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Garden Plot: Is it safe to plant summer tomatoes? 05/15/2020 08:03am • Yes, it’s FINALLY safe … … to plant warm weather crops like peppers and tomatoes outdoors. It seems like it took forever to reach this point, but there are two reasons for this feeling: It takes forever to do anything these days, and three times forever if the journey involves toilet pap Garden Plot: Is it time for summer plants to go in the ground? 05/08/2020 10:15am • If you don’t protect summer plants already in the ground, it’s likely that you’ll have to replant when temperatures really drop. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Jurij Savenko) Special cold weather alert Longtime fans of the Garden Plot know that they don’t have to wait until Saturday to hear my Garden Plot: With risk of frost ahead, summer plants need cover 05/07/2020 03:38am • If you have frost-tender plants that are not yet in the ground, keep them inside until the 10-day forecast shows nights at least in the high 40s, preferably 50 degrees or more. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Julija Kumpinovica) Temperatures are expected to drop into the 30s in the heat sink of D.C. p Garden Plot: Secrets of success for first-time growers 05/01/2020 07:20am • When I was Editor-in-Chief of Organic Gardening magazine back in the 1990s, we had a training exercise where we had to pick one other editor to be stranded on a desert island with. The editor I got along with the least instantly picked me. When I asked why, he said, “At least I’ll have plenty Garden Plot: All about bats and bulbs 04/17/2020 07:08am • Many people, restricted to home due to the coronavirus pandemic, are gardening in an effort to stay productive during this time. Houseplants or habaneros — it’s too early to go out Mary Ann in Hillandale, Maryland, writes: "When is it safe to put my houseplants outside on a screened porch?" M Garden Plot: Just because it's sunny, doesn't mean it's time for summer plants 04/10/2020 04:07am • Don't be fooled by this sunny D.C.-area weather. It's still only April. Sunny days do not mean summer-planting time Matt in D.C. writes: “I have planted way more starts than I can handle. My sunroom is getting packed, and I’m dying to put things in the ground outside. Is it too early to plant Garden Plot: Take a 'tree walk' break while social distancing 04/03/2020 07:29am • Take a walk with the trees Feeling a little "squirrely?" Then do what those Long-Tailed Servants of Satan do and take to the trees! Specifically, the trees in Baker Park in Frederick County, Maryland. The Frederick Forestry Board has created a "tree walk" by placing placards on thirty different var Garden Plot: Warm winter might not mean early spring 03/27/2020 12:35pm • WTOP's Garden Editor Mike McGrath says that the weather is perfect for future pea picking. (Getty Images) Patti in Howard County writes: It appears that spring has arrived very early this year. Does this mean that we can move up the earliest safe time to plant to before Mother’s Day?" The an Garden Plot: Real cure for coronavirus may be outside your door 03/20/2020 03:44am • As I type these words on March 19, my ancestral home, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is essentially on hiatus (as is much of the rest of the nation and the world). Major and Minor League Baseball have been postponed nationwide, with the players forbidden to even hold "sandlot" games, which I w Garden Plot: Do some holly jolly pruning 03/13/2020 08:43am • Hollies can take what’s called a "rejuvenation pruning" without harm, although they’ll look their best if you remove around 30% of each plant a year for several years in a row. (Getty Images/Thinkstock) Karen, “Somewhere in Southern Maryland,” writes: “Last year, our holly bushes were Garden Plot: Get 'sappy' at the Frederick Maple Syrup Fest 03/06/2020 07:54am • ‘Tis the season for trees that are sweet — or at least trees whose sap is sweet. To celebrate that sap, the Frederick County, Maryland, Forestry Board invites visitors to learn how maple syrup is made during their 50th anniversary Maple Syrup Festival at Cunningham Falls State Park, just west of Garden Plot: How to make your Valentine's Day bouquet last longer 02/07/2020 03:48am • Tired of your Valentine’s Day roses losing their luster by Feb. 15? Forget pennies in the water or the powder in those chemical preservative packets. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/Prostock-Studio) 10 acres of flowers for Valentine's Day Valentine’s Day is next Friday, and if you didn’t know tha Garden Plot: How to handle destructive willow oaks 01/31/2020 04:37am • Mike returns to Chantilly! Mike will appear on Saturday, Feb. 22 and Sunday, Feb. 23 at the long-running Capital Remodel and Garden Show at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly. Exact times and details soon, but expect to hear about tomatoes, organic lawn care, compost—and, of course—answers to Garden Plot: What to keep in mind on your next grocery store run 01/17/2020 04:43am • FILE- In this June 14, 2018, file photo, nectarines, plums, mangos and peaches are marked at a fruit stand in a grocery store in Aventura, Fla. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File) Skip 'The Dirty Dozen' in produce aisle I learned in a recent report the surprising news that eating so-called "conventio Garden Plot: It's seed catalog time 01/10/2020 05:03am • Put down those pruners! Yikes! Out of the deep freeze and into the month of May! Please enjoy the warm weather this weekend, but please resist the temptation to do any pruning! Yes, winter pruning is the rule for big trees and such, but winter means real winter and not this false spring (at leas