Grandma’s Plants Are Cool Again: Retro Houseplants Making a 2026 Comeback

a collection of classic houseplants on a cluttered home windowsill

I can’t help but smile when I see young plant enthusiasts posting photos of Snake Plants and calling them “trendy.” I’ve been growing these beauties in my kitchen for forty-three years. The Weeping Fig in my living room is older than my youngest grandson. When I started keeping houseplants in the early 1970s, these were … Read more

The Late Winter Plant Reset: How to Rescue Your Sad Houseplants Right Now

houseplants winter window

Every February, I walk through my sunroom and feel a little pang of guilt. My houseplants—those faithful companions that brightened the darkest December days—are looking decidedly tired. Yellowing leaves here, leggy growth there, and that beautiful monstera I was so proud of? Well, it’s looking a bit sorry for itself. After fifty years of growing … Read more

7 No-Dig Gardening Problems (And Exactly How I Solved Each One)

7 No-Dig Gardening Problems (And Exactly How I Solved Each One)

When I converted my vegetable garden to no-dig methods twelve years ago, I thought I’d discovered the perfect solution to decades of back-breaking spring preparation. The concept seemed foolproof: layer cardboard and compost, plant directly, and watch everything thrive without ever turning a shovel. Reality proved more complicated. Within weeks, I faced weeds pushing through … Read more

No-Dig Gardening Success: How to Build Incredibly Productive Beds Without Ever Turning Soil

No-Dig Gardening Success: How to Build Incredibly Productive Beds Without Ever Turning Soil

I spent my first twenty years of gardening turning soil like my life depended on it. Every spring, out came the tiller, and I’d churn up my beds until the earth was fluffy and fine. I thought I was doing everything right. Then my back started protesting, I noticed my earthworm population declining, and a … Read more

DIY Liquid Fertilizers: Make Powerful Plant Food From Weeds, Manure, and Kitchen Scraps

DIY Liquid Fertilizers: Make Powerful Plant Food From Weeds, Manure, and Kitchen Scraps

There’s something deeply satisfying about feeding your garden with fertilizers you’ve brewed yourself—watching weeds and scraps transform into potent plant food costs almost nothing and works beautifully. I keep several batches fermenting throughout the growing season, and my plants respond with lush growth that store-bought fertilizers never quite matched. Yes, some of these concoctions smell … Read more

7 Warning Signs Your Garden Soil Needs Help (And How to Fix It)

7 Warning Signs Your Garden Soil Needs Help (And How to Fix It)

Your plants are talking to you every single day—through their leaves, their growth rate, even the creatures living in the soil around their roots. After decades of reading these signals, I’ve learned that most garden problems aren’t really about the plants at all. They’re about what’s happening underground. Healthy soil grows healthy plants almost effortlessly, … Read more

Clay, Sand, or Containers: How to Build Perfect Soil for Every Garden Situation

Clay, Sand, or Containers: How to Build Perfect Soil for Every Garden Situation

Every garden situation presents unique soil challenges, and I’ve worked with just about all of them over the decades—from rock-hard clay that rang like concrete when struck with a shovel to sandy ground that couldn’t hold water for more than an hour. The wonderful truth is that almost any soil can be transformed into productive … Read more