My north-side vegetable bed used to be my biggest embarrassment. It gets maybe three and a half hours of direct sun in June, and for two summers straight I stubbornly planted tomatoes there. I got tall, floppy plants and about nine golf-ball fruits total. Then a neighbor in my old Zone 6 neighborhood walked past, … Read more >>
My first vegetable bed in Zone 6 was a disaster. I dug a rectangle into the backyard, raked it flat, and planted tomatoes and cucumbers with real confidence. By July the plants were knee-high, yellow, and stubborn. Water pooled on the surface after every rain, and then the ground cracked like a dry lakebed three … Read more >>
My first apartment in Zone 6 had a north-facing balcony about four feet deep. I crammed nine pots onto it that first spring, mostly because the garden center had a sale. By July I had one leggy tomato with three fruits, a bolted lettuce, and a basil plant that looked like it had been through … Read more >>
My first vertical garden was a disaster, and I still keep the photo on my phone as a reminder. I nailed a wooden pallet to the fence on the south side of my Zone 6 backyard, stuffed it with strawberries and lettuce, and stood back feeling pretty clever. Two weeks later the top row was crispy brown, the … Read more >>
My first balcony herb garden was a disaster, and it was entirely my fault. I bought six sad little pots at a big-box store in April, lined them up on a west-facing rail in Zone 6, and then went out of town for a long weekend. I came home to crispy basil, bolted cilantro, and … Read more >>
The first time I planted oyster plants, I tucked twelve little four-inch pots into a shady strip along my patio and stood back feeling pretty proud. They looked neat. Tidy. Evenly spaced, about six inches apart, like a row of purple soldiers. By August, that strip was a mat. The leaves had knitted together so tightly … Read more >>
I killed my first oyster plant with kindness. It sat on a bookshelf in my Zone 6 living room, those purple-and-green striped leaves looking gorgeous, and I watered it every Sunday morning like clockwork because that’s what I did with every other houseplant on the shelf. By March the lower leaves were mushy at the base, the … Read more >>
If you’re growing the stunning Tradescantia spathacea (commonly known as the oyster plant) in your home, you’ve probably wondered about its humidity needs. As someone who has cultivated these beautiful purple and green plants for years, I can confidently say that yes, oyster plants absolutely love humidity. What is an Oyster Plant? The oyster plant, … Read more >>
The first summer I grew a lotus in a half-barrel on my back patio, I panicked in July. Three big round leaves went butter-yellow in a single week, and I was sure I’d killed a $40 tuber. I dumped half the water out, added fertilizer, moved the barrel twice, and generally made everything worse. Turns out two … Read more >>
The first summer I grew lotus in a half whiskey barrel on my back patio, I thought I’d killed it by the Fourth of July. The pads came up gorgeous and blue-green in June, then by mid-July the edges started crisping like paper left too close to a campfire. I panicked, dumped the water, and repotted the … Read more >>
