Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

Crystal Rennicke

Our largest giveaway ever starts today! Enter once each day for a chance to win one of 174 prizes from 17 great companies. Each entry qualifies you for the grand prize—a garden makeover from Burpee Home Gardens! With everything from free plants to new bird feeders, we've gathered more than $20,000 worth of goods.

To enter, visit the  giveaway page on our website. And be sure to spread the word, we have plenty of prizes to go around!

Happy Gardening!
–Crystal

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READ ON TO DISCOVER...

• Enter to win a garden makeover!
• Plant of the Month
• Yard Smarts
• Question of the Month
• Frugal Backyard Tip
• Submit Your Story

Enter to win a garden makeover!

Each time you enter our Great Backyard Giveaway, you qualify to win the grand prize. Burpee Home Gardens will offer two garden makeovers, including BOOST plants, raised beds and/or containers. The prize includes an on-site consultation with a Burpee representative, valued at $2,500.

Enter the giveaway now.

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RDA/GID

Plant of the Month

Firethorn
Firethorn is perfect for providing autumn beauty beyond pumpkins, cornstalks and chrysanthemums. After the fall leaves drop, brilliant berries steal the show
Common Names: Firethorn.
Botanical Name: Pyracantha coccinea.
Hardiness: Zones 5 or 6 to 9.
Bloom Time: Spring.
Size: Up to 15 feet high, up to 20 feet wide.
Flower/Fruit: White flowers in 1- to 2-inch clusters; orange-red and yellow berries appear fall through winter and remain until birds feed on them.
Light Needs: Full sun (for best fruit production) to full shade.
Growing Advice: Sow seeds in containers in a cold frame in autumn. Plant container-grown ones in spring, in well-drained soil.
Prize Picks: Consider a disease-resistant hybrid such as Apache. For northern regions, try the hardy Teton or Yukon Belle, which survive winters to Zone 5.

For more winter dazzlers, check out our Top 10 favorite winter plants.

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Yard Smarts

Christmas Tree Tradition
Rethink your Christmas tree tradition this year. Buy a dwarf conifer to decorate either the inside or outside of your home and plant it outside after the holidays. This also makes a great gift for those on your list who want to add evergreens to their landscapes.

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Question of the Month

RDA-GID

Baffling Bush
Can you tell me what kind of shrub this is? It grows about 2 to 6 feet tall and gets about 3 feet wide. It also has orange and red berries.  –Stephanie Rickling, Crivitz, Wisconsin

Melinda: This mystery shrub is one of the invasive honeysuckles we see popping up in landscapes and woodlands across much of the country. The birds eat the berries and distribute seeds at all the sites they visit, spreading it quickly.

Its fragrant spring flowers, fast growth habit and ability to tolerate difficult growing conditions make it a favorite plant for landscapes.

But with anything that sounds this good, there’s a catch. Unfortunately, now we find these plants crowding out our native plants and disturbing the natural habitat for wildlife. So if you have it in your yard, I would suggest you get rid of it as soon as possible.

For answers to your gardening questions, click here.

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Frugal Backyard Tip

Save With Utensils
Old spatulas and spoons make great plant markers. I find them at rummage sales and discount stores for less than 25 cents each. Use a fine-tip permanent marker to write the plant name on the front of the utensil and the planting date on the back. If you want to reuse them the next season, use a scrubbing pad to remove the writing. —Linda Ramsey, Chelsea, Oklahoma

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Submit Your Story

Have you committed a backyard blunder? If so, we want to hear it! If we use your submission in the magazine, we’ll send you $50! Submit your story now using our online form.

Submit your story»

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