Joe Seals
@backtothenewbasics.bsky.social
Horticulturist, ex-chef, ex-culinary arts instructor, writer.
Author of "Back to the NEW Basics [of gardening]" (https://a.co/d/a1YPIil). Human companion to a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Liberal.
Visit my Substack: https://joeseals.substack.com
Author of "Back to the NEW Basics [of gardening]" (https://a.co/d/a1YPIil). Human companion to a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Liberal.
Visit my Substack: https://joeseals.substack.com
Chloe, my mini dog, likes it. She didn't like the mud and rocks that were there just 7 months ago. It's down to only 3 or 4 species now; that was part of the plan.
November 22, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Chloe, my mini dog, likes it. She didn't like the mud and rocks that were there just 7 months ago. It's down to only 3 or 4 species now; that was part of the plan.
🌱🪴🌲🌾🌿🌴 #gardensky #gardeningfeed #horticulture #plantscience #botany
Plenty of indoor gardeners are now wondering why their Christmas cactus is blooming so early. It's a little complicated.
In addition to the annotated photo below, I've included detailed points in the ALT text.
Plenty of indoor gardeners are now wondering why their Christmas cactus is blooming so early. It's a little complicated.
In addition to the annotated photo below, I've included detailed points in the ALT text.
November 16, 2025 at 6:22 PM
🌱🪴🌲🌾🌿🌴 #gardensky #gardeningfeed #horticulture #plantscience #botany
Plenty of indoor gardeners are now wondering why their Christmas cactus is blooming so early. It's a little complicated.
In addition to the annotated photo below, I've included detailed points in the ALT text.
Plenty of indoor gardeners are now wondering why their Christmas cactus is blooming so early. It's a little complicated.
In addition to the annotated photo below, I've included detailed points in the ALT text.
I use burlap to line milk crates and fill them with coarse perlite. All available at most home/garden stores. I dip my dahlia tubers in a 10% bleach solution first. Too wet causes them to rot; too dry causes them to shrivel up.
November 14, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I use burlap to line milk crates and fill them with coarse perlite. All available at most home/garden stores. I dip my dahlia tubers in a 10% bleach solution first. Too wet causes them to rot; too dry causes them to shrivel up.
What it looked like on March 7, 2025:
October 28, 2025 at 11:31 AM
What it looked like on March 7, 2025:
🌲🌱 #summerdry #gardensky #gardeningfeed #organicgardening
I sowed a small lawn for my small dog in March. It was sown with a mix of seven native species of grasses, clovers, and a sedge. No amendments, no fertilizing, nothing special. More info in "ALT Text."
I sowed a small lawn for my small dog in March. It was sown with a mix of seven native species of grasses, clovers, and a sedge. No amendments, no fertilizing, nothing special. More info in "ALT Text."
October 28, 2025 at 11:30 AM
🌲🌱 #summerdry #gardensky #gardeningfeed #organicgardening
I sowed a small lawn for my small dog in March. It was sown with a mix of seven native species of grasses, clovers, and a sedge. No amendments, no fertilizing, nothing special. More info in "ALT Text."
I sowed a small lawn for my small dog in March. It was sown with a mix of seven native species of grasses, clovers, and a sedge. No amendments, no fertilizing, nothing special. More info in "ALT Text."
Hi Michael, and excuse me, but that plant looks like Matthiola incana, one of several plants called "Wallflower" in Europe and the UK.
The common purple wallflower (Erysimum 'Bowle's Mauve') looks VERY similar:
The common purple wallflower (Erysimum 'Bowle's Mauve') looks VERY similar:
October 20, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Hi Michael, and excuse me, but that plant looks like Matthiola incana, one of several plants called "Wallflower" in Europe and the UK.
The common purple wallflower (Erysimum 'Bowle's Mauve') looks VERY similar:
The common purple wallflower (Erysimum 'Bowle's Mauve') looks VERY similar:
Something else -- The Iris package gives the name of the iris as "Solar Flare." THIS picture here shows what the real Bearded Iris 'Solar Flare' looks like:
October 7, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Something else -- The Iris package gives the name of the iris as "Solar Flare." THIS picture here shows what the real Bearded Iris 'Solar Flare' looks like:
🌲🌿🌱🌴 #gardensky #gardeningfeed #summerdry #flowers #organic-gardening
An arrangement of dahlias with XAmarine.
An arrangement of dahlias with XAmarine.
October 4, 2025 at 9:02 PM
🌲🌿🌱🌴 #gardensky #gardeningfeed #summerdry #flowers #organic-gardening
An arrangement of dahlias with XAmarine.
An arrangement of dahlias with XAmarine.
A better phot oof my X Amarine tubergenii "Belladiva Series" 'Aphrodite'. Makes a difference when you take photos during the day versus night.
September 17, 2025 at 4:32 PM
A better phot oof my X Amarine tubergenii "Belladiva Series" 'Aphrodite'. Makes a difference when you take photos during the day versus night.
My puppies after visiting Point Reyes Beach North and getting a buffalo gelato in P.R. Station. Not as rare as your Silverspot on Grindelia.
September 15, 2025 at 1:35 PM
My puppies after visiting Point Reyes Beach North and getting a buffalo gelato in P.R. Station. Not as rare as your Silverspot on Grindelia.
🌾🌱🌿🌲 #gardensky #gardeningfeed #horticulture
My × Amarine tubergenii "Belladiva" 'Aphrodite'.
Taken last evening, just after dark,with a flash.
My × Amarine tubergenii "Belladiva" 'Aphrodite'.
Taken last evening, just after dark,with a flash.
September 14, 2025 at 3:18 AM
🌾🌱🌿🌲 #gardensky #gardeningfeed #horticulture
My × Amarine tubergenii "Belladiva" 'Aphrodite'.
Taken last evening, just after dark,with a flash.
My × Amarine tubergenii "Belladiva" 'Aphrodite'.
Taken last evening, just after dark,with a flash.
"dragon plant," as in this?:
September 12, 2025 at 2:39 PM
"dragon plant," as in this?:
This, below, is a delphinium flower. There's always a distinctive "spur" coming out the back of each flower, there's a different structure to the flower's inner parts, and the flowers are arranged differently on their spike. But the drawing is stylized, so maybe the artist had delphinium in mind.
August 26, 2025 at 7:12 PM
This, below, is a delphinium flower. There's always a distinctive "spur" coming out the back of each flower, there's a different structure to the flower's inner parts, and the flowers are arranged differently on their spike. But the drawing is stylized, so maybe the artist had delphinium in mind.
True indigo (for dyeing) comes from two plants including one in this genus (Indigofera) that looks very much like yours (pictured below) but slightly different. Indigo dye also comes from an unrelated plant, Persicaria tinctoria (commonly called Japanese Indigo, and it looks very different.
August 26, 2025 at 6:47 PM
True indigo (for dyeing) comes from two plants including one in this genus (Indigofera) that looks very much like yours (pictured below) but slightly different. Indigo dye also comes from an unrelated plant, Persicaria tinctoria (commonly called Japanese Indigo, and it looks very different.
They work fast, don't they?
August 25, 2025 at 3:56 PM
They work fast, don't they?
I've grown it only as an ornamental garden plant. Especially the variegated variety. I'm a big fan of cassava in the form of tapioca but I've never lived where it's warm enough for long enough to produce a harvestable crop of cassava roots.
August 13, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I've grown it only as an ornamental garden plant. Especially the variegated variety. I'm a big fan of cassava in the form of tapioca but I've never lived where it's warm enough for long enough to produce a harvestable crop of cassava roots.
2/2 ... Some things have changed in the sciences and ways of gardening since it was published but, per its basic principle, it still stands. I first read it in the late 60s and I even incorporated some of these principles into this book:
August 13, 2025 at 12:54 AM
2/2 ... Some things have changed in the sciences and ways of gardening since it was published but, per its basic principle, it still stands. I first read it in the late 60s and I even incorporated some of these principles into this book:
Here's one of my three house plant "gardens." Sorry for the poor light quality; I'm not sure if my cell phone has a button to adjust the strong lighting coming in from the windows in the back.
August 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Here's one of my three house plant "gardens." Sorry for the poor light quality; I'm not sure if my cell phone has a button to adjust the strong lighting coming in from the windows in the back.