Salad Burnet - an evergreen herb

- by Debra Anchors

Salad burnet
-Image from UBC Botanical Garden 

The herb, salad burnet, traveled to America with the Pilgrims and has provided us with wintertime greens ever since.

Plant this herb beside your back door so you can enjoy its cucumber-like taste year-round; the herb is hardy in USDA zone 3.  Use the ferny leaves on a sandwich in place of lettuce, mix them with other salad greens, steep them in white-wine vinegar, or bruise them and add them to a wine spritzer.

John Gerard, an herbalist in the sixteenth-century, suggested salad burnet as, “pleasant to be eaten in salads, in which it is thought to make the heart merry and glad, as also being put into wine, to which it yeeldeth a certain grace in the drinking”.

Salad burnet is indigenous to Europe, Africa, and Western Asia; it has made itself at home throughout most of North America.  Salad burnet can be invasive, so be certain to employ a method to control its wandering habit.

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-Debra

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Mulling is a centuries-old practice

-by Debra Anchors

Hot mulled cider

Here We Go A' Wassailing is a song which references wassail, a traditional holiday beverage featuring mulling spices. 

Mulling spices are wonderful to have on hand for those winter evenings when the family gathers around the fire.  Mix 2 cups dried orange peel, 2 cups broken cinnamon sticks, 1-cup whole allspice berries, 1-cup whole cloves, and 4 broken star anise.  Store the mixture in a closed jar.  

To use:  Mix ¼ cup of the spices per gallon of wine, cider, or apple juice.  Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve hot in mugs with cinnamon stick stir-sticks, or fill a punch bowl and garnish with orange slices.  The zesty aroma is a charming additional benefit.

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-Debra

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How to make herbal soap

- by Debra Anchors

Creating handmade soap is affordable and is the perfect solution to add a personal touch to your lavatory or to offer as gifts to friends. Soap making, while a very old practice, has become almost commonplace; supplies and kits are readily available.

Soap consists of an acidic fat such as lard, tallow or vegetable oils, and a base, usually lye or ashes. While you can certainly make soap from scratch, it’s easier, safer, and less time consuming to start with a purchased cube of plain glycerin soap.  True, you won’t get
that Colonial realism, but you also don’t have to worry about inhaling lye, which is caustic.

Here’s how to make your own customized herbal soap bars:

On a cutting board, and using a sharp knife, cut the glycerin soap into smaller cubes to accelerate melting. Place the soap chunks in the top of a double boiler over simmering water; cover and allow the soap to melt down into liquid. You can also use the microwave for this step; put the soap in a glass bowl or large measuring cup, cover with a paper towel, and heat at intervals of 10-to-15 seconds. Stir during each interval until the soap is melted.

Allow the melted soap to cool slightly, and continue stirring until the temperature registers 120°F on a candy thermometer. At this stage, the soap has thickened enough so that any ingredients you add will be dispersed throughout, rather than sinking to the bottom. Do not allow the soap to cool long enough so it starts to form a thick skin.

When your soap has cooled to 120°F, you can add whatever essential oils and coloring you wish. To give soap a fragrance, and/or a property (such as insect-repellent, antiseptic, etc.), use essential oils and not chemicals. There are hundreds to choose from, including citrus to invigorate you, rosewood, which is uplifting, or Ylang-Ylang for stress relief. If you want to make tinted soap, stir in one-half teaspoon paprika, curry powder, cocoa powder, or cinnamon.

Other design options are limited only by your imagination. Add texture by stirring in rolled oats, dried herbs, or finely ground almonds. Blend in the blooms from lavender or roses to add a feminine touch, or choose wheat bran to make an exfoliating scrub. Add flowers or thinly sliced fruit into the mold before pouring soap over it, sealing the botanical inside. Make multicolored soap by layering the mold with two or more colors by letting one layer set before adding another, and so on.

Pour the mixture into a flexible plastic mold and let it set for about 40 minutes. Turn the soap out of the mold and wrap each bar in plastic wrap. To present your soap as gifts, wrap them in raffia, fancy ribbons, or use a dab of glue to attach dried flowers.

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Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 

-Debra

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Control of Red Spider-mites

-by Debra Anchors

Red Spider-mite

Are your houseplants’ leaves suddenly speckled with yellow? Is your azalea’s foliage dull and falling from its stems? Sap-feeding red spider mites may be taking up residence on the leaf undersides. These eight-legged arachnid relatives are also called two-spotted mites for their distinguishing marks. Yellowing, distorted, leaves as well as tiny webs appears on susceptible species including roses, scheffleras, gardenias, and ivy.




Detection: Extremely small, these yellow, green, or orange-red mites are the size of a pencil tip. A magnifying glass will assist you as you examine your plants, or tap an infested leaf over white paper; mites leave red marks when smeared.

Solution: Lady beetles, lacewings, and predatory mites eat these pests. Blasting plants with water sends mites sailing. Horticultural oil and insecticidal soap are safe on nearly all plants. Spray the top and bottom of all leaf surfaces and repeat if necessary.

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-Debra

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New flower varieties for Spring 2013

- by Debra Anchors

The gardens are just getting ready for their winter’s sleep and already I am dreaming of additions I will make in next spring.  There are some stunning new varieties of plants available to gardeners in spring, 2013; these are only a few of my favorites. What do you think of these new introductions from Proven Winners and Hort Couture?

Primula Blue Zebra

Primula Blue Zebra
An annual, this new primrose can be grown from seed. This truly unique plant blooms with blue and white striped flowers with golden eyes.

Superbells® Lemon Slice - Calibrachoa

Superbells® Lemon Slice - Calibrachoa
This slightly bushy, annual, mini-petunia is bright yellow with five white flashes.

'Pardon My Purple' Monarda

'Pardon My Purple' Monarda didyma

A petite new perennial, 'Pardon My Purple' (Bee Balm) blooms with fuchsia purple flowers in mid summer.

‘Coconut Punch’ Dianthus

‘Coconut Punch’ Dianthus

Fragrant flowers open deep red on this perennial, with white blotches in the center of each petal.

‘Hocus Pocus’ Veronica

‘Hocus Pocus’ Veronica

Long, violet purple wands comprise the top two-thirds of this new perennial, larger than other varieties.

Lo & Behold™ ‘Lilac Chip’ Buddleia

Lo & Behold™ ‘Lilac Chip’ Buddleia

Standing only two-to-three feet tall, this shrub is a new addition to the Dwarf Butterfly Bush family.

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-Debra

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About Morning Glories

- by Debra Anchors

Morning glories in marvelous shades of blue, purple, pink, red, and ivory bring visions of old-fashioned romance, whether wrapping a mailbox, cascading over a picket fence, or camouflaging a compost bin. Wildly popular in Victorian times, morning glories formed living curtains around verandas and porches, offering welcome shade on leisurely afternoons.

Although they are tropical natives, growing morning glories couldn't be easier.  Full sun, average soil, and plenty of water are all that’s needed. Opening at dawn, blossoms dazzle until the heat of the day shuts them down. Creative gardeners sow seeds in window boxes, and then train the vines up the sides of windows to form outdoor draperies. And, morning glories are great substitutions for roses on arbors and trellises. Above all, gardeners can depend on morning glories to provide splashes of color from midsummer to frost.


Tips for growing morning glories successfully:

Wait until the soil warms before sowing seeds. Morning glories are tropical plants, flourishing only when temperatures climb and nights consistently remain above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Seeds sown too early will rot.

Soak seeds for several hours to soften hard seed coats, or nick the seed to hasten germination.

Don’t overfeed. Too much nitrogen will encourage lush foliage at the expense of flowers. Soil should be no more than moderately rich.

Water, water, water. Thirsty vines should be watered daily during heat waves; container-grown plants may need water twice daily.

Direct-sow seeds, or plant seedlings started indoors, away from sources of artificial light such as street lamps and porch lanterns. Morning glories are photo-periodic  requiring uninterrupted darkness for set periods in order to flower abundantly.

Be patient. In northern zones, flowers may not appear until well into August.

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-Debra

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Super healing foods

Head for the produce aisle to fight cancer and other life-threatening illnesses

- by Debra Anchors

We all know that eating fruits and vegetables is good for us. But now scientists have proof that an apple a day DOES keep the doctor away. Fruits and vegetables are consistently studied for their disease-fighting potential, and according to research, many of our favorites are packed with phytochemicals that have extraordinary healing properties.

Produce power -

Apples	Contain vitamins A and C. Studies show that apples also have cancer- and virus-fighting agents and can work as an anti-inflammatory. The boron in apples boosts blood levels of estrogen and other compounds to prevent calcium loss in bones.
Artichokes	Are full of fiber, which is known to combat Type-2 diabetes – the fourth leading cause of death by disease in the United States.
Bananas	Are rich in potassium, a mineral that regulates heartbeat and blood pressure and can protect the elderly from strokes. Bananas are also commonly recommended to stabilize irritable intestines, thus alleviating both constipation and diarrhea.
Beets	Are a great source of the cancer-fighting antioxidant betacyanin, which gives them their vibrant color. Fresh beets are full of folic acid and vitamin B, which may protect against heart disease and colon cancer.
Blueberries	Contain tannic acid, which many scientists believe neutralizes free radicals and acts as a potent virus killer. Others claim it helps cure diarrhea and fights off bladder and urinary tract infections.
Broccoli	Is one of the first vegetables found to have anti-cancer properties and is still considered among the most potent. The sulforaphane in broccoli is said to stimulate the body to produce an enzyme that kills potential carcinogens.
Eggplant	Contains two compounds used to stop convulsions: scopoletin and scoparone. It is being investigated for its potential use in the treatment of epilepsy. Studies show this vegetable also binds up cholesterol in the intestines so that it isn’t absorbed into the bloodstream where it can clog arteries.
Grapes	Possess high levels of caffeic acid, which has been found to prevent cancer in animals, and flavonoids, which may prevent blood clots. Several dietary surveys have found that snacking on grapes lowers the incidence of gum disease.
Oranges, lemons, and limes	Have vitamin C, bioflavonoids, and an abundance of limonene. These help the body fight cancers of the lungs, cervix, stomach, and esophagus by reducing cholesterol and boosting enzymes thought to break down carcinogens and stimulate cancer-killing immune cells.
Pineapples	Are high in the mineral manganese, which research suggests helps build strong bones and prevent osteoporosis. A single cup of pineapple juice provides 50 percent of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C; fresh pineapple contains bromelain, the enzyme that assists digestion by breaking down protein.

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Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever!

-Debra

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Energize your jack-o’-lantern

- by Debra Anchors

Jack-o'-lanterns
Photo courtesy of Nicholas Myers

It wouldn't be fall without a carved pumpkin, but the joy can be fleeting because jack-o’-lanterns often rot quickly. Here are a few tips to help extend the life of your spooky masterpiece.

• When selecting your pumpkin, steer clear of any with blemishes or soft spots.  And be sure to choose one with a stem; stemless pumpkins can collect water on top.

• Remove bacteria from the surface of the pumpkin before carving it by wiping it down with a household disinfectant or diluted bleach solution (a quarter cup in a gallon of water).

• Once you’re done carving, lightly spread petroleum jelly over any cut surfaces.

• Keep the jack-o’-lantern in as cool and dry a place as possible.

Safety note:  Do not use a big knife for carving, because the pumpkin rind is so tough. Try a pumpkin-carving kit, which contains a not-to-sharp serrated knife. 

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-Debra

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Create a scarecrow

- by Debra Anchors

Express your style with a scarecrow

With the autumn season upon us, I decided to focus on the scarecrow, a familiar symbol of the fall harvest. Have you ever considered the creative style of the person who created your favorite scarecrow? What is your creative style? Traditional? Ghoulish? 

I hope you will enjoy a few of my favorites – which of these do you prefer?

Classy

Curated from It's Just Dottie

Festive

Curaated from New Jersey News

Industrious

Curated from Pokoroto

Patriotic

Curated from Johnson Brothers Greenhouses

Scary

Curated from allybeag

Silly

Curated from Flickr

Traditional 

Curated from Emma Bond

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-Debra

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Wooly Bear Caterpillars – good winter weather predictors?

- by Debra Anchors

Wooly bear caterpillar

According to legend, the wider a wooly bear caterpillar’s middle brown section, the more mild the coming winter will be. A narrow brown band at the center of the wooly bear caterpillar is said to predict a harsh winter. But is it true? One would need to study thousands of wooly bear caterpillars over a number of years to confirm the folklore.

Isabella tiger moth

The true woolly bear caterpillar is the larval form of Pyrrharctia isabella, the Isabella tiger moth.  Frost signals the wooly bear to search for an over-wintering site. Wooly bears crawl around looking for a space to spend the winter –under bark, rocks or logs. Once secure and protected, a wooly bear caterpillar can survive temperatures as low as  -90°F!







The folklore goes like this:  

• The more narrow the middle band (or wider the black end bands) of a wooly bear caterpillar, the more harsh the winter will be. 
• If the black band at the head of the caterpillar is wider than the end, the beginning of winter will be harsher than the end of winter.
• If the black tail band of the caterpillar is wider than the band at the head, then vice-versa; late winter will be harsh.

There is no hard science behind the folklore, but some of us think the wooly bear is much more accurate at predicting a harsh winter than many meteorologists.  But, what do you think? Can woolly bears predict winter weather?

You may enjoy the additional information included in this video from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

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-Debra

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Autumn in Michigan USA

- by Debra Anchors

This is the view just 3 miles from my home. It is the beautiful covered bridge, surrounded in the colors of fall, still in use over the slowly meandering river in one of our local parks. Yes, I am blessed this time of year to live in an area that celebrates four very distinct seasons, and autumn is one of our most beautiful. The stunning, changing colors of this season are worth waiting for.

It is cool outside, not yet cold, and the palette of colors painting our trees is gorgeous. I love the sound of the leaves rustling in the breeze. Once they drop from the trees and blanket the ground, we stroll through the brittle leaves now painted in rust, orange, gold and red; we can hear a crunch beneath our shoes. Of course we must rake them up sooner or later, but then the fallen leaves will become beautiful piles for our children to jump into.

The season of autumn is beautiful while it lasts. A rest will arrive soon from the physical labor of the garden.  It is time for fall decorations, sweaters, bon fires and marshmallows, pumpkin carving, and the mums and dahlias in full bloom. I love the fall season and the fragrance of apple cider, cinnamon, and cloves simmering on the stove.

What do you like most about autumn?

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Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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Introduce bats to your garden

Mexican free-tailed bat

Bats eat night-flying insects and are good garden pollinators, as well.  If you would like to attract bats to your garden, you may want to introduce flowers to your garden that bloom late afternoon or at dusk and are night-scented.  Bats are drawn to night-pollinating insects, like moths, for food.




Here are a few plant suggestions to encourage bats to visit your landscape:

Evening primrose
Fleabane
Four O’clock
Goldenrod
Moonflower
Phlox
Salvia Nicotiana
Silene catchfly

More tips for a bat garden:

Dead trees provide a good habitat for bats. In addition to being a good roosting spot, dead trees provide a place for insects to gather. In lieu of a dead tree, erect a bat house.

Fragrant perennial vines climbing the walls and fences in your garden will provide additional bat roosting sites. Create a sheltered corner by using walls, fences, or hedges grown at angles.

Garden lights will attract insects and provide food for the bats. Bats eat various garden and pests including cutworm moths, and chafer, potato, and spotted cucumber beetles. Some moths can even detect bats and will avoid an area where bats are present.

Bat guano is a wonderful fertilizer for your garden.

Image: The Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), also known as the Brazilian free-tailed bat, is a medium-sized bat that is native to the Americas and is widely regarded as one of the most abundant mammals in North America.

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-Debra

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Garden plants for allergy sufferers

- by Debra Anchors

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, seasonal allergies affect 22 million Americans each year, while 12 to 15 million suffer with asthma. Pollen is often a garden-lover’s worst nightmare.

Dr. Jeffrey Sugar, a board-certified allergist, explains that trees such as oaks, maples, and birches lead to spring allergy symptoms. Grasses, such as those found along roadsides, cause problems in June and July; and weeds, especially ragweed, trigger symptoms between August and the first frost.

Not all flowers produce allergenic pollen. You may need to forgo a favorite flower or two, but you will find many low-allergy plant options with which to create a lovely garden.


Low-allergen plant choices –

Crab apple
Daylily
Delphinium
Hollyhock
Mealy-cup sage (and other sages such as scarlet sage)
Pansy
Peony
Petunia
Snapdragon
Tulip tree

Plants to avoid –

Asters

Birch trees

Cosmos

Daisies

Flowering tobacco

Foxglove

Garden mums

Grasses

Lantana

Marigold

Ragweed

Spider flower

Sunflower

Zinnia

Image Note: False color scanning electron microscope image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower, morning glory, prairie hollyhock, oriental lily, evening primrose and castor bean.  Public domain image (created by the Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility).

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Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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Do squirrels have the run of your garden?

- by Debra Anchors

Although squirrels are a constant challenge for gardeners, they are fun to watch as they leap along their treetop sky-ways. Squirrels are sometimes able to glide their way 20 feet from a tree branch to a target, which unfortunately is often a “squirrel-proof” bird feeder.

Tips

Female squirrels scout for safe resting areas and will take advantage of an opportunity (a rotten board, open vent, or hole) to enter an attic. Once inside, they may gnaw through insulation, wall boards, and wiring. If squirrels are present in your yard, check your attic for entry points and cover holes with metal or mesh before a squirrel uses it as an entrance.

Protect your tiny bulbs by tucking them inside wire baskets made of screening or chicken wire. Surround them with crushed gravel to deter squirrels from digging.

Place bird feeders on a pole in a clearing and use a baffle to stop squirrel raids (you may need to use a baffle below and above the feeder).

To protect fruit trees, the Humane Society of the United States recommends that you trim any branches less than six feet from the ground and wrap a two-foot-wide band of sheet metal around the trunk about six feet above the ground. Dwarf trees can be covered with netting. Remember that if there are nearby trees, roofs, or other access points, squirrels can and will make the leap.

If you would like to attract squirrels, purchase a special squirrel feeder. Fill the feeder with a treat, such as peanuts in the shell, and locate it far from other feeders in your garden.  A “lift-top” type of feeder box requires the squirrel to figure out how to operate it and is great entertainment.  Squirrels utilize nesting boxes for shelter and raising their families. Purchase one with a three-inch entry hole located on the side of the box to provide easy access.

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Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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Turf rust

- by Debra Anchors

Turf Rust / Grass Rust

Does a walk on your lawn turn your feet and pant cuffs dusty orange?  Is the grass yellow-brown, thin, and declining?  A disease called rust may be devouring your lawn.  This fungal pathogen steals nutrients from the plants, causing them to lose vigor and even die.





Airborne rust spores are easy to see when stuck to humans and pets.  Occurring in mid- to late summer, infected leaf blades and stems show yellow, orange, or brown spore-producing blisters.


Although not a human health threat, rust weakens a lawn, making it more susceptible to even worse pests such as grubs and chinch bugs.

Unlike most other plant diseases, rust likes dry weather.  Water lawns early in the day and allow time to dry overnight.  Fertilize to promote strong active growth, and over-seed with rust-tolerant grass varieties such as Kentucky blue grass or perennial rye grass.  Rust can usually be managed; only in extreme cases are fungicides needed.

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Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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Charming Hollyhocks

- by Debra Anchors

Hollyhocks

Hollyhocks are nothing less than gorgeous.  Planted against a fence or a wall, these stunning six-to eight-foot plants in captivating pastels and enchanting reds have few equals.  But they are not just a pretty face.  Hollyhocks link those who plant them with England’s early cottage gardeners who knew the plants as ‘hock leaf’, due to their soothing use on the swollen ankles (hocks) of workhorses.  Over time, gardeners turned to hollyhocks to camouflage everything from outhouses to cracks in the cottage walls.

Anyone in USDA Zones 3 – 10 can enjoy most species of hollyhocks. Plants need full sun, average soil (no feeding is required), and staking where winds are high.  If they are happy, hollyhocks will dependably self-sow; seedlings can then be transplanted to new locations for bloom the following year.

Troubleshooting

Spots on hollyhock leaves – Keep a clean garden.  Leaf spot and hollyhock rust are caused by fungi that overwinter in the soil.  In late autumn, cut back plants and burn or dispose of all foliage (don’t add it to the compost pile).  When watering your plants, avoid splashing the leaves.

Hollyhocks least susceptible to rust – Look for ‘Fig’ Leaf or ‘Antwerp’ Hollyhock if you are troubled by unsightly foliage.  The perennial strain ‘Antwerp Mixed’ has single flowers in pastel shades.  This charming six-to eight-footer flourishes in well-drained soil.  Consider also ‘Summer Carnival’, a biennial strain that blooms its first year.

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Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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Give your garden a late summer trim

Clip off any broken stems and spent flowers to make way for fall splendor.

- by Debra Anchors

Fairy Roses and Lavender

August is the perfect time to renew the garden. If you give beds and borders some extra attention in late summer, the garden will come back to life and carry on well into fall.  Begin the important task by sprucing up perennials that have finished blooming.  Cut back all the straggly flowering stems clear to the base of the plant.

Remove all the dried seedpods of daylilies and iris, being careful to prune the woody stems all the way down for a tidy appearance.  Then gather up your courage and cut back any tattered foliage that makes your garden look over the hill.  Particularly in a dry summer, daylilies, iris, cranesbills, lady’s mantle, speedwell and even astilbes take on a decrepit look that won’t improve without this kind of radical action.


Mulch around the newly groomed plants with compost or well-rotted manure, and water them well.

Fill in the blanks – Make some notes about which areas are now vacant before the foliage grows back; these are ideal spaces to plant bulbs in the fall.  Next spring you’ll have drifts of color between perennials before they leaf out fully; and by the time your daffodils and tulips have finished blooming and their leaves have turned yellow, the perennial foliage will expand to cover the spent plants.

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Thank you for stopping by to spend time in my garden.  If you liked the article, please take a moment to let me know. I will be delighted if you would suggest Gardens Inspired to your friends, follow me or subscribe to my Blog.

Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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Gardening with annuals

- by Debra Anchors

Collage of Annuals

Annuals are superb problem solvers. As most experienced gardeners will attest, annual plantings are unequaled for providing affordable color - filling gaps, extending the garden’s bloom, and providing a seemingly endless supply of cut flowers.

If you are willing to start from seed, annuals offer a very economical way to fill the garden with color. Even if your landscaping budget is limited, you can still afford almost instant gratification if you plant your designs initially in annuals. To give the garden permanence, phase in perennials as you can afford them.


Direct sown vs. transplants

The selection of annuals you’ll find as garden-ready transplants at your nursery is plentiful. But, to gain access to the full diversity of annual flowers, you must be willing to start plants from seed yourself.

Typically, this is done in one of two ways – by sowing seeds indoors on a sunny windowsill, or by sowing the seeds directly into garden beds. Indoor sowing is popular in the North because it gives the gardener a head start on spring. Direct sowing, however, is less work and produces just as good a display – especially where the growing season is long, as in the South. Many kinds of annuals may be started by either method. Some species, though, only respond to one kind of planting method. Snapdragon and petunia seeds, as examples, are so tiny that they are liable to wash away if sown outdoors and are therefore routinely started indoors. And, ageratum seedlings are so delicate that they do not cope well with the stress of an outdoor nursery. Iceland poppies have extra-sensitive roots that seldom tolerate the disturbance of transplanting. Although occasionally started in peat pots indoors, poppies generally grow better when direct sown.

A Brief List of Annuals to Direct Sow	Annuals Best Started Indoors
Baby’s breath	Ageratum
California poppy	Coleus
Feverfew	Flowering tobacco
Giant sunflower	Heliotrope
Godetia	Hybrid verbena
Iceland poppy	Impatients
Larkspur	Lobelia
Love-in-a-mist	Petunia
Nasturtium	Snapdragon
Opium poppy	Spider flower
Pot marigold	Zonal geranium
Scarlet runner bean
Sweet alyssum
Wind poppy

Annuals are genetically predisposed to stop flowering as soon as they have set seeds. To keep your display in bloom, you must pinch or snip off all the aging flowers as they start to fade.

The limited life span of annuals is a great advantage when it comes to pest control. Perennials can develop fixed pest populations that overwinter and then reappear each year with the plant. By varying the kinds of annuals you plant in any given spot each year, you ensure that your floral display never develops a similar problem.

If you enjoy this website, you might like my magazine, Gardening Life.

Thank you for stopping by to spend time in my garden.  If you liked the article, please take a moment to let me know. I will be delighted if you would suggest Gardens Inspired to your friends, follow me or subscribe to my Blog.

Leave a legacy, but garden like you’ll live forever! 
-Debra

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