Ask a Master Gardener: Vermont’s state flower

Introduced to Vermont by European settlers, red clover has become an essential part of the state’s landscape and identity.

Planting time is here. While some crops will be directly sown, many others will begin as starter plants that have been grown from seed at home or purchased locally. The trick is to successfully move those plants from the controlled environment where they’ … (read more)

Easily recognized by their sweet fragrance and cone-shaped clusters of tiny flowers, the common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) has been a part of America’s gardens for much of our country’s history.

Dogwoods, in the genus Cornus, are among the most versatile native shrubs. With seasonal interest, tolerance of less than perfect conditions and benefits for wildlife, these shrubs are worth considering.

Have you ever heard of the lady in the bath flower? That’s just one of the common names for bleeding hearts (Lamprocapnos spectabilis, formerly Dicentra spectabilis). If you’re wondering where that name comes from, just look at the flower upside down and … (read more)

With abundant blooms in a wide range of colors from soft white to dark purple, pink and even yellow, clematis reign supreme among climbers.

We’re all familiar with roses (Rosa) — their fragrance, their flowers, their thorns. If you’re thinking about adding a rose (or roses) to your garden this year, it might surprise you to discover that there’s more to your choice than color. Roses come in a … (read more)

If you’re looking for a plant for your garden that will come back year after year, is easy to care for and suitable for a variety of growing conditions, coral bells (Heuchera) just might be the plant for you. It’s also known by the common names alum root … (read more)

Rudbeckia hirta. Solanum lycopersicum. Acer saccharum. Have you ever seen these names on plant tags or seed packets and wondered where they came from? We can thank Carl Linnaeus for taxonomy, the study of categorizing and naming organisms, and binomial no … (read more)

Winter weather may be on the wane, but it will still be a while before we can get outdoors and work in the soil. Even so, there’s no reason not to enjoy fresh, homegrown herbs.

Each winter, gardeners bid farewell to their outdoor growing spaces and turn their attention to other ways to occupy their days. Magazines and seed catalogs provide inspiration, but there’s nothing like gardening indoors to satisfy your inner gardener.

Choosing seeds and starting your own transplants are among the most empowering ways to garden. Why grow the same vegetable varieties that you can buy at the grocery store when there are so many others to try?

By this time of the year, it may seem like winter will never end. Many of us are eager to start gardening knowing that spring is right around the corner. While we can’t make the calendar pages turn more quickly, we can get ready for the upcoming gardening … (read more)

You may be familiar with its name from the bottle of astringent found in your home medicine cabinet or for sale on pharmacy shelves near rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. What you may not know is that the leaves, bark and twigs from American witch ha … (read more)

Compost, the dark, crumbly, earthy-smelling material produced by natural decomposers, provides many benefits to gardeners and non-gardeners alike. Converting garden waste, kitchen scraps and various paper items into compost at home reduces the amount of w … (read more)