If you’re not familiar with narcissus flowers, chances are you’ve at least seen a daffodil before. Daffodils and jonquils are common names used for plants in the Narcissus genus. These perennials grow from bulbs and usually flower in spring or fall. Gardeners can expect their narcissus plants to produce bright blooms without much fuss. After all, gardening texts have celebrated the easy-to-grow narcissus for hundreds of years.
Join the long tradition of growing daffodils by adding a few narcissus plants to your garden. Even if common daffodils aren’t your style, there are several other species you can try. Explore the wide world of narcissus flowers with these seven gorgeous options.
Trees can transform a neighborhood. People who grew up in areas with plenty of greenery may not realize how a lack of trees affects a community. Without trees, neighborhoods often experience some of the climate crisis’s harshest effects. Pollution, erosion, and extreme heat are just the beginning of what treeless communities can expect to face.
As one of the most pollution-burdened areas in California, the northeast Los Angeles neighborhoods near Ascot Hills Park understand what it’s like to live with these issues. That’s why grassroots community organization North East Trees teamed up with the Arbor Day Foundation for a tree planting event on Tuesday, April 18.
Photo via Arbor Day Foundation
Sponsored by U.S. Bank, the event saw organization members and locals work together to plant trees at Ascot Hills Park in Los Angeles. These trees are a powerful tool for improving air quality, creating shade canopy, and reducing erosion in the area. Trees also help cool down urban areas vulnerable to the heat island effect.
During the April 18 tree planting event, volunteers helped plant 45 trees. The plants were propagated from seeds collected in Ascot Hills Park and cultivated in the North East Trees nursery. This community-led nursery champions youth empowerment through partnerships with community organizations and local schools.
Photo via Arbor Day Foundation
Five tree species, from coast live oak to black walnut, were planted during the event. Volunteers ranged from first-time tree planters to experienced organization leaders. As a spokesperson for North East Trees said, “People were enthusiastic and inspired to be surrounded by their work community and to participate in environmental activities outside of their normal environment. For at least one participant, it was their very first time planting a tree and they got to share that experience with people they have worked alongside for years.”
Photo via Arbor Day Foundation
Occurring just before Earth Day on April 22, the tree planting activity remains poignant on Arbor Day, April 28, and year-round. L.A. locals looking to get involved can join North East Trees for volunteer opportunities on the first Saturday of every month. These events invite people of all ages to get active outdoors.
Photo via Arbor Day Foundation
Through the Arbor Day Foundation’s partnership with coconut water company Vita Coco, social media users can also use the hashtag #ArborDay on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook to plant up to 100,000 trees in total. Explore more ways to get involved on the Arbor Day Foundation and North East Trees websites.
At pick-your-own farms, people can connect with nature while collecting delicious produce. Pumpkin patches may be the best example of this phenomenon, but different seasons offer more opportunities. When the weather warms up, berry patches become a hotspot for families, friends, and couples. There’s nothing quite like frolicking through fields of berries and bringing home a basket of delicious treats. If you want to get in on the fun, plan a trip to a u-pick strawberry farm this year.
As the name implies, u-pick farms welcome guests to pick up a basket and pick their own produce. Strawberry season is one of the best times to visit these sites. Grab a basket of these glistening red beauties while enjoying the outdoors at one of the country’s best pick-your-own strawberry farms. Here are five great u-pick strawberry farms to visit throughout the United States this season.
Photo by AngryJulieMonday
Tanaka Farms – Irvine, California
Go on a farm tour, learn about crops, and pick a basket of fresh strawberries at Tanaka Farms. At this California location, strawberry season runs through May. Visitors can fill a 1-pound basket of strawberries and pick a seasonal vegetable.
Froberg’s Farm – Alvin, Texas
Find strawberries growing at this Texas farm from January to May. Locals can also catch the Strawberry Festival in March. Not able to make it for strawberry season? Catch blackberry season in the summer for more u-pick opportunities.
Photo by C. Holland
Belkin Family Lookout Farm – Natick, Massachusetts
As one of the oldest continuously working farms in the U.S., this farm’s history stretches back to 1650. Today, the Belkin family serves as stewards of the farm. The location’s u-pick produce includes strawberries, apples, pumpkins, grapes, and more throughout the year.
Sussex County Strawberry Farm – Newton, New Jersey
In early June, this New Jersey farm opens to guests looking for fresh strawberries. Visitors can also browse for other produce and flowers. The farm’s garden center offers everything from marigolds to sunflowers.
Strawberries, blueberries, and peaches draw guests to the charming Eckert’s Versailles Orchard. In May, strawberry season lights up the farm’s fields. Visit in the morning to collect your berries while they’re still cool.
People who don’t garden probably also don’t think about asparagus much outside of the kitchen. But for gardeners, this unique plant can generate a surprising amount of intrigue. Recently, Reddit posts detailing one home gardener’s experience with an asparagus plant have gained thousands of views and hundreds of comments. Here are the details of this botanical curiosity, plus some strange gardening facts for home gardeners.
On April 14, Reddit user Luvnmylife presented this post to the r/gardening community. The post shows a picture of what appears to be a large asparagus plant growing out of the ground next to a tree stump. The Reddit user claims they discovered the puzzling plant after cutting down a tree and brush in their yard. In just under a week, this post gained over 700 comments, many of which agreed that the plant seemed to be asparagus. An update post on April 20 shows the plant sprouting new stalks. Now dubbed “Gus,” the plant has grown to 42 inches tall, according to the original poster.
Why has this post set Reddit’s gardening community ablaze? Well, as several commenters pointed out, the plant is significantly larger than run-of-the-mill grocery store asparagus. The giant green stalk’s curious way of growing likely also captured people’s attention. As Twitter user @radtoria once put it in a 2019 tweet, “Asparagus grows like it’s trying to prank some idiot into thinking this is how asparagus grows.”
Strange asparagus plant facts
If you’re inspired to add asparagus to your home vegetable garden, you should know that these plants can get big. The star of the Reddit post isn’t an anomaly. An asparagus fact sheet from the University of New Hampshire explains that the plant’s “crown and root system can grow to an enormous size: 5 to 6 feet in diameter and 10 to 15 feet deep.”
Gardeners will also need to wait three years before they can harvest asparagus. While it grows, gardeners should keep an eye out for asparagus beetles. These pests like to nibble on the plant, which can cause scars and browning.
Stopping to smell the roses may seem like an old cliché, but it’s actually a great way to de-stress. Several studies even suggest that spending time in nature can contribute to better health and improved well-being. If you want to brighten your mood and unwind, a botanical garden might be the perfect place to go. A walk through lush gardens provides a sense of peace found in few other places.
Among all the botanical gardens throughout the United States, the San Diego Botanic Garden stands out for its unique and gorgeous landscapes. The location stretches across 37 acres and includes ocean views, walking trails, and 29 themed gardens. You can catch the San Diego Botanic Garden’s best attractions at these seven spots.
Sunlight, water, and soil — those are all the things a plant needs to thrive, right? Well, not quite. Carnivorous plants like the Venus flytrap also need to feast on prey.
That may sound dramatic, but most of these species get their fill simply by catching the odd insect. While the Venus flytrap is known for its snapping shut to catch flies, carnivorous plants have a variety of traps that help them capture prey. These trapping mechanisms include adhesive, pitfall, suction, lobster pot, snap, and pigeon traps. Species like the Nepenthes veitchii have pitcher-shaped leaves that work as pitfall traps, while the Utricularia cornuta uses a suction trap to pull in insects.
Curious to learn more about the weird world of carnivorous plants? Explore a few interesting species in the gallery below.
This April, take a minute to slow down and enjoy spring at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington state. All month long, acres of tulips and daffodils will bloom in the flower fields just east of Burlington and Mount Vernon, Washington.
Celebrations last until April 30. Until then, take a scenic drive through this rural region to experience the gorgeous blooms at Garden Rosalyn and the vast RoozenGaarde Tulip Field. This helpful interactive festival map will show you all the best flower-spotting spots. Visitors can also peruse the festival website for information on unique attractions like Tea Time in the Tulips at Tulip Valley Farm. Get a sneak peek of this seasonal attraction’s charming views in the gallery of Skagit Valley Tulip Festival photos below.
In a season full of gorgeous blooms, a tree full of bright white blossoms should be another pleasant sign of spring. Instead, for many regions throughout the United States, white-flowered trees signal an oncoming wave of seasonal stink. What are these stinky trees, and why are they everywhere? This invasive species is known as the Bradford or Callery pear tree, and its problems go beyond smelling bad.
Callery pear trees are found in most U.S. states. According to this map created by the University of Georgia’s (UGA) Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, states from New York to California contend with this pesky pear tree.
How did these foul-smelling trees become so widespread? As UGA professor of horticulture Mike Dirr told NPR, the species once seemed like the perfect plant. About 30 years ago, people across the U.S. began planting Callery pear trees for agricultural and landscaping use.
“We thought, ‘Gee, this is a panacea,'” Dirr said. “You can stick it into any planting space in an urban situation, in concrete-heavy soils, clay soils, limestoney soils, acid soils, and it’s gonna grow.”
But the Callery pear’s downsides soon revealed themselves. In addition to growing flowers with a scent reminiscent of rotting garbage or fish, the tree spread aggressively and cross-pollinated with other species to produce fruits and thorns that littered yards and sidewalks.
Photo by F. D. Richards
Today, many states consider this tree an invasive species. Some communities have even offered locals rewards for cutting down Callery pear trees. In South Carolina, Clemson University and the S.C. Forestry Commission launched the “Bradford Pear Bounty” program. The project encourages property owners to uproot up to five of their Bradford pear trees in exchange for free native replacement trees. Similar initiatives are available in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Missouri.
If a Bradford or Callery pear tree is stinking up your yard, look into local invasive plant removal programs for help getting rid of the nuisance. Regional experts can also suggest native plants to replace those problematic pear trees.
From mint in your mojito to fresh basil with your pasta, herbs add a bright note to any dish. Many herbs are also super easy to grow in a home garden. If you’ve seen the potted herbs sold at grocery stores and worried about whether or not you’d be able to keep them alive, worry no more. Even people with the most basic gardening skills can keep a handful of simple herb plants alive and thriving. Make it easy on yourself by opting for resilient, hardy species like oregano or mint. These plants are hard to kill, so you won’t have to fret over them too much. Discover even more options in this list of the eight easiest herbs to grow in a home garden.
Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, when women’s education was limited, many young ladies found a socially acceptable way to study science: through botany. Many women read botany books at home, and quite a few others took their interest to the field. Some became botanical illustrators, trekking through wild places to identify plants and making thousands of scientific discoveries. In 1757, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to formally publish a species name. In the United States alone, at least 1,500 women were actively engaged in botany pre-1900. Celebrate these pioneering women by exploring the stories of these five early female botanists.
