Start a garden, care for a favorite plant, or plan your next growing project. These guides connect everyday decisions with practical steps and reliable references.
Grow and care for plants
Starting Seeds: From Packet to Healthy Seedling
Plan sowing dates, set up a growing space, raise healthy seedlings and solve common seed-starting problems.
Kitchen Herb Garden: Choose, Grow and Harvest Ten Useful Herbs
Match ten culinary herbs to your light and space, organize container care and harvest for everyday cooking.
African Violet Care: Healthy Leaves and Repeat Blooms
Balance light and watering, investigate missing flowers, refresh the potting mix and propagate a healthy leaf.
Orchid Picture Guide: Common Groups and Their Care Needs
Compare Phalaenopsis, Cattleya and Oncidium-type orchids using plant form, growing conditions and specialist references.
Protea Flowers: Types, Cut-Flower Care and Growing Conditions
Understand common protea-family flowers, care for cut stems and decide whether a living plant fits your site.
Plan your garden and purchases
Garden Design: Turn Your Site into a Practical Planting Plan
Map sun, water and usable space, draw plants at mature size and build a manageable garden in stages.
Rain Chains: Site Suitability, Drainage and Maintenance
Compare rain-chain styles and plan the complete route from gutter outlet to receiver and discharge.
How to Read Seed Catalogs and Plan an Order
Interpret seed-catalog terms, compare varieties and packet quantities, and order for the garden you can grow.
Choosing Gardening Books for Your Plants, Place and Projects
Choose gardening references by task, climate and experience, compare verified editions and try a library-reading test.
Work in public gardens
Botanical Garden Careers: Roles, Skills and Entry Routes
Compare public-garden roles, assess training routes and prepare evidence for a focused job application.
Gardens, science and history
Explore a tropical garden, interpret plant biotechnology research and follow the preservation story of a heritage oak.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden: What to See and How Conservation Works
Plan a focused garden visit, explore living collections and follow the connection between orchids, conservation and plant research.
Plant Minichromosomes: How They Work and What Research Has Demonstrated
Understand engineered plant minichromosomes, compare published experiments and distinguish inheritance results from agricultural claims.
Old Glory: The Pico Canyon Oak's Relocation and Preservation Story
Follow the preservation campaign, relocation and landmark recognition of Old Glory, then plan a thoughtful visit to Pico Canyon Park.