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The Weavers
The highlight of the gardening season for master gardener volunteers in west-central Nebraska was our garden tour. This all-day event,...
Ann Bartlett
Jun 6, 20203 min read
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Time for Tea Trivia! (Tidbit)
Did you know that June is Iced Tea Month? June 10 is National Iced Tea Day. Let’s celebrate by learning a trivial factoid about tea:...
Ann Bartlett
May 30, 20201 min read
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Joy of the Mountain
Origanum, the botanical name of the oregano family, contains 45 species and six sub-species of perennials and sub-shrubs. They are native...
Ann Bartlett
May 23, 20202 min read
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NIce and Easy
Looking for a low-maintenance, problem-free, long-lived shrub? Look no farther than the viburnum. Know as “cranberry bush” in Europe,...
Ann Bartlett
May 16, 20202 min read
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If You Can’t Be with the One You Love
As my first Mother’s Day in this area approached, I was amazed by the fabulous bouquets families were bringing to cheer up hospitalized...
Ann Bartlett
May 9, 20202 min read
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Aztec Tears
We may call them French or African but marigolds are native to Mexico. The Spanish who came to the Americas took them home where they...
Ann Bartlett
May 2, 20202 min read
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Living Antiques
I have often promoted the use of heirloom roses in the landscape. They are easy to grow, rewarding the gardener with vigorous, long-lived...
Ann Bartlett
Apr 25, 20203 min read
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Monarchs and Milkweed
Milkweed is a North American native plant that is a food source for hundreds of small creatures but critical for monarch butterflies....
Ann Bartlett
Apr 18, 20202 min read
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Lovely Lily
Every gardener has an irresistible favorite flower. Mine is the lily. I buy lilies from catalogs and on impulse in garden centers. With a...
Ann Bartlett
Apr 11, 20203 min read
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Battle of the Blues
Until 1856 when Sir Henry Perkins accidentally discovered a mauve-colored coal tar product, all dyes were from natural sources. Most (but...
Ann Bartlett
Apr 4, 20203 min read
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Spice Up the Patio Pots
Herbs are plants valued for their usefulness. Cooking with herbs certainly comes to mind, but they are also used for fragrance,...
Ann Bartlett
Mar 28, 20203 min read
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Beautiful Containers
The famous garden designer Gertrude Jekyll grew containers of flowers to fill in dull spots in perennial borders. As a longtime perennial...
Ann Bartlett
Mar 21, 20203 min read
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Bountiful Containers
Growing garden-fresh veggies gets more popular every year. It allows us to experience truly vine-ripe tomatoes and other fruits harvested...
Ann Bartlett
Mar 14, 20202 min read
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Containers 101
Container gardening has much to recommend it. It allows those of us with few sunny sites to make the most of what we do have. It brings...
Ann Bartlett
Mar 7, 20203 min read
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Fifth Saturday Tidbit: Peas in Pods
I confess that I’ve always loved peas. When I was a young child, frozen peas were sold as rectangular bricks that were a tad bigger than...
Ann Bartlett
Feb 29, 20202 min read
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Mannerly Climbers
In Nebraska, we gave into “old house fever” and bought a gaslight-era place that needed a little TLC. There I indulged myself creating a...
Ann Bartlett
Feb 22, 20203 min read
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Adventures in Gardening: Rambling Rose
About 30 years ago I began collecting heirloom roses. Inspired by the large arbor we had built over our patio, I succumbed to the Wayside...
Ann Bartlett
Feb 15, 20202 min read
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Jurassic World
At the end of the Carboniferous Period, radical changes occurred on the planet. Approximately 335 million years ago, the continents...
Ann Bartlett
Feb 8, 20203 min read
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Meet the Fern Family
Vascular plants, those with specialized tissue for the circulation of water and nutrients, evolved more than 400 million years ago. Early...
Ann Bartlett
Feb 1, 20203 min read
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Carpet of Green
Our backyard is dominated by a grove of trees. When we first moved to this place there was a grassy area between the house and the grove....
Ann Bartlett
Jan 25, 20202 min read
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