Plants

“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 …

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 …

With the garden slowing down in anticipation of the winter months and my bulbs firmly in the ground waiting for spring, I’m now turning my attention to propagating ornamental plants …

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 …

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 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 …

Create extravagantly lush shady spaces with climbing plants and flowering vines. It is the season for lounging in the shade! Increase your relief by growing shade-loving climbers and blooming vines. …

A flower gardener’s dream! The colorful impact of annual bedding plants with the reliable longevity of perennials. Can it be done? Yes! Pick fast-growing perennials in the fastest seed-to-bloom varieties. …

Summer is the season of alfresco dining, enjoying the heat and the sunshine while sharing a meal with the people you care about. Few things could ruin that wonderful image, …

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who actually bought irises to plant in their garden, like you would roses or rhododendrons. Come to think of it, every iris grower …

We love Foxgloves for their towers of flowers for weeks on end through late spring and early summer. Spotted, speckled, and dazzling varieties of Foxgloves are naturally biennial. Foxgloves grow …

Plants that share beauty and interest year-round maximize precious garden real estate. Perennials, trees, shrubs, and even annuals that look stunning year-round give the best bang for your gardening buck. …

It’s been sixteen years since Heather Jo Flores published the book Food Not Lawns, and the #nolawn revolution is picking up pace faster than you can say “No Mow May.”  …

Many of us have that one stubborn spot in the garden that refuses to drain well. After the rain, water collects there are just doesn’t seem to dissipate, making it …

The common Hollyhock (Alcea rosea) has skyward stems smothered in giant 5-inch hibiscus-like blossoms that carry a whimsical zeal of times past. Beyond the impressive dramatic height of 5 to …

I’m not in the habit of checking the Guinness World Records website before I write a gardening article, but when my research uncovered that the world of competitive gardening is …

If you’re anything like me, walking into a garden center is a dangerous affair for your bank account. Even though plants aren’t particularly pricey in the larger scheme of things, …

With their deep green glossy leaves and blooms that resemble cotton candy, rhododendrons never fail to add a good dose of curb appeal to gardens and public spaces alike. So …

The secrets to fantastical towers of cascading tubular bell-shaped foxgloves are not as mystical as they may appear. These natives of Europe, Asia, and North Africa are mostly biennials, meaning …

One of the fascinating things about begonias is that once you decide that growing them is a good idea, you’ll start noticing them everywhere. With over two thousand known species …

The first few times I saw real anemones, they were elegantly tucked into bridal bouquets. With their slender stems and marshmallow-like blooms, anemones looked as fragile as they did elegant.  …