If you have ever wondered how to get some of the same great flavors you find in top restaurants, consider planting the secret weapon that fine cooks employ--a chef's garden. Get the most out of your garden by adding not only beauty but an endless bounty of flavor as well!

A good chef's garden incorporates the attributes of every location in the garden to produce a variety of flavorful food. Start with a boring fence line. Instead of flowering vines, consider attaching a few trellises and planting a variety of different table grapes.

To block out the neighbor's windows and create privacy, plant fruit trees. You can harvest apricots and cherries in June; nectarines, peaches, plums and pluots in July and August; and apples, pears and persimmons in September and October.

Semi-shaded areas are a great place to plant berries. If you have the room to allow them to roam, consider planting blackberries, boysenberries, and raspberries. Are you looking for something a little more formal? Consider blueberries.

Save the sunniest location for your vegetable garden. Remember to plant "fruit" and "root" vegetables for summer. Plant "leaf" and "flower" vegetables in winter. Don't forget to add a little color with tasty nasturtiums--and save some space for a crop of strawberries, artichokes, and horseradish. Are you short on space? No problem. Herbs do wonderfully in containers--and no chef should be without them. You'd perhaps be surprised how many vegetables can also be grown in containers. And don't forget dwarf fruit trees!

The key to creating a great chef's garden is to look at every available location in your garden with the eyes of a chef. The possibilities are endless and the rewards are delicious. Are you getting hungry, now? Then don't delay, start planning your chef's garden today.

Proper spring rose care will help you ensure a glorious blooming season. One of the most important parts of rose care is pruning.

Why should we prune roses? Because pruning encourages new growth and bloom, improves air circulation, and helps to shape the plant. It also brings you up close and personal with your plants, giving you warning to wash off aphids with a water blast at first sign.

Pruning time is often dictated by the blooming of the forsythia bush. If you haven't any nearby forsythia bushes, watch instead for when the leaf buds begin to swell and redden on your rose plants. After pruning is the time to begin feeding and insect prevention.

We've answered the "why" of spring pruning, but now we'd like to deal with the specific needs of each class.

• For modern floribundas that bloom once on new growth, prune hard (1/2 to 2/3 of the plant's height), removing old woody stems, and leaving 3 to 5 healthy canes evenly spaced around the plant. Cut these from 18-24" inches to encourage continuous blooming.
• Hybrid teas and grandifloras also are new wood bloomers. Prune them in early spring by removing dead and weak wood in an open vase shape, removing center stems. Reduce the remaining stems down to 18 to 24 inches. Whenever possible, cut on a 45 degree angle.
• Ramblers bloom only once, on old wood, and may be pruned right after flowering to remove winter damage and dead wood, or to shape.
• Although climbing roses are repeat bloomers, the above should be followed for them as well.
• Modern shrub roses are repeat bloomers on mature--not old--woody stems. Don't prune for the first two years; then each year remove one-third of the oldest canes.
• Bourbons will repeat bloom on both new and old wood. Prune to remove the dead wood prior to flowering; after the initial flowering you may perform a hard prune and shaping.
• Alba, centifolia, damask, gallica, and moss roses bloom only once, producing flowers on old wood; pruning is required only to remove dead wood and for shaping.
• Miniature roses require pruning only to shape.

When pruning is complete, carefully rake up and discard all pruned material, including leaves and old mulch, and toss all out with the trash; this will discourage diseases and insects.

If you have been troubled by fungus diseases on your roses, a spring spray of lime sulphur will kill the over-wintered spores of black spot and mildew.

Philodendrons were determined by NASA to be among the best house plants for removing toxins from the air. They love temps from 60 to 72 degrees, and do not require a lot of light. Occasionally treat them to a “bath” of soapy water to remove dust and control insects. When the temps turn warm, bring them outdoors, placing them in shade, of course always ensuring that their feet rest in rich, moist soil containing a good supply of organic matter. Well-rooted plants should receive diluted applications of a liquid fertilizer every week or two.

Ferns, which in the language of flowers mean sincerity, magic, fascination, confidence, and shelter, have a lot in common with dinosaurs. They co-existed in the Mesozoic era, and even predate dinosaurs. Dating back 300 million years, they are among the world’s oldest living things. With approximately 10,500 species, ferns grow in the wild as well as in landscaped gardens on every continent in the world. Perennials, they can be either evergreen or deciduous. They dislike strong sunlight, high wind, and dryness at the root zone.Because they range in size from the wall-rue at 2” to the tree ferns of New Zealand that reach heights of 30’, the astute gardener will be able to find the perfect fern for their needs. Popular indoor plants, consider incorporating the Boston fern in your clean-air indoor garden; they are full and lush and work equally well in pots or hanging baskets. As the maiden-hair fern thrives on high humidity, it’s the perfect choice for placement in a bathroom. While the asparagus fern is not really a fern at all but rather an actual asparagus, it is a delicate, fern-like plant that grows well indoors, and also loves being taken outside when the weather is warm. Just remember to keep your ferns in indirect light, whether inside or out, and place their containers in pebble-filled trays, adding water into the tray until it just covers the pebbles; do not over-water.

In the language of flowers, the spider plant represents an offer of elopement. An amazingly easy-to-care-for plant, it takes a lot of effort to kill the “airplane plant.” Yet another of our clean air plants, the Chlorophytum comosum has proven quite effective in the absorption of chemicals that include formaldehyde, xylene, benzene, and carbon monoxide. It likes medium to bright light, isn’t fussy about excess humidity, and prefers cool to average temps, even while tolerating warmer conditions.

Another indoor plant that does equally well outside when the weather warms up, it’s perfect for a hanging basket. This fast-grower sends out “babies," or spiderettes, which are plantlets on long stalks. To propagate set the plantlet, while still attached to the mother plant, on the surface of a pot filled with a soilless potting medium, using a bent paper clip to hold it in place. Once it begins to root, sever it from the mother plant. If plantlets on your spider have already begun to develop roots, sever and pot them in soil. One mother plant will lead to many other plants!

Golden Pothos aka Devil’s Ivy is practically impossible to kill. It will grow under nearly any conditions, either as a climber when trained around a wooden stake, or in a hanging basket. You have probably seen it trailing along the perimeter of office cubicles, where it thrives with only fluorescent lighting. Another of our favorite air purifiers, it removes formaldehyde from the atmosphere, and sets the standard for neglect-tolerant plants. In fact, about the only thing that will kill a pothos is over-watering; a shallow root system makes it susceptible to root rot. This in a way is somewhat ironic, as your home can sport a plethora of pothos by simply placing clippings in water, and in about a week roots will begin to form. When fully rooted, pop into a pot of loose, well-draining soil, and keep it evenly moist.

We’ve started you out with some of the most reliable houseplants that will not only provide you with healthier air, but are also easily moved outside during warm weather. Now it’s up to you to exploit these easy-to-grow beauties so that you may find yourself forever surrounded by a garden.

Product Spotlight: Gardner & Bloom™
Blue Ribbon Potting Soil

People who love to garden love Gardner and Bloome™ Blue Ribbon Premium Blend Potting Soil. It is formulated for use in all indoor and outdoor container planting applications, and excellent for hanging baskets and raised bed planting. It may be mixed with existing garden soil in beds or containers to enhance soil texture, drainage and fertility and improve the quality of the soil.

Our 100% natural, completely organic peat-based formula includes Alfalfa Meal, Worm Castings, Kelp Meal, and Bat Guano. The extra absorbent, fine-textured blend keeps tender roots moist and aerated between waterings. And it's abundant essential plant nutrients promote quick growth and long-lasting health for all types of container plants.

Gardner and Bloome™ Blue Ribbon Premium Blend Potting Soil contains specially screened bark particles combined with porous pumice promote optimum air space and excellent drainage in the root zone. Gardner and Bloome™ Blue Ribbon Premium Blend Potting Soil includes several species of beneficial Mycorrhizae soil fungi. These living organisms dramatically improve water and nutrient absorption by enhancing the root system of many plant species.

So now you know what so many gardeners know--Gardner and Bloome™ Blue Ribbon Premium Blend Potting Soil is the secret to planting a great garden, no matter the size.

Outside of the easily-identified blueberries and strawberries, the world of berries can be very confusing. You have blackberries, black raspberries, red raspberries, and yellow raspberries. And don't forget boysenberries, loganberries and marionberries, which are all closely related. How do you tell them apart? Berries whose core stays intact are blackberries. Berries that lose the core and resemble a thimble are raspberries. But then...a few berries are a cross between the two!

The similarities don't stop there. All bear fruit on two-year-old wood, except for the ever-bearing raspberries that also fruit on first year growth. These are also called two crop raspberries because they bear a late summer or fall crop on the first year growth and a second crop the following spring on the two-year-old wood.

Different types of wood? What's that all about? Ok, it may help clear up a lot of confusion about blackberry and raspberry culture if one remembers that after flowering and fruiting, any cane that bore fruit dies back to the crown. All the new growth will rise out from primary buds just below the soil line.

Now here's the good news, blackberries, raspberries and any other favorites will thrive in most locations and soil types, but good drainage is desirable with most varieties. Just give them some room to ramble because they do like to spread out. As far as cold-hardiness goes, raspberries tolerate very cold temperatures better than blackberries.

Most berries like being fed at blooming time, with a follow-up feeding in early fall after the plants have finished fruiting. Just use a well-balanced fruit food. They prefer staying moist, and should be watered regularly if rainfall is insufficient.

The new canes that grow out each spring will not bear fruit until the following summer when they are two years old. After harvest, the two-year-old fruiting canes will start to die back and should be removed as close to the ground as possible without injuring the new canes.

In mild climates berries can be trained to stakes or trellises in late summer or early fall, after the fruiting canes have been removed. In colder climates, the canes should be left on the ground over winter--making them less likely to be damaged by cold. The ideal time to "spring train" is after the danger of freezing weather and before the leaf buds begin expanding.

We have berry plants that grow well in our local area. The bottom line is that all berries are easy to grow and they taste great. So don't stress about all your different choices. Just plant some berries and enjoy!