When I think of companion planting, color, creativity, combinations and good garden fun come to mind. The premise behind companion planting is that some plants give off substances in their leaves and roots that affect other plants. It is true that plants have unique and complex chemical properties that help them fend off attack from pests and diseases.

It makes sense to extrapolate that they are capable of influencing other plants that are grown in their vicinity. Some people swear by the principle of companion planting and others eschew the concept. This blog is for those who embrace it or for those who simply like beautiful vegetable gardens.
read more »

Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

Monet’s garden was a living canvas. In this space he experimented with his love of color and form. His knowledge of color theory and his artist’s eye informed the choices he made in his garden design. In turn, they offer good suggestions for the homeowner who is about to embark on their own planting project.

Last week we mentioned how one of Monet’s prominent concerns was capturing light and atmosphere. His garden was no different from the scenes he painted on his canvas. The color sequences that he created in his garden echoed changes in light and weather that he observed in the space. He used his artist’s eye to accentuate these changes and enhance the atmospheric quality of the place.
read more »

There are many scientific textbooks around that will tell you all you ever cared to know about soil analysis, plant physiology, and propagation techniques. These tomes all have their place if you have the endurance to plow through them chapter by chapter.

If we are to conjecture what an antipodean approach would look like, then perhaps gardening to lunar cycles would fall at the opposite end of the spectrum from scientific research. The reality of the situation is that information, from whatever quadrants of learning it stems from, is just information–it all tends to intersect at some level. I find all types of knowledge useful. Ultimately, it is about cultivating your own gardening philosophy.
read more »

I walked by a restaurant in my neighborhood and realized it was closing down. Large industrial-sized pots, pans, and trays were piled up on display in the window to be sold off for a bargain the next morning. My eye caught a colander in the midst. I stared longingly at the colander and sighed, knowing that I wouldn’t be around when the doors opened for the sale.

I love collecting good, sturdy cookware for my own kitchen, but my motives that night were different. The large colander would have made a perfect planting container–perhaps as a hanging basket or a round, squat container that would have added an elegant touch to an intimate terrace garden. Unlike the small ones that I buy at retail stores for draining my pasta, this industrial colander was about 16 to 18 inches in diameter. It was crying out for a collection of herbs, sedums, hens and chicks, strawberries or colorful cascading annuals. It even could have become a home to mesclun mix.
read more »

Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

'Yellow Eye' beans

If you haven’t already gone out to buy your seeds for your vegetable garden, now is the time to do it. I have been reading Steve Sando’s ‘The Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Guide’ and would like to talk today about an overlooked topic: heirloom beans.

Some of you may sigh and think, “Oh, beans! Why doesn’t she talk about heirloom tomatoes or peppers?” But beans are one of the easiest things to grow in the vegetable garden; as legumes they are nitrogen fixers, so they don’t deplete the soil of nutrients, and they come in a delicious variety of mouthwatering flavors when you grow them from seed (I’m not kidding). Some are nutty, some are buttery, some are starchy, some are creamy and some are meaty.
read more »

Your vanity garden is scarcely the first place you look for salad toppings. Instead, most turn to the leafy standbys–lettuce, cabbage, kale, spinach. Throw in a few slices of zucchini or a handful of cherry tomatoes, maybe sprinkle the bowl with a few herbs to push the salad toward “exotic.” But what if I told you that eating the florid, elegant blooms that might otherwise end up in a vase is as natural as dousing your Caesar with dressing?

I’m not saying you should go right out and make a trial-and-error buffet of your window planter. There are only certain flowers that you would have any desire to eat, as many are poisonous or taste beyond awful. And that’s all the disclaimer I can give: don’t eat anything unless it is properly identified.
read more »

Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

Last week we discussed basic orchid care and explored how to assess your home as a suitable place for growing orchids. This week we will grab our wallets and talk about buying an orchid. You may have noticed that orchids are not cheap. Their price has dropped measurably over the past decade due to tissue culture and the ability to produce orchids on a mass scale. But even with all of these advances in propagation techniques, they still command a decent price.

If you are spending between $20 and $50 on an orchid, you will probably want it to last for some time in your home. Following a few simple guidelines will help you ensure that your orchid flourishes. I am frequently asked if it matters where you purchase your orchid since this often influences the price. High-end florists and nurseries will have a better selection with many exotic and unusual varieties. Big box stores will have a limited selection of the standard fare.
read more »

Daniel Atha is an Associate Editor of NYBG’s systemic botany journal, Brittonia, and a researcher with specialties in floristics, taxonomy, and economic botany. He has also taught classes in anatomy and systemics at the Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture and is currently working on a project to develop identifying DNA barcodes for plants of the Northeastern United States.

Chickweed (left) and false chickweed (right)

Certain plants have a poor reputation, one that isn’t always deserved. And in the case of this particular “weed,” the old adage stands that if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em:

Stellaria media (L.) Vill. (chickweed)

This is a direct quote from Wikipedia: “… this plant is common in gardens, fields, and disturbed grounds. Control is difficult due to the heavy seed sets. Common Chickweed is very competitive with small grains, and can produce up to 80% yield losses among barley. [It] is edible and nutritious, and is used as a leaf vegetable, often raw in salads. It is one of the ingredients of the symbolic dish consumed in the Japanese spring-time festival, Nanakusa-no-sekku.”
read more »

Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

For all of those orchid neophytes or orchid wannabes, this article is about giving you some courage. Not enough bravado to go out and buy a vanda or a masdevallia–that would be foolish to start–but hopefully the resolution to take a stab at a moth orchid, a slipper orchid, or dancing ladies.

Let’s start from the beginning, because wise purchases come from planning. Walk around your home and look for the empty spaces that you would like to fill with orchids. What does the light in this area look like? If you are not sure, place your hand 12 inches above the spot and see what kind of shadow is cast on the area. If it is a well-defined shadow, you have bright light; if fuzzy, you have medium light; and a faint shadow signifies low light. If there is no discernible shadow, then it is not the right place to try and grow a plant.
read more »

Meteorology is something of an inexact science. Some days, forecasting the weather seems a little closer in discipline to fortune telling. And after all of the comforting reassurance (we were so set on it!) that the cold was behind us and nothing but picturesque spring days lay ahead, the hard freeze set to plow through New York tonight has shoulders slumping in gardens across the region. But, while it’s tempting, skip leading a pitchfork mob to your weatherman’s house. Shooting the messenger never solved any problems, especially when nature is such a fickle character.

The inbound chill may be grim news for many of the early blooms that sprung out of dormancy at the first sign of warm weather. But which petals will pull through, and which are facing the axe? We asked Kristin Schleiter, our acting Director of Outdoor Gardens, to chime in with her take on the situation. Depending on what you’re keeping in your home garden, you may be in the clear.
read more »