By Vanessa Richins

Every year the All American Selection committee announces the newest winners in its testing programs.

Their mission? “To promote new garden seed varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America.”

They test new varieties that have not been available for sale yet, then choose the most promising ones as winners.

This year, there were 4 winners announced:

- Viola F1 ‘Rain Blue and Purple’ (Viola cornuta) was named as the 2009 Cool Season Bedding Plant Award Winner. This viola was bred Read the rest of this entry »

By Cindy Naas

Many homes display a beautiful floral wreath on the front door, a cheerful way to greet guests and family alike.

Hanging a seed wreath can be just as attractive and will please both guests and birds, too.

Here are simple instructions for making a pretty seed wreath for your local birds.

You will need:

• 1 wire wreath form (do not use a foam form)
• fresh grapevine or Virginian creeper
• 2-3 small ears of corn
• several sprays of millet (pet stores carry these)
• sunflower seeds
• dried fruit such as cranberries, raisins, apricots, apple slices
• fresh cranberries
• about 10 small pine cones Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

As the gardening season slowly draws to a close, there are still many opportunities for urban gardening fun.

One of these could be a Seed Exchange Party!

Perhaps you had a bumper crop of your favorite heirloom bean. Sue, who also lives in your town, may have extra tomato seeds. Joe has squash seeds.

If everyone brought their seeds to a party, everyone could end up with three different kinds of seeds for next year instead of just one.

First, you would need to save some seeds. Methods differ for every plant, but for most, let the fruit sit on the stem until it is fully mature or dried out. You should be able to remove the seeds and save them for future use. Be sure to Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

The summer garden season is in full swing.

The plants are huge and lush, and you collect produce daily.

You wish the summer wouldn’t come to an end so your garden could keep thriving.

Never fear! It’s actually time to start planting seeds for your fall vegetable garden.

That’s right – you can still grow some vegetables even into the autumn months. The key is to choose the right ones.

Vegetables are divided into two different categories – cool season and warm season. Warm season vegetables are ones that grow best during Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Nolan

In this installment, we’re going to take a look at a few creative ways to use what you already have instead of buying expensive pots for your container garden.

Egg Cartons
My partner always looks at me funny when I rinse and save my empty egg cartons. When it comes time to start the seeds for a new gardening season, I pull them out, fill them with some nutrient-rich compost and voila!

I’ve got seed starters that didn’t cost me a penny. I did start buying eggs that come in cardboard cartons so that I can simply cut them apart and drop them right in place in my garden.

Toilet Paper & Paper Tower Rolls
Those sturdy paperboard rolls can easily Read the rest of this entry »