The Lenten rose--helleborus (also known as Christmas rose)--is one of the easiest and most rewarding plants to grow. It has the ability to bloom in the colder months of the year when other plants are sleeping, making it the star of any late winter/early spring garden.

This sturdy little evergreen plant originally hails from southern Europe and parts of western Asia. It grows 12-18" high and wide, with shiny, blue-green, leathery leaves and finely-toothed edges. It produces flowers from as early as late fall in warmer regions all the way to late spring in colder climates.

The Lenten rose gets its name from its flowers, that tend to be the most prolific around the period of Lent. Each plant produces many flower stalks that bear a single 2 to 4 inch single or double bloom. Thanks to an increase in hybridizing, the flower colors range from slate grey, near-black, deep purple and plum, through rich red and pinks, to yellow, white and green.

The outer surface of the sepals is often green-tinged, and as the flower ages it usually becomes greener inside and out, with individual flowers often remaining on the plant for a month or more. The inner surface of each sepal may be marked with veins, or dotted or blotched with pink, red or purple. Some even have a "picotee" effect.

Nearly every garden has a spot for hellebores, and the plants will thrive in many different environments. They are excellent for bringing color to garden borders, under deciduous trees, or between other shrubs. They can handle shady locations, but perform best if given morning sun. They are stout little plants and once established, become reasonably drought-tolerant.

Lenten roses like rich, well-draining soil. Treat them just like any acid-loving plant and amend the soil with peat moss or an acid planting mix such as Gardner & Bloome Acid Planting Mix. Remove any old, tattered foliage each spring after blooming and feed them with an acid fertilizer like Gardner & Bloome Natural & Organic Azalea & Camellia Fertilizer. Then sit back and wait for them to put on another show of color the next year.

One of the true pleasures home gardeners can experience is growing their own fruit. And with a little planning, it's possible to have an extended harvest season. Even gardens that are short on space can have an extended harvest if the proper planting techniques are used.

The key to an extended or year-round harvest is understanding the ripening times of fruit and citrus trees. Most citrus start to ripen in winter, with mandarins coming first and then followed by lemons, limes and oranges through March and April. But most lemons produce a steady crop of fruit year-round. Thanks to some new Australian and New Zealand citrus cultivars that get confused by the hemispheres, you can have citrus in late summer and fall. Then you can always count on kumquats and limequats for a November to January harvest.

With deciduous fruit trees you can start with early varieties of apricots that ripen as early as mid-May, followed by a crop of cherries in June. The summer months bring in nectarines, peaches, plums and pluots from mid-June through August. After that, apples, pears and persimmons ripen in September and October. Figs will bear fruit from early summer to late fall.

If you are short on space, consider planting more than one variety in the same hole. Just make sure to plant trees with similar growing habits. Apples, cherries and pears tend to be the fastest and highest growers. Since citrus require more sun to ripen than deciduous fruit trees, make sure they get the sunniest locations. Most deciduous fruit trees will produce a great tasting crop of fruit as long as they receive at least 5-6 hours of sunlight during the growing season. Citrus prefer 6-8 hours of sunlight.

The final secret to getting great tasting fruit is to wait until the fruit has ripened completely on the tree. This allows the sugar content to be at its highest level. The problem with most store-bought fruit is that it is harvested long before it is ripe in order to stand up to the rigors of shipping. The fruit never develops the same intense flavor on a shelf as it does on the tree.

Now is a great time to buy fruit trees. We have a good selection of citrus and deciduous fruit trees. If you have any questions, our staff of fruit tree experts will be happy to help you plan your year-round fruit tree garden!

There are so many reasons to grow your own herbs. Even the simplest of dishes differs in taste when fresh herbs are used instead of dried, packaged supermarket varieties. Named the 2005 Herb of the Year, oregano blooms with purple blossoms from July through October. A member of the mint family, this species is a hardy perennial in warmer climates, is easily grown from either seeds or cuttings, and may be divided. (If you are growing from seeds, sow them in rows 18" apart, early in the season; cover lightly with soil, and thin the young plants to 12" apart.)

Oregano is not only a useful and usual addition to any herb garden, it also makes a wonderfully easy-to-grow houseplant! While it is still small, place it in a sunny window in well-drained soil and watch it grow! After a winter's enjoyment of the plant, when Jack Frost is no longer a danger, transplant it outdoors. Not a fussy plant, oregano does fine in average soil, and will tolerate dry soil conditions. In fact, it is a native of the Mediterranean region and is perfectly capable of withstanding droughts.

Withholding fertilizer actually causes oregano to produce a stronger flavor. Harvest after the plants have produced several dozen leaves; the young tender leaves produce the best flavor when picked early in the morning when the oils are strongest. To ensure that the leaves do not turn bitter, pick the flower buds upon first appearance; blooming leads to bitter leaves.

The name oregano comes from the Greek oros, meaning "mountain" and ganos meaning "joy." The plant grows joyously wild in the mountains of Greece.

During the Roman-Greco era, marrying couples were crowned with it, as it is a symbol of honor, good luck, and good health. If you weren't already affianced, you could anoint yourself with oregano prior to sleep, and you would dream of your future spouse.

Mix the dried leaves with honey, and you have a balm that is said to aid in fading bruises. Brew oregano tea by steeping 3 tablespoons of fresh crushed oregano leaves in 8 ounces of boiling water for 10 minutes; drinking this mixture is said to ease coughs and indigestion, and to aid in achieving a restful sleep. And we all know it's an excellent spice!

We hope you'll enjoy this aromatic, medicinal and culinary gem: oregano.

If you are looking for the perfect flower to bridge the gap between winter and summer, consider the primrose. Like a ray of sunshine on a damp and gloomy day, primroses (primula) provide early spring blooms in almost every color of the rainbow.

They prefer cool temperatures and moist, rich, well-draining soil (with lots of compost). Primroses can tolerate full sun in spring but definitely prefer afternoon shade once temperatures get warmer. They can easily be grown indoors during winter, provided that you maintain cool night temperatures in your home (below 65 degrees), filtered sun and moist soil.

The most popular types of primroses include English primroses (Primula vulgaris/polyanthus), Fairy primroses (Primula malacoides) and German primroses (Primula obconica). All are heavy bloomers and well suited for garden planting or in containers.

Originally from England, most English primroses now are grown along the Pacific Coast. They produce large clusters of flowers above the foliage, with dwarf varieties just a few inches above the foliage and taller hybrids growing up to one foot above the foliage. They are available in almost every color shade.

German primroses are often called perennial primroses, since they can often come back to re-bloom the following season. They have larger rounded leaves, and grow up to 12 inches high, with taller flower stalks. The flowers come mostly in shades of red, rose and salmon.

Fairy primroses have a more delicate look, with smaller leaves and flower clusters on 6-12" stalks above the foliage. They generally are available in color shades of pink, lavender and white.

So if the winter blues are getting you down, chase them away with some perfect primroses!

If you are a berry lover, you can't possibly have a garden without dedicating a space to grow delicious homegrown strawberries. Some people even go as far as saying they are the best of all the berries. What is unique about the strawberry (actually a member of the rose family) is that it is the only fruit with seeds on the outside rather than the inside.

The delicate but great-tasting heart-shaped berry has always been associated with love, passion, purity, and healing. Legend has it that if you break a double strawberry in half and share it with a member of the opposite sex, you will fall in love with each other.

And speaking of legends and folklore, locals in some parts of Bavaria still practice the annual rite--each spring--of tying small baskets of wild strawberries to the horns of their cattle as an offering to the elves. They believe that the elves, (who are known to be passionately fond of strawberries--what good taste they have), will help to produce healthy calves and an abundance of milk in return.

Strawberries are also prized for their medicinal purposes and health attributes. Ounce for ounce, strawberries have more Vitamin C than citrus fruit and have been associated with lowering cholesterol, easing symptoms of gout and digestion problems and lowering the risk of certain types of cancer.

Strawberries are generally divided into three groups: spring bearing, everbearing, and day-neutral. The fruits of day-neutral plants and everbearers are usually smaller than the fruits of the spring-bearers. Spring bearing strawberries generally produce a crop during a 2-4 week period in the spring. Ever-bearing strawberries produce three periods of flowers and fruit during the spring, summer, and fall--while day neutral strawberries will produce fruit throughout the growing season.

Strawberries prefer the sun but do tolerate some shade. Their major requirement is good drainage, so they'll benefit from being planted in mounded soil, terraced beds, barrels or other types of containers. They can also be used as an edging plant or a groundcover.

We invite you to discover the sensational flavor of homegrown strawberries!

Strawberry Planting and Care Instructions
Be sure to plant strawberry starts with their crown just above the soil level. Use a good soil amendment, such as Gardner & Bloome Planting Mix, to help them get going well. We recommend spacing plants 12" apart. Remove all flowers the first two months to help with rooting and then remove runners so that the plant can put its energy into producing fruit.

Placing plastic sheeting underneath the foliage will help keep the soil warm and weed-free. It also deters slugs, snails and other crawling insects from feeding on foliage and berries. Water your plants using drip irrigation or by flooding trenches between the mounds or terraces. Keep them healthy by feeding fish emulsion, which is low in nitrogen and will promote more bud growth and fruit.

Perhaps nothing is a greater challenge to home gardeners than creating a deer-resistant landscape. Deer will eat almost anything, especially in the spring when plants are producing lush and tender new growth, and in fall and winter when natural food sources dry up and disappear.

To make matters worse, what deer in one area won't touch, others will devour in a different area. How prolific and available local natural food sources are for deer also plays a role in how often they will venture into neighborhoods. That said, some plants are definitely less "desirable" than other plants.

The key is to "camouflage" your garden by using plants that contain natural chemicals or have characteristics that deter deer from wanting to eat them. You can create a scent barrier by using a variety of strongly aromatic plants, shrubs, and herbs throughout your garden. Deer rely on their sense of smell to determine what is safe or desirable to eat. By using plants with a wide variety of strong odors, you can confuse the deer and they will usually leave the area and go to a landscape where they can clearly identify what they are eating.

Deer are also lazy and will often pass on a garden if the first plants they encounter taste bitter, have tough, coarse, hairy, or prickly foliage--or if they exude a sticky, milky sap when broken. Deer rarely eat these types of plants unless they are desperate. Another natural solution is to use plants that grow fast and can recover quickly from nibble damage.

Young trees can be damaged by deer two different ways: They can eat the foliage up to the browse line (usually no higher than 6' from the ground), plus bucks will often try to polish their antlers on trunks under 3" in diameter. So, we suggest either planting more mature trees or protecting them with a wire cage or scent barrier until the trees mature.

Until you have a chance to get your deer-resistant garden in, there are also non-toxic chemical solutions to deterring deer from your landscape. Some deer repellents such as Liquid Fence work by making plants smell bad. Others like Havahart Critter Ridder use deer predator scents to trick the deer into thinking your garden is unsafe. A third kind of repellent (for example, Liquid Fence) works by making the foliage of your plants taste bad. These repellents can be varied occasionally and should be used until deer associate your yard with bad tastes and smells. (Unfortunately, you may get new deer coming by after the old ones leave, so a better long-term solution is to plant things they don't like.)

Stop by and one of our nursery experts will help you plan the perfect deer-resistant garden, one with plants that you will love--and the deer will hate.

Answer:

A fertilizer can be labeled as all-organic when it is completely composed of naturally-occurring ingredients. While people place an organic label on manures--and products such as bone meal, blood meal and "hoof and horn" are considered organic--most blended organic fertilizers do not contain these products. Most organic fertilizers use only plant and fish by-products as a source for their nutrients.

The majority of organic fertilizer blends contain a mixture of alfalfa meal, cottonseed meal, kelp meal, feather meal, fish bone meal, mined potassium sulfate, soft rock phosphate and seaweed extract. Organic plant foods break down faster in meal form than in pelletized form, because pellets have a binding agent that needs to be broken down before the nutrients can become available to the plant roots.