Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

Crystal Rennicke

Earth Day has passed but that doesn’t mean that our efforts to live greener are over. Even eating can be an opportunity to live green. Read about how to garden for taste and read tips for eating green from the Nature Conservancy. 

Happy Gardening!
–Crystal

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READ ON TO DISCOVER...

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

Regional Report

Undoubtedly as the weather warms, you’ll be gearing up for the garden. Click on your region below to read more from your regional blogger on our Birds & Blooms blog.

• Southwest
• Midwest
• Northeast
• Northwest
• South Central
• Southeast

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RDA-GID

Plant of the Month

Peony
Don’t be fooled by the peony’s fragile appearance. If undisturbed, these hardy plants can survive for more than a century with little or no care. Since they need cold weather to produce flowers, they grow best in areas that experience cold winters.

Botanical name: Paeonia
Bloom time: Mid-spring to early summer.
Hardiness: Zones 3 to 8, varies with species. 
Size: 16 inches to 3-1/2 feet tall and wide. 
Flowers: Saucer or cup-shaped single or double flowers 2 to 8 inches across. Colors range from white, cream, pink, salmon, purple and red.
Light needs: Full sun. 
Growing Advice: Dig and divide peonies in the fall. Plant rhizome in a well-prepared location with the eyes (buds) no more than 1 to 2 inches below the soil. Plants are available at many garden centers and can be planted throughout the season.  
Prize picks: The fragrant and early-flowering Festiva Maxima tolerates heat; produces large double white blossoms.   

Read about other favorite fragrant flowers.

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RDA-GID

Yard Smarts

Once and Done!
I planted my border only once and never had to do it again! That’s because I used flowers that are self-sowing, such as cleome, larkspur, calendula and cosmos. Each year I get many compliments on it. People don’t realize how easy it is. –Bonita Laettner, Angola, New York

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Question of the Month

Sandra Schumer

Dogwood is a Dud
I have a dogwood tree that never blooms. How can I coax spring flowers out of my reluctant tree? –Hattie Wiant, Weston, West Virginia

Melinda: Age, fertilization, pruning and sunlight all affect flowering. Young trees will often bloom in the containers when you buy them, but expend their energy developing a root system when transplanted into a landscape. Once established, however, the blooms should return.
The second most common problem is overfertilization. Too much nitrogen can produce large plants with few or no flowers. Make sure your dogwood isn’t getting extra fertilizer from a nearby garden or lawn area.
Though shade tolerant, dogwoods need sufficient light to flower. Those growing in excess shade have sparse growth and very few blossoms.

Lastly, save all pruning chores until after the tree blooms or should have bloomed. Flowering dogwoods set their flower buds the previous season, so winter pruning might eliminate the spring show.

For answers to your gardening questions, click here.

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Frugal Backyard Tip

Two For One

Plant two veggies in one pot. I tried planting leaf lettuce around the edges of a big pot with carrots in the middle. Both did very well. —Mary Margaret Cosens, Mackinaw City, Michiganka

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Submit Your Story

Have you committed a backyard blunder? Send us your stories using our Submit Your Story form. If we use your blunder in the magazine, we’ll pay you $50!

Submit your story»

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