The MSHS Educational Display on herbs at the Minnesota State Fair has some great plants that can be grown indoors, outdoors or, as Nancy Leasman says, as commuters, who spend summer outside and winter inside. One interesting commuter is the coffee plant (Coffea arabica), which has attractive, shiny evergreen leaves. Mature plants will produce white,…

Some plants are like the popular kids in high school, says garden designer Andrew Keys in his new book, Why Grow THAT When You Can Grow This: 255 Extraordinary Alternatives to Everyday Problem Plants. Somehow they seem more glamorous or cool than everyone else, even though they may have issues of their own. In the…

Updated May 2025 What’s growing in your vegetable garden these days? How about trying something different—maybe Chinese cabbage or pak choi, spicy mustard greens or fennel? These were among the unusual vegetables recommended for northern gardens by Jackie Smith, a University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener, who is a bit of a legend among Minnesota…