By Tamara Galbraith

Want to have your own pumpkins by Halloween? If you're planting from seed, ya better get busy, partner.

Most pumpkin varieties - even the miniature types - take anywhere from 95-120 days, so mid-July is already a little late for growing the really big pumpkins. But there are many hybrids which grow quickly and produce lots of fruit in a shorter period of time.

'Racer,' 'Expert,' 'Charisma,' and 'Rocket,' just to name a few, are each vigorous pumpkin cultivars that mature in under 100 days. All pumpkins are extremely heavy feeders; plant two or three seeds in a small hill that has been liberally amended with compost, such as Gardner & Bloome Harvest Supreme, and you're off to a good start.

Lastly, if you're a fan of roasted pumpkin seed there are some Austrian types, like the green-blotched 'Kakai,' that yield absolutely delicious seeds along with valuable green pumpkin seed oil that some studies have shown to promote prostate health.

By Tamara Galbraith

So, when is a sweet potato not a yam? When it's an Ipomoea batatas, that's when.

The beautiful vines produced by Ipomoea batatas--aka sweet potato vine--have long been enjoyed by gardeners as a heat-loving, trailing tropical plant especially suited for hanging basket culture. Sweet potato vine also now comes in several different foliage colors, from a chartreuse-yellow to a burgundy-red to a near-black purple. Alternating the colors in a mass bed planting creates a terrific look. There is also a lovely variegated tricolor type.

Although the sweet potato vine is a non-flowering annual grown from a tuber, it is a cousin of the morning glory, which should tell you something about its vigor: give it plenty of room.

Sweet potato vines are easily propagated either from pieces of the leaf or the vine, or by dividing the new tubers created in the ground each season.

But whatever you do, don't dig up the tubers expecting to serve them at Thanksgiving dinner - they are incredibly bitter and not for eating. Just enjoy the foliage!

by Tamara Galbraith

When turning your compost pile, be aware of some of the creatures you may come across in the process. Believe it or not, most of them are helping to break down your pile and doing other good deeds. Geckos, pillbugs, earwigs and beetles are keeping your compost free of pests and creating vital air spaces within your pile at the same time.

One creature you may find alarming - either in larval or adult form - is the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens). The gray/brown, 1" long segmented larva just loves compost piles. And, for reasons scientists are still trying to understand, the soldier fly larva seems to inhibit house fly larval development, which has proven to be a good thing for many farmers and livestock breeders with manure management issues.

Adult soldier flies do not bite or sting and are completely harmless to humans. They have an elongated black, fly-like body, but are not particularly good fliers. When not munching on manure or organic material, they generally like to rest on a sunny area, moving their crisscrossed wings in a quick, flitting manner.

Give these little guys a break; they may star in their own CSI series someday. According to the Journal of Forensic Sciences, investigators are sometimes assisted in postmortem estimates based on black soldier fly activity around discovered remains.

By Tamara Galbraith

Ok, hold up a trowel if you know what USDA Hardiness Zone you're in.

As a gardener, knowing your zone is one of the most basic and important pieces of information you can possess. Your hardiness zone tells you what kinds of plants grow well in your area, and when to plant, according to your climate.

Originally developed in 1960, the USDA Hardiness Zone Map divides North America into 11 separate zones. There are also two 'subzones,' labeled "a" and "b" within zones 2 through 10. The map is divided based on the average annual minimum temperature range, by increments of 5 degrees.

For example, the average yearly minimum temp for zone 8a is 10-15° F. The average yearly minimum temp for zone 8b is 15-20° F.

So, when you read a description for a plant that says it grows in Zones 3-8, and you know you're in Zone 7, it is likely the plant will do well in your neck of the woods.

The rules can be bent in either direction. You can create heated "micro-climates" in your landscape (a south-facing sunny site against a brick wall, for example) and artificially raise your zone a whole step. Conversely, warm climate gardeners can put a plant that prefers cooler temps in complete shade, in some cases.

Of course, other cultural and environmental issues contribute to your plants' well-being, so while the USDA Hardiness Zone map is a great tool, it is not foolproof and should be looked at as only a guide. Several U.S. states also have their own hardiness maps, called the Sunset Western Climate Zones, which are much more detailed. The American Horticultural Society also recently came out with a Heat Zone Map, sort of the opposite of the USDA Hardiness Zone map. The Heat Zone Map bases the zones on the average number of days each year that a given region experiences temperatures over 86° F.

Confused by all these zones and maps? Yeah, me too sometimes. But being a good gardener means also being an educated gardener. In addition to your local nursery experts, several sources out on the Web will tell you all you need to know about your area and the plants that do well there.

Web Sources:
USDA Zone Map
Heat Zone Map