GLP

May 2007
Growing Bearded Iris for Sparlking Color Few other perennials rival bearded iris for sparkling color.Iris flowers are exotic beauties with three petals called "standards" that reach up and three petals, called "falls" that hang down like ball gown skirts. "Beard" refers to fuzzy hairs on the falls.

1: Q: How to start bluebonnet seeds?

A: The ideal location for planting seeds or plants is sunny. They will
not perform well in an area which receives less than 8 to 10 hours of
direct sunlight.

January 2007
Women of Horticulture Held back by societal pressures over the centuries until really the most recent, and still oppressed in many cultures, women have had little opportunity to excel in most fields, including horticulture. A few, however, do stand out in a field dominated by men.

December 2006
Wikipedia: Tree Article about trees, the large, perennial, woody plants, that includes profiles of numerous species.

November 2006
Striped Roses Are Here! Where did these striped roses come from? How did they originate? The origins of many are lost; they just happened. Others of more recent origin were discovered as sports or mutations of known garden or greenhouse varieties. There is a constant tendency of varieties originating as bud sports to revert (or return) to the original varieties from which they sported. Sometimes an original sport may sport again, differing from the first sport in form or color, but the constant urge to go back to the original form is always there. The genetic makeup of such varieties is unstable.

October 2006
Winter Gardening Indoors By : Holly Lawrens
Even though it's not spring, summer or fall doesn't mean you have to give up gardening. You can enjoy your green thumb by growing things in the winter as well. Gardening in the winter involves enjoying plants indoors - on window sills and near windows. Some plants do go into a sleep during the colder winter months - their blossoms fall off and their leaves turn brown. There are several things you can do to encourage full green foliage and lush blossoms throughout the winter months. All it takes is a bit of practice and patience.

September 2006
Lawns during drought During dry weather lawn grasses may start to suffer, especially once the top 10cm (4in) of soil dries out. Given adequate rain or water they will normally recover fully. However, following severe drought you may need to repair or relay your lawn in the autumn.

August 2006
Favorite Desert Wildflowers You won't break any wildflower-watching records by finding the following 10 desert blooms or flowering shrubs; most of them are fairly common in the Chihuahuan, Mojave and Sonoran deserts. But by looking for them, you're certain to come across many other kinds of flowers and to familiarize yourself with the processes of desert ecology that bring them into being

July 2006
Be Good to Your Garden Tools and They’ll Be Good to You We all know how important it is to have the right tool for the job, but many of us don’t realize how important it is to take proper care of the tool so that it continues to perform at its peak. This holds true for all tools... especially garden tools.

Jume 2006
Summer Greens. Mention the word "greens" to most southern gardeners, and vegetables like lettuce, spinach, mustard, collards, and perhaps turnip tops come to mind. However, when the weather heats up, these vegetables bite the dust along with the other cool-season crops. There are, in fact, several greens that laugh at our blistering hot summer weather.

May 2006
Spring Lawn Care Primer Like most folks, I appreciate a beautiful lawn. But in an effort to have such a lawn we southerners tend to pamper our turf into problems, both for the turf and for our environment. Great lawns are the result of basic attention to three simple practices: mowing, watering, and fertilizing. So let's take a look at these three keys to good turf.

April 2006
Top Ten Houseplants for Cleaner Air Houseplants, our often-overlooked helpers in ridding the air of pollutants and toxins, counteracting outgassing and contributing to balanced internal humidity.

March 2006
Native Seed Search Preserving traditional Native American crops of the dry regions of southwestern US and northwestern Mexico

January 2006
This is the best month to prune oak trees to reduce possible spread of oak wilt fungus. Oak wilt is a tree disease caused by a fungus called Ceratocystis fagacearum.

December 2005
All About Christmas Tree Care
Christmas is coming. The presents are bought. Well, most of them anyway. And now is the time to start thinking about that tree. Christmas trees come in all shapes and sizes from the huge natural tree that towers above the White House lawn every season to little artificial ones with shiny aluminum needles. For many families, the holiday wouldn't be complete without a cut natural tree gracing the living room.There are a wide variety of Christmas trees types available on the market, each with a distinctive shape and color.

November 2005
Getting the Most From Your Poinsettia Poinsettias are not only the number one holiday plant, they also are the top flowering potted plant in the United States. Native to Mexico, the poinsettia originated in a rather limited region near present-day Taxco.

October 2005
Expert Village It's a collection of interviews with experts about gardening. Some of the interviews are online video and some are text.

September 2005
10 Commandments of Deer Control Strategies for Preventing Deer From Eating Your Garden Alive!
1: Always treat newly planted plants with repellents immediately, and continue for 1 to 2 months.

August 2005
Fertilizing Fruit & Nut Trees Fertilizing trees too much can be even more harmful than not fertilizing at all. How do you know when enough is enough?

July 2005
Scientific Names: How to Say Them Since scienfic names are Latin, many beginners find them quite hard to pronounce (or remember, for that matter). This site provides some formalized guidance on spoken Latin and its meaning. There are two systems of pronunciation using English Latin - a traditional and an academic. Nonetheless, once learned, speaking Latin words is not forgotten easily.

June 2005
Great Botanical Books: A Booksellers' Perspective by Tony Swann This is a lecture given by Tony Swann at the Natural History Museum in October 1997. Good evening ladies and gentleman. It is my pleasure to address you today concerning some of the most beautiful botanical books ever produced and to relate some experiences in the trade over the past 23 years during which I have seen or handled many of them.

May 2005
Hanging Baskets Made for Shade Hanging baskets provide a great way to add color and interest to our summer landscapes. While there are many great blooming plants for hanging baskets, I like to use hanging baskets in shady areas. Baskets in shade are easy to care for as they don't require nearly as much watering as their sun-drenched counterparts.

April 2005
Designing an Easy-Care Landscape Spring fever has arrived in the lower south. This wonderful affliction calls to the gardener deep inside everyone, drawing us outdoors to dig and plant. With a little forethought and planning, we can create landscapes that are both beautiful and easy to maintain in the years to come.

March 2005
Plants That Clean The Air Research conducted by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist Dr. B.C. Wolverton shows that green and blooming plants are a great cure for indoor air pollution and a great way to fight "sick building symdrome".

Feb 2005
Houseplant winter care Many houseplants need a rest over winter. These plants require little or no feeding and a reduction in watering to allow this rest to occur. Gradually reduce watering until the compost is almost dry between watering and stop feeding entirely

January 2005
Gardening Climates 101 by National Gardening editors The United States has an enormous range of climate conditions. In some areas there is heat and drought. In others the climate is described as "nine months of winter and three months of poor sledding."

December 2004
How To Make Christmas Wreaths
by: Robin Follette
Tis the season! Wreath season. Each year tippers head into the woods to harvest balsam and other fir to make Christmas wreaths.

November 2004
Drying Flowers and Foliage for Arrangements With the growing season drawing to a close, it's a great time to dry a few of your landscape flowers to use in indoor decorations and crafts.

October 2004
Blackspot on Roses For years, we have known Diplocarpon rosae is the fungus that causes blackspot in roses and we all have used a wide range of fungicides to control the disease in our garden roses. Still, we have experienced failure and the solution has been to find yet another chemical to combat the problem.

September 2004
Garden Map As Designer Monthly tackles the theme of time this month, it's time to take a hard look at your garden and make an honest assessment of the amount of sun your little patch of Eden really gets, as opposed to the amount of sun you would like it get.

August 2004
Grafting Fruit Trees It's a seemingly magical process by Nan Sterman One of my favorite childhood memories is of picking ripe, juicy nectarines from my parent's backyard trees. They were homely little fruits, but they were sweet and mellow, and they melted in my mouth. Last summer, my own children harvested nectarines from that tree in our backyard. How can that be? The fruits came from grafted fruit trees.

July 2004
Cooling the Summer Greenhouse Overheating of the greenhouse during the summer months is a common but unnecessary problem. Your greenhouse can and should be a comfortable and refreshing place for you and your plants to enjoy on those hot summer days.

April 2004
Bulbs Provide Easy Perennial Color Bulbs are some of the easiest of flowers to grow in our landscapes. They provide years of enjoyment and add seasonal beauty like few other plants can. Now is the time to plant bulbs if you want to enjoy the fragrance, color, and beauty of their blooms next spring and summer.

March 2004
How To Buy A Good Garden Tool A high-quality tool is always a good investment: the quality will be remembered, and appreciated, long after the price is forgotten.

Jan. 2004
Harry Potter And The Ecuadorian Flowers: A New Species Of The Gentian Family Gets A Potteresque Name (June 24, 2003) — Harry Potter's influence pervades even the science of plant taxonomy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Lena Struwe, assistant professor of ecology, evolution and natural resources at Rutgers' Cook College – and a fan of the fictional young wizard – has shared in the discovery of a rare, new jungle plant that now bears a Potteresque name.

December 2003
Topiary Rosemary
Rosemary is the new kid on the block when it comes to plants for holiday decorating. During the holiday season garden centers feature rosemary plants sheared up like mini Christmas trees or topiary spheres. They can be decorated with ribbons or even small dried peppers for that distinctive southwestern look. The plants are wonderfully fragrant when touched and make a great table centerpiece for a holiday gathering. They need lots of light, so keep them looking great by placing the plants in a bright window or leaving them outdoors as much as possible. After the holidays they can be planted outdoors in sunny, well-drained areas of the landscape. Or plant them in a large container surrounded by flowering bedding plants.

November 2003
Winterizing Your Greenhouse Jack Frost has already drawn up his list of greenhouses to visit. Will you be ready? Here's the routine we follow at our house each fall:

October 2003
If you have put off planting roses because you either think they are too much trouble or you don't care for the look of a formal rose garden, then I have some great news for you. Roses are for everyone, everywhere.

September 2003
Fall Color Southern Style Dogwood is one of the great plants for dependable early fall color in the south. Each fall a glorious spectrum of colors blankets hardwood trees across the country. In Colorado, the gold of aspens catch the eye. In the Midwest and New England, sugar maples are among the most stunning of trees with their brilliant red/orange and yellow hues.

July 2003
Environmentally Smart Lawn Care
All land drains to some body of water. We can all learn how to maintain beautiful lawns and gardens while avoiding needless damage to the environment. There is a debate here in the south over the role lawns should play in the future of our landscapes. Some say turfgrass is environmentally unsound and should be minimized or eliminated.

June 2003
Outsmarting Poison Ivy and Its Cousins The USDA's article has Poison Ivy advice for the unlucky
Rose Pruning Annual heavy pruning is essential to insure the prolific bloom and long-life of a rose bush. Explaining the concept of rose pruning without a live bush to demonstrate on is difficult, so let your mind loose to help visualize the following steps in rose pruning.

May 2003
Growing Vegetables in Small Spaces Watermelons growing on a space-saving lattice trellis are bursting their pantyhose supports. Vegetables love good soil and plenty of sunlight. Yet many would-be gardeners are apartment- or condo-dwellers, while others live in cramped lots or in older neighborhoods where towering trees steal the sun from their potential garden plots.

April 2003
How to Photograph Birds Birds may be fun to watch, but they are notoriously difficult to capture on film.
In response to the challenges faced by amateur bird photographers, the New York Institute of Photography is currently offering the first installment of a two-part how-to article on taking photos of our feathered friends, which will run on our site for the next several months

Febuary 2003
Poison Ivy "Leaves of three, let it be" is good advice to follow to avoid coming in contact with poison ivy (Rhus radicans). Poison ivy is a member of the tropical Cashew family, the same family where we get our delicious cashew and pistachio nuts. (Even plant families can have their "good and bad apples!")

January 2003
A Great Time for Planning Next Year's Garden Take advantage of these winter days to read up on some new varieties to try next spring -- perhaps a great new tomato! I absolutely love the winter season in the south. It brings a welcome break from the heat of summer and just sort of gives you a new start in the garden.

December 2002
The Do's and Don'ts of Poinsettia Care DO place your plant in indirect sunlight for at least six hours per day. If direct sun can't be avoided, diffuse the light with a shade or sheer curtain.
DO provide room temperatures between 68-70 degrees F. Generally speaking, if you are comfortable, so is your poinsettia.
Ron E. Leps

November 2002
Fertilizer info that might help some of you with any questions on what to use. The first number is always Magnesium. The second number is always Phosphorus. The third is always Potassium. This order never changes.

October 2002
Garden Photography Tips every photographer can use for shooting in bright sun, using low-tech tools made from (what?!) plastic bags and coat hangers.
Winterizing Your Greenhouse Jack Frost has already drawn up his list of greenhouses to visit. Will you be ready? Here's the routine we follow at our house each fall:

Septemper 2002
The "Vinegar as an Herbicide" Information Page of The Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory. The word vinegar comes from vinegre, coined from two Latin words vinum meaning wine and acer meaning sour. There are a number of historical references about the use of vinegar as a preservative, condiment, beauty aid, cleaning agent and medicine.

August 2002
The Goat Blether Time to cut the grass again? Lawn mower out of action? Borrow a goat. Yes, a goat. Not as neat as a lawn mower, granted, but good enough for me. Cuts and fertilizes at the same time. In one end, out the other. 'Cuts and feeds the lawn.' So borrow a goat or - even better - get your own.

Mixing Your Own Soils
Mixture #1 - is a basic mix for use with most types of plants:

May 2002
Fried Green Tomatoes Much success in growing tomatoes can be attributed to use of a few proven techniques. Choosing a variety that has proven to be a true performer in your local area should be top of your list. You can't go wrong asking a local vegetable gardener or someone with a stall at a local farmer's market.
Peppers Remain a "Hot" Gardening Trend
The small, fiery hot fruits of chili pequin peppers are quite ornamental. They are prized by birds and thus often come up wild in the lower south.Peppers Remain a "Hot" Gardening Trend. Peter Piper was definitely ahead of his time. Peppers are still the trendy veggies that you must have for your garden to be…well, to be "cool."

April 2002
A Slug Blether Got a slug problem? Haven't we all. Hostas, Geums, Oriental Poppies, Lupins, Nasturtiums, you name it, they eat it. Big black ones, little grey ones, they do the same damage, nibble, nibble, nibble, and the plant is destroyed.

March 2002
Bareroot planting is a great way to get a head start on spring. You can purchase larger plants for less money, and still enjoy them just the same as if you had spent more money on container plants.

Some gardeners seem able to make anything grow. Their secret is not a green thumb. It's the right soil.

Feb 2002
Garden of life I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses...

Jan. 2002
Fall is for Propagating Plant Plant propagation is fun and easy, despite the mystery and air of difficulty that often shroud the simple truth. I have learned that the complicated science of plant propagation can be simplified down to a few easy techniques that anyone can use to successfully multiply their plants with a high percentage of success

November Well the article service went down so I have gone back to my old way. J.P.

Containers for Color I love growing foliage and flowering plants in containers. Containers are a great way to add instant color and pizzazz to the landscape, and they provide people with limited space a chance to garden. Your porch, patio, balcony, or driveway can go from drab to dazzling with the addition of flowering containers.

June 2001
Agaves of Continental North America One spring afternoon, I noticed an odd plant in a nearby yard. The plant, a huge clump of leathery, blue-green leaves nearly as tall as I am, sprouted a stout green flower stalk from its center. Each foot-wide, six-foot-long leaf grew upwards and then drooped over, pointing a stilletto-spined end outwards..
Whatchamacallits and Thingamajigs Unusual names for common tools. By Carla Allen

May 2001
">Gardening corner Geraniums, originally from South Africa, are among the most widely grown flowering pot plants in the world. They are excellent for massed color against a dark background of green foliage. In the landscape, alternating geraniums with plants such as petunias provides a splash of color and a variety of bloom shapes. DEAD LINK

April 2001
What You Need To Know To Keep Your Lawn Healthy How to win the battle against lawn disease.
In My Garden - Making a Home for Houseplants
Dwarf forms of English ivy make an excellent, fast-growing houseplant. The term "houseplant" is really somewhat misleading. No plants are "native" to the house. Most so-called houseplants are native to the understory layers of tropical rain forests, where they thrive in the moist, humid, low-light environment..

March 2001
Landscaping to Eliminate Allergenic Mold Spores by Thomas Leo Ogren There are many things we can do in our gardens and landscapes to eliminate allergy-causing mold spores. All molds produce tiny reproductive spores and the trick is to find ways to get rid of the molds themselves.
Starting a Kitchen Garden Size? Location? Cost? Plan before you plant
Researchers Study Oldest Oak East Of The Mississippi

February 2001
Growing Lilacs in Montana by Martha Mikkelson, plant disease diagnostician; John Maatta, Liberty County Extension agent; and Bob Gough, Extension horticulture specialist

January 2001
In My Garden - Making a Home for Houseplants Dwarf forms of English ivy make an excellent, fast-growing houseplant. The term "houseplant" is really somewhat misleading. No plants are "native" to the house. Most so-called houseplants are native to the understory layers of tropical rain forests, where they thrive in the moist, humid, low-light environment.
Keeping Deer out of the garden my GrannyGrow DEAD LINK
Terrariums Creating and Maintaining Terrariums Landscapes in miniature

Noverber 2000
Take Crash Course On Austin Gardening How was gardening in San Jose. CaIif., or Seattle or wherever it was you moved from? Well, it's different here in Austin.
From About.com every thing you want to know about Poinsettia. It's not too late to get last years plant to bloom. The blooms are really large bracts that we mistake for flowers.
Global warming, meet Jack Frost An off-season Jack Frost is nipping plant and crop life in the bud in many regions of the United States, according to David Inouye, a biology professor at the University of Maryland. DEAD LINK

October 2000
Overwintering Container Plants A description of how to take care of container plants in the winter time and how to build an insulated box for overwintering.

Allergy-Free in The Rose Garden Many people think that allergies are like the weather, there isn't much we can do about it except complain, but that isn't true. The most common allergen is pollen, and this we can largely control

September 2000
Power Tools! We're talking two-ton hydraulic transplanters and hydro hole diggers, smart stud sensors and super saws that can tear cars in two. A article from Wired.
Weeds Any plant out of place can become a garden enemy. Here are strategies for fighting the battle against weeds.

August 2000
Summer Dreams of Gardening I was watching a gardening TV show the other day based on the idea that a crew can come in to someone's yard and build an instant garden while the owners step out for a day. They leave their tired old lot in the hands of the miracle workers and return to a dazzling new showplace.
Organic pesticides Organic pesticides can deter even the worst pest. This article will teach you what to plant or use and where. DEAD LINK
How to grow avacado trees Taking a simple seed from an avacado you have bought at the grocery store you can grow an avacado tree inside your house. This article will tell you how. DEAD LINK

July 2000
The Quiet of a Southern Summer Now is the part of the year we refer to as the summer dormant season down here in the South. All but our southern heat-tolerant plants are dormant. That even includes most gardeners! When things really heat up, we limit gardening to early morning and early evening hours.
Natural pesticides: herbs Various herbs, wisely placed in your garden, can deter even the worst pest. This article will teach you what to plant or use and where.
Make a Clock with Flowers Who needs a watch when you can tell time with flowers? No, you don't need to wear a corsage on your wrist. If you plant a flower clock in your yard, you can look out the window and know the hour at almost any time of day.
Attracting wildlife to yard & garden natural habitats are being cleared away in the name of development, native wildlife also grows scarcer. A growing trend, encouraged by the National Wildlife Federation is for homeowners to plan home landscapes that attract and provide for all types of critters.
Watering Wisdom Rising temperatures mean our gardens are getting thirsty. Thankfully we've had plenty of rain lately in Texas, delaying the inevitable dance of the hoses I do every summer in my yard and garden. Dragging hoses is great exercise and offers hours of quiet, mindless opportunities to contemplate life or just daydream.

June 2000
Diatomaceous Earth: A gardener's best friend.Gardening with diatomaceous earth is catching on. Never heard of it? Then read this article and learn how to get the pests out of your garden chemical-free!
Summer-Tough Flowers and Veggies Our southern gardens are once again in transition. The first transition was when danger of frost passed and we began to plant warm-season veggies and flowers. Now the weather is moving from warm to hot.
Pining for Vines I've become partial to vines in recent years. Last year we planted a number of vines along fences, over arbors, and even as container plants. by Skip Richter
Drip Irrigation Drip irrigation delivers water to plants in a controlled application at soil level, rather than a wild spurt of water that results in a dousing from above. In fact, overhead sprinkling systems lose about 60 percent of the water they deliver to evaporation or drift due to wind. DEAD LINK

May 2000
Preparing for the Heat Wave You just can't beat the wonderful weather and temperatures we've had this spring here in the South. In most areas a late frost never arrived to spoil the show and our plants are really growing great. Temperatures are so perfect that even the "fair weather" gardeners are staying busy and active in the garden.

From Excite.com Salad Garden Plans Prepackaged salads are all the rage in grocery stores these days. Little plastic bags packed with shreds of lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and other assorted greens. These instant salads are definitely convenient, but are they worth the price, considering how easy it is to grow your own fresh salad greens (that probably taste a lot better) right at your back door? Here's some growing tips for common salad garden crops. DEAD LINK

Patrolling for Pests: This is the best time of year to be strolling through the garden. Everything is growing like crazy and the temperatures are absolutely fabulous. I was out examining the plants the other day and noticed the tomatoes are already blooming and the squash is not too far behind.

April 2000
We've been enjoying the spring rains this week, although at times they may get to be too much of a good thing. Gardeners who did not plant in raised beds often find frequent rainfall turns the garden into a swamp.
Allergy-aware GardensWhat is possible, is to recognise probable allergenic plants, whether they are the actual plants which testing has shown to be at the root of a problem or those which produce pollen or other substances that have the potential to cause a problem. DEAD LINK
Measures here is a list for printing out when you need to know how much will a bag of mulch cover. How to convert a measurement, planting estimating guide, and more.
So Many Bloomin' Things To Do These warm spring days are really great for gardening. Our plants are in high gear during this transition from winter to summer in the south. Cool-season plants love it because it is not too hot, but it's warm enough for warm-season plants to really take off. This makes for our busiest season.
Amending Your Garden Soil - Making Good Soil out of BadFirst it should be pointed out that dirt is always called soil in gardening. Soil is arguably the most important component in a successful garden, so not calling it dirt is a show of respect. However, it is still dirt when it gets on your clothes.
Herbs that thrive in Austin soil by Ellen Zimmerman of The Austin Herb Society Many herbs thrive in Central Texas. Most love the abundance of sunny days and dry weather so common in the Austin area. Herbs can bring breathtaking beauty to the garden and tasty treats to the table.

March 2000
Patience and the Spring Gardener Spring is the season for gardeners! Can't you feel the fever of gardening as it runs rampant through your town or county (or parish for you Louisiana gardeners!)? We all love to garden but this time of year even our not-so-dedicated neighbors get into the act, even if it is just to buy a sack of fertilizer to green up the lawn.
How to Photograph Flowers It's spring in many parts of the world. For those of us who spent the winter trapped inside, spring means, among other things, an irresistible chance to grab the camera and start capturing the first blooms of the season. Yet, how do you turn those shots of your favorite blooms into something special?
The Real Dirt on Gardening This past week we took advantage of the great weather to get out in the garden and build a few more raised beds. We had a sunny spot where I wanted to add some vegetable beds, so we worked in some compost and turned the soil.

Being a Science Fiction fan I could not past this one up. Are We All from Mars? - Earth and Mars May Have Swapped Microbes

Feb 2000
Care and Maintenance of Perennials Care and maintenance of a perennial garden need not be complicated or daunting. In fact, much of good gardening is a combination of some basic horticultural principles with common sense and a good eye. Close observation of nature's cycles can sometimes be the best teacher. Many gardeners keep a log or journal carefully recording their garden's progress.
Gardening 101 a virtual gardeners' classroom. Your teacher is acclaimed gardener and writer Ann Lovejoy.
Botany in the News These are selected news articles that have appeared on the web and in print media. All have appeared on the home page of the Botanical Society of America!
Germinating Rose Seeds Most of the roses we buy at nurseries or exchange with each other have been vegetatively propagated, either by budding/grafting onto a rootstock, or by rooting cuttings (own-root). Yet each of those varieties, at some point in the past, sprouted from a seed, or was a sport of a variety grown from seed.

January 00
This is the best month to prune oak trees to reduce possible spread of oak wilt fungus. Oak wilt is a tree disease caused by a fungus called Ceratocystis fagacearum.

Tips for Butterfly Gardeningwith Native Texas Plants Easy to Overlook Croton, Pipevines, Frog Fruit and Cudweed.
Geneticist Sows Plot to Kill Lawn Mowers Neff and other scientists have succeeded in isolating a gene that limits stem growth in plants.

December 99
Starting Hot Pepper Plants from SeedGETTING STARTED: Growing your own hot peppers from seed can be very rewarding. The selection of hot peppers available at the supermarket is very poor. Although the selection of plants from a nursery or store is a little better, when you start from seeds, there is a terrific variety available.
You see A Landscape, But To A Deer, Thst's His Lunch Article by Ted Fisher local County Entension HorticulturistDEAD LINK

Pruning A Large Tree Limb The best time to remove a limb from a tree is winter, except in the cases of maples, birches, and other trees that produce copious sap. For such trees summer is a better time (in subtropical climates the end of the dry season is preferred). If you can easily reach the limb with a ladder, there is no reason not to tackle the job yourself. However, if you're thinking about climbing up into the branches to remove a limb, don't.
DEAD LINK

Naturalizing Bulbs Bulbs planted in large informal drifts create a lovely, natural-looking springtime scene. And with only a little attention on your part, a planting of bulbs will multiply, increasing the display year after year. You can naturalize bulbs in a grassy meadow, under fruit or other deciduous trees, at the edge of a woodland, or on a steep bank. Choose a semiwild area so that the foliage can wither away undisturbed after the plants are finished blooming. Naturalized plantings are usually deemed too untidy for beds or borders close to the house.
DEAD LINK

Plant Trivia Timeline The Timeline gives world history from the viewpoint of a botanist. It is the story of plant discovery and use, and addresses the roles of plants in human civilization. Information included comes from secondary sources and compilations, which are cited. We continue to chart events for the Timeline.

October 99
Bugs We are in the late-summer-to-early-fall season when bugs seem to proliferate in our landscapes and gardens. A few species, such as the fascinating Hickory Horned Devil, really catch the attention of southern gardeners each fall. Other common late-season insects are fall webworms and bark lice, with their silky strands like "angel hair" covering the bark of trees.

Germination, and Inquiry: A learning cycle approach for novice experimenters. A educators approach to how to make growing seeds fun and acticting to fourth graders. "In this learning cycle, students develop an understanding of seed germination and factors that influence it. In germination&endash;the growth of a young plant from a seed&endash;the plant embryo resumes growth after a period of dormancy. Seeds need oxygen, water, and proper temperatures to germinate. "

Mount St. Helens Regrows Plants started to reappear at the fringes of the blast zone the very next year, as the Mount St. Helens ecosystem began the long, slow process of rebuilding. DEAD LINK

September 99
What's the Buzz on Planting a Bee Garden So you want to plant a bee garden or modify your existing garden to attract many of the native ("wild") bees that occur in the United States. The first thing you should know is that by planting bee-attracting plants, you can attract a diverse array of other wildlife as well.
Live Fences in tropical agriculture are many. Aside from restricting the general flow of traffic across lands, they provide a harvest of ornamental, edible and medicinal crops unto themselves, and are more pleasing visually and less expensive overall than barbed wire. The botany of living fence posts or fences is the fascinating topic of this web article, complete with introductory text, photographs, and bibliography.

August 99
Seed Saving Is Both Simple and Practical Hard to envision, but there once was a time when packaged commercial seeds were scarce, and next year's garden depended on successfully harvesting seeds from this year's crops. Today seed racks are ubiquitous, but there still are compelling reasons for seed saving: it allows you to preserve scarce heirloom varieties that are being dropped by seed sellers due to their unprofitable nature; it increases your self-sufficiency; and it can save you money.
U.S. Arboretum Hit Hard by Drought/National garden likely to lose many specimens.

July 99
This is not really a article but is a excellent source for Latin root words. From the Garden Gate: "Did you know that 'Lavender' (Lavandula) comes from the Latin word 'to wash'? Ever wonder why the daylily is called Hemerocallis? Or what angustifolia means? Here are over 1000 root words of botanical names from a- to zyg."

These Pest Won't Bug You With the growing season upon us we are faced with one unpleasant consequence ñ bugs! There is a host of insects that love to feed on your vegetation, but there is also a whole other group of insects that loves to feed on these troublemakers. DEAD LINK
Integrated Pest Management Twentyfive years ago, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) seemed a utopian dream to mainstream agriculturalists. The idea that plant pests could be kept at acceptable levels without large amounts of chemical pesticides ran counter to everything they had been taught. But now IPM is embraced by nearly everyone involved in the field. What caused the turn around?

June 99
Mendocino gardener wins stand-off with hungry deer.

Eden In Texas Welcome to my secret sanctuary. Although my garden is not big, it provides me with the joy and comfort that a lot of you may have experienced when you are in your backyard garden. As of the time of writing this introduction, I live in an apartment. However, in my opinion, apartment dwelling and gardening should not be mutually exclusive. Certainly, gardening of this sort may encounter different kind of challenges such as the limitation of space and light. Fortunately, by choosing the right kind of plants and the use of containers, patio gardening not only can be fun but also rewarding.

May 99
Botanical Binomials-What Do Plant Names Mean

April 99
The Importance of Watering Once your garden has been planted, nothing is more important to its ability to thrive than water. When provided too little water, plants are unable to develop properly and become more susceptible to damage from pests. Too much water can of course be equally bad. In soil that is kept too moist plants become prone to rots and other diseases.DEAD LINK
Sembremos Seeds of Hope A group of GardenWebbers has decided to help alleviate the problems of Hurricane Mitch's victims by seeking donations of seeds and tools from the GardenWeb community and beyond DEAD LINK.
Pot a Fruit Tree Ever wanted to grow your own tree fruit but don't have the space. Consider growing a dwarf variety in a pot. This article will show you how.
The correct way to trim a crepe mytrle DEAD LINK

March 99
Preparing A New Bed A nice step by step guide on making that 1st new flower bed. DEAD LINK
Planting with Care No amount of watering or fertilizer will compensate for improper planting. On many occasions I have puzzled over the problems of plants only to discover they were planted six inches too deep or with their roots bound tightly.
Roses for English Gardens.Written with Edward Mawley and originally published in 1902, this work has been enjoyed by generations of gardeners. We have included some of the photographs used to illustrate the book, but others are of too poor a quality to reproduce well and have been left out.
Root Cuttings An excellent survey of this propagation technology which includes a list of plants responding well to these methods.DEAD LINK

Feb 99
Starting Seeds Indoors The time is here! Seeds started indoors require the same basic conditions as those started outside. But since their environment must be artificially maintained, it takes a little more attentiveness. Just as for all plants, the three basic requirements are soil, light and water. But in each case there are special considerations.
Squirrels know! Which tastes better, acorns from red oaks or white oks? Squirrels know, and that affects how oak forests develop DEAD LINK
The Endangered Species Act at 25 how well has it worked? DEAD LINK

Jan 99
The Garden Design: The Natural Palette from Metro Saint Louis Gardener's Guide DEAD LINK
Earliest Flower Found in China Bearing Fruit, but no petals, 140 million years old. DEAD LINK