A few months ago someone asked me what advice I would give new gardeners. Here's my two cents - cultivate a sense of humor and don't give up when plants die.

Every garden comes with it's own set of challenges, success comes about when you figure out how to make it work in spite of them. Find out how one determined gardener turned an inhospitable site into a shady paradise.

Don't you wish you could bottle up all the smells of summer? Fragrance is memorable. Scents define the personality of the garden and etch their way into your memory bank. The aroma of petunias and nicotiana still take me straight back to childhood days in my grandmothers garden. Inspired by these memories,I've developed a mix of aromatic plants worth trying. 

If there was ever a time to grow your own food, this is it. Maybe you have a small garden or no place to put one. How can you get more out of the space you have? Find out how to use every available inch.

Patience and faith are being sorely tried these days, and no one knows when life is going to return to normal. As with gardening, we just have to hang on, wait for the plants to grow and have faith that they'll survive.

Right now, we need our gardens more than ever. There's nothing more hopeful than planting, and  part of the fun is trying something new. Want to indulge in a little plant porn? Here are 10 annuals to inspire you.

I'm grateful for public gardens wherever I go, but my recent trip to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) Vietnam to visit grandchildren left me doubly appreciative of what they provide.  In a city where even crossing the streeet is a hair raising experience, the tree-lined public parks provide shelter from the heat and respite from the daily hubbub. Need a little tropical eye candy? Read on. 

I'm always reading rave reviews about how easy amaryllis are to grow. Hah! What they don't tell you is that you must have the patience of a saint to get them to flower, much less rebloom. How the heck do you make that happen? Read on to find out.

Due to a badly sprained ankle and impossible winter weather, my recent activities have been confined to  the couch. When a bunch of seed catalogues arrived in the mailbox the other day, I was more than ready to indulge in a little plant porn.

As the another year rolls around to an end, I've been thinking about why I garden. There are a lot of reasons why I keep at it - I like being outside, experimenting with plants and putting them together. But the real truth isn't reasonable. I garden because I have to. Keep reading to learn more about why I'm so driven.

I trudged up to the attic and hauled out the bags of outdoor lights I stowed away last year. When I plugged them in half the strands didn't work - others are totally dead. What the heck? Many of them were brand new last year. Is this some kind of a Chinese plot to keep us all buying more?

We'll never know for sure, but instead of tossing them aside and buying new ones - find out how to fix them.

Are you trying to improve your garden but find yourself floundering around? Start with the edging. If you can nail down the plants in the front border, the rest of the bed is a piece of cake. 

You roll the dice when you're a gardener, but it's all worth it for the exquisite moments of pleasure  you experience when you create a great combination (usually accidental) or discover a terrific plant. If you want to find out about some trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals that made my summer, read on.

In my head, I feel about 25, but each spring, my garden brings me back to reality. I’m not a kid anymore. My aching back, knees and feet remind me that I’m growing older along with all of my plants – only they look better and complain less. Want some ideas on how to make changes? Check out my review on Toni Gattone's new book 'The Lifelong Gardener: Garden With Ease And Joy At Any Age.

Ek! I can hardly get down the path. Around mid-summer, gardens can get out of hand quickly. What was lush in June suddenly looks overgrown, tired and sloppy. It's too early in the game to let the garden go down the tubes!  Here's how to perk it up.

Why are focal points are important? They give your eye a place to land, especially important in a small space. If you've ever floundered around not knowing what to do next, this post is for you.

Shopping for trees and shrubs is tough. It's easy to get sidetracked on beautiful flowers,cool branching habits or flashy foliage. A good way to start? Focus on shapes to narrow down the choices. 

Finding interesting annuals for a shade garden can be tough. Lots of flowers prefer full sun and sometimes foliage plants just don't hold their color. If you're searching around for something a little different, read on. 

Don't you hate waiting for plants to get big? Practicing patience in pots helps. By that I mean container gardening - and I'm not just talking about the ornamental factor. In my efforts to have what I want, I've discovered more practical uses for stashing plants in pots. Read on to find out what they are.

In February, I escaped to the tropics of Vietnam where just about anything grows. I found it fascinating to see how they garden on the other side of the world and wanted to share it. If you're fed up with winter, and want to see bodacious greenery and flowers, read on.