The 2007 All-America Selections plant winners Celosia ‘Fresh Look Gold’, Vinca ‘Pacifica Burgundy Halo’, Petunia F1 ‘Opera Supreme Pink Morn’, and Pepper F1 ‘Holy Mole’ are the focus of this podcast. Then I answer a gardener's question on keeping Russian sage from flopping over. Next Kristin Gies joins me for tips on checking your landscape for animal damage. I finish by recommending Monrovia Nursery and their website, for great plant information.

I'll discuss how to keep the perfect garden journal for your landscape and garden in this podcast. I'll answer gardeners' questions on dealing with rabbit damage and box elder bugs. Salt buildup on house plants and how to remedy it is the subject of my pest tips. I'll finish by mentioning COINCIDE: The Orton System of Pest Management from Labor of Love Conservatory, 468 S. President, Suite 103, Carol Stream, IL 80188-2894.

Homemade from the gardener is still possible even if your garden is under snow.  Tips on gifts that are sure to please novice and advanced gardeners and fit into every price range from seeds to cuttings, plants and indoor gardens. The key to affordable gifts everyone will love is sharing your gardening know-how, resources and creativity. Plus, tips on seed saving, problem gardens and dealing with pesticides.  Visit www.wbu.com for directions on making simple bird feeders to give as gifts or make for fun family activities.

I'm talking All-Americas Selections (AAS) for 2009 in this podcast. The mission of All-America Selections is "to promote new garden seed varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America". I then answer gardeners' questions on re-blooming amaryllis, poinsettia care, and Christmas cactus. Visit the Perennial Plant Association website for Perennial Plant of the Year award winners. I'll finish with heat stress of plants.  Click here to view the American Horticultural Society Heat Zone Map.

Spring marks transition in the landscape, I'll discuss a few conifers for your landscape. Then I'll answer gardeners' questions on buying red worms, tomatoes and ant hills and groundcovers shaded by trees. I'll talk Milorganite and soil preparation. Wooly adelgid is the subject of my pest tip. Then I finish with a recommendation of The American Conifer Society and Rich's Foxwillow Pine Nursery, both are great resources for information on conifers.

Spring break is a good time for family fun in the garden! Gardening questions will be posted in next week's podcast. Pest Tip: Bugs! Only 3% are harmful. New Product/Plant: Lois Ehlert from Children's Literature Independent Info and Reviews.

Let's jump start the season.  I'll talk about planting and hardening off transplants. Gardener's questions: What type of small shrubs can I plant in Zone 5? Pest Tip: Corn and seed maggots. New Product/Plant: Wall-o-Water.

Gardening tools make wonderful gifts for the holidays. Consider trowels, handpruners, houseplants, gloves, Ups-A-Daisy or a self watering can. I'll answer gardeners' questions about non-blooming calla lilies and a crooked tree. Pest tip: scale insects on houseplants. Visit Cool Springs Press for gardening books.

I'll cover the basics on house plant care. Treat your indoor garden like your outdoor landscape. Then I'll answer a gardener's question on watering calla lily. The subject of my pest tip is mealybugs. I'll finish with a handy garden tool -  self-watering pots.

I'm going to give you detailed steps on how to move your house plants back indoors for the winter. I'll answer gardeners' questions on hostas and sedum. I'll discuss watering trees & shrubs with softened water. I'll talk about a favorite tool, Ups-A-Daisy.

Let's continue our discussion on maximizing the harvest, ways to get more produce from small spaces. I'll answer gardeners' questions on soil testing and lawn fertilizers. I'll discuss rose slug in this week's pest tip. Then I'll talk about how to create your own Topsy Turvy tomato planter.

Think Spring! I want to share some new products with you for your garden and landscape. Then I'll answer gardeners' questions on worm composting. New Product: Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Apelhof ISBN 0-942256-10-7. Pest Tip: damping off fungus

Holiday plants not only include the favorite poinsettia, but also cyclamen, bromeliad, kalanchoe and more. I'll discuss the many selections for holiday color. Then I'll answer gardeners' questions on spearmint gone wild and why some annuals can be started indoors and others outdoors. I'll talk about fungus gnats and how to deal with this common houseplant pest. I'll finish with a great houseplant reference, The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual by Barbara Pleasant.

Melinda Myers at Wisconsin State Fair...
Gardens are ever changing. I'll offer a few tips for helping you transform a landscape or maximizing the growing space in your existing gardens. I'll talk soil preparation, fertilization, maintenance, spacing plants, shade, hardiness and edibles too.

I'll start with a few ideas to get you started. AAS winning osteospermum or there's the Perennial Plant of the Year, Rozanne geranium and much more. I'll discuss indoor plants sporting yellow leaves. Don't forget to call or email me with your favorite product! Garden websites to visit: All-America Selections, Perennial Plant Association, All American Daylilies

Start planting fruits, vegetables and herbs indoors! No matter where you live, you can get started now. I answer gardeners' questions on Illini Hardy blackberry, plants that attract finches and using baking soda for disease control. I'll talk about fungus gnats in this week's pest tip and using Gnatrol with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) for control.

Starting early blooming plants indoors from seeds is the focus of this podcast. Then I answer gardeners’ questions on brown spots of ficus plants and keeping poinsettias year round. Next Kristin Gies joins me for discussion of last year’s pest issues and her prediction on issues in the coming year. I finish by recommending a new product called CowPots.

Houseplants are easy to propagate, I'll tell you how to get started. Then I'll answer gardeners' questions on hibiscus, cassia, mimosa and legumes. Scale on weeping fig is the subject of my pest tip. I'll finish with how to make a mini propagator.

Scratch that gardening itch by starting your summer garden indoors now. Whether you're growing flowers or vegetables, starting from seed allows you to expand your garden pallet. Many more cool and unique varieties of plants are available to you in the form of seed. In this podcast I'll walk you through sowing to setting out in the garden. I'll offer tips on germination, thinning, lighting and hardening off. I'll explain how to avoid damping off of seedlings and strategies to keep your seedlings happy and healthy. I finish with a mention of a spring favorite of mine, the early blooming Hellebore, and more specifically a wonderful new introduction, 'Pink Frost' Hellebore. For photos and more information on this plant follow the link here to the National Garden Bureau website. Photo: National Garden Bureau

Growing and tending indoor plants is good for the spirit but also good for your health. I'll answer gardeners' questions on Japanese silver grass, overwintering hibiscus, repotting cactus and growing lilies. I'll discuss what we can do for our tomato plants that have spots on them? I'll finish by talking about a recent visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens at the University of Arkansas Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Gardeners start to think about new plants while browsing through new catalogues. Select the right plants for your climate. Click here for an interactive USDA zone map. I'll discuss frost heaving, what it is and why it happens. New product: Ups-A-Daisy.

The key factor for planting is the temperature, not your calendar. Gardeners' questions: My holiday cactus has a white crusty substance on top of the soil - is it salt build up? Description of a Chocolate Vine, Akebia quinata. Pest tip: Geraniums may be subject to oedema or edema. New product: Aqua Dome, a plastic double walled, water insulated dome.

Many households are going to begin growing vegetables for the first time this year. I'll give you some basics to get started. Then I'll answer gardeners' questions on installing an arbor for trumpet vine and growing onions in the north. This week's pest tip will focus on clubroot of cabbage and other crucifiers. I'll finish with a recommendation of a great vegetable to grow, Eggplant F1 'Hansel' , an All-America Selections winner.