Mickey Gast

Most of the ornamental plants that I’m growing in my backyard are decidedly not native to the Northern Hemisphere where I garden. My camellias are native to Asia, as are …

As I’m writing this article, closely on the heels of the spring equinox, I’m looking out the window at my garden just starting to wake up from its slumber. One …

I cherish fleeting moments in the garden, but I sometimes think that not much else seems as fleeting as the blooming and fading of camellia flowers. After months and months …

After months of impatiently glaring at the garden (as if it was its fault the weather was miserable) and having my nose stuck to the window in anticipation of spring, …

Between you and me, I was itching to start my dahlias as soon as I hit publish on this article on how to overwinter them. But as I’m writing this, …

It seems like only yesterday I was writing an article on how to prepare your roses for the winter months. While at the same time, it also seems like this …

If I had read clematis care advice before buying a single clematis plant, I would have surely abandoned the purchase altogether. While I am generally pretty savvy about deciphering plant …

“I can totally start these flowers from seed,” I mumble under my breath as I weave my way around stands upon stands of starter plants at the gardening center on …

I’m writing this article in early February and the countdown to spring is on. I can almost smell the change of seasons in the air. The days are getting noticeably …

As a gardener, I’m always on the lookout for more plants. Colorful plants. Boisterous plants. Plants that make you go WOW! But when it comes to hydrangeas, I’m partial to …

As the saying goes, two things in life are certain, though allow me to choose not to list them here. But as a gardener, I’d like to petition to add …

Tell me if this story sounds familiar. You love perennials, so you court them assiduously. In return, they reward your efforts with an abundance of beautiful flowers.  You think your …

Back when I first started gardening and had no idea what a biennial plant meant, I was foolish enough to trust the information on the garden center plant tags without …

My stubborn attempt to overfill my garden with more plants on a shoestring budget continues throughout the rest of fall. Or at least for as long as the weather allows …

With the garden slowing down in anticipation of the winter months and my bulbs firmly in the ground waiting for spring, I’m now turning my attention to propagating ornamental plants …

What if I told you that you could plant something in your garden that’s worth its weight in gold? No, I haven’t yet found the seeds of the mythical money …

The great green wall project (the one I mentioned in this post) continues in my yard. In a nutshell, I’m trying to create a plant divider – between our property …

If you’ve ever thought that cooking and gardening have a few things in common – mainly using “ingredients” and following a “recipe” to create something out of nothing – you’re …

Nowadays, there are so many things we take for granted that make our lives as gardeners easier, compared to even half a decade ago; things such as being able to …

We are elbow-deep in the bulb-planting season and my friends are starting to doubt my honesty when I say “sorry, I can’t this weekend; I’m planting bulbs.” But that’s October …

The thrill I get when browsing online bulb catalogs is the closest feeling I’ll ever get to that of stepping into a candy shop when I was a child. Then, …

An unexpectedly popular plant care series that we ran on Blooming Backyard was the one covering reasons why beloved plants don’t bloom. I say “unexpectedly” not because our readers were …

When I first got the gardening bug, I used to despair over the end of the warm summer season. Fall, in spite of its color and richness, brought a bittersweet …

If there’s ever a plant that embodies the feeling of hopefulness, it’s the tulip. As a history buff, I’m fascinated by how the Dutch Tulip Mania unfolded in the seventeenth …