Swiss Chard: The Easy Salad Vegetable
Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris cicla) is a selection of the wild beet or sea beet (Beta vulgaris maritima), the sameContinue 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.
Lovage: Celery for the Laidback Gardener
Celery (Apium graveolens dulce) is a persnickety vegetable that only seems to thrive on constant attention. It is slow growing, so you need toContinue Reading
Garden Centers: Questions to Ask the Plant Geek
You rarely have a plant encyclopedia in your hands when you visit a garden center. How then can you tell if theContinue Reading
Keukenhof: the Crown Jewel of European Gardens
If you ever travel to Europe in the spring, there is one garden you should not miss: Keukenhof. This fabulous garden inContinue Reading
What is “Black Earth”?
Gardeners seem to believe that the darker a soil is, the better it is. And that does tend to be trueContinue Reading
To Attract Hummingbirds, You Need Flowers
One of the most desirable birds in North America is also the smallest: the tiny but very active hummingbird. WhatContinue Reading
The Joy of Snowmelt Bulbs
A lot of people find it hard to believe that there snow is still snow where I live (Quebec City, Canada).Continue Reading
Seeds to Sow: mid-April
By mid-April, we’re right in the heart of the indoor sowing season. Seeds that need a really long head start on theContinue Reading
The Fantastic ‘Pink Zazzle’!
I saw it for the first in New York CIty in June 2014, in Grand Army Plaza, just south of CentralContinue Reading
Canadian Gardeners: Beware of US Hardiness Zones!
Sorry, American gardeners! I know that this blog is mostly read by Americans, but today I have a special messageContinue Reading