Gardening With Tony

Pumpkins Wait For No One

UNITED STATES—Things might have gone better for Cinderella if she had taken a Buick to the ball instead of that detrimentally punctual pumpkin coach. It was on such a tight schedule! It might have seemed like a good idea on the way too the ball. It certainly was a unique ride. The problem was that it made no accommodation...

Houseplants Bring The Outdoors In

UNITED STATES—Philodendrons, dracaenas, ferns, palms or any sort of tropical foliage inside our homes only create an illusion of closeness to nature. Naturally, these plants live in very different climates, mostly thousands of miles away. Not only do they have no business in our homes; they have no business on the North American Continent. Some can live in the...

Heat Lingers With Indian Summer

UNITED STATES—It is still too early to say if, or for how long, warm Indian Summer weather will linger into what should be autumn. This last spell of unseasonable heat was merely a heat wave. Of course, at the time, there was nothing 'mere' about it. It was downright hot! It was weirdly humid too. As uncomfortable as it...

Street Wise About Street Trees

UNITED STATES—There is no such thing as a perfect tree. Every tree has foliage that one way or another, eventually falls to the ground. Every tree has roots that might try to displace something that gets in its way. Many trees are messy in bloom. Some make messy fruit. Except for palms, every tree has branches that can be...

Timing Is Everything For Pruning

UNITED STATES—There are certain disadvantages to gardening in such a perfect climate. We can not grow things that require significant chilling in winter. Nor can we grow things that require prolonged heat in summer. Seasons change so gently that it is easy to get behind schedule. It is already late summer, whether it seems like it or not. What...

Flowers Might Be Getting Scarce

UNITED STATES—It makes sense for flowers to bloom in spring. Winter is too cool, windy and damp for both flowers and the insects that pollinate many of them. By summer, successfully pollinated flowers have faded, are busy making seed to disperse in autumn. Some plants produce fruit to get birds and other animals to disperse their seed. There are...

Herbs Are For All Seasons

UNITED STATES—There are only four seasons in which to grow herbs, but herbs are used for all sorts of seasonings. Most herbs are aromatic evergreen foliage. Some might be flowers, flower buds, stems, bark, seeds, roots or really any plant part. Those with the strongest flavors might be classified as spices. Herbs are used for culinary purposes. Many might...

How Shade Is Made

UNITED STATES—Many of our trees live at our homes longer than we do. Some of our trees were there before we got there. Some of the trees we plant will be there for whomever comes along after we are gone. Trees very often evolve into something very different from what they were intended to be. Nonetheless, since they are...

Division Is Equal To Multiplication

UNITED STATES—Mathematically, division is the opposite of multiplication. Horticulturally, they are the same. Digging and splitting overgrown perennials to propagate them is known as 'division' because it divides many rooted stems or rhizomes of one plant into many new plants. Division is a form of propagation; and propagation is commonly known as multiplication. So, we divide plants to multiply...

Easements Really Should Be Easier

UNITED STATES—Like Michael Jackson said, “You got an easement on down the road.”. . . or something like that. In older neighborhoods, that is where the utility easements are usually located. These are zones for utility poles that suspend electrical, telephone and television cables. When electricity first became available, that was the easiest place to put the cables, and...