Not to be unpatriotic, but another "cranberry" outshines our traditional Thanksgiving cranberry.This fruit, sometimes called mountain cranberry, partridgeberry or foxberry, is esteemed in other parts of the world. You may know it by its Scandinavian name, lingonberry, because that's where it is most popular, with many thousands of tons harvested each year from the wild.

WILMINGTON, Ohio (AP) — Many of the new gardeners didn't know how to grow vegetables, and weren't sure what to do with them once they did.They learned, though, as part of a project by a local college to help a community hard-hit by the recession grow some of its own food.

Whether you say ca-mee-lia or ca-mell-ia, camellias have been so long associated with Southern gardens that you might think they’re natives. The camellia even has been selected as the state flower of Alabama, but like many of our other garden plants, they’re native to eastern and southern Asia.

Planting seeds is a satisfying way to grow trees and shrubs, and gives you a special affection for the plants.Don't be put off by how long it takes: Unless you are interested in flowering or fruiting, you can expect plenty of shoot growth from most young trees and shrubs.

Fall is a busy time for decorating, second only to Christmas, and the period when vegetables are valued more for their beauty than their flavor.Back when America was largely rural, bringing in the harvest was cause for celebration. Corn stalks were bundled into "fodder shocks" — stalks, ears, tassels and all — and stacked upright around light poles and near entries, and fed to livestock.

Welcome fall with an inviting entry. Set the stage for the new season with containers of flowers and foliage for a warm reception at your front door. Nurseries are packed with pots and plants to decorate our doorsteps.● Pick a pot: Containers come in all shapes and sizes, from elegant urns to rustic troughs to long toms for vertical impact.

This week’s cold snap (my yard in Decatur was covered with an early morning frost) should be the needed kick to get Georgia’s lingering migratory songbirds finally on their way to winter grounds in tropical climes.Many of our neotropical migrants seem to be a little late moving out this year.

Needles shaped like mesh armor, fruit hanging like pom-poms and striped foliage reminiscent of a porcupine. A stroll through this nursery is filled with oddities unseen in the average forest."I scour the world to find the most beautiful things and then convince you that you want it," declares Jody Karlin, a burly man with a thick Brooklyn accent.

Container gardens offer an easy way to brighten up a corner of a patio or flank a front door. One reason they’re so popular is they don’t require the time, space or money it takes to maintain a full-blown flower border.Many containers look their best for just one season.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tens of thousands of people are expected to stream through the White House gates this weekend for a rare opportunity to see the fragrant roses, blue salvias and towering, decades-old trees that beautify the president's back yard.Held twice a year, the fall White House Gardens and Grounds tours are set for Saturday and Sunday.

If you want to be entertained by a show of wildlife in your yard, consider planting these native plants.

The corner lot of Virginia-Highland gardener Rob Glancy is tightly planted with a host of interesting specimens.“I am a tree and plant fanatic, no doubt about it,” Glancy said. “If there is a chance of growing something unusual or native in Atlanta, I will try.

With harvest season winding down, it's time for dessert. How about some candy, real candy, from the garden?Marshmallows, anyone?Of course you can't just pluck a squishy marshmallow from a marshmallow bush or tree. But marshmallows — real marshmallows — were originally made from the candied roots of a plant.

October is one of my two most favorite months of the year (the other is April). From beginning to end, October is a carnival of stunning color. Fall wildflowers — bonesets, goldenrods, joe-pye weed, asters — are in their glory now. At month’s end, the oaks, maples, hickories and other hardwoods will be decked out in their bright red, orange, yellow and purple hues of autumn.

I still remember some years back when I got the call from my daughter’s preschool letting me know that she had eaten a holly berry. As a horticulturist I know that Ilex fruits are poisonous but unfortunately the teacher in the outdoor classroom that day had been talking about edible fruits and did not emphasize those that are poisonous.

Early in the fall, every garden center and grocery store in Atlanta offers a bounty of brightly colored, neatly mounded chrysanthemums.Bred by the floriculture trade to be foolproof, inexpensive and, let’s admit it, disposable, these “cushion” mums are often combined with a few pumpkins and maybe some Indian corn to make an easy splash of color for a fall doorway display.

People new to Atlanta frequently remark on our beautiful trees, but with heavy rains like the ones in the past week, those trees can start looking like a liability. Is this the storm that will take down that old oak? Is that pine going to hit my house? Chances are good your trees are fine.

Mowing the lawn is at once the most mundane and the most unique form of pruning. Everyone does it, yet what other kind of pruning calls for cutting off only part of a leaf blade — and thousands at a time?The reason grasses tolerate such pruning is because the growing point of a grass plant is nestled down near ground level, below the reach of mower blades.

There are a few quintessential Southern fruits: blackberries, figs and muscadine grapes.You’ve driven by wild muscadine vines along the highway and maybe admired the vigorous vines growing 100 feet long, climbing into trees and scrambling over shrubs so their distinctive bright green leaves can reach the sun.

Royal Burgundy are a type of purple beans that turn green when cooked. But why?

One of the best defenses against bulb-eating animals is mixing the bitter with the sweet: harsh-tasting alliums and daffodils, for example, intermingled with beds of predator-magnet tulips.Here is a more extensive list of proven pest-resistant bulbs, courtesy of the Netherlands Flower Bulb Information Center.

Bulbs are perfect, self-contained packages for gardeners. They're equipped with everything necessary to make flowers grow and bloom.Problem is, that makes them a prize for predators, too."The perfect lunch box," said Leonard Perry, an extension professor with the University of Vermont.

These rainy days and cooler nights are definitely putting me in a fall frame of mind.Soon the ground will be carpeted with colorful leaves. And a carpet of leaves means thousands of bags sitting by the curbside waiting for pickup.What about using those leaves for compost instead?Look at the example of Cherokee County Master Gardener Billie Davis of Canton who’s been making compost the easy way for 15 years.

Fall’s showstopper flower is the dahlia, with its lush color palette and wide range of sizes and types. In Atlanta, dahlias start blooming in August and continue until late October or November.“Dahlias are like dogs,” said Scott Kunst, landscape historian and owner of Old House Gardens — Heirloom Bulbs, a mail-order nursery in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Summer’s winding down and crocus blossoms are on their way. Not the sweet little flower that you expect as the first sign of spring, but fall crocus and its autumn-blooming companions: colchicums, rain lilies, spider lilies and oxblood lilies.“Fall bloomers get me through this final hot month of September and remind me that cooler days are on the way,” said Chris Wiesinger of Southern Bulb Co.