Mosquitoes find people by exhaled carbon dioxide, body heat, and movement, so the most effective traps counterfeit those cues. A DIY trap running overnight can cut the local population at the source, and the three most proven homemade designs use yeast, dry ice, or a simple bucket. Each costs a few dollars in parts and […]
Cucumbers should keep producing until the first frost, but brown spots on the leaves are often the first sign that something has gone wrong. The spots come from mildew, beetles, spider mites, fungal disease, or late-season nutrient loss, and each cause needs a different fix. Prune infected leaves, sanitize your tools, improve airflow, and use
Malabar spinach (Basella alba) is a tropical leafy green that keeps producing through the hottest weeks of summer, when regular spinach bolts to seed. Native to the coastal region of southwestern India, it is not a true spinach, but its mild, peppery leaves with a hint of citrus fill the same role in salads and
Freesia is a fragrant, spring-flowering plant grown from corms, prized for the sweet, fruity scent and the long vase life of its cut stems. The plants are native to southern Africa, and their graceful, funnel-shaped flowers in white, yellow, pink, red, purple, and orange make them a standard in wedding bouquets. Freesias are tender perennials,
Comfrey, Symphytum officinale, is a hardy perennial that has been grown for centuries as a garden workhorse. Its deep taproot pulls nutrients from the subsoil, its broad hairy leaves break down quickly into rich compost, and its bell-shaped flowers feed bees from late spring through summer. One plant can be cut several times a season,
The monkey tail cactus, Cleistocactus colademononis, is a trailing cactus from the Bolivian Andes that grows long, thin stems covered in soft white hair-like spines. The common name comes from the way those stems cascade, and a mature plant in a hanging basket can trail 5 feet or more, with exceptional specimens reaching 8 feet.
Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a large tropical evergreen native to India, grown for its immense fruit, which tastes like a mix of pineapple and banana. A single fruit typically weighs 10 to 40 pounds and can reach 80 pounds, ranking among the largest tree-borne fruits in the world. Gardeners who lack a warm, humid climate
Black Krim tomatoes are a flavorful heirloom variety that ranges from dark maroon to nearly black, with a squat, flattened globe shape and fruit that runs 4 to 6 inches across. The variety is a cross between ‘Beefsteak’ and ‘Cherokee Purple’ and originated on the Crimean peninsula along the Black Sea. Gardeners grow it for
Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) is an evergreen perennial shrub native to Central America and Mexico, valued for velvet-textured, gray-green leaves and striking purple flower spikes that appear in late summer. The plant grows on square stems, releases a pleasant fragrance when brushed, and draws bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds through the season. For homeowners juggling
Morel mushrooms (Morchella spp.) are among the most sought-after wild foods in the Northern Hemisphere, prized for a rich, meaty flavor that no cultivated button mushroom comes close to matching. They belong to the Fungi kingdom rather than the Plantae kingdom, so they have no roots, no seeds, and no leaves. A morel is the
