Browse Category: Tips and Resources

Lessons at (and from) the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

Botanical gardens are amazing classrooms; kids can learn to appreciate the natural world, adults can learn to look up from our smartphones and appreciate the present, and gardeners can learn that it’s easy to have a beautiful garden when you have an army of staff and volunteers!

Beyond the lesson that we should give ourselves a break and not compare our own gardens with those that have full-time caretakers, we can pick up a few other ideas that are easier to implement than finding money in the budget for a full-time gardener. Continue Reading

Roots of a moth orchid before repotting

Orchids 102: repotting to keep them happy

Have you ever been to a gardening workshop where one attendee seems WAY too into it, asking a million questions, furiously taking notes, and snapping pictures of every little thing?  Well, perhaps that weirdo is a gardening blogger, because I’m sure that’s exactly how my classmates at a recent orchid workshop would have described me.  In my last post, I covered my notes on basic orchid care from the workshop;  in this post, I’ll share my step-by-step notes (and pictures) on repotting orchids. Continue Reading

Light pink moth orchid in greenhouse

Orchids 101: the basics of orchid care

You know how I say I’m a gardening enthusiast, not expert?  Same thing with orchids — I adore them, but I’m far from an expert.  After all,  I purchased my first orchid 6 weeks ago, so I’ve only kept an orchid alive for 6 weeks at this point.  However, I did attend an orchid workshop at Powell Gardens earlier this month where I learned from someone who is an expert —  and I took a ridiculous amount of notes to share with you. Continue Reading