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    • Home
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  • Home
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  • Portfolio
  • NEWSLETTER
  • GIFTS FOR GARDENERS
  • AP Columns
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My LATEST ap gardening columns

I started writing an internationally distributed gardening column for the Associated Press in January 2022. Prior to that, I spent 15 years as Newsday's "Garden Detective" columnist, fielding reader questions, writing gardening how-tos, profiling exceptional local gardeners and reporting the gardening beat.

To keep up with the latest gardening news and trends, you can always find my latest AP gardening columns here:

THIS WEEK: Plants to pick -- and those to avoid -- if you suffer from pollen allergies

More topics I've written about

  • 8 new varieties of rose plants to choose in 2025
  • The secret to a refreshing cocktail or mocktail might be growing in the garden
  • Plant once, harvest for decades -- here's how to grow spring asparagus
    This is the No. 1 best tree you can plant
  • Every yard makes a difference. Native-plant champion Doug Tallamy’s got a new book explaining how
  • Oaks, asters and 6 other ‘keystone’ native species to plant for biodiversity, with Doug Tallamy
  • Blink and you could miss them. 10 native spring ephemerals that bring early color to the garden
  • After a long winter, here’s how to send your houseplants on a summer vacation
  • Consider planting a little extra for neighbors in need this spring
  • Here’s your spring gardening checklist
  • How to upcycle small food containers and even newspaper and toilet paper rolls into seed-starting pots.
  • Winter sowing  for stronger spring seedlings
  • They dig, they pee, they trample. How to garden when you love both dogs and plants
  • 20 new AAS-award-winning plants to grow in 2025
  • How to grow and care for a bonsai tree 
  • Office plants that will  thrive under overhead fluorescent lighting — and without windows
  • A gardening primer for beginners: My best tips for starting your first garden
  • Is it too early to prep the garden for spring now? Nope! Here’s what you should be doing right now.
  • Quirky air plants grow without roots and can be displayed pretty much anywhere 
  • Living fences. Leaves with holes. A lived-in vibe. And other likely garden trends for 2025
  • Find out where your firewood comes from to prevent  the spread of invasive pests
  • A step-by-step guide to renovating a neglected garden
  • Winter care for plants, gardens and wildlife—indoors and out
  • Making new shrubs from hardwood cuttings couldn't be easier--here's how
  • Views on garden insects are changing, with many former “pests” now valued  
  • Serviceberry is a sadly underused native tree that helps wildlife and is worth planting
  • Unexpected flowers from foliage plants
  • How to overwinter tropical plants
  • Planting bulbs? Here’s how to protect them from critters and the cold
  • Fall is the perfect time to plant a tree. Some important tips.  
  • Minor bulbs can have major impact in the garden - here's why, and some to choose from
  • Outside lights are deadly to birds, especially at this time of year 
  • Fall cleanup doesn't mean what it used to
  •  You might need to replant your houseplants before bringing them back indoors. Here’s how.
  • Fall is the best time to renovate your lawn. Here are steps  to ensure the best results. 
  • Ready to preserve your harvests? There are easier ways than canning.
  •  Tips for filling in bare spots under trees  
  • Hammerhead worms are toxic, invasive, and a threat to earthworms
  • Buttonbush is an otherworldly native shrub you should know 
  • It's time to plant your fall crops -- here are some to consider
  • Sex and the single zucchini 
  • Monocarpic plants wait their whole lives to bloom just once -- and it's usually spectacular!  
  •  How to grow blueberries at home 
  •  How a heat wave can actually help (and yes, hurt) your garden  
  • Keep you kettle whistling all year long by growing and making your own white, green, black or Oolong tea 
  • How to identify and safely remove poison ivy 
  • You can grow peanuts at home— even as far north as Zone 6! Here’s how. 
  •  Finding a balance between lawn and non-lawn with sustainable lawn care 
  • Yes, you can have a tidy, manicured native garden. Here’s how. 
  • Luckily for cooks and gardeners, these herbs will grow back year after year. 
  • Why you should take steps if you see a grayish powder on your plants. It’s powdery mildew
  • Growing plants in straw bales
  • How to make cut flowers last longer
  • How to spruce up a supermarket bouquet
  • Flowers aren’t the only way to add color to the garden. Here’s how to “paint” with foliage
  • The problem with leaf blowers — and what to do instead 
  • Foodscaping: If your vegetable garden is too small for all the plants you want to grow, why not slip them into the flower garden? 
  •  The garden is waking up. But where to start? Here’s what needs to be done now — and what shouldn’t be tackled yet.
  •  How to care for potted lilies, hyacinths, daffodils and other spring gift plants. 
  • Not all vegetables are annuals. Here are some that come back every year. 
  • Cool and unique just-introduced annuals and perennials to plant this spring
  •  It's not what St. Patrick used but today's three-leaved shamrock can make a nice houseplant
  • For Women’s History Month, a look at some trailblazers in American gardening and horticulture 
  •  New varieties of fruits and vegetables to plant this year
  • Tips for growing sweet, juicy peaches in every climate
  • Covering ground in the desert 
  • Before you start seeds indoors, make sure they’re not duds
  • For a fun and fancy winter project, grow microgreens on your kitchen counter
    Here’s how to decide which vegetables to plant this year 
  •  2024 has been named the year of  the African violet. Here’s how to grow these petite charmers.
  • Trendy peach-toned plants for your 2024 garden
  • How to spend the winter planning and preparing for your spring garden
  • Save your poinsettias for next year. Here’s how to get them to bloom again in time for the holidays. 
  • The bathroom is an ideal place for many houseplants. Some are even happy in the shower. 
  • Camellias, the queens of the winter flowers, don’t deserve their reputation as garden divas. They‘re easy to grow,  and not just in the south. 
  • By kit, or from scratch, you can grow your own mushrooms at home
  • Are your evergreens turning brown? That might or might not indicate a problem. Here’s what you need to know.
  • How to help housplants reacclimate indoors after their summer vacation 
  •  There’s a movement to ‘leave the leaves’ in gardens and lawns. Should you do it? 
  • If it seems like there are a lot of acorns this fall, you might be seeing a ‘mast’ year
  • Spooky plants for your goth garden (and Halloween!)
  • How to grow your own cup of coffee -- indoors! 
  • Rose hips provide a pop of fall and winter color – plus a yummy ingredient for teas and jams 
  • Dahlias, they’re easier than you think
  • How to help migrating hummingbirds and see their antics up close
    Easy houseplants for neglectful gardeners
  • The mutant tomatoes are here, and they come in peace
  • Annuals are the loyal friends every gardener can use
  • Invasive and ubiquitous, English ivy can hurt trees and plants. Removing it isn’t easy. 
  • Fire-resistant and flammable plants: What you need to know  
  •  Deer and  rabbits and voles, oh my!    
  • Heat-tolerant plants and practices for a warming climate 
  • Where flooding has become more common, here's how gardeners can respond 
  •  Are ants in your plants harmful?
  •  Extend your season with succession planting 
  •  A little prevention goes a long way to combat garden pests and diseases.
  • How to grow pawpaws, the exotically delicious, sadly underplanted N. American native fruit trees
  • How to grow a cutting garden
  • How to grow Rhubarb
  • How to  save water in the garden     
  • How to save your garden from wildfire smoke and ash
  • How to plant containers like a pro
  • Hardening off seedlings, an essential step in your spring gardening routine.
  • Why No Mow May is a terrible idea
  • How to grow an herb garden
  • How and why to test your soil’s pH level
  • How to select climate-resilient trees  to plant
  • How to Go easy on your body while gardening
  • How to plant a meadow
  • Five apps and phone features to help identify plants and problems 
  • How some of DC's cherry blossom trees have defied their age
  •  Itching to start spring cleanup? Not so fast!  
  •  Bradford pears, once the darlings of suburbia have become rude invasives. Learn how to manage them -- and get my recommendations for better-mannered alternatives to plant instead.  
  • Philadelphia Flower Show 
  • Botanical Latin 
  • New plants for 2023   
  • Moon gardens    
  • Toxic plants and cut flowers to avoid if you have pets
  • Pretty but toxic: Watch toddlers around these houseplants
  • What's that green stuff on my tree? 
  • It's in fall, not summer, that leaves show their true colors
  • How to protect a fig tree over winter
  • How to make Bokashi compost
  • Six favorite conifers and the cones they produce    
  • Time to study up: 35 gardening terms everyone should know 
  • How to prepare your soil in fall for spring planting.
  •  Save Your Mums: How to care for your mums so they return next year.  
  •  Jumping worms — How to recognize and prevent their spread.  
  • Everything you ever wanted to know about planting and growing garlic
  • How to save flower seeds
  • Growing food indoors from kitchen scraps  
  • Fall houseplant care
  • Gardening doesn’t stop just because it’s fall: Some tips
  • How to collect and save vegetable seeds 
  • Turning a sidewalk strip into a curb appeal 
  • Stressed Lawns
  • Mosquitoes.
  • Harvesting potatoes
  • Attracting birds to your garden
  • Monarch butterflies are in trouble
  • Troubleshooting in the vegetable garden
  • Fall crops to plant now
  • Gardening in drought?
  • Alternatives to store-bought fertilizer are all around you
  • The new blended garden: Going native one step at a time
  • Pollinator-friendly pest control
  • Protecting your garden before and after severe storms
  • Best, worst companion plants
  • Gardening success means avoiding these common mistakes
  • 7 tips for growing giant tomatoes 
  • Gardening in shade 
  • Sunflowers
  • Native alternatives for invasive plants
  • Go native
  • Old-Fashioned annual flowers worth revisiting
  • Filling raised beds? Save money—and grow better—with Hugelkultur
  • *Growing veggies in small spaces
  • Plants to plant in spring for a beautiful garden next winter
  • Tips for indoor seed-starting
  • Black innovators who reshaped American gardening and farming
  • Houseplant trends for 2022 


The Weekly dirt

NPR WEEKEND EDITION

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