How to Keep your Mini-Poinsettia Alive
For the past few years now, mini-poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) have been popping up here and there in garden centers inContinue Reading
Author: Larry Hodgson
Garden writer and blogger, author of 65 gardening books, lecturer and communicator, the Laidback Gardener, Larry Hodgson, passed away in October 2022. Known for his great generosity, his thoroughness and his sense of humor, he reached several generations of amateur and professional gardeners over his 40-year career.
Thanks to his son, Mathieu Hodgson, and a team of contributors, laidbackgardener.blog will continue its mission of demystifying gardening and making it more accessible to all.
Crabapples with Winter Interest
Crabapples (Malus) are very popular small trees, especially grown, with good reason, for their beautiful spring flowers, but most doContinue Reading
8 Ways to Kill an Orchid
Orchids often flower on and on for months. Worse yet, they tend to bloom again when treated too well. ThatContinue Reading
Do You Know Your Birth Flower?
Most people know they have a birthstone, but did you know that you also have a birth flower, also calledContinue Reading
A Rosemary Christmas Tree: Doable, But…
You may have seen pots of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) pruned to look like Christmas trees in a local garden centerContinue Reading
A Poinsettia Could Save Your Life
That popular Christmas plant, the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), is the canary in the coal mine of the houseplant world when itContinue Reading
The Sweet Potato Proves the Polynesians Reached the Americas
For a long time, anthropologists have been debating about whether there was pre-columbian contact between the Polynesians – from mid-PacificContinue Reading
Popular Houseplant Undergoing an Identity Crisis
Is it possible that a plant could be distributed throughout the world without ever having been identified, at least botanically?Continue Reading
Snowbirds: Coddle Your Houseplants While You’re Away
They’re known as snowbirds, migratory seniors who flee the cold of northern regions and spend their winter in the South,Continue Reading
A Shadow Test for Houseplants
You probably know the lighting needs of most of your houseplants. Your cactus, for example, requires bright light while yourContinue Reading