Ornamental Gardening

Hydrangeas are one of the most beloved garden plants around. Not only do their stunning flowers look great in bouquets, but they also have wonderful lush green leaves that uplift …

Daffodil blindness sounds like a dramatic problem, but it describes a common issue – lack of blooms. In fact, lack of blooms can be quite dramatic for those who have …

It seems like only yesterday I was writing an article on how to prepare your roses for the winter months. While at the same time, it also seems like this …

If I had read clematis care advice before buying a single clematis plant, I would have surely abandoned the purchase altogether. While I am generally pretty savvy about deciphering plant …

“I can totally start these flowers from seed,” I mumble under my breath as I weave my way around stands upon stands of starter plants at the gardening center on …

Daffodils are the quintessential bulb, with instantly recognizable flowers that delight throughout spring. The blooms are even more satisfying when growing them on your own, rather than enjoying them purely …

I’m writing this article in early February and the countdown to spring is on. I can almost smell the change of seasons in the air. The days are getting noticeably …

As a gardener, I’m always on the lookout for more plants. Colorful plants. Boisterous plants. Plants that make you go WOW! But when it comes to hydrangeas, I’m partial to …

As the saying goes, two things in life are certain, though allow me to choose not to list them here. But as a gardener, I’d like to petition to add …

Around the world, hydrangeas are one of the most widely grown ornamental plants. They make great cut flowers and handle shade well, suitable for many conditions. They are also considered …

Tell me if this story sounds familiar. You love perennials, so you court them assiduously. In return, they reward your efforts with an abundance of beautiful flowers.  You think your …

Back when I first started gardening and had no idea what a biennial plant meant, I was foolish enough to trust the information on the garden center plant tags without …

The quiet. The crunch of snow underfoot. The barren frosted trees. The stillness. All of winter’s enticing beauty. In the stillness, color and movement of visiting wildlife bring incomparable excitement. …

My stubborn attempt to overfill my garden with more plants on a shoestring budget continues throughout the rest of fall. Or at least for as long as the weather allows …

What if I told you that you could plant something in your garden that’s worth its weight in gold? No, I haven’t yet found the seeds of the mythical money …

Winter is a difficult time to find interest and color in containers. Most plants are either dormant or don’t perform as well in cold climates, making our containers appear dull …

Swaying and dancing in the breeze, ornamental grasses steal the show with their feathery seed heads and autumnal hues. Paying homage to the cascading brilliant fall leaves, the motion of …

If you’ve ever thought that cooking and gardening have a few things in common – mainly using “ingredients” and following a “recipe” to create something out of nothing – you’re …

We are elbow-deep in the bulb-planting season and my friends are starting to doubt my honesty when I say “sorry, I can’t this weekend; I’m planting bulbs.” But that’s October …

The thrill I get when browsing online bulb catalogs is the closest feeling I’ll ever get to that of stepping into a candy shop when I was a child. Then, …

There are so many lilies to love. Lilies grow from bulbs and are a beautiful and complicated genus of herbaceous flowering plants. There are spectacular variations in their flower forms. …

When I first got the gardening bug, I used to despair over the end of the warm summer season. Fall, in spite of its color and richness, brought a bittersweet …

If there’s ever a plant that embodies the feeling of hopefulness, it’s the tulip. As a history buff, I’m fascinated by how the Dutch Tulip Mania unfolded in the seventeenth …

When I was growing up, my relatives and acquaintances who had a garden grew red tulips. Maybe yellow. Occasionally white. I would spend hours browsing through gardening catalogs that hardly had …