RUSSELL — Lucas J. Manning owned just a hammer and an iPad when he and his wife Sarah B. Manning decided to renovate an old stone house and document it on YouTube. Now, after nearly four years of working on weekends, the house is starting to take shape, and the YouTube channel is starting to… Read More ⇒

The Azalea Bowl at Callaway Gardens is one of my favorite places, even when the 3,000-plus azaleas aren’t blooming. The seasonal color and serenity will have you energized in short order. Such was the case recently when my wife Jan and I became mesmerized with their plantings of flowers, and… Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Actress Joanna Kerns, who gained fame in the 1980s and ‘90s as matriarch Maggie Seaver on the sitcom “Growing Pains,” and architect-author Marc Appleton have sold their home in Montecito for $8.35 million. Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Academy Award-winning actress Geena Davis has listed her longtime home in Pacific Palisades for sale at $5.995 million. Read More ⇒

Labor Day weekend is upon us and perhaps you would like to head to the mountains, hike on the Appalachian Trail or lay on a white-sand beach — but love for your mixed containers trumps everything. The solution to this recurring dilemma? AquaPots. Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, have one less thing to worry about as they await sentencing for their role in the college admissions scandal. The pair have sold their Bel-Air estate to Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen for $18.75 million… Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Film producer Jason Blum of “The Purge” and “Get Out” fame is looking to get out of his place in downtown L.A. The filmmaker has listed his designer-done condo at the Ritz-Carlton Residences at LA. Live for $6.995 million. Read More ⇒

Truffula Pink gomphrena has already been hotter than the proverbial $2 pistol, but I’m here to tell you it is even better than we thought. It has been the champion of all butterfly plants at my house and if your peak butterfly season is September/October and you find them for sale, BUY THEM! Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — It’s not quite a beet farm, but Rainn Wilson’s home boasts a similar vibe. The actor, who played Dwight Schrute on “The Office,” has put his bucolic compound in Agoura Hills on the market for $1.699 million. Read More ⇒

Protect your trees and they’ll protect you Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Ron Finley — the self-proclaimed “Gangsta Gardener” — carries his persona like a shield. He’s this tall dude with hemp Patagonia pants and a slightly silver goatee who seems pretty laid-back until you’re close enough to read the keep-your-distance tension in his eyes. Read More ⇒

Dear Aggie, I’ve been hearing about a food hub in the north country lately and I’m wondering, what’s a food hub? Read More ⇒

Every year most of us hit that period where the heat crosses over from hot to oppressive and we know the tough season for our plants has arrived. In much of the country it arrived early and there is one plant that if it could talk would say “what heat?” This plant is Lemon Coral sedum and it… Read More ⇒

Etched Glass may just be the most beautiful hosta I have ever seen or grown. Not only do I find it mesmerizing but as a horticulturist I find it intriguing to know that it comes from a lineage of past champions. Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — There’s always money in the banana stand, to borrow from the show “Arrested Development.” But it might take a few more frozen banana sales to afford the Beverly Hills Post Office-area home of Will Arnett, who plays Gob Bluth on the show. Read More ⇒

A hungry Eastern Tiger swallowtail butterfly gave me a lesson a couple of days ago and that is, everyone loves an orange smoothie in the summer. As you might suspect I am playing with you, but just a little. Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Actor Kunal Nayyar is hoping to end his time in Hollywood Hills with a bang. The “Big Bang Theory” star and his wife, fashion designer and model Neha Kapur, have put their compound on the market for $3.995 million. Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Michael McDonald — not the musician, but the “MADtv” veteran who has starred in countless comedies over the last three decades — is looking to part with his Hollywood Hills home of 16 years. The Tuscan-style villa just hit the market for $2.979 million. Read More ⇒

Plant sales have skyrocketed since the threat of coronavirus forced us to shelter in place. Another hot trend? Astrology. It makes sense given the uncertain times we are experiencing. Plants are something we can control, after all, and astrology looks to the future at a time when the future … Read More ⇒

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An 896-acre property inside the gates of Yosemite National Park has hit the market for $2.477 million. Read More ⇒

Dear Aggie, Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — After finding no takers last year at $11.2 million, Liam Payne of One Direction fame has changed real estate agents and relisted his compound in the Santa Monica Mountains near Calabasas for $10.75 million. Read More ⇒

It is Tuesday evening here in Michigan at the Eicher homestead. All is quiet with only son Kevin and daughter Loretta home with Joe and me. The rest of our children here at home went to a wedding for supper. Daughter Susan and Mose are making living quarters in the finished side of our pole … Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Even in real estate, Pharrell Williams’ style stands out. The Grammy-winning artist’s Hollywood Hills home — a dazzling glass-covered compound known as the Skyline Residence — has come up for sale at $11.95 million. Read More ⇒

Typically, the words Royal Hawaiian would direct your thoughts to tropical islands, vacations and exotic getaways among lush foliage and clear blue seas. As wonderful as those dreams seem, I won’t try to anticipate your travel plans for the summer but instead invite you to let the words Roya… Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — It’s been a rocky road for Sylvester Stallone in La Quinta, but the movie star is trying to knock out a home sale in the resort city once more. His desert digs are back on the market for $3.35 million, or $849,000 less than his original asking price five years ago. Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Actor Christopher Meloni, who will soon be back on the case in an upcoming “Law & Order” spinoff, has put his home in the Hollywood Hills on the market for $6.495 million. Read More ⇒

New at the garden center this year is one of those petunias that is a rare jewel of a color. It’s one that catches your eye and stops you in your tracks; it is Supertunia Mini Vista Indigo. By all means don’t let the mini throw you for even a second. This is the little indigo that could, or … Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — It may be some time before baseball returns to Los Angeles, but that’s not stopping St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt from landing a new offseason dugout. The businessman was the buyer of Eva Longoria’s Hollywood Hills compound. Read More ⇒

It may be called Poquito, which means a little, but I promise you in the case of Poquito Butter Yellow agastache it delivers color to the garden like a champion. In September, this new hummingbird mint won the prestigious Classic City Award in University of Georgia Trials. Read More ⇒

Lots of things are described as a “system.” There is a medical system, a circulatory system, a court system, a solar system, a computer operating system and a school system just for starters. One of the systems that has made the news lately is the food system. Based on the news, it seems mor… Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Longtime Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who joined the Indianapolis Colts this offseason as a free agent, has put his home in San Diego’s gated Santaluz community on the market for $4.199 million. Read More ⇒

Insects and diseases in the vegetable garden and on fruit plantings are minimal under the natural organic program, but the occasional serious pests have relatively easy solutions. Read More ⇒

Each spring I wake to the sound of a bird purring in my neighbor’s trees. Now, I know birds don’t purr, but that’s the best word I could come up with to describe the sound. It wasn’t chirping. It didn’t seem like a flirty mating song. It was a little like a throaty, thrumming hoot. Could it … Read More ⇒

The day you look at a Wedgewood Blue Summer Snapdragon is the day you will get hooked and believe anything is possible with today’s flowers. It looks as though each flower is a rare piece of hand-painted porcelain. Wedgewood Blue is part of the Angelface series of summer snapdragons, which r… Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — NHL star P.K. Subban and former Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, who got engaged last year, appear to have taken the next step in their relationship: cohabitation. The couple were the buyers of a Beverly Hills Post Office-area home that sold earlier this month for $6.75 million. Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent later this year, has put his home in the North Ranch area of Westlake Village up for sale for $7.995 million. Read More ⇒

With worms, as lasagna layers, or processed at a municipal or community facility, “the beauty of composting is there’s no one way to do it,” the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation reports. Read More ⇒

Goodness, it is proving to be a “wonderfully wicked” year for coleus. In this case wicked is great and promises to add incredible color and texture to your garden. Wicked actually refers to two new colors or varieties in the ColorBlaze series of coleus. If you are like me you probably though… Read More ⇒

Every quarantined morning these days I sit on my front steps and watch a bee have its breakfast at a crocus or azalea, a tranquil reminder that while disruptions continue to the world of man, nature moves placidly along. Read More ⇒

LOS ANGELES — Above the Sunset Strip, a palatial estate with a wild Hollywood history is for sale at $29.995 million. Read More ⇒

ROCHESTER — The Nature Conservancy, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, is offering several ways for people to connect with nature, and each other, online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More ⇒

Threatened honey bees, endangered bumblebees, fading butterflies ... we hear alarms all the time about the global decline in pollinators, but does anybody really know how many are out there? Read More ⇒