There are always lots of things to learn as a gardener, and many of them can only be learned through doing—through actually getting out there and getting your hands dirty. But there are some things ...

Here in New England winter is long, especially for gardeners. We want to be outside in the garden but most days we can’t really do much. I compensate by learning about gardening from books. I recently ...

Plants are classified as annuals, biennials or perennials based on their life cycles. Biennials, like foxglove, have a vegetative year followed by a flowering year. Perennials, including woody shrubs ...

The first plant I taught each of my three kids to identify was poison ivy. Making sure they knew how to avoid a plant that can cause such discomfort was important to me as a parent. Although they ...

Last fall, I decided to challenge myself by enrolling in the notoriously difficult course ENVIRON 436, also known as Woody Plants. This class focuses on one thing — the identification of Michigan’s ...

Support local journalism: Find offers for new subscribers here: Special Offers — FLORIDA TODAY. Typically, when we are asked questions about plants, the person asking may only know its common name, ...

A young friend of ours, an emergency room nurse, was staying at our home for a few days when we were out of town. I nonchalantly asked her to give my plants a little water if they felt dry. She almost ...