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My blue star fern sits on an old schoolhouse desk beside my couch. I guess I have had it for three or four years now. It is one of those plants I like but don’t really think about often.

As the new year begins and I watch the snow fall, I am also taking a moment to be grateful. In honor of 2025, here are a few of my thoughts for January. They are big and small, but all are important to acknowledge as I begin a new year.

It’s a little house on the big hill Christmas miracle. I grew lemons.

Just like you, I am making my list and checking it twice, seeing who has been naughty and nice. After chatting with Santa, I agreed to help the elves and give a few suggestions for gifts for gardeners.

With trepidation, I got out of my car and started down the steep decline. It was well after sundown, and although there were remains of the Hunter’s full moon beaming through the trees, the skies were dark.

The Kanawha County WVU Extension will offer 2025 Master Gardener training for individuals interested in increasing their horticultural, gardening, and small-scale food production knowledge and then applying that knowledge as a certified volunteer Master Gardener in service to others.

“Autumn knows the art of gardening to perfection, possessing the secret of careless grace even beyond the Spring. There is an orderly negligence about autumnal forms and colours no other season can match. Even to the garden proper, the cultivated plots of man, Autumn adds such wonderful touc…

Fall is a busy time for gardeners. While enjoying the final weeks of blooms and vegetables, garden folks are planning their spring gardens.

Many of my friends have been busy this month getting kids settled into dorm rooms and first apartments. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first time or the last time, the physical and emotional tolls are real.

After 21 years, the WVU Extension Demonstration Garden, cared for by the Greenbrier County Master Gardeners, has gone native. And it has a lot to do with the birds and the bees.

An out-of-town friend came to visit and mentioned what I already knew: My front window boxes were not their usual, robust display of color and greenery.

A friend was shopping to fill her patio boxes and asked for my suggestions. Gardening is not her love, so the plants needed to be hardy and easy to care for.

Of course, it’s hot — it’s summertime. But these days with temperatures of 90-plus degrees are taking their toll on me and my garden.

I had a plan — and it was a good plan. I knew just the plant I wanted to incorporate into my front-door garden. I found it and quickly added it to the mix.

Loofahs are the sponges of spas and self-care baskets, but did you ever think about where they come from? Not me. It was never even a fleeting thought until a few weeks ago.

What happens when your peonies are peak-ed?

Off with their heads — but don’t forget the stems.

It began innocently enough: an email followed by several pictures.

It’s that time of year when store shelves are filled with chocolate bunnies and foil-wrapped eggs. Yum! But what if we could save a few calories and fill our gardens with chocolate?

If I’m thinking about taxes, it must be time to plant onions.

I like color. The little house on a big hill is filled with color inside and out. Over the years, as I add color, I have learned to create balance and appreciate contrast.

Fresh mulch under the victim’s bedroom window provided the pivotal clue. The killer had left a shoe imprint and then tracked bits of organic debris through the yard.