The Hoe Knows™ Garden Podcast

Plant Drought

Interesting Plants

Abelia

Related to those gorgeous southern belle abelias, Abelia mosanensis brings cold hardiness, sweet fragrance, and lovely, early flowers to northern gardens.

Calycanthus

Looking for a perfect early evening, late spring garden activity? Go smell a Calycanthus in flower. Inhaling the sweet, fruity scent of blooming Calycanthus will lower stress levels. Add a beverage of choice and life is pretty darn good.

Herbs

Herbs play a vital role in completing gardens. Most often used for cooking, herbs provide the basis for medicinal treatments, they enhance the flavor and growth of companion vegetables, and quietly entice and redirect insect activity. Get your shopping list ready!

Hellebores

Helleborus (hellebore) are not the first flowers to open as the growing season swells, but they leave a lasting impression. An observant gardener crawling amongst the plants at the beginning of winter will see the flower buds ready and waiting. They will put on a bit of a show for anyone enough in the know to watch.

Border Gardens

Landscape borders define space and delineate real and/or representational boundaries. Borders can invite or they can deter. They can be practical or just plain fun. A border may be a short, single line of plants or it may be a wide, long, diverse collection of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, flowers, and vegetables. We discuss all things border gardens, best practices and different styles you can implement.

Grow Your Own Luffa

When you think about those adorable, exfoliating loofah (common name) scrubbers, a gourd probably does not come to mind. But indeed, Luffa aegyptiaca, Luffa cylindrica, Luffa acutangula, and Luffa operculata are related to squash and cucumbers, all members of the same Cucurbitaceae family. We'll discuss how to grow and harvest your own luffa.

Warm Season Veggies

When contemplating the appropriate timing for outdoor planting, note last frost dates, current and expected soil temperature readings as well as both day and evening air temps. Not to be forgotten in the equation are days to maturity for each desired crop. We'll discuss planting and care of vegetables perfectly suited for warm soil and air temperatures.

Cool Season Veggies

In northern regions, early and late seasonally cool weather gives the gardener an opportunity to plan and execute two cool vegetable crop cycles within the same growing year: one geared toward very early spring, the second timed to end with a late fall/early winter harvest. Most of the cool season crops go to seed or become bitter and/or inedible when hit with summer heat, making planting times crucial. With careful planning, grabbing a bit of extra crop time from Momma Nature is doable.