Do you ever look out at your garden and wish you had a fairy godmother (or at least her magic wand) to whisk away your planting pains? Espoma isn’t magic, but its products have an astounding effectiveness which is as close to bibbity-bobbity-boo as we’ve ever experienced. They’re a trusted name for a reason and now it’s time to see why.
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As we gear up for spring, we gardeners are filled with that familiar ambivalent feeling—eager for the warm weather and beautiful blooms, but anxious about all the work we need to get done to get our garden started right! Don’t be caught off guard with the arrival of spring: follow this 8-step game plan to whip your garden into top shape by planting season!
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Toadstools, morels, truffles – whatever you call them mushrooms are the delicious oddities that grace gardens and plates the world over. Once you see how easy and rewarding it is to grow your own crop, you might just become a fungal fanatic too!
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Birders take heed – the best feeders in the world are those you can grow right in your yard. These four ornamental bushes are not only attractive enough to draw the eye but also produce a bounty of berries that draw flocks of birds as well!
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Echinacea (Coneflower)
You may already love Coneflowers for their impressive tolerance of high heat, humidity, drought and other environmental stresses, but those aren’t the only tricks this perennial has up its sleeve. Did you know that the root of Echinacea angustifolia was originally used to treat toothache, tonsillitis, and pain in the bowels? The story goes that Native Americans discovered the healing powers of this flower when they noticed that sick Elk would seek out and eat the plant. Ever since then, Echinacea has been a popular natural remedy in America, revered for its immune-boosting effect. It has been used to treat everything from the common cold all the way up to rattlesnake bites!
Scientific analysis of Echinacea has found that the fat-soluble alkylamides in the plant have an immunomodulatory effect, increasing our immune system’s ability to fight antigens. The chemical basis for this is complex, and the exact chain of cause-and-effect has not been determined yet, but the prevailing wisdom is that Echinacea can temporarily boost your immune system, which makes it a great thing to take when you first feel a tickle in your throat, or when someone in your household comes down with a cold. I personally wouldn’t rely on Echinacea to save me from a snake bite, but I have found it effective so far at keeping the cold and flu at bay.
The potent medicinal value of this timeless perennial is one of many reasons that back in 2014 the National Garden Bureau named it the “Year of the Echinacea”!
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Click here to see the Pinterest board of the best orange varieties!
We’ve all got our favorite color, that one that just seems to “pop” for us more than all the others. For me, that color is orange; nothing seems quite so vibrant as a bright orange bloom on a sunny day. Whenever I come across a particularly beautiful orange specimen, I just think about how good it would look in a whole orange arrangement. That’s why I put together this garden design to serve as a planner for myself and the other orange-aholics out there.
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