Looking for a unique, personal and affordable gift this holiday season? Consider something from your garden.

Brown buds that fail to open on peonies and some roses, especially the white and pink flowered varieties is usually the result of Botrytis blight also known as gray mold.

Don’t let a tight budget stop you from starting seeds indoors. Get creative and involve the whole family in the process.

Break out your favorite vegetable dip and grab a handful or two of carrots and celebrate National Carrot Day on February 3rd. And add these tasty and nutritional vegetables to your garden plan this season.

Don’t discard those left over seeds from last season. When properly stored, many seeds can last for years, saving you money when you plan and plant this year’s garden.

Clipped and dangling coneflowers, sunflowers, and some of the other members of the aster family mean the sunflower head-clipping weevil is busy at work in your garden.

Get a jump on the growing season and save money by creating a growing chart.

Carrots, lettuce, begonia and other small seeds can be difficult to plant at the proper spacing. Reduce wasting seeds and time spent thinning seedlings.

Make it beautiful and edible by adding a few flowers to your vegetable container plantings.

Plants are the easiest way to bring birds into your landscape, but you may want to increase the number and diversity of winged visitors by supplementing with a few feeders.

Recycle your old newspapers into biodegradable pots for starting seeds this year. It is a money-saving activity the whole family will enjoy.

Have you committed to improving your health this year? I have good news – you can do this while planting, maintaining and harvesting homegrown nutritious food and beautiful flowers.

Didn’t get that garden planted this year? Or maybe you didn’t plant enough for your families needs. Don’t worry, you can still have fresh from the garden flavor and be kind to the environment.

A tangle of carrots, ill-formed beets, and non-existent radish roots mean it’s time to add thinning to your gardening list.

Boost your garden’s productivity and harvest garden-fresh vegetables all season long.

Add a bit of nutrition to your diet and landscape. Grow a container full of nutritious vegetables for your patio, deck or balcony.

Reduce your grocery bill this summer by growing a few of your favorite vegetables. And the good news, you don’t need much space to produce enough fresh vegetables for you and your family to enjoy.

Picture this - Your guest reaches over and plucks a sprig of mint from a planter to add to their iced tea or Mojito. Nothing beats the fresh-from-the-garden flavor or fun of ingredients right from your own garden.

Celebrate National Pickle Week by growing a few of your own cucumbers for pickling.

All you need is a container with drainage holes, well-drained potting mix and red lettuce seeds. Fill the container with the potting mix. Sprinkle the lettuce seed over the soil surface, Lightly cover with potting mix and gently water. Loosely cover with plastic to keep the soil moist and reduce the need to water.

Give them a chill and stop the tears. Cooling your onions and cutting into the root end last reduces the tear inducing impact of the onions sulfuric compounds. And consider improving the flavor and fun by growing your own onions from seed.

Grow a few healthy snacks for you and your family to enjoy. Carrots have the crunch of chips and crackers without the fat and calories.

Sweeten those fall days with a handful of fresh raspberries. And maximize the flavor and bounty with proper harvesting and care.

Nothing beats the flavor of fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes. And, proper harvesting will insure the best flavor.

It’s time to start reaping the benefits of your spring plantings. So break out the garden fork and get busy harvesting.

Growing your own grapes for jam, jelly, and of course wine can be fun. Get the most flavor and productivity with proper harvesting and a bit of bird protection.

Fall is here and that means its time to harvest and select the perfect pumpkin for your garden or Halloween display.

Enjoy your garden’s beauty year round. Harvest and dry a few flowers to use in flower arrangements, craft project or as gifts for friends and family.

Get the best flavor and longest storage life from your homegrown garlic with proper harvesting and curing.

Break out the garden fork and get ready to start harvesting onions and potatoes.

Dills, sweet or slicers all start as cucumbers. It’s the timing at harvest that makes the difference.

All your hard work and effort is paying off with a bountiful harvest.

Spice up your cooking with fresh-from-the-garden herbs.

Don’t let going gluten-free get you down. Include some fresh-from-the-garden vegetables to add flavor to your gluten-free meals.

Change your garden perspective. Include a few tall plants in the landscape and start looking skyward.

Put your creativity to work and get your favorite youngster excited about gardening.

Get the most flavor and nutritional value from your garden-fresh vegetables with proper harvesting, storage and preparation.

Memorial Day is a traditional planting weekend for many of us. Whether you are just getting started, changing out your seasonal displays or finishing up, consider adding sunflowers to your landscape.

You purchase a beautiful pear, set it on the counter to ripen and a few days later take a bite. Seems it is either too hard or over ripe. In fact, 84% of people surveyed did not know how to tell when a pear was ripe.

As you thumb through catalogues or peruse online seed sources your wish list may be growing. Check your seed inventory before placing your final order.

Whether you grew them yourself or visited a Pick-Your–Own farm, get the best flavor from your apples, pears and plums by harvesting them at the right time.

Double your harvest without increasing your garden space. Try planting short season vegetables like lettuce, radishes and beets between long season vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, okra, cabbage, and broccoli. When the short season veggies are ready to harvest, the longer season larger vegetables will need the space.

Lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, fight heart disease, boost your immune system, and add a bit of flavor to your meals by growing your own garlic.

Are you like me and always squeeze in that extra tomato plant, another row of beans or that one left over pepper plant? It seemed like a good idea at the time. But now you have more produce than you need.

Preserve the flavor and nutrition of asparagus to enjoy year round.

Many gardeners are growing their own fruits and vegetables, including some traditional favorites like currants and gooseberries. Proper pruning will keep these plants looking good and productive.

Increase your harvest with proper pruning.

Prune raspberries in winter to increase your harvest and reduce pest problems.

Don’t throw away or recycle those fast food containers just yet. Reuse them when gardening indoors and out.

Don’t drag that Christmas tree to the curb. Give it a second life in your landscape.

Cut trees make great windbreaks in the landscape. Strategically place discarded Christmas trees on the windward side of rhododendron, boxwood and other broadleaf evergreens to reduce problems with winter burn.

Grow the main ingredient for a classic, delicious, and family favorite – rhubarb pie.

Carving pumpkins is a fun Halloween tradition. But don’t let those pumpkin seeds go to waste; try roasting them into a healthy snack for you and your family to enjoy.

As you pack away the garden hose, tools and other supplies don’t forget about the left over seeds. Proper storage can extend their life - and that means you need to buy fewer seeds next season.

Be a part of history and save money when planting next year’s garden. Collect and save the seeds from your favorite heirloom tomatoes this fall.

Increase seed starting success and fun with the sealed lid method my friend and horticulturist Bob Polomski learned from his father.

The last Saturday of January is National Seed swap day. So gather your gardening friends, seeds and catalogs and throw a garden party.

Do you have trouble properly spacing the small seeds of carrots, radishes or lettuce? It's easy to end up with half the package in one short row. This is a waste of seed and time spent thinning.

Be the first in your neighborhood to harvest a red ripe tomato from your garden this summer.

Keep your green thumbs busy starting new plants from kitchen scraps.

Don’t let the calendar stop you from gardening. There is still time to plant vegetables for you and your family to enjoy.

Preserve the flavor and zest of herbs with proper storage and preservation.

Fall has many of us scrambling to protect plants from frost, move tropicals indoors or finish harvesting our vegetables. Be sure you collect a few green tomatoes to ripen indoors.