Garden Guru: Daffodils announce season's change
Harbingers of spring are those little symbols that show that spring has sprung (or is at least around the corner). Time has sprung forward, robins are out getting the early worm and blooms are...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Consider the lilies
The Easter lily is a recognizable symbol of one of the most holy days of the year. I know that my church will be filled with these beautiful trumpet-shaped flowers that seem to announce both the...
View ArticleGarden Guru: The cicadas are coming! The cicadas are coming!
By now you've probably heard that a large portion of the state will be beset with the 17-year periodical cicada. Before you run for the hills in fear, let's take a moment to look at these six-legged...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Give your sweet potatoes the slip
Ask most people about sweet potatoes and they'll tell you they are just like potatoes. Or even worse, they'll call them yams. The truth is, they're sort of in class of their own in the vegetable...
View ArticleBest-selling author to headline Urban Agriculture Conference
INSTITUTE - New York Times best-selling author and organic farmer Forrest Pritchard will headline the third annual West Virginia Urban Agriculture Conference April 30 on the WVSU campus. The event...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Understanding the labels on garden products
As we prepare to celebrate Earth Day on Friday, many take time to celebrate a more earth-friendly garden practice. Many garden products claim their contents are "environmentally friendly," and many...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Exercise organic control to protect against pests
More and more often, I get calls from gardeners wanting to solve some emergency garden pest crisis as soon as possible and "chemical free." First, technically speaking, there is no such thing as...
View ArticleUpcoming garden events
New York Times best-selling author and organic farmer Forrest Pritchard will headline the third annual West Virginia Urban Agriculture Conference Saturday on the WVSU campus. The event will feature...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Celebrate gardening on May Day
Most of us who have watched old movies may have heard the term "mayday" being used as a distress call. While the pure, unending frenzy of spring and the beginning of the garden season may have this...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Perennial vegetables for edible landscapes
By By John Porter For the Gazette-Mail Most of the vegetables we grow at home are annuals (tomatoes, peppers, corn) or biennials (kale, beets, cabbage), plants that have a one- or two-year life cycle...
View ArticleGardening workshops set this month in Huntington
INSTITUTE, W.Va. - Workshops to help beginning and experienced gardeners are being held this month in Huntington. West Virginia State University Extension Service will present the workshops starting...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Tips for growing a big crop in a small garden
By By John Porter For the Gazette-Mail When I first moved to Charleston seven years ago to take the job as a WVU agriculture extension agent, I had high hopes of finding a small house outside the city...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Late bloomers are always the best
By By John Porter For the Sunday Gazette-Mail Flowers are wonderful. They fill our lives with color, help provide us with food and ensure plants can reproduce. Gardeners, whether they grow ornamentals...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Tropical vine adds taste to the plate and the landscape
This past week, while I was working in the garden, I noticed a whole bunch of little sprouts in a clump beside one of my raised beds. The red stems of the little plants made me first think that I had...
View ArticleHistoric homes, gardens displayed in Lewisburg tour
By Carlee Lammers LEWISBURG - The kitchen in her Victorian-style home on Lewisburg's East Washington Street is Jan DeHaven's favorite room. Her picture-perfect kitchen has new stainless-steel...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Little Lawn of Horrors - Mystery plant spooks homeowner
By By John Porter For the Sunday Gazette-Mail Imagine Sarah Ramsey's surprise when she stepped out the front door of her St. Albans home to find a monster lurking in the bushes beside the door. Was...
View ArticlePhoto: Down where the honeysuckles are entwined
St. Albans resident Marc Gilbert said honeysuckle vines had taken over where ivy was growing in his front yard. He spent Monday afternoon clearing the honeysuckle out.
View ArticleStaking trees: Do it only if needed, and do it right
By By LEE REICH The Associated Press To stake or not to stake?Too many gardeners answer this question in the affirmative. Who doesn't want to lend support to a wispy, young tree? And there are...
View ArticleGarden Guru: Squash family provides harvest for summer and fall
By By John Porter For the Sunday Gazette-Mail We are at the point in the year where activity in the vegetable garden has reached a fever pitch. It is likely to remain busy for some time through the...
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