Welcome Garden Season with the May/June Northern Gardener

The May/June 2019 issue of Northern Gardener should be on newsstands this week, and from its bright green cover to the special ads at the back, it is full of excitement for the real beginning of the garden season.

The cover image is from Michelle Mero Riedel who has an article about 12 less-common annuals to consider for your containers and garden beds this year. We love marigolds, petunias and calibrachoas, but adding unusual annuals in your landscape increases the element of fun. Michelle has 12 options to consider. Most of them should be available at garden centers and nurseries this spring.

I really love the two profiles we have in this issue because they show that gardening is an activity you can enjoy no matter what your age. The first is a profile of Judy Weirwhen, who at age 89 continues to grow a beautiful garden. A native of England, Judy’s garden has a British feel with roses, soft colors and other elements of a classic cottage garden. The next profile is of two young men, David Smith and Anton Hesse, who have embraced gardening as 20-somethings. Like many members of their generation, they enjoy vegetable gardening and use technology to create the best garden they can. I hope you will enjoy meeting these three gardeners!

Elsewhere in the issue, Susy Morris talks about climbing plants and how to use them to increase your growing space. Soni Forsman brings her water plant expertise to the topic of Colocasias or elephant ears, which can be grown in water or in soil and add a giant tropical feel to any garden. We also have a review of the latest pest threats to northern gardeners as well as our usual lineup of columnists. If you have ever wanted to grow blueberries but thought your soil was too alkaline, check out Laura Schwarz’s column on acidifying your soil.

It’s a great issue, and I hope you’ll find a rainy day early this garden season to settle in and enjoy it.