Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

Crystal Rennicke

I’m always looking for ways to be more eco-friendly out back, so I’m excited to introduce a new product from Birds & Blooms. Gardening Green for Less will help you achieve the garden of your dreams while saving money, time and the planet. It’s packed with 144 pages of ideas for going green including: secrets for chemical-free lawns and veggies, water-wise plants, recycling ideas and dollar-savvy projects. Find it wherever magazines are sold or click on the link to the left to order online!

Take our survey! We want to know more about you so we can give you what you want online and in our newsletters.

Happy Gardening!
—Crystal

READ ON TO DISCOVER...

• Follow Us on Twitter
• Plant of the Month
• Yard Smarts
• Question of the Month
• Frugal Gardener Tip

Follow Us on Twitter

Do you twitter? If not, you might want to think about starting. Soon, we’ll be twittering about a great new photo challenge.

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Plant of the Month

Gretel Eggplant
Botanical name: Solanum melongena Gretel
Size: 3 feet tall and wide
Light: Sun.
Features: A 2009 All-America Selections Winner, this pretty edible is the earliest white eggplant out there. The plant’s petite stature makes it perfect for large containers, and its clusters of 3- to 4-inch-long, glossy white fruit look lovely planted among ornamental vines and violet-hued annuals.
Growing advice: Space plants about 2 feet apart. Harvest teardrop-shaped fruit when it’s 3 inches or longer.

Click here for more information and to see other 2009 AAS winners.

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Yard Smarts

Beetle-Proof Your Roses
Try planting geraniums, especially white ones, in and around roses. This helps repel Japanese beetles. In the last 3 years, I’ve found less than a dozen beetles on my roses. 
—Kathi Richards, Dundee, Ohio

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Question of the Month

New Location; No Blooms?
Q: I transplanted hydrangeas from pots to raised beds. Will they ever bloom again? —Diane Merkle, Owensburg, Indiana

Melinda: Plants moved from a container to a larger planting bed often spend the first few seasons putting down roots instead of blooming. Once established, the plant shifts into a flowering mode.

New plantings are often regularly fertilized to encourage growth. Providing excessive amounts of nitrogen can also prevent flowering.

Lastly, blue and pink flowing hydrangeas bloom on old growth. Winter dieback or pruning back to the ground can eliminate the flowering stems. The newer varieties that bloom on old and new growth have experienced a few bad blooming years in the Midwest. Proper watering seems to be the key to keeping hydrangeas healthy and flowering.

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Frugal Gardener Tip

Beautiful Reception
I not longer needed my satellite dish, so I transformed it into a gigantic flowerpot. I lined the inside with cocoa mulch, put in soil, and now I have a raised planter. It is 7 feet off the ground—the perfect height for viewing off my deck! 
—Carrol Pace, Lincoln, Nebraska

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