GardenSpotlight

There seems to be confusion at times among some gardeners as to the definition of perennials and annuals.   For those of you that this applies to, this posting is for you! J The definition of “perennial,” simply put, is a plant that continues to grow in your garden year after year.   The simple definition of an “annual,” is a plant that needs to be planted each year.    Perennial plants can be perennial in some areas and also annual in other areas.   To know if a plant will be perennial in your area, you need to know what hardiness zone you live in. The USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map helps us determine which zone we are in.   This hardiness map is based on winter temperatures and each zone has a span of ten degrees.   The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map was first introduced in 1960 with the last revision in 1990.    This map divides the U.S. and Canada into eleven separate zones.    The temperatures for each zone are based on ...

I have had several people ask me how we grow such great looking eggplant and want to know why they had problems this year with their eggplant. They seem to have beautiful plants and lots of flowers, but no fruit on their plants. There are several answers to this problem, and the answer for each person's garden may be one or a combination of both. First, we need to remember that while it is important to fertilize regularly, too much Nitrogen will offset the fruiting capability of the plant. In essence, the Nitrogen encourages plant growth, so that the foliage and plant itself grow and remain healthy, but while the plant grows, the Nitrogen does nothing to encourage fruit set. In other words, the plant puts its energy into growth, rather than fruit production. Because of this, you may have some flowers, but they may be dropping off the plant prematurely, before pollination occurs. By changing the ratio of elements in the fertilizer, we can regulate how our plants grow on the ...