Gardening season is here! Whether you have a cutting garden, an herb bed, are putting in a vegetable garden or just have general landscaping around your home, this is the time it all comes to life.

It starts with bulbs and soon it will be colorful and lush. Today I’m sharing some of the best products I have found in my 40 years of gardening, and why they are so great!

Click on images for links to products.

Collapsible rakes are great for tight spaces in the garden and you can adjust the teeth to rake smaller or larger items. When collapsed, they are easier to carry around with you.

These are 4 ft tall stakes for taller, heavier plants. You can use a permanent marker to label the plant and the hammer them in. Do it before you plant your plant, so you won’t injure it. They are really sturdy and you just use twine or velcro plant ties to tie your plant to them.

Another great collapsible item. And it has a hard plastic bottom so you can drag it if it becomes too heavy and awkward to carry when full. These come in smaller sizes too.

Velcro plant tape - just cut to the length you need and it safely and easily connects your plant to your stake.

If you have deer, bunnies, squirrels or any kind of critter that is eating your plants, these are wonderful. They are attractive too. They work very very well. You can also buy extenders to make them bigger, when your plant grows. I love them. This is the only way I can have hosta.

These are also great for peonies and larger or taller plants. You can get all different shapes and sizes of these grow thru rings and they work well.

These are great for peonies, tall floppy plants, bushes that you want to tame a bit. They look cool too. They are not too expensive and last 2-3 seasons.

I have used these in my herb bed for passionflower vine and in a garden bed for clematis. They work well and are attractive. They are powder coated with black paint. After a few years, they will start to show rust - I just hit it with black Rustoleum paint and they are good as new.

I’ve had one of these edgers for years. It’s a great contraption I found at my local hardware store. It makes a perfect edge for new beds and can re-establish an old one that has flattened out.

I have an old Smith & Hawkin tote that Whitten and Chip gave me. When it falls apart, I might try this one.

I have several of these and use them to house open bags or large amounts of birdseed. They work well to keep critters out of it. But they seem to be outrageously expensive now, so I didn’t include a link. If I was going to get another, I would hunt in town, and wait for the prices to possibly come down.

My best home-made weed killer.

It won’t work for invasive things or hard to kill groundcover. But for your average weeds, it’s great. Let it sit for a few hours before you use it. Here it is…

• 1 gallon vinegar

• 2 cups epsom salts

• 1/4 cup Dawn detergent

My favorite small clippers for dead heading and cutting flowers and foliage for arrangements.

These are my favorite shears. I have had them for years. You can clean and sharpen them, and you can find some parts for them. Felco #9.

The best trowel I’ve used. It’s a nice one from Terrain, but I’ve had it for five or six years and will have it forever. Very sharp and light.

The best weeder. Very sharp, very easy. I get a new one every 3 or 4 years, when the point rounds off and the edge dulls.

This is my favorite kneeling pad. It works well and lasts forever.

I have several garden hats, but this one gets the most use. It’s been around forever - you might have one! It comes in lot of colors and is washable.

I also have a pair of these on hand for when I am doing some heavy planting or digging. These are heavier and more durable than the weeding gloves.

These are my best weeding gloves. They are from a company run by women. Great value and quality. I wash them and they last a good long while.

This is a smaller hose pot that I painted to match the house. It sits near the front walk, so you can see it in front of the house. It’s been there probably 15 years. Still looks great.

This is my huge hose pot in the back of the house. It fits 150’ of hose. I’ve had this one for years too. It has held up well and has a nice patina to it now. This exact one has sold out, but I linked a very similar one.

This company, Campania International, has nice things too, and are featured on Wayfair. But they have become pricey even there. The prices on these things are crazy now. I’m not sure where to send you! I usually look in town, but don’t find great stuff and end up online. There is a great place with beautiful pots, in Charlottesville and I’m headed there tomorrow for the day with friends. I will report back!

This is my best large planter. It’s 24” and very big. This vendor is hard to find online, so if I needed a new one, I would look for retailers near me. Orlandi Statuary. One King’s Lane has them but they are really pricey there. I paint these to have a verdigris finish…

I love these sweet terracotta pot feet for my pots.

This is the arbor I have currently. I am limited because of the size I need. It’s less than 4 feet. I bought and replaced cedar ones for years and I just got tired of the cost and work to replace them. This one is holding up well and looks good. And it was very reasonable.

This is the trellis I have over my garage, with a climbing rose on it. It has held up really well and the rose is going crazy, so it’s pretty sturdy.

My Best Success Ordering Plant Material…

I try to buy everything locally, but sometimes you can’t find what you want. When that is the case, here’s where I go to find what I’m looking for…

• White Flower Farm

• John Scheepers - bulbs

• Eden Brothers

• Spring Hill Nursery

• Wayside Gardens

Problem solvers

Allium Bulbs. I love Globemaster and Christophii. These are reliable and add interest and beauty to the garden. Nothing will bother them and they are amazing when dried for arrangements or containers.

Lemongrass. A tiny $5 plant gets as big as a large bush by the end of the growing season. It is an annual in VA - Zone 7. It keeps away mosquitoes and nothing will touch it. It’s a great space filler and makes your space look lush.

Lambs Ear. The kind that doesn’t bloom - it’s grown for it’s foliage and is textured so that nothing will bother it and it’s relatively easy to grow. It’s great foliage for arrangements also.

Periwinkle. This delicate ground cover grows quickly, is not prone to disease and fills in spaces instead of mulch or rocks. A pretty backdrop for all your shrubs and trees. In the spring, you can’t beat the pretty purple blooms with your bright bulbs. Magical.

Coleus. These come in all colors, shapes and sizes. They are great annuals to fill holes in your beds and are really great in containers. The critters will eat them though, so don’t put them where they can easily get to them.

Hellebores. These hard workers are wonderful for the early spring garden, the first things to bloom with your bulbs. They get large and are spectacular in drifts. Nothing touches them. My favorites are the Winter Series and I typically have to order them online to get what I want.

Autumn Brilliance Fern. Nothing eats it and it is hardy through the winter to Zone 7. It adds softness and a lush look to your pots and your garden beds. Really pretty with evergreens.

Carolina Jasmine. This climber is so easy to grow and will cover an arbor very quickly. It is much faster growing than a rose and does not get diseases like roses do in this area. It is also more hardy than the fragrant Confederate Jasmine. You can see mine in the image above.

Fragrant Viburnum. This smells heavenly, rivaling gardenia, but easier to grow! My favorites are Burkwoodii and Carlesii. Yum.

Hope you got some good ideas and I answered a question or solved a problem for you. Let me know if you have another one! Next time we’ll be talking Books and Screens, and then we’re gonna talk travel while I take you back down south, near Savannah this time!