Help track and admire your garden in a journal

Sometimes you start something for one reason, and several years later, you do it for another. In my first years of gardening, I enjoyed making a color-coded garden drawing of what I was planting in different areas and beds simply for funsies. I have an affinity for colorful craft supplies, especially Sharpies^™, which was part of it. I also like to rotate my garden beds; this was an easy way to check to see if I was rotating everything evenly each year.

Now that I’m a wee bit older, I find that if I don’t map out and document my entire garden and list exactly what I grew and where, there is practically zero chance I will remember. Growing dahlias has meant I have another thing I have to track carefully because once a tuber is planted in the ground, you have no way of knowing what variety it is unless you find a way to mark it.

Garden journals are practical + fun

I teach a quarterly crafty class at my local library, and last year I had the idea to help participants create garden journals. I used it specifically to show what I was planting in each garden bed and the varieties of dahlias I’d grown so I could remember what each was when I dug them up in the fall.

Other ideas I encouraged the class to include in the journal pages were different groups of companion plants and lists of plants to avoid placing together.I’ll be honest, this was more for me because sometimes that information just leaves my brain even though I’ve researched it one thousand times.

Over the winter, I started learning to paint with watercolor. While I stared out over my cold, dead backyard garden, I set up in the dining room and painted small 3x3-inch squares of my garden in full bloom. They didn’t turn out half bad, and I pasted a few of them into my journal as well.

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A new creative outlet

I have a list of ideas I plan to include next year. For example, I recently watched a lovely video about how to press tiny flowers, and I think they would be a perfect addition for my garden journal next spring. I also thought about making a fun collage from the seed packets I use, especially if I try a few new heirloom seeds.

And now that my honey and I have our new sitting area and fire pit in the garden completed and our children are mostly out of the house, I plan to sit out back with a cocktail and do some journal writing because what the heck else am I going to do with all this free time? Grab a notebook and join me!

True or false? Jamie loves to collect journals and special notebooks almost as much as she loves to write in them. True... but I don’t see how that is any of your business!

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From beefsteak and compact trailing tomatoes to pint-sized options for patios and small spaces, these fresh 2026 vegetable and fruit introductions are a feast for the eyes and palate.

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‘Baby Jack’ eggplant (Solanum melongena)

If you don’t have a lot of garden space, this pint-sized eggplant is just what you need. Grow it in containers or the ground for a plentiful harvest of deep purple 2- to 3-ounce fruits 58 to 62 days from transplant. ‘Baby Jack’ is good for grilling, roasting or stir-fry.

Type: Annual
Best features: Compact high-yield plants that produce deep purple fruits; deer-resistant 
Light: Full sun
Size: 22 in. tall, 19 in. wide
Introducer:Syngenta^® Flowers
Source: Local garden centers

Sugar Basket Orange cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

While this determinate cherry tomato grows happily in the ground or in containers, it has a slightly trailing habit that makes it great for hanging baskets too. You’ll have plenty of bright orange cherry tomatoes to keep salads and other meals colorful and flavorful.

Type: Annual
Best features: A plentiful harvest of small orange tomatoes and a trailing habit; deer-resistant
Light: Full sun
Size: 12 to 18 in. tall and wide
Introducer:Burpee Home Gardens
Source: Local garden centers

Easy as Pie^® bush cherry (Prunus x)

Pretty and flavorful, this compact shrub is covered in white flowers that pollinators love in spring and later produces tart red cherries, which you can preserve or use in baking.

Type: Shrub
Best features: Compact plant with lovely spring blooms and later produces tart red cherries
Light: Full sun
Size: 36 to 54 in. tall and wide
Cold hardy: USDA zones 3 to 8
Introducer:Proven Winners^®
Source:Garden Crossings, 616-875-6355

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Sign Up for The Proven Winners New Plant Sweepstakes Here!

Unity beefsteak tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

These 8- to 12-ounce beefsteak tomatoes with a mild flavor are a great way to dress up your sandwich or salad. Plants are smaller for an indeterminate tomato, so you won’t be wrangling unwieldy long stems into a cage, and the fruit is early — you’ll be harvesting 70 days after transplanting your seedlings.

Type: Annual
Best features: Lots of early red tomatoes for your sandwiches and salads; deer-resistant
Light: Full sun
Size: 5 to 6 ft. tall and wide
Introducer & Source:Johnny’s Selected Seeds, 877-564-6697  

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I find it fascinating that each vegetable has its own unique way of growing. For example, as baby eggplants grow, it seems impossible that the rather spindly plant can support the weight of multiple eggplants. But Mother Nature somehow allows it to work, even though it basically defies the laws of gravity.

One vegetable blows my mind year after year. It’s almost comical how effortless it is to grow. In fact, the rapid speed at which the leaves come back thicker and fuller after you cut them weirdly reminds me of the old wives’ tale my mom told me in seventh grade when I begged to start shaving my legs.

Can we talk about leaf lettuce for a hot second?

I love growing leaf lettuce because we eat a lot of it, and having less organic produce to buy for a few months makes a decent difference on my grocery bill. Plus, homegrown just tastes better.

Lettuce is a plant that boosts your confidence as a gardener. It grows relatively quickly, which is always a bonus after a long winter when you’re excited to get your hands dirty and see the fruits of your labor in just a few short weeks. When those first minuscule leaves pop up in the perfect lines you sowed them in (unless like me, you have a punk chipmunk who lives in your yard and likes to jack up your neatly planted beds), it almost brings a tear of pride and joy to your eyeballs.

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And the leaves really start to grow. So, you cut and eat lettuce. But you only cut enough for dinner because you don’t want to cut it all at once. You want to save some for dinner tomorrow night too. This, friends, is where it starts to get hilarious. Because somehow, some way, every single time you cut yourself a big harvest of lettuce, before you know it, there is it again… fully grown in all its green lettuce glory!

Now, maybe you’re like me and look around for the neighbor who is replanting grown lettuce in the night to pull the prank of all pranks. But no. It’s just how quickly lettuce grows. You eat it today, and tomorrow there is more. Heck, it’s probably grown back before your dinner is even over.

The lettuce magic fades...

This is cute and adorable until you’ve eaten salad for 47 straight days and given away a bale of lettuce daily to each of your neighbors, and the lettuce is still growing. It gets a little less funny and magical at this point, so you finally let it go to seed and thank Mother Nature for the hot temperatures that will make it harder for lettuce to grow.

Until fall, of course. By then, you’ve forgotten how lettuce works, and you get excited about never-ending lettuce again. Bless our hearts. 

Give Jamie the biggest chef’s salad with all the veggies, homemade croutons and ranch dressing in a lovely antique mixing bowl with a pickle on the side, and she’s a happy camper. Check out her salads and more about her garden on Instagram @JamieSeitzAuthor.

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You know the song “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” by Paul Simon? Just slip out the back, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan. No need to be coy, Roy. It’s a catchy ditty!

What if we wrote 50 Ways to Repurpose Your Christmas Tree because we’re all too sad to let it go after December comes and goes? Honestly, there may not be exactly 50 ways to repurpose that lovely pine, but then again, Paul Simon only gave us 5 ways to leave a lover.

Sing it with me, friends.

Drag it outside for a natural bird feeder, strung with nuts and berries, Gary. Plain popcorn is good, too! Lop off branches and use as décor, Lenore. Put those empty summer planters to good use on your front porch. Save and stake garden plants with a branch, Blanche. Use it in your garden for a bird and critter habitat, Uncle Pat.

We’re having fun now! Verse two coming up…

Add pine sprigs, cranberries, cinnamon, and orange slices to water in a winter boiling pot, Scott. I promise these make excellent holiday gifts if you put them in a pretty bag with a ribbon. Steep yourself a mug of pine needle tea, Bea. Or dry out some pine needle potpourri, Lori. Use the dry branches as an outside fire pit starter, Carter. (Be careful, though! Dry branches have a real spark to them!)

We’re on a roll…

Edge your garden with the trunk, Hunk. Burn the logs in the fireplace, Grace. Who doesn’t love the smell of Christmas for months afterward? And save those ashes because pine tree ashes make healthy feed for your garden bed, Ted. Use the trimmed boughs for a wreath, Heath. Make a bonfire outside, Clyde. (not for the city folks!)

Bring it home now!

Mulch outside using the needles of pine, Mr. Klein. Slice the trunk into discs for coasters or Christmas tree decoration gifts, Griff. I can personally recommend this one! The Seitz family saves a disk of our tree trunk every year to become an ornament for next year. Just drill a hole in the top, and add the date with a marker and a festive ribbon. Voila! Sentimental and adorable! Cut into wood chips, Phillip. Donate it to a wildlife sanctuary, Larry.

Friends, should I follow my oldest child’s path and become a singer/songwriter with this gem? If writing books doesn’t pan out, I may have options. Happy Holidays!

Jamie and her family have been saving their Christmas trees for seven years and have tried many of these ideas. One she hasn’t tried is pine needle tea. Maybe this winter, Jamie will brew a cup?

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Since I’m not a millionaire and cannot afford to create the garden of my dreams in one fell swoop, I have to abide by the “a little at a time” rule. Every year I add just one (or three) more thing(s) to my garden. Some years, it’s fresh mulch or a slightly expanded flower bed. Other years, I’ve added a flowering bush or a fruit tree.

The newest additions last spring were two wildflower beds filled with a beautiful mix of cosmos and zinnias, marking my first time growing either flower. But my family surprised me with another wonderful garden surprise for Mother’s Day, a lovely cedar arbor to grace the entrance of my garden. She sits between our perfectly imperfect, chipped white picket fence — which keeps the rhubarb and hibiscus from infringing too far into the yard — and the new stone patio and fire pit area we put in last fall.

An arbor has been on my wish list for a while now, but I was slightly particular about it. It needed to be wood, preferably, and not too ornate. The simpler, the better, but it had to be sturdy enough to last. I wanted it to have a similar vibe to the raised garden beds, but not so matchy-matchy that I would be tired of it in a year. Sounds simple . . . right? No. My honey had his work cut out for him to find the exact right arbor, but he found the ideal one!

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Designing around my new arbor

Just before my third kid graduated from high school, we installed it. That naturally led to staining the cedar on the garden beds to match the arbor and beautifying with fresh mulch. Now it just needed a gorgeous something climbing up and over it. I may or may not have an obsession with recreating an English garden in my backyard, so I did some research on what I could theoretically adorn my new arbor with in my growing zone. Wisteria? Clematis? What I settled on was a hardy climbing rose that I shouldn’t have to winterize here in Iowa. It was the perfect growing season for this rose, and within three months, it had already tripled in size and climbed three-quarters of the way up the arbor.

July in the garden was simply stunning this year. The veggies and herbs were plentiful, and the wildflowers at the back of the garden took center stage while we waited for the first dahlias to bloom. The climbing rose produced tiny fuchsia buds the size of raspberries that matched the color of the hibiscus on the opposite side of the arbor. Coneflower, salvia and lemon balm filled the garden with color, delicious smells and pollinators galore.

Next year’s new addition is a buttery yellow hibiscus, already planted, so it can get an early start in spring!

Jamie’s love for English gardens is so strong that she even wrote it into her book, Weight of Water, released in 2024. If she ever manages to add a greenhouse to her existing garden space, she may never come back indoors again.

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After a long, luxurious summer season on the patio, the saddest day in a house plant’s life is when it is dragged back indoors before the first frost. I imagine it’s similar to how I feel when forced to return from vacation. All I want to do is lounge under a beach umbrella and live my best life, like the indirect-sun-loving monstera that I am, when all that’s waiting at home for me is laundry and dinner chores. (And my kids, of course.)

I’m empathetic to each house plant’s inevitable winter depression. After all, even the sunniest spot in your home is still substantially darker than the shadiest spot outdoors. So, when they wilt in spirit, I wilt. I understand that when their soil dries out more quickly, it’s because the furnace is on. (The amount of lotion I use in winter is embarrassing.) But I have less compassion when it comes to one thing: the bugs.

Are bugs inevitable?

Although I know in my heart that insects are a part of nature and life, I despise the creepy-crawly pests that come in each fall. Every summer, I promise myself I will be proactive about debugging the house plants. But the first frost almost always sneaks up on me, and I call my entire family to line up like a fire brigade to help me get the plants indoors before they die.

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A new approach to debugging plants

But last fall, I was on it. First, I filled a large tub with 9 parts water and 1 part gentle dish soap. Then I dunked each plant in the tub one by one, soaking the entire pot and as many of the leaves as would fit. After all the plants had been dunked, I sprayed them well with water, carefully rinsing the leaves’ undersides to remove any excess soap or well-hidden critters. Later, after they had dried, I sprayed each house plant down with neem oil before bringing them into the sunroom to acclimate. What a responsible plant owner I am!

I’ll be honest: With the ridiculous number of house plants I have, this process took a bit of time. But I had far fewer insects making a break for it in my house than in years past, and every plant was happy to get a good soak and bath after a long summer outside. Maybe next year I’ll invite some friends and make a party out of it. Who wants to join me?

One of Jamie’s biggest flexes is that her two adult children have become proud plant parents. Nothing is more satisfying than chatting about propagation stations and hitting up a new plant store with your kids while visiting them.

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Illustration generated with Adobe Firefly from the prompt, “a monstera house plant soaking in a galvanized washtub"

Last year, I planted, grew, harvested, dug up, organized, wintered, woke up and replanted more than a dozen varieties of dahlias. At each step of the process, I was mentored, but I was so nervous that I would mess it up, especially learning how to separate and winterize dahlia tubers. What if I ruined them all when I tried to separate them? Or what if I went to all the trouble of winterizing and none of the tubers survived in my basement? The stress was real! But if I can do it, so can you.

Tips for saving dahlia tubers over winter

First, my dahlias were blooming well into November, which for zone 5 is very late — bonkers, really. As much as I wanted to have just one more bouquet, I reluctantly chopped them down and left them for a week before digging them up.

Then, I spent the better part of two days carefully and diligently snipping them apart. Each tuber clump could have as many as 10 tubers, but not all would make viable plants next year. I checked each for an intact neck, a solid body and what I hoped would become an eye.

Next came the painstaking process of keeping them all organized and separated by dahlia variety so I didn’t mix them up. This was my favorite part because creating an organized system is my love language. I stored them in plastic shoebox containers filled with vermiculite, neatly labeled.

Finally, I had to decide where to store them to keep them at a steady temperature and where none of my rascal cats would try to get into them. A cool, dark spot that doesn’t freeze but doesn’t get too warm either isn’t the easiest thing to come by in a 113-year-old house. The closet shelves under the basement steps ended up being the best bet, and they stayed there, out of sight and out of mind, until it was time to wake them.

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Anticipation for spring

I can’t tell you how nervous I was to open those boxes in the spring. But lo and behold, most tubers survived and showed signs of new growth! I lovingly switched out the vermiculite for potting soil for a few weeks until they were ready to plant.

Friends, we did it. We’re true dahlia farmers now! I can’t wait to hear about your success stories.

Jamie successfully grew and harvested 8 varieties of dahlias the first year. She replanted those and added 10 new varieties in her second year. Photos to come!

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If you ever wander over to my backyard while I am outside gardening, you will most certainly hear music playing and me singing along at the top of my lungs. Gardening, yard work and music all go together like popcorn and butter and peanut M&M's. In fact, I’m not even sure I would still enjoy gardening if there was no music to play in the background. There is no better feeling than dirty hands, the sun on your shoulders, bare feet (although you know I can’t do this anymore, and I’ve put on sandals) and some tunes playing loudly nearby.

I’ve got a Bluetooth speaker that connects to my phone and plays whatever I feel in the mood for that day. Fleetwood Mac or Billy Joel are always good choices if I’m looking for something classic. Taylor Swift was my number-one artist on Spotify last year, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Whatever my heart desires can be blaring from the speaker with the tap of a finger on my phone.

Going old-school

But if I’m feeling particularly noncommittal, my favorite thing is to drag the ancient silver boom box from the garage that looks EXACTLY like the one Lloyd Dobler held above his head in Say Anything. All I have to do is prop it up on the edge of the garden bed and spend five precarious minutes adjusting the finicky dial to my favorite oldies station on the radio. I’ll be honest, the “oldies” station regularly plays the tunes of the 80s and 90s, which feels a little rude because I’m not THAT old. However, they are my jams from high school and college, and it’s always a treat to take a walk down memory lane.

Weeding, pruning and replanting (because the chipmunks and rabbits have eaten what I planted the weeks before) to the nostalgic tunes of my very first concert, Boyz II Men, or “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane, the theme song of my senior year of high school, makes it all worth it. It’s like musical roulette. Who knows what I’ll hear next while I thin out the carrots?

Motivational tunes

I’m sure my neighbors heard me singing along to Van Morrison last fall while I dug my dahlia tubers out of the ground. Hall and Oates, James Taylor, and the Indigo Girls make excellent sing-along companions for pruning back tomato plants and weeding spring lettuce and spinach. I prefer the late 80s power ballads of Richard Marx and Bryan Adams for heavier jobs like mulching, edging beds, or transplanting hostas. A good pop mix goes a long way for the days I have a random bunch of jobs to do, like cleaning out the shed. The upbeat music keeps me moving and motivated.

Music bribery

When I make my kids come outside to help in the yard, it’s often part of the bribe that I let them choose the music. Thankfully, my kids have good taste, and I enjoy at least 75 percent of the bands they make me listen to. If you wander past my yard in the fall, when it’s time to rake the leaves, you’ll definitely hear more Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and The 1975.

Listen to my garden playlist!

My gift to you this year is a link to one of my many Spotify Gardening Playlists! Check it out here:Jamie’s Gardening Playlist on Spotify.

Does Jamie mind the audience while she’s singing and gardening? Nah. She loves a good karaoke night and is overly confident in her ability to hold a tune.

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How to identify septoria leaf spot on tomato plants

At first, it’s just a few speckled leaves near the bottom of the plant — nothing to worry about, right? But soon, tan-to-gray circular spots spread, leaves turn yellow and drop, and your once-lush tomato plant starts to look bare as it struggles to produce fruit.

What causes it

Septoria leaf spot is caused by the fungus Septoria lycopersici, which infects the leaves, not fruit, of tomato plants. As the disease progresses, it moves upward, weakening the plant and reducing fruit production. The fungus thrives in warm, humid conditions and spreads when rain or overhead watering splashes fungal spores from infected soil or plant debris onto lower leaves. Insects, garden tools or even your shoes or pant legs can carry the infection from plant to plant.

How to solve septoria leaf spot

• Good airflow is key: Follow recommended spacing guidelines, and stake or cage tomatoes to improve circulation.
• Keep leaves dry by watering at the base of the plant and pruning lower leaves to prevent contact with the soil.
• Adding a layer of mulch helps prevent spores from splashing onto foliage during rain.
• At the first sign of infection, remove affected leaves immediately to slow the spread.
• At the end of the season, clean up all plant debris and rotate crops to prevent spores from overwintering in the soil.

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How to identify tomato leaf curl

Tomato leaves should be broad and vibrant, but sometimes they take a turn — rolling inward, twisting at the edges or looking oddly crinkled. Leaf curling (or leaf roll) can be puzzling, leaving you wondering whether it’s a sign of trouble or just a temporary setback.

What causes it

Leaf curling is a sign of stress, not disease, and symptoms typically appear first on lower, older leaves. It often shows up as the season shifts from the cooler weather of spring to the hot, dry conditions of summer. During extreme heat, 90 degrees F and above, tomato plants curl their leaves naturally to conserve moisture. Inconsistent watering — too much, too little, or irregular schedules — can also cause leaves to curl as plants struggle to regulate water intake. Indeterminate varieties tend to be more prone to leaf curl than determinate varieties.

How to solve tomato leaf curl

The best ways to prevent leaf curling are consistent watering and planting varieties less prone to leaf curl and heat stress, such as ‘Solar Flare’ or ‘Florida 91’. An application of mulch will help retain moisture and regulate soil temperature. And you can provide temporary shade during extreme heat waves (above 90 degrees F) to give plants a break from the intense sun.

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