Tulip Time
It’s finally here, that time of year that we’ve all been anticipating – fall! And, you know what fall means? Tulip time! The cooler days of fall entice us back into the garden that the August heat forced us to abandon. This is when your garden retailer is brimming with fresh, new, seasonal plant material […]
Perennial Flowering Vines
Vines are valuable and versatile plants that provide a remarkable vertical display while using minimal ground space. Offering an extensive mixture of decorative foliage, flowers, fruits and fragrance, vines are generally fast-growing, relatively pest-free and require minimal maintenance.
Successful Indoor Succulent Garden
Succulents make charming, easy-care additions to your houseplant collection. This popular plant group will add a unique assortment of fleshy, fantastically colored foliage to your home to be enjoyed year-round. What Are Succulents? If you are familiar with aloe, agave, jade, or snake plants, you already know some of the most popular succulents. What distinguishes […]
Wild About Window Boxes
Window boxes can be an amazing addition to your home landscape, and they’re much more flexible and versatile than many gardeners realize. Take advantage of this great space and you’ll soon be wild about window boxes! Choosing a Window Box There are many types of window boxes available, from classic rectangles to wire frames with […]
Kids and Nature: Uncovering Surprises Everywhere
Wherever you live, nature is always near, with entire worlds to discover around the trees in your yard, in the carpet of grass or beneath that pile of rocks. With school vacations rapidly approaching, you may already be thinking of ways to keep your children or grandchildren busy during the long summer months. Well, how […]
Top 10 Disease-Resistant Crabapples
Crabapple trees in flower are a sight to behold. Their unrivaled spring beauty can take your breath away, frequently budding in one color with the flower opening in another. To add to their appeal, they perform again, in the fall, with a fabulous display of hanging showy fruit.
Shrub Bouquets
Do you love fresh, seasonal bouquets straight from the garden but don’t have the time to plan, plant and tend to an annual cutting plot each year? A fabulous alternative to the annual flower garden is the planting of woody shrubs.
Top 10 Fool Proof Houseplants
Do you have a “black thumb”? Do you love houseplants but just can’t seem to keep them alive? Worry no more.
Rose – Queen of the Garden
We all love roses. It may be the fragrance, color or the flower form that attracts us. It may be the memories that roses evoke. Whatever the reason, roses are one of the world’s most popular flowers.
Heavenly Hosta
Heavenly Hostas, their real glory is in their foliage. The thin spikes of purple or white, trumpet shaped flowers appear for several weeks in the summer and are an added benefit to this divine perennial.
Dwarf Evergreen Conifers
Dwarf conifers are some of the most versatile and popular plants of today’s modern garden and landscape. These fantastic plants add interesting texture, color and form to rock, pond and container gardens as well as a mixed border. Dwarf conifers are virtually carefree and often provide four seasons of interest.
Perennial Power
When choosing a perennial to fill an empty space in your garden, make sure to get the most bang from your buck by selecting one, or several, long blooming perennials
Growing Exotic Citrus
Citrus trees grown in fancy terra cotta pots, light-weight decorative containers or wooden planters can be used to adorn your garden, no matter how small it is! Use a potted citrus as a centerpiece for and herb garden, place in a series on your steps, or decorate your deck with these grand-looking accent plants.
Let Me Out! Moving Houseplants Outside for the Season
Are your plants looking a little peaked after a long winter of being cooped-up inside? Getting g out for some fresh air during the warm months is healthy for all living things.
Shade Gardening: A Natural Opportunity
Many gardeners with shady, low-light landscapes mistakenly believe they can't enjoy beautiful gardens and flowerbeds because of the lack of sunlight. In reality, however, many stunning perennials thrive in shady spots and can bring elegance, color and beauty to what was formerly a drab corner of the yard.
Try Delosperma
"Ice plants" refer to several types of plants, usually having fleshy thick leaves. However, after an introduction to Delosperma, you'll know it as the real-deal. As a group of tough groundcovers, they flourish in full sun in well draining soils with little water, after becoming established. Plus, they're colorful!
Viburnums
Viburnums are one of the most outstanding groups of shrubs for use in landscape planting. Varying in height from 2-30 feet, viburnums can be found to suit most any planting location. Their varied growth habits, excellent foliage, striking and fragrant flowers, showy fruit and interesting winter appearance make them an excellent choice for most gardeners. […]
Clematis
Beautiful, showy clematis are not as difficult to grow as you might think. Learning when to prune your clematis and giving a little attention to their few requirements will reward you with a magnificent show of colorful blooms. Planting Clematis A beautiful clematis starts with proper planting. Clematis prefer to have their roots in the […]
Amsonia hubrichtii
Amsonia hubrichtii, commonly known as Arkansas blue star, Arkansas amsonia or threadleaf bluestar, grows 36 inches tall and 36 inches wide in a mounded form. This hardy perennial grows in hardiness zones 4-9 and is a versatile North American native ideal for many landscaping uses in all types of yards and gardens. Amazing Seasonal Interest […]
Raise ‘Em Right
Lousy soil? Not to worry! Try growing in a raised bed. Popular in colonial times, this style of gardening is making a tremendous resurgence and is ideal for many types of gardening ambitions. Why Raised Beds There are many benefits to gardening above the grade, including… Better Soil Conditions Growing in raised beds is an […]
Creepers & Crawlers: Ground Covers for Walkways
The durability of some plants is absolutely amazing. A number of them are so robust that they may even be tread on! These are the plants to choose when filling in the space between pavers, walkways, patios and steps. Placing plants in the gaps of your hardscape will soften its appearance and will keep weeds […]
Growing Mint in Your Herb Garden
Many of us love mint. With many different flavors of mint available at garden centers, it is easy to want to plant one of each. Planning ahead makes this possible to do, but lack of planning may have you tearing them all out.
Espalier
Espalier is the process of training trees or shrubs, by pruning and trellising, to create a vertical, two-dimensional, formal pattern. The purpose of espalier is to artfully train a tree to grow in limited space, to provide pattern and texture on a solid wall, to grow fruit in a limited space and to create privacy […]
Tomatoes and Peppers – A Gardening Tradition
Tomatoes and peppers are two crops you can never have too much of. They freeze well without the difficulty of blanching, and although the texture of tomatoes disintegrates, the flavor remains good. Both tomatoes and peppers offer brilliantly colored fruit that can be particularly attractive in the garden or in containers. Both have the same […]
Attracting Hummingbirds
It is an awesome sight to capture a glimpse of a ruby-throated hummingbird hovering over the flower garden on a sunny summer morning. One or two a year may be seen seeking food in the landscape, sampling everything in their path. Unfortunately, they leave as rapidly as they arrive. This season, attract more of these […]
Raising Root Crops
Root crops are among the easiest vegetables to grow, and often the first and last vegetables in the garden to mature. Your garden may produce enough vegetables to take you through the entire year and, if kept correctly, root crops will last a long time in storage. These vegetables are great to grow, even in […]
Begonias for the Home
Begonias are a beautiful and diverse group of plants, with more than 1,500 species. Some are suitable for use as bedding plants or in container gardens, some for hanging baskets and others for indoor cultivation. Begonias are treasured not only for their colorful flowers but also for their unique foliage, and many varieties make spectacular […]
Top Native Shrubs for Year-Round Interest
We just love incorporating natives into the home landscape! Including native plants is an important part of sustaining local pollinators and wildlife. They are all low maintenance and, wow, are they beautiful!
Pink Muhley Grass
Becoming increasingly popular, there is now an over-abundance of ornamental grasses available at garden centers. So many choices can make the selection process difficult. There is, however, one that takes the cake. Pink Muhley Grass is arguably the most colorful ornamental grass around and it is sure wow your friends and neighbors.
Try Something New: Pomegranates
Want to grow an exotic fruit that is delicious, nutritious, beautiful, incredibly hip and rarely grown in our area? You really should consider planting a pomegranate!
Get Your Mint On!
This is the 140th anniversary of the Kentucky Derby. What does that mean? Mint Juleps, of course.
Rose Care Basics
Beginners often become confused with the many recommendations and suggestions for growing roses. However, it is important to start with the basic guidelines for successful rose growing. Roses can thrive under many conditions, but they are sure to grow better, with more luxurious blooms and fewer problems, when you follow the basics. Prepare the Soil […]
Succulent Container Garden
Have you noticed how a container garden can really jazz up a front entryway, back deck or porch? Perhaps you’ve thought twice about including this addition to your plantscaping because you just don’t have time every day to water. Cheer up! You can plant a container with succulents (plants with fleshy or thickened leaves, stems […]
Crape Myrtles
No yard or landscape should be without a crape myrtle, or two, or three, or… many! How wonderful to have something that blooms so profusely during that time of year when most other plants are looking tired and worn from the summer heat and drought. Crape myrtles blooms in late summer and can be found in flower colors of pinks, lilac, white, reds and purples.
Flower Carpet Roses
The Flower Carpet Rose is a disease resistant low growing shrub which requires none of the usual care that other roses do. Not only does it produce thousands of blossoms over the growing season but it is virtually carefree.
Protect Your Japanese Maples
Beautiful additions to any landscape, Japanese Maples will look their best when given some protection during our hot, dry summers. As the weather becomes hotter and drier, your Japanese Maples may show signs of heat stress with the development of crispy leaf edges and/or leaf drop.
Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grasses can reduce your watering costs, lessen your mowing time and increase the interest level of your garden. No matter what your garden’s needs, there’s a grass to solve it. From short ground covers to tall bamboo, there’s something for every site.
New Shrub Raspberries
Rejoice! You no longer need hedgerows, trellises or complicated stakes to grow raspberries. You won’t need armor-like gloves either. Now you may grow thornless raspberries in your garden or in containers on your patio, deck or front porch.
Summer Sizzles With Crocosmia
There is an excellent assortment of bulbs available for planting this time of year promising a bounty of summer blooms. The thing is, many of these bulbs are not winter hardy. This can create a predicament for gardeners anxious for easy summer flowers but short on time and space to dig and store tender bulbs.
Edible Flowers
For all you “foodies” out there, that also love flowers, are you aware that there are numerous blooms that are not only edible but also delicious? Flowers make a striking, colorful, textural and flavorful addition to soups, salads, baked goods and more.
Choosing the Right Flowering Tree
Purchasing a tree for your landscape is an investment that can raise the property value of your home and bring you pleasure, beauty and shade for many years to come.
Pre-Emergent Control of Crabgrass
Did you have a crabgrass problem last year? Well, chances are, it’s gonna be even worse this year! Crabgrass is an annual lawn weed that dies once a hard frost hits. The main problem with this pest is the tenacious seed that it leaves behind after it blooms. Early spring is the season to control crabgrass […]
Bloom Phalaenopsis, Bloom!
Elegant Phalaenopsis, or moth orchid, is said to be the easiest orchid to coax into bloom. Although this is true, you must first be aware of the basic needs of this plant in order to be successful.