Landscape Boom - Red White Blue!

 

Showcasing red, white, and blue vivid flowers in your landscape is a great way to accent your patriotism and a wonderful way to brighten up your neighborhood!  Finding our national colors with just the right seasonal bloom is very easy if you know what to look for.  You can display your flowers in mass planting beds, and around lighting, flagpoles and mailboxes.  For smaller apartments, and Fourth of July parties, you can decorate by your front door, on the patio, and on balconies with container gardens, and window boxes.

Setting up your mass bedding plants with patriotic colors, you will want to remember different heights and width.  Having a tiered effect of red, white and blue is extremely effective if your house is neutral or you have an evergreen hedge as a backdrop.  Coordinate your color palette by looking at your plants before you plant them.  Placing them in the desired location and standing in the road or in your neighbor’s yard to judge the potential impact is a good idea; before you do all the grunt work of installing them and then not getting the look you were ultimately desiring.

 

Colorful and patriotic clay, plastic, and ceramic, containers with decorative accoutrements such as ribbons, gold stars or flags, are an easy way to get into the independent spirit if it’s temporary, or if you only have a small area or location to work with.  Use a good potting soil and make sure if you are using window boxes that you allow for good drainage away from house walls.

Here are my flag-waving suggestions for red, white, and blue annuals and perennials with their height designations for placement in your garden bed or container.  As always — please check online, with local nursery or extension office for sun and moisture requirements before purchasing and combine plants only if they have similar needs.

Tall (t – use in back), medium (m – use in middle), and low (l- use as groundcover) or h (hanging).

Red Flowers:

•Begonia, wax (l, m)

•Begonia, tuberous(l, m)

•Cardinal flowers (t)

•Celosia  (m)

•Dianthus (m)

•Gerbera daisies (l)

•Geranium (l, m)

•Gomphrena (m)

•Impatiens (l)

•Kalanchoe (l)

•Lantana (m, h)

•Lobelia (m)

•Pentas (m, t)

•Pentstemon (m,t)

•Phlox (l)

•Porterweed (t)

•Roses (see suggestions below)

•Salvia (m, t)

•Vinca (m)

•Verbena (l,m, h)

•Zinnias (l,m) 

 

White Flowers:

•Begonia, tuberous (l, m)

•Begonia, wax (l, m)

•Catwhiskers (t)

•Chrysanthemums (l, m)

•Cosmos (l, m)

•Dianthus (l)

•Geraniums (l, m)

•Impatiens (l)

•Lantana (l, h)

•Lisianthus, (m, t)

•Marigolds, French (l, m)

•Moonflowers (vine)

•Morning glories (vine)

•Nemesia (l)

•Nicotiana (m, t)

•Osteospernum (m) •Pentas (m,t)

•Phlox (l)

•Philippine violets (t)

•Roses (see suggestions below)

•Zinnias (l, m)  

 

Blue Flowers:

•Agapanthus (t)

•Ageratum (l)

•Ajuga (l - shade)

•Asters (m)

•Blue Daze (l, h)

•Blue flax (l, m)

•Centaura (m)

•Exacum (l)

•Lisianthus (m, t)

•Morning glories (vine) •Nemesia (l,)

•Salvia, blue (m, t)

•Scabiosa  (m)

•Stokes Asters (m)

•Torenia (l)

•Porterweed (t)

•Philipine Violets (t)

•Plumbago  (t)

•Russian Sage (t)

•Verbena (l, h)

•Veronica Speedwell (m)Additional

 

 

Summer Flowers for northern zones 4 – 7     

•Alyssum (l)

•Chrysanthemums (l, m)

•Delphiniums (t)

•Forget-me-nots (m) •Hollyhocks (t)

•Nicotiana (t)

•Pansies (l)

•Petunias (l, h)

•Poppy (m, t)

•Snapdragons (l, m, t)

•Statice (m, t)

•Stock (m, t)
 

Patriotic Roses:

 Over 35 cultivars named America or have American in their name, these are my favorites:

•America, large-flowered climber, orange-pink, fragrant

•American Beauty: climber, strong fragrance, deep pink, the national flower symbol of United States

•America, Climber, coral pink, strong fragrance

•Fourth of July, 1999 All American selection, climber, red flowers striped with white, apple-fragrance

•Memorial Day, 2004 All American selection, hybrid tea, dark pink, strong damask fragrance

•Americana, hybrid, strong fragrance, medium red

•Miss All-American Beauty, hybrid, pink, fragrant

•Mr. Lincoln, deep red, hybrid tea, long-stemmed rose, fragrant

•John F. Kennedy, white, hybrid tea, strong fragrance

•Veteran’s Honor, hybrid tea, dark red, raspberry fragrance

•American Pride, hybrid tea, large-flowered, dark red, strong fragrance

•Patriot, large flowered hybrid, dark red, mildly fragrant

•Peace, pink-yellow, hybrid tea, mild fragrance

•United States, pernetiana, yellow, rare

 

Have a great Fourth of July!  

 

Pretty in Pink - Pentas and Caladiums

Great summer and fall combination. For full and partial sun areas, especially in parking lots with hot asphalt.  Would like to see more caladiums planted among the pentas.  Great for butterfly gardens, too. 

 

Pentas and caladiums take the heat.

#gardenchat

What's Blooming In Your Backyard?

Love this time of year in the garden. Flowers still blooming with summer's last heat while you can almost feel autumn approaching.

At my neighbors, blue vines are uplifting color with the polite 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory vine and the impressive Sky vine.



'Heavenly Blue' Morning Glory, Ipomoea violata



Blooms open every morning in the full sun and last several days.




Flowers open up deep blue, then deepen until purple in the afternoon.

Sky vine, 'Thunbergia laurelfolia'



Sky vines bloom in sun or partial shade.

While morning glories are subdued by the winter cold, Sky vines can get out of control so be careful where you plant them or keep them under a watchful eye. I have seen them cover a house roof in very little time.  Glad it's at the neighbor's house so I can enjoy their beautiful blue flowers.

I have periwinkles, roses, dancing ladies are just popping up, and this striking Ixora  'Maui' which loves the sun and shade under our oak tree.

 Ixoras love acidic soils, full sun to partial shade, and really do thrive on neglect. No pest problems to speak of, so easy maintenance.  Ixoras can grow to ten feet tall but doesn't need to be pruned often.  Ixoras provides the perfect tropical look to your backyard.  Ask your local garden nursery for this beautiful flowering shrub.

If you love the  jewel tones of fuschia purple, add the Florida native, Beautyberry to your yard. Callicarpa americana, is an ornamental shrub that reaches six to ten feet naturally, has small white flowers and delivers on excitement with the edible purple berries in the fall. Low maintenance, loves sun or shade.



Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana

Burpee has the heirloom 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory seeds, Top Tropical nursery has the Sky vine, and check out the Florida Association of Native Nurseries,  or on Twitter: @FANN, for nurseries that sell beautyberries.

Teresa Watkins is a garden expert, landscape designer, and the host of her own gardening radio show, In Your Backyard, heard every week at 1pm EST on Tuesdays at www.My790am.com.  

Don't Try This At Home

Caveat: My anecdote today has more than a few garden-variety lessons and plant tips. Please don't try this at home unless you are willing to do it correctly.

My husband stopped by Habitat for Humanity ReStore off Orange Blossom Trail yesterday on his way home from work.  The minute he got home, he couldn't wait to tell me about the twenty-some plants available that had been donated to Habitat for Humanity by a local nursery.  They were beautiful 10 gallon and 35 gallon camellias.  What? Landscape plants at Habitat for Humanity? Expensive 10gal and 35gal camellia standards at Habitat for Humanity?  I wanted one...or two...or three.

We stopped by a day later and as we pulled into the parking lot, my husband said, "Oh they're gone already." I knew it! I should have dropped everything and went yesterday to get them!  All we saw were these huge nursery pots and nothing in them.  Well almost nothing, just potting soil.

We parked and went up the ramp to ask about the camellias.  As we walked up, we noticed there was an old, dinged up, white, van.  Full of plants.  I thought to myself, those look like ligustrums crammed in between the two sets of backseats from the floor to the ceiling and over the seats.  No, they were camellias.  Hmmm, they must have bought the last two or three camellias. 

A worker came out of the open front entrance and started shaking her head. 'They were supposed to take the pots and soil, too,' she said perturbed.  I asked if they were all gone and if they really were 10gal and 35 gal camellia standards.  She nodded yes.  Dangit, I wanted one!  She was not a happy camper since they did not have any way to dispose of huge amount of soil or the leftover pots.

I went inside to see the price and saw on their chalkboard that they were selling them at $35 for the 10gal and the 35gal for $55.  What????  The size and quality of the camellias I would estimate at a retail nursery would have been $50 - $70 for each of the 10 gallon camellias and around $150 for each 35 gallon camellia standard.  The HOH prices were unbelievable and they were sold.

I continued to talk to the employee about the camellias and found out that whoever bought the camellias was supposed to take the entire soil and pots with them.  The camellias had been ripped out of their pots. HOH doesn't have the means to take care of landscaping, especially plants the size of small trees or clean up a messy parking lot.

I then noticed right next to the soil-filled pots, a van crammed full of ALL of the camellia standards from floor to ceiling. They had forced all 21 - 22 large camellias into this vehicle on top of each other without the rootballs!

A woman approached us and in faulty English with a thick Caribbean accent said that she and her husband had bought the plants (she didn't know what they were called) for her son's front yard and didn't have any way to get the entire nursery pots and trees home.  The woman and her husband were driving to Wedgewood, a community outside of Cocoa Beach with them. Both the employee and I thought out loud without thinking. "They're not going to make it."  She looked confused and asked what we meant. I began asking her specific questions about her yard. (Gardeners out there will know what I mean...)

• Do you have full sun or shade?   (Full sun)
• Do you have sandy soils or acidic soils?  (Sand, near Cocoa Beach)
• Do you have an irrigation system?  (No)

Oh, dear.  This woman had bought all of the camellias and ripped them out of their pots with hardly any roots, stuffed them in an un-airconditioned van on top of each other and had to drive  about two hours home and the plants weren't going to get in the ground today!

Camellias, whether they are japonica or sasanquas, on a good day, nicely established in their pots, and planted correctly, need:

• Full or partial shade
• Acidic soils
• Amended with lots of organic material soils
• Lots of water to get established.
• Mid-to no salt tolerance.
• Planted in the fall and winter.

These camellias were going to be planted in poor sandy soil, in full sun, with no irrigation, and only a partial root system with possible salt spray and/or saltwater in the middle of summer.  And I bet the unknowing homeowner will plant them with fertilizer.

What will probably happen to the camellias is that overnight and for the next two weeks, they will lose all their leaves and buds. It won't be a pretty sight and the homeowner will probably think they are dead and throw them all away.

The cost?!! This couple might have spent over a thousand to thirteen hundred dollars for these beauties! I say might because I didn't ask HOH if they gave her a cut rate since she was supposed to take all of them and soil and pots at one time.  But HOH usually dont cut their rates because they have everything at such a low price already.  Still, even if the 22 plants cost her $30 apiece, that means $660.  And these camellias don't have a good chance at making it.  And I wanted one....

The woman asked me to write instructions on the back of a worn half envelope for her son.  She was taking the mistakes of what her and her husband had done calmly.  I would have been crying.  Maybe she didn't understand what she had done or what the HOH employee and I were telling her so that the plants would survive.

Water is going to be critical if these camellias are to survive. They will need 30 gallons or more every day for at least two to three weeks in our Florida summer heat, if  there is no rain.

So here's my tips for buying plants. 

• Know the name of the plant.  Write it down.  Research it.
• Know what a specific plant needs to survive.
• What the sunlight, soil moisture, pH conditions it needs.
• Have the conditions the plant needs to survive or create it with right locations, soil amendments, watering care, and fertilizer after it's established.
• Make sure the weather/seasonal temperatures are not stressful if you don't have automatic irrigation on the plant.  Fall is a better time to plant camellias.

NEVER:

• (Do not) Pull a plant out of its rootball or out of the soil the roots are planted in.  Pot or not.
• (Do not) Think you can handwater a shocked plant (recently dug up and roots cut) enough. 
• (Do not) Plant, or transplant, prune heavily, and fertilize at the same time. Wait until you see new growth and you'll know the plant is happy enough and established to handle the stress of fertilizer.
• (Do not) Cut both the roots and foliage at the same time.  Too much stress. See the previous tip about new growth.  That's when you can prune the foliage.

TIPS:

• Yes, sometimes Habitat for Humanity ReStores get landscaping donations.  Stop in on a regular basis and see what they have!
• Habitat for Humanity ReStores are great places to find inexpensive pots and china to repurpose for plants that you give as presents.  Most people donate sets of cups, bowls, or plates when they get a crack in them, break or lose one.  A set of three unbroken and in perfect condition cups will make an excellent size for threesome of matched pots of herbs for a windowsill. 

• I'm planning to use the three Renaissance-themed coffee cups for little bonsai 4-inch rosemary or olive trees. The cracked herb soup bowl will make a gorgeous saucer underneath a planted pot on my front porch.  The large round cup will make an excellent mini-planter of indoor plants for an office desk or for a windowsill African violet get-well gift. The cost of all six pieces? $4.00 and your donation is going for a good cause! I even left the bowl's 'Minnie Pearl' price tag for 50 cents on.

It's always a serendipitious moment when you find a bargain or great plants at a cheap price.  But don't waste them just because you are getting a bargain.  Make wise landscaping decisions and you'll have a beautiful landscape and more money to buy more great plants.

P.S.

I'll post the Renaissance cups when I get them planted.

Landscape Boom For Independence Day!

Showcasing red, white, and blue vivid flowers in your landscape is a great way to accent your patriotism and a wonderful way to brighten up your neighborhood!  Finding our national colors with just the right seasonal bloom is very easy if you know what to look for.  You can display your flowers in mass planting beds, and around lighting, flagpoles and mailboxes.  For smaller apartments, and Fourth of July parties, you can decorate by your front door, on the patio, and on balconies with container gardens, and window boxes.

Setting up your mass bedding plants with patriotic colors, you will want to remember different heights and width.  Having a tiered effect of red, white and blue is extremely effective if your house is neutral or you have an evergreen hedge as a backdrop.  Coordinate your color palette by looking at your plants before you plant them.  Placing them in the desired location and standing in the road or in your neighbor’s yard to judge the potential impact is a good idea; before you do all the grunt work of installing them and then not getting the look you were ultimately desiring.

Colorful and patriotic clay, plastic, and ceramic, containers with decorative accoutrements such as ribbons, gold stars or flags, are an easy way to get into the independent spirit if it’s temporary, or if you only have a small area or location to work with.  Use a good potting soil and make sure if you are using window boxes that you allow for good drainage away from house walls.

           

Here are my flag-waving suggestions for red, white, and blue annuals and perennials with their height designations for placement in your garden bed or container.  As always — please check online, with local nursery or extension office for sun and moisture requirements before purchasing and combine plants only if they have similar needs.

Tall (t – use in back), medium (m – use in middle), and low (l- use as groundcover) or h (hanging).

Red Flowers

• Begonia, wax (l, m)
• Begonia, tuberous(l, m)
• Cardinal flowers (t)
• Celosia  (m)
• Dianthus (m) 
• Gerbera daisies  (l)
• Geranium (l, m)
• Gomphrena (m)
• Impatiens (l)
• Kalanchoe (l)
• Lantana (m, h)
• Lobelia (m)
• Pentas (m, t)
• Pentstemon (m,t)
• Phlox (l)
• Porterweed (t) 
• Salvia (m, t)
• Vinca (m)
• Verbena (l,m, h)
• Roses (see suggestions below)
• Zinnias (l,m)  

White Flowers 

• Begonia, tuberous (l, m)
• Begonia, wax (l, m)
• Catwhiskers (t)
• Chrysanthemums (l, m)
• Cosmos (l, m)
• Dianthus (l)
• Geraniums (l, m)
• Impatiens (l)
• Lantana (l, h)
• Lisianthus, (m, t)
• Marigolds, French (l, m) 
• Moonflowers (vine)
• Morning glories (vine)
• Nemesia (l)
• Nicotiana (m, t)
• Osteospernum (m) 
• Pentas (m,t)
• Phlox (l)
• Philippine violets (t)
• Roses (see suggestions below)
• Zinnias (l, m)   

Blue Flowers:

• Agapanthus (t)
• Ageratum (l)
• Ajuga (l - shade)
• Asters (m)
• Blue Daze (l, h) 
• Blue flax (l, m)
• Centaura (m)
• Exacum (l)
• Lisianthus (m, t)
• Morning glories (vine) 
• Nemesia (l,)
• Salvia, blue (m, t)
• Scabiosa  (m)
• Stokes Asters (m)
• Torenia (l)
• Porterweed (t)
• Philipine Violets (t)
• Plumbago  (t)
• Russian Sage (t)
• Verbena (l, h)
• Veronica Speedwell (m)

Additional Summer Flowers for northern zones 4 – 7     

• Alyssum (l)
• Chrysanthemums (l, m)
• Delphiniums (t)
• Forget-me-nots (m) 
• Hollyhocks (t)
• Nicotiana (t)
• Pansies (l)
• Petunias (l, h)
• Poppy (m, t)
• Snapdragons (l, m, t)
• Statice (m, t)
• Stock (m, t)

Patriotic Roses: 

 Over 35 cultivars named America or have American in their name, these are my favorites:

• America, large-flowered climber, orange-pink, fragrant
• American Beauty: climber, strong fragrance, deep pink, the national flower symbol of United States
• America, Climber, coral pink, strong fragrance
• Fourth of July, 1999 All American selection, climber, red flowers striped with white, apple-fragrance
• Memorial Day, 2004 All American selection, hybrid tea, dark pink, strong damask fragrance
• Americana, hybrid, strong fragrance, medium red
• Miss All-American Beauty, hybrid, pink, fragrant
• Mr. Lincoln, deep red, hybrid tea, long-stemmed rose, fragrant
• John F. Kennedy, white, hybrid tea, strong fragrance
• Veteran’s Honor, hybrid tea, dark red, raspberry fragrance
• American Pride, hybrid tea, large-flowered, dark red, strong fragrance
• Patriot, large flowered hybrid, dark red, mildly fragrant
• Peace, pink-yellow, hybrid tea, mild fragrance
• United States, pernetiana, yellow, rare

Have a great Fourth of July!

Reprinted from permission from Suite 101, Gardening with Soul,  July 2004

Buttercup Bud

I love solving crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, and playing Scrabble is a deathsport. Take a few minutes in your day to solve the flowers.  

On this beautiful May Day, Bluebells growing wild in Scotland. Campunala rotundifolia are also native to the United States.

How to grow Virginia bluebells.

Am I Blue?

With anticipated one to three inches of rain this week, I'm taking the opportunity to plant winter and spring blooming flower seeds. This year I'm going to add one of my favorite colors to my landscape.  I planted delphiniums in the back of my border garden.  Delphiniums take full sun, moderate moisture, and grow to three feet tall. The seeds will take two weeks to emerge and will bloom January through March.

Other cool season blue annuals that will thrive in Florida are lobelias, pansies, and veronica.  Blue flowering perennials and ornamental shrubs to add to your landscape include agapanthus, hydrangea, salvias, and plumbago.

Want more winter annuals to plant in your garden? Check out  Annuals Flowers for  Florida.

Life of Flowers

Life of flowers from VOROBYOFF PRODUCTION on Vimeo.

H/T to Rick Schellhorn for sharing!

Pyranees Campanula Bellflower

Pyranean bellflower, Campanula speciosa is native to the Spanish Pyranees. Learn more about this beautiful endemic spring-blooming perennial that can handle the mountains' altitude at 5,000' feet above sea level. See more here.

Pyrenean Bellflower Jigsaw Puzzle

Mother's Day In Her Backyard

What should you get your Mom for Mother's Day this Sunday?  Depending on her lifestyle, she may need a little help around her backyard. 

Here's some great ideas that I know Moms around the country would love:

• Provide the fruits of your labor and materials to install a small garden bed for flowers, vegetables, or herbs.
• Bring sunshine into her life. Prune back overgrown hedges and shrubs.
• Instead of cut flowers, give her a gift certificate to a rose or flower catalog and have her pick out her favorite flowers so she can enjoy flowers all year round.
• Give Mom a world of butterflies by giving her butterfly nectar or larvae host plants.
• Dishing out a container of wonderful herbs for cooking her favorite recipes.
• Check out and calibrate or fix her irrigation system so Mom doesn't have high water bills.
• Reduce the amount of turf that Mom has to mow by planting more shrubs and flowers.
• Plant a flowering tree that has fragrance.
• Gardening gloves, sun protectant, hand moisturizer, and a beautiful hat to wear outdoors in the sun.

We'll be talking about more ideas on "In Your Backyard."  Call in and tell me what you're getting your favorite Mom for Mother's Day.

Southern Beauties - Camellias

Camellia japonicas and camellia sasanquas are popular flowers in the Southeast. There are over 3,000 named varieties of these lovely native Asian shrubs.  Sited correctly, camellias are hardy and easy care flowers for your landscape.

Blooming from early December through spring, camellias thrive in shade and partial sun locations. Plant camellias in moist, acidic soils.  Lakefront properties with cypresses, large oaks, and pine trees are ideal sites.  A yard with years of organic material from leaf litter is also a good location. Feed every three months with acidic fertilizer. Mature height of camellias depends on the variety.  They can grow four to fifteen feet in height and width, so make sure your camellia selection will not be crowded too close to other shrubs or too close to your house so that it has to be pruned often.  If you do need to cut back your camellia, prune after they bloom to prevent cutting off forming buds in late summer.

We're fortunate in Central Florida to have the third largest camellia collection in America at  Leu Gardens in Winter Park.  This is a great time to visit Leu Gardens and see the beautiful flowers in bloom.

University of Florida/IFAS Camellia Publication

Camellia Disease and Pest Problems:

• Clemson University
• Virginia Camellia Society
• Dr. Lakshmi Sridharan
• Gainesville Camellia Society

In Your Backyard: "Flower Shows"

This week will see springtime temperatures return to normal hitting the 80's for the first time since fall but only for one day and with good chance of rain on Wednesday - there's still no need to irrigate. Fertilizing, weeding, and pruning, will become weekly and monthly gardening chores.

Leu Gardens Annual Plant Sale is coming up on Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21st. Leu Gardens will be open 9am to 5pm both days with no admission charge. Bring a wagon or plant cart for your purchases!

Leu Estate

Leu Garden's Rose Garden, a popular outdoor wedding venue.



EPCOT's International Flower and Garden Festival is on now through May 16th. This is a wonderful opportunity for Floridians to see great and innovative ways to showcase flowers, shrubs, and beautiful containers and themed gardens.

See all of my photographs of the EPCOT's 2008 International Flower and Garden Festival:



EPCOT 2008 International Flower & Garden Festival Listen to In Your Backyard on Tuesdays at 11:00am on WLBE 790AM or on the Internet at http://www.wlbe.org/ Click on "Listen Here" or click on Archives to hear the last four programs.

In Your Backyard: "Valentine's Day Means A Lot"

When it comes to florists, one of the biggest holidays of the year is Valentine's Day. It's a day when husbands, boyfriends, children, and special friends give gifts to show their love. For gardeners, it's a great day to give plants or use your own garden blooms to show that you care. Receiving growing plants vs cut flowers depends on the occasion and the person receiving the flowers. I personally would rather have a 3-gallon rose bush than a dozen red roses, and my husband knows exactly what roses I have so he can add something new.

The History of Valentine's Day.

Flowers have great symbology and without speaking, handing someone a bouquet of a specific flower would tell the recipient exactly what you were thinking. The colors of flowers also mean different things.

• Blue: Epitomizes purity, peacefulness, security,



• Dark Red: Symbolizes constancy, continuity and immortality.



• Green: Expresses growth, joy, and optimism



• Lilac: Represents a sincere love, without the need for anything in return.



• Orange: A colour that symbolizes the joy and satisfaction for a success already obtained. On a more sentimental note it may also represent a love that has already been consolidated and gratified.



• Red: Too hot to handle, red is the expression of burning, passionate love, great courage and desire. But beware because it's also the symbol of anger.



• Rose: The color Rose (or pink) is a symbol of youth and expresses a new love or admiration.



• Violet: Expresses feelings of modesty, generosity and humility. The ‘shrinking violet' refers to its symbol of insurmountable shyness.



• White: Is the symbol of purity, innocence and modesty and expresses a sincere feeling.



• Yellow: Though commonly associated with unfaithfulness and treason, don't depair if you come home with yellow petals because it can also be the symbol of luxury, pride and success.

Roses are the most popular flower on Valentine's Day.

Great rose websites:

Growing Roses in Florida

Central Florida Rose Society

Nelson's Roses

Heirloom Roses

All American Rose Growers

Call in to In Your Backyard with your gardening questions!