Your National Gardening Association weekly news for July 15, 2017

Edible Landscaping - How to: Start a Culinary Herb Garden

"If you love to cook, especially with fresh herbs, then you must have a culinary herb garden. Nothing beats the flavor of freshly picked herbs in soups, stews, sauces, casseroles, pastas, salads and many other dishes."

Preserving Herbs

"The most common ways to preserve herbs are drying and freezing. You can also make herb-based sauces. Try one or more of these methods so you can enjoy that fresh-picked flavor year-round."

Patio Gardens

"Patio gardens soften the transition between indoors and outdoors by bringing plants into outdoor living areas. This might involve something as simple as setting up a few window boxes on an apartment balcony, or as elaborate as enclosing an entire porch with trellised vines, potted trees and shrubs, hanging baskets, and containers filled with annual and perennial flowers."

Establishing a Wildflower Meadow

"A meadow of mixed flowers and native grasses can replace your lawn, cover a slope, or enhance a roadside. Most meadows require much less water and fertilizer than lawns do, and they rarely need mowing. For best results, prepare the soil thoroughly before planting."

Growing Flowers 101

"If you'd like a low-maintenance flower garden, your most important work will be done with pencil, paper, and some reference materials."

Colorado Potato Beetle

"The Colorado potato beetle is a plump yellow beetle with black stripes over its wings and black spots just behind its head."

Redbuds for Small Gardens

"Dwarf and weeping ornamental trees are gaining in popularity. With yard sizes of new homes getting smaller, homeowners are looking for attractive trees that will fit in small spaces. Breeders have responded by creating many dwarf and weeping versions of popular flowering trees."

Photo of Annual Mallow (Malva trimestris)
By nativeplantlover:

Photo of Dwarf Coneflower (Echinacea Kismet™ Red)
By NJBob:

Photo of Intermediate Bearded Iris (Iris 'Irish Darling')
By IrisLilli:

Photo of Billbergia 'Virginia'
By RuuddeBlock:

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Frances Joiner')
By SNJDebbie24:

Photo of Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum'
By RuuddeBlock:

Photo of Hen and Chick (Sempervivum 'Roasted Chestnut')
By Patty:

Photo of Rose (Rosa 'Roter Korsar')
By MargieNY:

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Appliqué')
By Ina:

Photo of Species Iris (Iris ensata)
By poisondartfrog: