KP Gardens | Key Peninsula News

A single bloom on a stem could indicate a hybrid tea.

’Tis the Last Rose of Summer: Grumblings of a Non-rose Person

KP Gardens: A sweet-smelling mystery rose sends a reluctant rose-grower searching for its identity. more

Kamryn Everett | 8/26/26

The girl pulls a pansy because, yes, it’s fun.

The Grab Garden, or Turning a Toddler into a Master Gardener

KP Gardens: A baby's first garden lessons are rooted in wonder and discovery. more

Kamryn Everett | 7/29/26

Light green and deep purple foliage brighten up and bring interest to a shady corner.

Stalking the Sun, Following the Shade: My Quest for a Patio Garden

KP Gardens: Focusing on shade has shed light on how many plants I have overlooked while yearning for sun. more

Kamryn Everett | 7/1/26

A fennel flower attracts beneficial insects to the garden, like this predatory wasp.

The Life of Spice, or Where Does All that Flavor Come From Anyway?

KP Gardens: The secret to flavorful cooking may be in your backyard garden. more

Kamryn Everett | 5/27/26

Liverwort adds a pleasant and peculiar texture to the garden.

Moss and Liverwort, the Garden’s Oldest Frenemies

KP Gardens: Both moss and liverwort have their own unique charms and can add some depth to a garden. more

Kamryn Everett | 10/1/25

Black-eyed Susans and sedum standing tall.

Divide Your Perennials and Conquer Your Garden’s Blank Spaces

KP Gardens: As we inch toward the equinox, I’m spending the remaining summer days taking inventory of all the perennials in my life that need some attention. more

Kamryn Everett | 8/27/25

The Resurrection Garden: A Second Chance for Plants

KP Gardens: Every plant reminds me how often we misjudge what still has life in it. more

Meredith Browand | 7/30/25

Don’t let the pretty face fool you. Your garden is just another bottomless buffet to her.

Dear July or July Deer: Confronting the Ungulate Agents of Chaos

KP Gardens: This year our friendly neighborhood deer seem to be especially ravenous. more

Kamryn Everett | 7/2/25

Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica).

Whether Bluebells, Bluebottles, or Harebells, It’s All in the Name

KP Gardens: Gardeners turn to botanical names to avoid mix-ups and grow with precision. more

Kamryn Everett | 4/30/25

Companion planting can be as simple as neighboring rows of crops with beneficial traits, or as intricate as putting those same plants together into one row.

The Pleasures and Perils of Planning a Companion Garden

KP Gardens: Companion planting can become a complex, management of garden relationships. more

Kamryn Everett | 2/26/25

The winter-blooming camellia benefits from mulch around the root zone or an insulating layer around the exposed plant.

Compliments to the Cold Weather Garden, Our Frosty Frenemy

KP Gardens: Frost glimmers on mossy branches as dormant gardens quietly prepare for spring's vibrant return. more

Kamryn Minch | 1/29/25

Big leaf hydrangeas have giant softball-size blooms and colors range from blue to pink depending on the soil pH.

Help With Hydrangeas, Those Flowery Harbingers of Fall

KP GARDENS: Pruning hydrangeas is like solving a mystery—spring, fall, new wood, old wood—who knew flowers had such complicated schedules? more

Kamryn Minch | 10/2/24

Water, water everywhere, but maybe not as much as you think.

Water: The Life Force of Misunderstandings and Other Soggy Sorrows

It is funny to think that just two months ago I was cursing the persistent rain clouds in the June sky blocking some much- needed Vitamin D, and now I sit under a clear blue yonder praying for a … more

Kamryn Minch | 7/31/24

Herb Robert looks to be a splendid native wildflower. Don’t be fooled.

The Dreaded Herb Robert, or the Curse of Stinky Bob — Beware Ye Gardeners!

On most summer days you’ll find me toiling away in the garden, crawling around on all fours or standing at a 90-degree angle, hands on my hips, staring into the green and brown abyss like a mad … more

Kamryn Minch | 6/26/24

Brahmas are known for their feathered feet and tame temperaments.

Surviving and Thriving in the Cult of the Chicken Girl

When I was 12 years old I joined a cult. Some people know it as 4-H, which is not generally considered a cult but based on how I recruited others into it, you could have been fooled. Looking back … more

Kamryn Minch | 5/29/24

The Rhythm of Rhododendrons and Their Annual Call for Pruning

Mid-spring marks the starting line for the crucial race against nature’s clock. It’s the second installment of the pruning season when spring flowering shrubs become the object of my garden fixations. more

Kamryn Minch | 5/1/24

Plant french radish seeds in April and experience the joy of a delicious uprising.

Build Your Garden Now! Now, I Say! It Can’t Build Itself Even If It Wants To!

You have earth for the taking, full of everything a plant needs. more

Gem Laterre | 3/27/24

Seed starting setup. Full spectrum lights on the left, shop lights on the right.

Gotta Collect Them All: Cultivating Seeds to Meet Your Gardening Needs

Not long ago, in a one-window studio apartment under a carport, I made my first attempt at sowing seeds. more

Kamryn Minch | 1/31/24

An Episode in Local Garden History from the Everlasting Age of Aquarius

Who said we have no sense of history around here? I mean, we love to retell the old stories of anarchists, contraception pioneers, free love, and —gasp — nude bathing in Home Colony … more

Dan Clouse | 9/27/23

“The webs of summer seem to know just where I’ll be.”

Weather: Boring Small Talk or a Unifying Language That Will Save Us All?

I recently overheard someone giving a small sermon about how they no longer wish to entertain “small talk.” Initially, I understood the sentiment and even quietly cheered for … more

Kamryn Minch | 8/30/23

All Ages Community Nights

Lakebay Fuchsia Society

Key Free Clinic

Key Peninsula Beekeepers

Story Time for Mixed Ages

Community Sewing Day

Bird Walks with Chris Rurik

KP Candidate Forum