Nothing enhances cooking more than fresh herbs. Once you have incorporated a herb garden into your landscape, and experienced the simple joy of picking the flavors that will bring compliments showering upon you for your culinary expertise, there is no going back.

Ah, but what about winter? Hopefully you have frozen some of your summer crop, but it still is not quite the same as freshly picked herbs. If you have a south-facing window, you're equipped with most of what you need in order to grow an indoor herb garden. Begin with indoor-friendly herbs such as sage, mint, rosemary, parsley, bay leaf, thyme, chives, garlic and oregano. Basil, dill and coriander should be started from seeds, and mint, rosemary and bay leaf should be rooted from cuttings.

If you're starting with seedlings which you have purchased from the nursery, they will need to be acclimated to lower light conditions. New leaves that are accustomed to the lower light must be produced in order for the plant to survive. Most herbs require an absolute minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight, which a window with southern exposure should provide. Assist with the addition of grow lights, placed about 6 to 9 inches above the tops of the plants. Generally speaking, your herbs will prefer temperatures between 55 and 70 degrees F. However, basil is such a sun and heat lover, it will thrive if given 16 hours of artificial light. I guarantee that the pesto and spaghetti sauce that is seasoned with the fresh basil from your indoor herb garden will make the effort well worth it. Place the plants that need the greatest amount of light in the center of the window, directly beneath the grow lights. Your mint, parsley and rosemary will require less light, therefore they should be placed at the sides, farther away from the strongest point of light.

Use separate pots for each plant; this allows for each plant to have air flow, and if a problem occurs with one plant, it is easily removed from the mix. Unglazed terra cotta is the preferred pot as it is porous, thus allowing moisture and air to pass through. Roots need air; if gasses in the root zone are not able to move, and watering prevents the roots from breathing, root rot will set in. So, be sure that there are drainage holes in the bottom of your pots to allow excess water to drain. When first prepping the pots, DO NOT use soil from your garden, no matter how gloriously your outdoor plants grow in it. Instead, use a high-quality potting soil with organic fertilizer mixed in, and add some perlite. Fertilize with a liquid fish emulsion at half strength or a 20-20-20 chemical formulation about once a month. Mist on occasion, particularly rosemary. The conditions inside your house will affect the frequency of watering. Using your finger, check the soil. If it feels dry to the touch, water thoroughly until the water comes out of the drainage holes in the bottom. Herbs such as bay leaf, thyme, oregano and sage should dry out completely between watering while mint and rosemary prefer a little more moisture.

When harvesting from an indoor herb garden, a certain delicacy is called for; because indoor herbs tend to reach for the light and become leggy, it is best to pinch them at the growing tips, thereby forcing a bushier growth form.

Experiment with a light-hearted sense of fun; fresh herbs are by nature givers of a unique flavoring to our cooking. Add to salads and omelettes; toss a few fresh mint leaves in a pot of hot tea. Gardening and cooking are two sublime pleasures that anyone may enjoy. Nothing enhances cooking more than fresh herbs.

Gloxinia (Sinningia Speciosa) can make a colorful addition to your garden during the dreary days of winter. Their massive, deep-throated flowers come in many color combinations and put on quite a show.

Gloxinias, native to Brazil, are related to African violets. Their luxuriant, quilted, velvety leaves can grow up to six inches long, and they produce ruffled bell-shaped flowers in shades of white, pink, red, blue, and purple with contrasting edges.

With a small amount of attention and care, you'll be able to get this tuberous plant to re-bloom several times before it goes dormant until the following growing season. Gloxinias do best in consistent indoor temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees. They bloom best in a bright but indirect light location. Growing in low light will cause the flowers to be small and pale.

Gloxinias prefer moderately moist soil--but take care not to overwater, as this can prevent buds from developing. Try to lift the leaves before watering and allow the water to enter directly to the soil. Splashing water on the leaves can cause yellow spots.

Water thoroughly when the soil surface feels dry to the touch. Do not allow your plants to stand in water. If using bowls underneath your pots, make sure to empty the water from the bowl after each watering.

It is important to feed your plants regularly (every two weeks) while your plant is growing strongly and blooming. We recommend Spoonit African Violet Food.

Most plants will bloom for 6 to 8 weeks and then take a short break before producing a new set of blooms. Discontinue feeding once the plants start dying back before entering dormancy. Gently remove the spent blooms after each flowering cycle.

It is best to repot gloxinias when they go dormant, so the plants can produce new growth in a larger pot with fresh soil. Then sit back and wait for new growth to appear for the following season and enjoy all over again!

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 such as Nurseryman's Fruit and Citrus 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!

How should you prune a Japanese maple?

Answer:

Japanese maples can be lightly tip-pruned during the summer months to control new growth or runaway water shoots, but save the major pruning for December or January, when the tree is fully dormant. Do not prune later than February (or when the leaf buds start swelling), because the tree can bleed quite severely and become weakened.

All Japanese maples have "eyes" on the branches, where the leaves were attached during the growing season. These "eyes" are small half moon swellings, spaced every 1-3" along the branches. Each "eye" faces a different direction, rotating along the branches.

Pruning 1/4" above a particular eye will make the tree branch out in that direction the following year. You can control the shape and direction of the tree each year simply by deciding which eyes to prune above.

Avoid pruning beyond the previous year's cuts. Always allow at least 2 "eyes" of new growth each year to remain on the tree. Pruning more severely can lead to knurled and stunted growth, with many tiny shoots coming out from the same spot. If a large branch needs to be pruned to thin out the tree and allow more light, prune it completely off. Make sure to seal all cuts larger than 1/2" in diameter with a pruning sealer like Morrison's Tree Sealer.