Crawford’s Corner

If you have further questions, please write to Bruce at Crawford@njaes.rutgers.edu

• Gardening Notes for September 2024
  September marks the start of getting the garden – and the gardener – ready for a long winters rest. I know it seems much too early to think of winter, but it is time to start planning for winter and the year to follow. To this end, consider how best to overwinter and to make ...
• September 2024 Plant of the Month – Ipomea lobata
  A Vine with an Explosion of Color One dimension we often neglect when working with annuals is the vertical dimension or the use of annual vines. Vines are great for softening architecture or clambering up vertical structures in a garden, allowing their flowers to play off of the surrounding melody of plants. Unfortunately, most woody vines ...
• Gardening Notes for August 2024
  To me, August is the month that epitomizes summer. The days remain long, with the daytime chant of the Cicadas and the evening chorus of Crickets and Katydids. Rainfall in July varied by where you live but, on average was adequate. Coupled with the warm temperatures, most plants including vegetables flourished, providing they did not ...
• August 2024 Plant of the Month – Verbena bonariensis
  An Annual of Yesteryear Providing Airy New Dimensions Annuals were traditionally described as plants that transition from seed in spring to summer bloom and back to seed come fall before dying with the frost. They were also called ‘Bedding Plants’ since they were to be planted in a garden ‘Bed’ where they rapidly covered the ground ...
• Gardening Notes for July 2024
  Finally, the hazy, lazy days of summer have arrived – something many of us longed for during those chilly days last winter! The temperatures are warm, the days are long and hopefully the rain is ample! The heat and humidity have certainly returned too, so try to garden during the cooler temperatures of the early ...
• July 2024 Plant of the Month – Autumn Squill
  The Beauty is in the Details How often do we hear the phrase the ‘Devil is in the Details’? The phrase highlights how the success of a project hinges on the many small details that often are overlooked. No project is certainly more befitting of this phrase than the creation of a successful garden. One such ...
• Gardening Notes for June 2024
  Summer has arrived! The days are wonderfully long, rain has proven to be a little shy to date, and the temperatures promise to become more summer-like as the month progresses. June is filled with chores that linger from spring, as well as preparations necessary for the garden to continue to thrive well into late fall. ...
• June 2024 Plant of the Month – Northern Maidenhair Fern
  A Maiden every Discerning Gardener Needs Green is a color most people do not often consider for the theme of a garden. It is a color found in few flowers, yet it clearly abounds through foliage. In fact, blending together plants with foliage of different sizes and shapes can create a textural garden with wonderful outcomes. ...
• Gardening Notes for May 2024
  With the windy chill of late March and the showers of April behind us, early May looks to provide a wonderful assortment of spring blooming plants. The unusually warm winter and early spring has definitely pushed many plants into an earlier bloom period, but hopefully seasonal temperatures will dominate for May. May is always a ...
• May 2024 Plant of the Month – Woodland Peonies
  Woodland Peonies for Great Seasonal Drama I couldn’t imagine a Garden in May without Peonies. From the days of my youth, I remember their vibrant flowers, accompanied by a wonderfully sweet scent that my mother and grandmother always revered! The flowers range from single blooms with one ring of petals to the full doubles displaying countless ...