Missinghenrymitchell

LATEST ARTICLES ( 236 )

• Carolina Wolf Spiders, Or Halloween Arrives Early

  

  I got a bit of a shock the other morning when I went to pick up a stray bit of laundry on the bedroom floor and found this fellow scrambling around in it: I... Read more

  Posted on 29 September 2014 GARDENING

• Growing Cyclamen from Seed: Cautiously Optimistic

  

  Last year, I tried growing cyclamen from seed. Spring came and went and I saw no evidence of success; only empty pots topped with chicken grit. I set them on... Read more

  Posted on 23 September 2014 GARDENING

• Brief Intermission

  

  It’s been a really busy week here, in large measure to the impending arrival of this little guy: His name’s Henry. He’s 9 months old, and he came with the... Read more

  Posted on 20 September 2014 GARDENING

• Great Garden Bulbs: Sternbergia Lutea

  

  Last year, I visited Montrose and became bewitched by a charming little bulb I’d never seen before: Sternbergia lutea. A diminutive amaryllid native to the... Read more

  Posted on 11 September 2014 GARDENING

• Controlling Flea Beetles in the Fall Garden (help Wanted)

  

  I didn’t get row cover on my beans in time this spring, and the flea beetles found me. Flea beetle is something of a catch-all term used to describe several... Read more

  Posted on 05 September 2014 GARDENING

• Comfrey: A Plant’s Smelly, Magical Wonder Food.

  

  Using commercial fertilizers, particularly sustainable or non-synthetic ones, can get really expensive. Compost and manures add important organic matter to the... Read more

  Posted on 02 September 2014 GARDENING

• Introducing My Not-so-itsy-bitsy Garden Spider: Argiope Aurantia

  

  The other morning, I noticed a large spider in a yucca plant near the road in my blue slope garden. Yesterday afternoon, I nipped out to see if it was still... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2014 GARDENING

• Wildflower Wednesday: Joe Pye Weed

  

  My garden doesn’t have many fall native wildflowers (yet). One I do like very much, though, is hollow Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum). Read more

  Posted on 27 August 2014 GARDENING

• Rain Lilies

  

  Late last year, I stopped by a favorite nursery and binged on plants for which I did not have a place prepared in the garden. Among the must-haves that found... Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2014 GARDENING

• Wordless Wednesday: Mushrooms

  

  Nearly constant rain over the past two weeks has stimulated lots of fresh growth, particularly of this variety. Read more

  Posted on 20 August 2014 GARDENING

• Crop Experiment: Growing Shallots

  

  Have you ever grown shallots? I haven’t, but I’ve just ordered my first sets to plant this fall. I love the way they taste, so I’m excited to try them. © 2007... Read more

  Posted on 19 August 2014 GARDENING

• Dear Friend and Gardener: August 15, 2014

  

  Dear Friend and Gardener, Looking out the window this week at all the mud and mess in the garden, I fell into a bit of a funk. But a little something came in th... Read more

  Posted on 15 August 2014 GARDENING

• Gardening as Spiritual Practice: Waiting

  

  For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what i... Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2014 GARDENING

• Counting My Summer Successes

  

  Every winter, it’s the same story. I go bonkers with the seed catalogues and order far more packets than I could possibly manage. I try most everything; many... Read more

  Posted on 12 August 2014 GARDENING

• Crinums

  

  are wonderful plants for warm-climate gardeners. Blooming in late summer, graceful flowers on tall stems fill the air with a honey-like scent. Read more

  Posted on 09 August 2014 GARDENING

• Dear Friend and Gardener: August 8, 2014

  

  Dear Friend and Gardener, I’m trying a technique often used in the vegetable garden in my landscape: cover cropping. I’m sowing buckwheat in bare areas in my... Read more

  Posted on 08 August 2014 GARDENING

• Tutorial: Garden Hose Repair

  

  Although for most of my watering tasks I try to rely on my rain barrels, occasionally I do need to use a hose. And as hoses tend to develop cracks and leaks ove... Read more

  Posted on 07 August 2014 GARDENING

• Wordless Wednesday: Pond Visitors

  

  I spotted these fellows this morning when I walked out to get the paper. I have a lot to learn about identifying frogs and toads, but I think they might be... Read more

  Posted on 06 August 2014 GARDENING

• What to Plant Next?

  

  It’s counterintuitive, to me, to think about planting new vegetables in August, when heat and humidity typically overpower even the most enthusiastic gardeners. Read more

  Posted on 04 August 2014 GARDENING

• Summer Peach Salad

  

  It’s a dreary, gray day today, but a visit to the farmers’ market brought all the color my eyes could want. I had never seen pink oyster mushrooms before. And... Read more

  Posted on 02 August 2014 GARDENING