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If you brought your rosemary plant inside for the winter, here's my mid-winter reminder to check on it. It's about time for your plant to either start drying out or getting mildew.  The low humidity in houses can quickly take its toll on rosemary needles, especially if your plant is under a warm plant light. And on the flip side, even if you've been good about keeping it watered, you can still wind up with mildew. Now's the time to get your rosemary in top shape, because it's one of the first plants to get moved back outdoors; rosemary loves the chilly spring temperatures. In fact, if you're having mild weather, let your plant enjoy the day outside. Just don't forget to bring it back in.

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Seed starting isn't rocket science, yet we've all have our triumphs and disappointments. Here are some tips and basics to give you the advantage when starting your garden seeds this spring.

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The votes are all in and "Dew Kissed Rose" was the run away winner of Best Gardening Photo of 2011. Congratulations, Jerry! Congratulations to all our 2011 Photo Challenge Winners and thank you for sharing your photos and your gardens with us.

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Phil has spoken and in true groundhog fashion, it's not good news for gardeners. Phil saw his shadow and retreated into his burrow for another 6 weeks of winter. Many of us are still waiting for winter to start, so it will be hard to tell the difference. I'd be happy to know he won't be roaming around my yard for the next month, but to confuse things further, Shubenacadie Sam, of Nova Scotia, Wiarton Willie, of Ontario and Staten Island Chuck all predicted an early spring.  Personal experience makes it hard for me to trust groundhogs.

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February is the toughest month in the garden. Usually it's just the gardeners in warm climates don't know what to expect from the weather. This year nature is teasing northern gardeners, making us think spring is just around the corner. Whatever it brings, February means that winter is half over and subtle signs of spring are there if you really look.

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Thinking about Valentine's Day yet? How about giving a Garden of Love? The D. Landreth Seed Company, the oldest seed company in America (est. 1784), has a Valentine Seed Collection that includes Victorian flowers expressing different levels of love. The Forget-me-nots shown here symbolize memorizes. Zinnias, which D. Landreth introduced to the U.S. market, stand for lasting affection. You'll get the whole history of floriography with the collection.

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You would think that seedlings grown indoors with lots of TLC would be leading a pretty cushy life, but not so. If they can survive damping off disease, they become prey for fungus gnats. Fungus gnats just seem to appear out of nowhere and begin destroying our otherwise happy, healthy plants and seedlings. They're those tiny black flying insects that disperse in a cloud when you touch your plant.

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We've been flitting from warm to cold with no snow covering and that can only mean one thing - heaving. This is the ind of weather that kills my beautiful heuchera plants. The ground freezes and thaws and freezes again, squeezing and lifting the plant crowns out of the ground. I finally chopped up my Christmas tree and covered most of the heuchera plants with branches, while the ground was frozen. Winter mulching sounds like a crazy idea, but it really works. Now I can use the warmer days to start my pruning.

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There are only a couple of days left  to vote for your favorite winning photo from last year's Gardening Photo Challenges.We had 6 themed challenges and picked our favorites, based on both the quality of the photo and how well they conveyed a love of gardening. Now it's time to pick the Best Photo of the Year.

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The USDA just came out with all new maps for US Plant Hardiness Zones. The best change is how easy the maps are to read. They're designed for the web and they look great. They're also the culmination of 30 years of data and should be more accurate. Thankfully there's still a zip code look up, for those of us who want to cut to the chase. Don't worry, your existing plants won't now they've moved a zone or 2. They'll still be fine. Here's a look at the changes made to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Maps. Then go to the USDA site and find your new zone.

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