Ideas, Info, Tools & Technology to Create Your Dream Garden
annuals
My Favorite Time Of Spring
May 8th
First hydrangea blossoms opening right now.
Perfect WeatherThis last week has been fantastic. The weather is warm enough to work outside and the humidity is still low. The gardens are bursting into bloom. I have snapdragons, carnations, dianthus, pansies, and petunias already in bloom. The hydrangeas first blossoms opened yesterday. My lilies have buds all over them.
Cornucopia In The MakingThe trees have leafed out. The berry bushes are making berries. The grapes have buds on them. Best of all one of the peach trees we planted two years ago is covered in little peaches. We even have on plum on one More >
Learning By Doing
Apr 2nd
Is this salvia or sage for you?
Trial By FireA number of years ago I had the privilege of working at a garden center. I ended up being the buyer for all the perennials, herbs, and frequently the annuals. I was so excited. I was going to be able to make my living being surrounded by plants, what could be better. I received my first order and scanned the form. My heart hit bottom, everything on the list looked like it was written in Greek, well actually Latin.
I spent hours with a perennial guide next to me looking up all the More >
Long-term Planning For Gardens
Dec 19th
Shade patterns change throughout the year. Keep a log for successful planting.
Maybe you’ve got it on you resolution list to finally do something with the yard. You’ve got some ideas, but aren’t sure exactly which plants will work well for each garden.
The first thing you need to do is know the lay of your land. Which way is north, south, east, and west? How does the house line up with these directions? Where are large trees or shrubs located in relation to the directions? Are the trees/shrubs evergreen or deciduous?
Before you plant anything you need to know what the shade More >
Winter Color
Nov 14th
Lenten roses now come in many beautiful colors.
Almost everyone thinks of color in the garden as only lasting three seasons: spring, summer, and fall. However, there are some plants that like it cool. Most people in the southern part of the states know that pansies are a sure bet for color through the winter months, but there are other possibilities, even into the more northerly areas.
Right off the top of my head I can think of a few hellebores seem to defy the cold. Commonly found in a pale greenish white, they’ve now been bred in a multitude of colors. More >
Frost Surprises
Oct 31st
I was shocked to see my geraniums still alive after several days of below freezing temperatures.
The last three days we’ve had killing frosts. Frosts hard enough to create ice on the tops of standing water. However, when I looked out in my yard I was surprised to find some plants still standing tall and blooming. So, here a list of plants that I found are frost tolerant. Of course this doesn’t mean that if you get into the low-20s or teens that they’ll still keep going, but with our recent upper-20s and low-30s they’re still blooming.
Flowers
- Strawflowers
- Cosmos
- Signet Marigold ‘Starfire’
- Snapdragons
- Petunias
- Dianthus
- Carnations
- Cleome
- Sweet Mace
- Pansy
- Gaillardia
- Pincushion Flower
- Geranium
- Coreopsis
- Rose
- Salvia More >
What’s In A Name?
Oct 25th
Shakespeare’s famous line is so true. A rose by any other name would still be a rose. Yet, somehow some names are really descriptive. For instance, my favorite flower of this season has to be the strawflowers. If you’ve never seen them, they may conjure up strange images, since most of us associate straw with something you feed animals.
Just a few of the dozens of strawflowers I've harvested.
However I don’t think you’d ever feed a strawflower to an animal, they are just too pretty. Just like their common name implies, though, the flower, even just picked from the plant, feel More >
Shade Is Not Boring
Aug 2nd
Clown Flower, my favorite shade annual. Grew these from seed myself.
For most people, when they think of shade, they get a picture of ivy, vinca major, or pachysanra as their only options. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Shade can be as alluring as sun, if you use the right combination of plants.
Earlier I wrote about knowing your shade. Is it dense, spotted, or partial? All of this will have a bearing on which plants will do well in your particular shady spot.
There are two kinds of interest in a shade garden, flowers and foliage. Many people are familiar More >
Organizing A Garden
Jun 30th
You’ve decided to put in a new garden. You’ve picked a location. Now, what to do from here? First you need to decide the size and shape of the garden. Try to plan gardens so that you don’t have to do extensive standing on the soil once planted. You can plan a couple of key stepping places, but compacted soil is hard for roots to live in.
When considering shape remember that curved lines are more appealing. If it a purely utilitarian garden for grapes or berries, then straight is not a problem, but gardens, especially ornamental gardens look softer and More >