By Diana Pierce | May 06, 2026 Plastic wrapped plants. Photo: Diana Pierce I visited a big box garden center recently and stopped cold. The shelves in the back of the garden area were jam-packed with plants, still in their shipping wraps. An employee told me more were arriving every day. Here’s what most shoppers don’t know: those plants were grown in warm-climate greenhouses and shipped north on a corporate timetable — not a Minnesota one. They’ve already been stressed by th

What Belinda Jensen Says Gardeners Get Wrong Every Year By Diana Pierce | April 29, 2026 Belinda Jensen and Bobby Jensen, a shot from "Grow with KARE." Photo: KARE-TV Some people do their job. Belinda Jensen stays to plant the flowers. You may know the resume: KARE 11 intern in 1989, the same station she had dreamed about since interviewing meteorologist Paul Douglas for a 10th grade term paper. Full-time in 1993. Chief meteorologist in 2005. And on Saturday, May 2nd, she wil

Not So Fast. By Diana Pierce | April 22, 2026 Spider plant at garden center. Photo: Diana Pierce Do you move your indoor plants outside? I never have. But I just learned from the University of Minnesota Extension that it might be one of the easiest ways to help them thrive. I’ve also been hearing from several of you recently: is it time to repot, refresh the soil, maybe move up a pot size? You’re already thinking about the season ahead, and that instinct is right on target. W

A Chat with Rhonda Fleming Hayes By Diana Pierce | April 15, 2026 If you’ve ever looked out at your garden and thought, “I just can’t keep up like I used to,” you’re not alone. However, you’re not done either. You have options. That’s the uplifting message at the heart of a new book by Minneapolis garden writer and photographer Rhonda Fleming Hayes. Rhonda Fleming Hayes is a Minneapolis-based garden writer, photographer, and author of Pollinator Friendly Gardening . Her new b

Plants That Hold a People Together By Diana Pierce | April 8, 2026 May Lee with her daughters, Mhonpaj and Zongxee Lee. One generation holds the knowledge. The next is carrying it forward—in the field, at the market, and now on the page. Photo: Lindsey Miller The first time Zongxee Lee lost a plant teacher, she realized too late that the knowledge had never been written down. It was 2016, and two grandmothers had passed away in the same period, each of them carrying decades o

Are you grabbing the wrong bag? Diana Pierce | April 1, 2026 Three very different products. Left: Bachman’s Garden Soil, for planting beds and in-ground use. Center: Espoma Organic Potting Mix, the right choice for containers. Right: Bachman’s Potting Soil, formulated for containers despite the confusing name. The labels tell the story. Photo: Diana Pierce I’ll be honest. I’ve stood in the garden center aisle, staring at a wall of bags, and grabbed whatever looked right. Pot

Plus: Why you need to stop filling the bottom of your pots with rocks By Diana Pierce | March 25th, 2026 Colorful pots waiting for your plants at a garden center. Photo: Diana Pierce Some of us are still waiting to start a few seeds indoors. Others are still waiting for the snow to melt before we can even begin to envision what this year’s garden might look like. And then there are container gardeners like me, staring at last season’s empty pots and wondering: what can I do d

Meet Minnesota's Most Mysterious Orchid. By Diana Pierce | March 18th, 2026 Photographed in a University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum lab. This is possibly one of the first studio portraits ever made of this federally endangered species. Photo: Diana Pierce Something rare happened recently inside a University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum laboratory. A Western Prairie Fringed Orchid bloomed. That may not sound like breaking news. But for David Remucal, PhD, Delores E.

When containers are empty, the possibilities are endless. By Diana Pierce | March 11, 2026 Hosta shoot or “nose.” Photo: Diana Pierce I did a double take this weekend. That tiny hosta shoot (or “nose”) next to my front door, maybe a quarter to a half inch tall, was already pushing through the rock bed and snow. I wasn’t expecting to see it. But in my recent conversation with Hennepin County Master Gardener Theresa Rooney, she says go look now — right now — and you just might

Starting Seeds the Minnesota Way By Diana Pierce | March 4th, 2026 Seed tray waiting to be planted. Photo: Laura Irish-Hanson My news feeds are full of them right now. Seed starting guides. Gorgeous photos of seedlings under grow lights . “Start these 10 vegetables today!” I scroll past and think: not yet. Not yet. Our last frost dates don’t care about the calendar on our phone or what’s working in Georgia right now. Then the next headline catches me. “You should have started

The Smell of Soil is Nature’s Medicine By Diana Pierce | February 25, 2026 Shallow Dish Terrarium, Heidi’s GrowHaus. Photo: Diana Pierce There’s something quietly rebellious about growing things in February. Outside, the ground is frozen and the forecast is stubbornly wintry. But inside Heidi’s GrowHaus, Owner Heidi Heiland is inviting you to dig in anyway — literally. Her upcoming terrarium workshop is part hands-on class, part creative experience, and part midwinter therapy

Michelle Bruhn's Companion Planting Secrets By Diana Pierce | February 18, 2026 Michelle’s Backyard Companion Planting. Photo: Michelle Bruhn Every good party needs the right guest list—and your garden is no different. Michelle Bruhn from Forks in the Dirt is speaking at the Minneapolis Home & Garden Show (Feb 27-28) about companion planting, and she’ll tell you exactly which flowers your vegetables want sitting next to them (and why it matters more than you think). I sat do

A Late-Winter Porch Container Recipe By Diana Pierce | February 11, 2026 The finished late-winter porch pot at my front door — created with horticulturist Duane Otto. Photo by Scott Bemman Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but spring feels like a distant promise here in Minnesota. We’re entering a familiar stretch of winter that I like to call our “Muted North,” a term that captures the subdued colors of our landscape during this time. As we drive around, we see a lo

Inside the Arb's water-themed spring show that transports you Up North . By Diana Pierce | February 4, 2026 Lake Itasca Mural and Sign. Photo: Diana Pierce The Arboretum’s Spring Flower Show has always been beautiful. But this year, it’s immersive in a new way – reconnecting visitors with Minnesota’s Up North landscape and all the sensory memories that come with it. Scent, sound, sight – everything works together. The moment you walk in, you’re hit with the fragrance of daff

Val-o-ween 2026: Why This Is the Most Expensive Tulip Year in Decades By Diana Pierce, January 28, 2026 Inside the tulip growing greenhouse, Len Busch Roses. Photo: Diana Pierce Inside the floral industry, Valentine’s Day has earned a nickname: Val-o-ween. Like Halloween for candy retailers, it’s the single most critical sales window of the year—except it happens in the dead of winter, when nearly every risk in flower production can converge at once. In 2026, those risks are

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 By Diana Pierce Fuschia Phalaenopsis Orchids. Photo: Diana Pierce Winter has a way of lingering in Minnesota—gray skies, bitter cold, snowbanks that refuse to budge. If you’re craving something alive and colorful right now, orchids might be exactly what you need. Despite their reputation for being finicky, orchids are far more adaptable than most people think. Their blooms can last for months, and many return year after year if conditions are right

6 Smart Steps Northern Gardeners Need to Know Before Ordering by Diana Pierce, January 14, 2026 Seed Display Case, Bachman’s. Photo: Diana Pierce January is when the seeds displays go up and seed catalogs start arriving. I don’t know about you but I get that familiar feeling of wanting everything . If winter feels endless and this wall of seed packets suddenly looks like hope, you are not alone. Before you start circling everything in the catalogs, I talked with Master Garden

Expert Do’s and Don’ts from the University of Minnesota Extension By Diana Pierce, Jan. 7th, 2026 Kalanchoe rainbow of colors at garden center. Photo: Diana Pierce Winter is tough on indoor plants. It’s not because we’re doing everything wrong, but because light, humidity, and routines quietly change after the holidays. Drooping leaves, pale growth, or plants that seem “stuck” are common winter signals, not failures. To help make sense of these winter signals, I turned to Lau

Your most-loved stories of 2025 + plants to watch in 2026 By Diana Pierce, December 31, 2025 On this last day of 2025, I keep thinking about unexpected moments — the ones that arrive without announcement and change everything that follows. The moment a peony found its name-”Angelic Diana.” Photo: Keith Swenson Within moments of standing near this peony, with my camera in hand, Keith Swenson, owner of Swenson Peony Gardens, turned to me and said, “We should name it Angelic Dia

A quiet Christmas Eve note, and a song shared with you. By Diana Pierce, December 24, 2025 Christmas Eve doesn’t look the same for everyone. Some are gathering. Some are traveling. Some are staying close to home. Many of you know me through flowers and gardens and perhaps news reporting. But fewer know that singing has always been another way I share a story. Today, if you’d like a quiet moment, I wanted to offer this: my recording of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas ..