Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

Crystal Rennicke

A few warmer days (well only 40 degrees, but it feels like a heat wave!) has us already thinking spring here in Wisconsin. Hopefully sooner rather than later, the snow will melt and we’ll be looking at landscapes bursting into bloom.

Project Evergreen has teamed up with Birds & Blooms to hold a nationwide art contest for youth. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade can create a poster that describes what “green spaces” means to them for a chance to win an Amazon gift card. Learn more about Project Evergreen and the Art of Green Spaces Poster Contest.

Happy Gardening!
–Crystal

##\keycode.PSCopyHTML##

READ ON TO DISCOVER...

• Plant of the Month
• Yard Smarts
• Question of the Month
• Frugal Backyard Tip
• Submit Your Story

Plant of the Month

Snowdrop
It’s easy to see how the snowdrop got its name. This delightful plant is one of the first to bloom in spring, often while there’s still snow on the ground. It’s easy to grow, too. Snowdrops require virtually no maintenance and will spread readily. When the plants become too crowded, simply lift and divide bulbs after they bloom, before the strappy foliage dies back.
Botanical name: Galanthus nivalis
Bloom time: Late winter to early spring.
Hardiness: Zones 3 to 9.
Size: 4 to 6 inches high.
Flowers: Three white outer petals surround green-tipped inner petals in a distinctive drooping teardrop shape.
Light needs: Partial shade.
Growing Advice: Snowdrops are especially attractive in naturalized settings and under deciduous trees and shrubs. They work well in borders and rock gardens, too.
Prize picks: Giant snowdrop, Galanthus elwesii, is twice as big and blooms two weeks earlier. 

These bulbs are harbingers of spring, and a welcome sign that winter is loosening its hold on backyards.

top

Connie Etter

Yard Smarts

Bumper Crop of Butterflies
My husband, Larry, and I wanted to increase the number of butterflies in our flower garden—especially after noticing how many caterpillars disappear because of hungry birds.

So we moved as many caterpillars as possible to one large host plant and surrounded it with a 2-foot scrap lumber “cage” covered in bird netting. We soon had many large caterpillars ready to move into cricket buckets to form chrysalides. We checked the buckets every day and released any new butterflies into our garden. –Ruth Ann Rogers, Florence, South Carolina

top

Question of the Month

Sizing Up Shrubs
We’ve moved to a home where the shrubs are overgrown. How can we get them under control? –Heidi Storch, Cumming, Georgia

Melinda: Before you get out the pruning shears, it’s important to identify the shrubs. Only then can you determine when to prune, as well as how much.

For instance, shrubs like honeysuckles, forsythia and spirea hold up to severe pruning, while others, including burning bush and viburnums, respond best to light pruning. Evergreen shrubs like juniper, yew and arborvitae do best with several moderate prunings over an extended period.
Whatever the plant, major renovations are best done in late winter or early spring. The shrubs will soon enter their growth cycle, allowing them to recover quickly from the work.

Rejuvenate suckering shrubs like lilacs or redtwig dogwood by removing one-third of the older stems to ground level and reducing the height as needed. Repeat this over the next 2 years and you’ll be rewarded with healthier, more attractive and smaller plants.

Prune long branches on viburnums and burning bushes to a healthy bud, side branch or main stem. Remove no more than one-third of the total growth.

Prune spring flowering shrubs like lilacs and forsythia right after they’ve finished blooming. This way, you can control the size and still have a spring floral display.

For answers to your gardening questions, click here.

top

Frugal Backyard Tip

On Bended Knee

I make knee pads for working in the garden from a pair of my husband’s worn-out long socks. I cut the foot off at the ankle, pull the upper portion over my knee and fold over a couple of times. Works great!  —Nancy Bush, Brooklyn, Michigan

top

Submit Your Story

Do you have a backyard project you’d like to share? Send your projects and ideas using our Submit Your Story form.

Submit your story»

top