Renee's Blog
Bold And Beautiful Zinnias
Easy to grow and reliable, zinnias are bright butterfly magnets that have a long history as favorite flowers of American home gardeners. Indeed, we tend to take these popular flowers for granted, perhaps thinking them too ordinary, stiff or garish...
Bold And Beautiful Zinnias
Easy to grow and reliable, zinnias are bright butterfly magnets that have a long history as favorite flowers of American home gardeners. Indeed, we tend to take these popular flowers for granted, perhaps thinking them too ordinary, stiff or garish...
Success with Sweet Peas
I adore annual sweet peas and I think that their exquisite perfume, ruffled, winged blossoms and treasury of glowing colors make them the most irresistible and memorable garden flowers. Wonderful for cutting, a small bouquet of these fluted beauties will...
Success with Sweet Peas
I adore annual sweet peas and I think that their exquisite perfume, ruffled, winged blossoms and treasury of glowing colors make them the most irresistible and memorable garden flowers. Wonderful for cutting, a small bouquet of these fluted beauties will...
Poppies: Modern and Heirloom Varieties
Of all the old-fashioned flowers that welcome the summer season, poppies are the most brilliant—they glow like stained glass when the sun shines behind them in early morning or late afternoon. Although their silky petals look delicate nodding on their...
Poppies: Modern and Heirloom Varieties
Of all the old-fashioned flowers that welcome the summer season, poppies are the most brilliant—they glow like stained glass when the sun shines behind them in early morning or late afternoon. Although their silky petals look delicate nodding on their...
Growing Wedding Flowers
I get many letters from excited gardeners asking about what flowers to grow for weddings and how to plan the seed sowing and growing process. Having done this myself and had the pleasure of walking my daughter down a garden...
Growing Wedding Flowers
I get many letters from excited gardeners asking about what flowers to grow for weddings and how to plan the seed sowing and growing process. Having done this myself and had the pleasure of walking my daughter down a garden...
Flowers For Bouquets
The best way to plan your garden for bouquets is to dedicate a specific garden area to these cutting flowers. This way you can cut all that is in flower on any particular day without feeling that you might spoil...
Flowers For Bouquets
The best way to plan your garden for bouquets is to dedicate a specific garden area to these cutting flowers. This way you can cut all that is in flower on any particular day without feeling that you might spoil...
Gardening with Children: Grow a Pizza Garden
Growing a pizza garden is a great way to get children outdoors and motivated to plant and eat vegetables. Our family loves homemade pizza, so my 4-year-old daughter and I have already started planning our pizza plot. So far, our...
Gardening with Children: Grow a Pizza Garden
Growing a pizza garden is a great way to get children outdoors and motivated to plant and eat vegetables. Our family loves homemade pizza, so my 4-year-old daughter and I have already started planning our pizza plot. So far, our...
Unbeatable Beets
Beets from your own garden taste terrific. Forget any old memories of rubbery, syrupy-sauced, canned beets that lurk in your tastebuds. Freshly pulled beets are truly beautiful and delicious. Their flavor is sweet, rich, hearty and earthy, and beet varieties...
Unbeatable Beets
Beets from your own garden taste terrific. Forget any old memories of rubbery, syrupy-sauced, canned beets that lurk in your tastebuds. Freshly pulled beets are truly beautiful and delicious. Their flavor is sweet, rich, hearty and earthy, and beet varieties...
Gardening With Small Children
What better place to stimulate babies’ and toddlers’ senses and cultivates their growing minds than in the garden? When my daughter, Emilia , was a baby, she'd grab the tendrils of vining snap peas, kick with excitement when I'd rub...
Gardening With Small Children
What better place to stimulate babies’ and toddlers’ senses and cultivates their growing minds than in the garden? When my daughter, Emilia , was a baby, she'd grab the tendrils of vining snap peas, kick with excitement when I'd rub...
Gardening for a Second Season
Mid to late summer is an ideal time to plant seeds for a second gardening season that can be as productive as your major early spring plantings. For a delicious and very nutritious cornucopia of fall meals, late summer is...
Gardening for a Second Season
Mid to late summer is an ideal time to plant seeds for a second gardening season that can be as productive as your major early spring plantings. For a delicious and very nutritious cornucopia of fall meals, late summer is...
What To Plant If You Don't Have Full Sun
I've found that a garden with some shade is ultimately more satisfying than one with full blasting sunlight. It offers the chance to create a cool retreat in which to sit and enjoy the garden or dine outdoors on hot...
What To Plant If You Don't Have Full Sun
I've found that a garden with some shade is ultimately more satisfying than one with full blasting sunlight. It offers the chance to create a cool retreat in which to sit and enjoy the garden or dine outdoors on hot...
Planting in May
At long last, spring weather is securely in place. The soil has drained and warmed and trees are stretching and quickly greening up. Many of us really get the gardening bug at this time of year but think that May...
Planting in May
At long last, spring weather is securely in place. The soil has drained and warmed and trees are stretching and quickly greening up. Many of us really get the gardening bug at this time of year but think that May...
June and July Are Still Prime Planting Season
Gardening is an ongoing process, and, while timing is important, don't be overwhelmed by a sense of being too late to plant by some arbitrary date. All too often, I hear gardeners use a day of a particular month as...
June and July Are Still Prime Planting Season
Gardening is an ongoing process, and, while timing is important, don't be overwhelmed by a sense of being too late to plant by some arbitrary date. All too often, I hear gardeners use a day of a particular month as...
Store Extra Seed Properly
Many gardeners have asked how to store leftover, unused seeds. Renee's Garden seeds come to you with high germination rates, and most varieties will keep easily for the next growing season. (Several exceptions: onions, parsley, lettuces, larkspur and delphinium do...
Store Extra Seed Properly
Many gardeners have asked how to store leftover, unused seeds. Renee's Garden seeds come to you with high germination rates, and most varieties will keep easily for the next growing season. (Several exceptions: onions, parsley, lettuces, larkspur and delphinium do...
Early Birds Don't Always Get the Worm
January seems the perfect time to start thinking about gardening. After all, the holidays are over, and planning next spring's bounty is a great way to boost your spirits. Nothing can pick you up more than envisioning all the fabulous...
Early Birds Don't Always Get the Worm
January seems the perfect time to start thinking about gardening. After all, the holidays are over, and planning next spring's bounty is a great way to boost your spirits. Nothing can pick you up more than envisioning all the fabulous...
How We Choose Our Seeds
At Renee's Garden, we offer varieties grown by seed producers both large and small from all over the world and make our selections only after careful evaluation in our own trial gardens. We do not carry treated seeds nor will...
How We Choose Our Seeds
At Renee's Garden, we offer varieties grown by seed producers both large and small from all over the world and make our selections only after careful evaluation in our own trial gardens. We do not carry treated seeds nor will...
Growing Tomatoes From Seed
If you love succulent tomatoes, mid-March to early April is the time to start your own plants from seed. It's the only way to have the very best tasting and old fashioned heirloom varieties which are not usually available as...
Growing Tomatoes From Seed
If you love succulent tomatoes, mid-March to early April is the time to start your own plants from seed. It's the only way to have the very best tasting and old fashioned heirloom varieties which are not usually available as...
How To Sow Baby Kale For Endless Salads
Lindsay Del Carlo, Trial Garden Manager, shows how to prepare the garden bed and sow baby kale.
How To Sow Baby Kale For Endless Salads
Lindsay Del Carlo, Trial Garden Manager, shows how to prepare the garden bed and sow baby kale.
Harvesting Baby Kale For Endless Salads
Lindsay Del Carlo, Trial Garden Manager, demonstrates how to cut baby kale for salad.
Harvesting Baby Kale For Endless Salads
Lindsay Del Carlo, Trial Garden Manager, demonstrates how to cut baby kale for salad.
Flowers For Cutting
Renee and P Allen Smith demo the many wonderful heirloom and cottage garden flowers for bouquets in Renee's own garden including Cosmos, Bishop's Lace, Devil's Tongue, Nigella, Larkspur, and a myriad of Morning Glories.
Flowers For Cutting
Renee and P Allen Smith demo the many wonderful heirloom and cottage garden flowers for bouquets in Renee's own garden including Cosmos, Bishop's Lace, Devil's Tongue, Nigella, Larkspur, and a myriad of Morning Glories.
Frequently Asked Questions: General Gardening
Days To Maturity: Seed packets indicate days to maturity for many varieties of seed. They are best used only as a general recommendation, because in our garden trials we have found that soil, weather, and cultural conditions can vary widely...
Frequently Asked Questions: General Gardening
Days To Maturity: Seed packets indicate days to maturity for many varieties of seed. They are best used only as a general recommendation, because in our garden trials we have found that soil, weather, and cultural conditions can vary widely...
Starting Seeds Indoors
Why Start Early? It's fun to experience the whole growing cycle as you watch baby seedlings grow into sturdy plants that bear delicious fruit and beautiful flowers. We often need to give plants a critical head start by germinating and...
Starting Seeds Indoors
Why Start Early? It's fun to experience the whole growing cycle as you watch baby seedlings grow into sturdy plants that bear delicious fruit and beautiful flowers. We often need to give plants a critical head start by germinating and...
Color Drenched Zinnias
Renee introduces the many colors and forms of zinnias you can grow from seed in your garden, attracting butterflies and providing summer long bouquets.
Color Drenched Zinnias
Renee introduces the many colors and forms of zinnias you can grow from seed in your garden, attracting butterflies and providing summer long bouquets.
Romantic Cosmos & Color Drenched Zinnias
Renee introduces the many beautiful colors and forms of easy to grow cosmos, attracting butterflies and providing summer long bouquets.
Romantic Cosmos & Color Drenched Zinnias
Renee introduces the many beautiful colors and forms of easy to grow cosmos, attracting butterflies and providing summer long bouquets.
Easy Growing From Seed
Renee demonstrates sowing seeds, tending your seedlings and enjoying the harvest.
Easy Growing From Seed
Renee demonstrates sowing seeds, tending your seedlings and enjoying the harvest.
Grow Baby Leaf Mesclun Lettuce
Renee demonstrates how to have great success growing baby leaf mesclun "spring mix" lettuces and greens from seed: how to sow seeds using the "cut and come again" method, tend seedlings, harvest so you get a second crop, and then...
Grow Baby Leaf Mesclun Lettuce
Renee demonstrates how to have great success growing baby leaf mesclun "spring mix" lettuces and greens from seed: how to sow seeds using the "cut and come again" method, tend seedlings, harvest so you get a second crop, and then...
Growing Great Scented Sweet Peas II
Renee discusses all the beautiful colors and forms of wonderfully fragrant heirloom sweet peas and how to grow them successfully and in abundance in your home garden.
Growing Great Scented Sweet Peas II
Renee discusses all the beautiful colors and forms of wonderfully fragrant heirloom sweet peas and how to grow them successfully and in abundance in your home garden.
Growing Fabulous Fragrant Sweet Peas
Renee shows you how to reliably grow armfuls of heavenly scented sweet peas from seed. Includes detailed planting tips for getting great germination, growing and training your twining vines, and how to get the best long blooming bouquets of blossoms.
Growing Fabulous Fragrant Sweet Peas
Renee shows you how to reliably grow armfuls of heavenly scented sweet peas from seed. Includes detailed planting tips for getting great germination, growing and training your twining vines, and how to get the best long blooming bouquets of blossoms.
Sweet Peas: Starting Early Indoors
When to start:Â In cold winter areas, sow in seed starting containers in early spring about 6-7 weeks before the last frost date, then plant out as soon as soil can be worked; sweet peas can handle light frosts. In mild...
Sweet Peas: Starting Early Indoors
When to start:Â In cold winter areas, sow in seed starting containers in early spring about 6-7 weeks before the last frost date, then plant out as soon as soil can be worked; sweet peas can handle light frosts. In mild...
Starting Tomato Seeds Indoors
Generally, the time to start your seeds is about 6- 8 weeks before the last expected spring frost date in your area, planting the seedlings outdoors about 2 weeks after that date. Another way to figure is to plan on...
Starting Tomato Seeds Indoors
Generally, the time to start your seeds is about 6- 8 weeks before the last expected spring frost date in your area, planting the seedlings outdoors about 2 weeks after that date. Another way to figure is to plan on...
Sowing Renee's Scatter Gardens
Here in our trial garden in central California, the fall rains have begun. Our climate (UDSA zone 8) is mild and, although we have had hard frost, the ground does not freeze in the winter. Many flowers that had gone...
Sowing Renee's Scatter Gardens
Here in our trial garden in central California, the fall rains have begun. Our climate (UDSA zone 8) is mild and, although we have had hard frost, the ground does not freeze in the winter. Many flowers that had gone...
Planting Your Cover Crop Scatter Garden
Cover crops are a beneficial and often necessary part of the seasonal garden to both protect and enhance garden soil. Cover cropping solves the problem of leaving garden soil bare during the winter when wind and rain and frost heaving...
Planting Your Cover Crop Scatter Garden
Cover crops are a beneficial and often necessary part of the seasonal garden to both protect and enhance garden soil. Cover cropping solves the problem of leaving garden soil bare during the winter when wind and rain and frost heaving...
Growing Your Endless Bouquet Garden
Lindsay Del Carlo shows how to prepare the bed, sow, thin, harvest and arrange your Endless Bouquet Flowers Scatter Garden.
Growing Your Endless Bouquet Garden
Lindsay Del Carlo shows how to prepare the bed, sow, thin, harvest and arrange your Endless Bouquet Flowers Scatter Garden.
Heirlooms and Hybrids
Growing delicious vegetables from seeds is one of the most rewarding of all gardening activities. We gardeners get started doing it with great anticipation and relish. Selecting seed varieties can be a little daunting because there are lots of choices....
Heirlooms and Hybrids
Growing delicious vegetables from seeds is one of the most rewarding of all gardening activities. We gardeners get started doing it with great anticipation and relish. Selecting seed varieties can be a little daunting because there are lots of choices....
Last Taste of Summer
The last long hot days of summer's end are special but always hectic. For the gardening cook, the results of all our labors are ready for daily harvesting, and often the abundance of fresh ripe vegetables and leafy herbs can...
Last Taste of Summer
The last long hot days of summer's end are special but always hectic. For the gardening cook, the results of all our labors are ready for daily harvesting, and often the abundance of fresh ripe vegetables and leafy herbs can...
Organic Seed Coating
Question: What is the white film coating on some of Certified Organic seed varieties like beets? Answer: Our Certified Organic seed producer developed this white film coating in response to requests from small growers. It serves to give naturally dark...
Organic Seed Coating
Question: What is the white film coating on some of Certified Organic seed varieties like beets? Answer: Our Certified Organic seed producer developed this white film coating in response to requests from small growers. It serves to give naturally dark...
Celebrate the Three Sisters: Corn, Beans and Squash
By Guest Author Alice Formiga According to Iroquois legend, corn, beans, and squash are three inseparable sisters who only grow and thrive together. This tradition of interplanting corn, beans and squash in the same mounds, widespread among Native American farming...
Celebrate the Three Sisters: Corn, Beans and Squash
By Guest Author Alice Formiga According to Iroquois legend, corn, beans, and squash are three inseparable sisters who only grow and thrive together. This tradition of interplanting corn, beans and squash in the same mounds, widespread among Native American farming...