by Kathy Van Mullekom, a lifelong gardener and gardening writer living in York County, Virginia
Each summer, I chuckle when neighbors and friends ask why caterpillars are eating their parsley, dill and fennel. They want to know how to kill whatever rascal is doing the damage. With a straight face and slight sternness in my voice, I quietly explain that those horrible caterpillars will soon morph into beautiful butterflies. But, first they need to eat. Oh, they quickly reply, smiling at the thought.
Like other plants, Venus Fly Traps gather nutrients from gases in the air and nutrients in the soil. However, they live in poor soil and are healthier if they get nutrients from insects. Carnivorous plants live all over the world but the Venus Fly Trap is native to select boggy areas in North and South Carolina. Because of people's fascination with these plants, they collected many of them and they became endangered. Today, Fly Traps are grown in greenhouses.
Do you have a garden spot that is sunny, hot and dry with poor or rocky soil? Well we’ve got just plant for you - sedums! Sedums are a gardener's dream. These flowering perennials thrive in alkaline soil and full sun and require minimal maintenance, and best of all they do not require a great deal of watering. Sedums are characteristically low, spreading plants often used as ground covers, in rock gardens, or in containers mixed with other succulents or plants. Colors range from bright green to vibrant pink to silver and blue.
by Kathy Van Mullekom, a lifelong gardener and gardening writer living in York County, Virginia
Having lived on some kind of waterway for 25 years, I’ve learned much about the good and bad of waterfront gardening.
The good is that plants are often tougher than you think they are. Our yards have been though numerous saltwater tidal floods and most of the plants thrive just fine. Happily for me and the plants, refreshing rains typically follow flooding and wash away much of any salinity in the soil.
