all one type of bulb in a pot for a big splash, or layer different bulbs in the container for...

With our warm fall, we're still enjoying fresh tomatoes, peppers, greens, and zucchini from the garden. But it's also time to start thinking about planting garlic and shallots. These two alliums are easy to grow. Unlike other veggies, you plant garlic and shallots in the fall for an early summer harvest.

There are two main types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. Hardneck varieties, such as 'Romanian Red' a...

As the days shorten and weather cools, somewhat, it's time for some fall garden chores. One of the rules that's changed is around perennial flower garden cleanup.

Traditionally, we'd cut back and remove the dying foliage of perennial flowers such as daylilies, peonies, echinacea and rudbeckia. While the look of a cleaned garden might be appealing, it's not the best for the ecology around your yard. The see...

October is spring bulb planting time. While the tulips, daffodils, and crocus head the list of popular bulbs to plant later this month, don't forget some of the more unusual bulbs such as the alliums.

Allium or flowering onion plants range in sizes from 5 inches to 4 feet tall. The tall varieties make a statement in the garden rising about the foliage of perennials such as daylili...

As the temperatures dip, it's time bring some of your favorite herbs indoors. Some of the best herbs to move inside to grow and cook with include parsley, rosemary, geraniums, chives, thyme and oregano.

The advantage of bringing a mature, potted herb plant indoors is it will continue to send out shoots and leaves into November. If you grow it under grow lights, it will continue in...

Fall is for asters. Asters are reliable native plants that give us color in our autumn gardens. But there are other natives that are equally as beautiful and trouble-free. One of the best is boltonia.

Boltonia, or false aster, is related to asters. It features plants that grow 5- to 6- feet tall with white, pink or lavender colored flowers. Like asters, they flower in full or part sun in August and Septemb...

If you're looking for some color this fall in your perennial flower garden, certainly mums are always a nice addition. But here is a carefree, native perennial to grow for fall color and food for the pollinators.

Helenium has the unfortunate common name of sneezeweed because it blooms when ragweed is flowering. It's the ragweed that causes the allergic reactions, not Helenium. Thi...

It's apple and pear season and time to start harvesting. Actually some varieties are already ripe, but most will be harvested this month. If you're growing apples or pears in your yard, going to a pick your own orchard or just foraging for wild trees, it's good to know when to harvest. If you harvest too early the flavor isn't great. If you wait too long, the texture can be mealy or mushy. Pears are unusua...

If you've had a rough year battling Japanese beetles, now is the time to control them. Many gardeners are familiar with Japanese beetle adults that cause damage to many flowers, vegetables and fruits.

While there are chemical controls for these and other ground dwelling beetles, there are effective ecologically friendly controls as well. Remember only 1 per cent of the insects in your yard are ones that wi...

One of the trends I've noticed in our region is longer and warmer falls. This is an opportunity to garden more and now is the time to start planting quick maturing, cool weather loving veggies.

The easiest veggie to grow for a fall harvest is greens. Spinach, lettuce, arugula, escarole, kale and Swiss chard can all be sown now from seed or purchased as seedlings from local nurseries. These veggies have a f...

The hot, wet summer has been particularly good for growing melons. Cantaloups, honeydews and watermelons all seem to be enjoying the heat and humidity, more than I am.

Once the melon fruits form and start to grow big, the question always comes up about when to harvest the fruits. So, let's talk about harvesting melons.

The easiest melons to know when to harvest are the muskmelons or cantaloups. These are t...

Late summer is often a time with little color from shrubs in our yard. That's why I love Rose of Sharon.

Rose of Sharon's name is misleading. It's neither from Sharon, Israel or a rose. It's in the mallow family haling from Asia and is the National Flower of Korea. It came to Europe in the 1600's and North America during the colonial era. Thomas Jefferson particularly loved this shrub. This deciduous, hibi...

There are few animal pests as clever as the raccoon. With their dextrose hands and feet, they can get into garbage cans, sealed compost bins and gardens with relative ease.

I avoided growing sweet corn for years because of raccoons. Then I thought I'd try popcorn. I figured popcorn doesn't have sweet kernels so the raccoons would leave it alone. That worked for a few years, then they found my patch. As usu...

One type of perennial flower that I really love is shrub-like perennials. These are plants that quickly grow large in one season and even when they aren't flowering, put on quite a show. The one that's blooming right now is hardy hibiscus.

Hardy hibiscus grows in zones 4 to 9 and is different from the woody, tropical, shrub hibiscus. The hardy hibiscus is a perennial, but dies back to the ground each winte...

If you’re lucky, around mid-July, warm weather loving veggies are thriving. I recently returned from a trip to find our okra had grown a few feet while I was away.

Okra is a traditional Southern vegetable that should be grown in Northern gardens, too. Plant dwarf, quick maturing varieties now and harvest in 2 months. Dwarf varieties, such as 'Jambalaya' and 'Baby Bubba', only grow...

With our warming climate comes many challenges. But one advantage is the possibility of growing some plants that normally would not thrive in Connecticut. This is true of crepe myrtle. Known as the “lilac of the South,” crepe myrtle has traditionally been successfully grown in zone 7 and warmer climates. But now with new hybrid, sterile, varieties from the National Arboretum and warmer winters, we can grow...

I'm always looking for the most recent techniques to help protect our plants from deer and other critters. Deer browsing our shrubs, vegetables, and flowers is a constant source of angst for home owners. Fencing deer out of your yard is often not practical for a suburban homeowner, so repellent sprays are really the next best option.

Recent research at the Connecticut Agricultural...

The warm, wet spring and now summery weather has encouraged our summer squash and zucchini to thrive. But we're not the only ones enjoying these plants. Squash bugs are here and laying eggs on the undersides of summer squash, winter squash, and melon plants. You may not see much damage yet from the squash bugs, but if allowed to thrive, your squash patch will be a mess come August.

Squash bugs are brown or...

We're potentially going to have an abundance of tree fruits this summer. With the mild winter and spring and the right about of sun and moisture, our cherries, plums, pears, apples and peaches have set lots of fruit. While I'm excited about the potential fruit glut, I also know that trees might be too enthusiastic. Too many fruits can lead to the branches breaking from the weight and the fruits being small...