I recently received a delivery of plants I ordered online. Joy! While I try to get my plants locally, I can’t always find certain plants or varieties locally. So then I…

Today is so hot. The date is only May 28 and the thermometer says 91 degrees F. Our spring was late to arrive and now the heat has come. There…

The news is pretty grim, I’m afraid. Beekeepers across the United States lost an estimated 44% of their honey bee colonies during the 2015-2016 season (from April-April). About 15% of losses…

I recently planted most of my herb garden this past weekend and it made me so….. happy. Herbs are fragrant, charming, and useable in the kitchen or medicinally. It turns out…

It is definitely dandelion season here, the bright yellow blossoms bursting forth everywhere they are allowed to grow. Where I grew up, dandelions were non-existent. My family home had no…

Have you ever wondered why the N-P-K numbers on bags of organic fertilizer (N-P-K stands for Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium) are generally lower than synthetic fertilizers? I know that I used…

To help the bees, we need to grow more of the right flowers. Yet one flowering plant will typically offer just a few flowers for the bees and pollinators. (A good…

Somehow I missed it. All of those innumerable hours poured over gardening books and I am pretty sure Phacelia tanacetifolia, or Bee’s Friend,  was never in them. Did I just miss…

Happy Earth Day! Beautiful isn’t it? Even if you are super busy today, I hope you can find a moment to give thanks for our blue-green globe. Then resolve to…

The environmental benefits of a compost pile are pretty huge. Let’s first consider what happens when we don’t compost. Landfills have become the third largest source of human-caused greenhouse gas.…

This Lemon Honey dressing is a staple in my house. While not a “sweet” dressing, the bit of honey knits the lemon and the oil flavors together. The citrus is…

Despite the bad news about honey bees, there is a tremendous amount you can do. Here is my take on it. Many of these steps also help other pollinators too,…

Besides tasting great to us humans, bees and beneficial insects love dill too, gathering both pollen and nectar from its flowers. I love it with smoked fish and potatoes–but I…

On April 7, Maryland became the first state to ban the consumer use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Bravo Maryland! Neonicotinoid is a class of chemicals that include seven different chemicals.…

Watch a bee on the gorgeous annual sunflower (Helianthus annuus), and the phrase “busy as a bee” comes to mind. A sunflower’s head is actually composed of hundreds of…

  Several years ago my lawn and gardens were infested with grubs and Japanese beetles. Dig anywhere in the lawn and you would see many of the white wormlike larvae known as…

Happy Spring everyone! I hope you are feeling spring wherever you are. Here, in central Massachusetts, Spring is not so obvious. Yes, the light has changed and the birds…

Watching pests eat our gardens may be one of the most frustrating aspects of gardening. Your plants look great, until one day the bugs descend to eat and eat and eat…… A…

While honey bee losses have gotten lots of attention, native bees have been largely ignored. But they are in trouble too. Scientists have seen a dramatic drop in the number of…

The right annual flowers can be a powerhouse for your yard. They will give food, in the form of pollen and nectar, for bees, other pollinators, and beneficial insects all summer…

It starts out innocently enough. You go into one of the big box stores to buy something, let’s say lightbulbs. While you are there, you wander through the nursery department…