Help Your Plants Find the Light
Light is the main requirement for your seedlings once they have emerged from the soil whether they are flowers, vegetables or herbs. Having a sunny
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The Greenhouse Column
The Greenhouse Columnist Ingrid Wilcox is the former owner of Lubbock Valley Flowers. She followed her semi-retirement with gardening consulting services.
Pollination: Let the Bees Do It
With the days getting longer and nights warmer, the plants in your greenhouse should be thriving. Your greenhouse plants, tomatoes, cucumbers or squash, may start
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Veggies Like a Warm Bed
If you haven’t planted your garden, now is definitely the time to get growing. Remember to plant your seeds — such as carrots, beets and
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Rumble in the Greenhouse: Ladybug Vs. Aphid
With warmer weather, your greenhouse could be growing more than just your vegetable plants. Insects thrive in the warm humid environment and it usually takes
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Getting Your Greenhouse In Order
At this point in the season, maintenance is the goal for keeping your greenhouse productive now and in the coming month. Despite the snow at
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Strawberry Fields Forthcoming
With visions of Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Milkshakes — in fact, with strawberries of any shape and size — I got bamboozled into our strawberry escapade
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Plants Helping Plants
One of the more interesting characteristics of plants is that plants are affected chemically by the aroma from leaves, roots and by soil micro-organisms. Knowing
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Tomatoes: The Needs of the Many Outweigh the Needs of the Few
One sunny August afternoon, I walked into our “Tomato” greenhouse only to find my husband, Frank, yielding a machete (OK, a large knife) chopping off
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Salvaging a Short Growing Season
It’s been obvious to gardeners for some time that this summer has not been favourable for vegetable gardening. The lack of sunny days combined with
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Keeping Things Green in the Greenhouse
With this wonderful summer heat we are having, your greenhouse plants should be growing by leaps and bounds. Once the mercury passes above 25, a
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Not All Greenhouses Are Created Equal
One of the most-asked questions in regards to greenhouse coverings is: “What material should I use to cover my greenhouse.” The most important decision you
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The Plant of the King’s Fragrance
Not everyone grows the standard tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers in the greenhouse … There are gardeners who love to grow exotic flowers, and orchids are
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They’re Not Just Pretty (They taste great, too!)
One of the delights of owning a hobby greenhouse is that that there are many varieties of plants that can be grown in its warm,
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The Young at Heart Are Growing!
One of the delights of consulting and promoting gardening is that once in a while you stumble into on oasis that you did not know
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Pass the mint, please …
If you have just one little empty spot in your greenhouse, I would consider planting just one or two peppermint plants. Peppermint does grow outdoors,
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Seniors Who Are Growing and Giving
The Seniors Association, up on College Drive, not only has a fabulous greenhouse going, they have a complete gardening management system all set up and
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‘Greening’ Your Greenhouse Garden
Approaching the last six to eight weeks of our active growing season, it’s time to take a critical look at your greenhouse.
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Time to Reap What You Sow
I have a few heads of cabbage and broccoli amongst my flower beds, and I check their progress almost daily. One day, recently, I noticed
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Save Those Seeds!
A few years ago I received a delightful gift consisting of an assortment of home-grown, home-dried tomato and pepper seeds. What a delightful gift, I
Growing Sweet Trees in the North
After a great deal of research, the University of Saskatchewan has developed cherry trees that are cold tolerant to -45. Ingrid Wilcox describes several of these varieties, the best known and most successful of which is the Evans Cherry Tree.
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Geraniums to enjoy … and then keep
With frost nipping at our gardens, if it hasn’t already nipped in your area, I’ve been asked numerous times on the proper way to overwinter
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Herbal Flavour Well-Preserved
With harvest in full swing, I am often asked for suggested uses of herbs other than drying or freezing. To enjoy your herbal harvest year-round,
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A Good Summer, Starts in the Fall
From all reports, this year has been one of the better growing seasons. However, if your green thumb is still itching to do some gardening,
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Surviving and Thriving in Winter
Northern gardeners understanding the concept of winter hardiness. “Will my perennial plants or bushes survive the winter?” is no easy task.
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Tucking Your Greenhouse in for a Winter’s Sleep
Getting your greenhouse ready for winter may be a matter of just closing the door and walking away, to worry about next spring, but you
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A Pre-Harvest Harvest
Whenever the beginning of August rolls around, I think more of harvesting the fruits of my gardening than the actual gardening. And harvesting has been
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Unleash the Ladybugs
Last week, I spotted a ladybug while visiting a garden in Dawson City. It was rather exciting to see a ladybug that far North and,
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Maintain Your Greenhouse Well
Understanding good greenhouse techniques encourages healthy plant growth and, as the growing season is well on its way, it would be a good time to
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Know Your Tomato
Did you know that banana peels and eggshells help to make your tomatoes grow? When buried in the bottom of a planter or spread around
Winterize Your Greenhouse
Getting your greenhouse ready for winter could be a matter of just closing the door and walking away, something to worry about next spring. But
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Next Year’s Garden Season Begins Now
Although this year’s gardening season is winding down, next year’s season is just beginning. I heard quite a few years ago, that someone was experimenting
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Taking Note of Good Peas
If you like peas, and many Yukon gardeners must for they can be found in most gardens, you’ve had lots of company throughout history. Dried
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Your Greenhouse is 2,000 Years Old
If you are like many people trying to grow tomatoes in pots on the patio, the windy conditions we’ve been having hasn’t helped the growth
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Get Your Greenhouse Ready
Hey, Yukon! It’s gardening time! Time to get that greenhouse ready! If your greenhouse has a supplementary heating system, chances are you’ve already begun planting,
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Eat Your (Northern) Broccoli!
This past September, I was privileged to attend the seventh annual Circumpolar Agricultural Conference in Alta, Norway. Alta lies just below the 70°N latitude, which
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H2O 101
Now that we are almost at the end of June, I find my plants are growing very fast. I’ve already harvested the first of my
Hot Fun in the Summertime
Due to some travelling adventures in Latin and South America, I was introduced to chili peppers in the last 10 years or so. Approaching the
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Water and Warm Soil Keep Cukes Sweet and Refreshing for Summer
When I think of cucumbers, I think of the idiom “cool as a cucumber” , which may be based on the fact that even in
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The Right Time, The Right Place
With the hot weather this past Victoria Day weekend, I planted all my vegetable seeds. But my vegetable transplants are still getting the deluxe care
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Caring for That Christmas Poinsettia
The poinsettia, or Christmas Star as it is known throughout Europe, is one of the very few plants that bloom during winter and the holiday
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Spend the Winter With Your Geraniums
While the frost nips at our gardens, I’ve been asked numerous times on the proper way to overwinter geraniums. Of all the outdoor summer blooms,
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Beautiful Reasons to Wait for Spring
The gardening season is rapidly coming to an end, but if you still have an urge to plant something and the snow hasn’t reached your
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