Ideas, Info, Tools & Technology to Create Your Dream Garden
flowers
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 >
Know Your Planting Times
Mar 8th
Plant dormant fruit trees in spring.
Many gardeners know when the last frost date is for their area, so they know better than to plant their tomatoes or annuals before that date. However, many people don’t know that there are a lot of plants that need to be planted before the last frost date.
Sure, if you do vegetable gardening you probably know that peas and spinach need to go in very early, while the ground is still cold. But there are some major food crops that are usually purchased as plants or stock that should be planted while they are still 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 >
Christmas Plants Around Pets & Small Children
Dec 1st
During the holidays we enjoy having all kinds of beautiful wreaths, flower arrangements, swags, and other living decorations. However, if you have pets or small children joining you for the holidays, you need to be aware of plants that can pose a hazard to them. Most plants are not out and out killers, but they can cause a lot of discomfort and possible trips to the hospital.
First off, know your animal. Some animals are totally uninterested in new plants, others have to chew everything. If you plan a new baby pet to be given to someone in the family this More >
Focus Plant: Amaryllis
Nov 21st
My beautiful amaryllis, posing for a portrait.
This is the time of year when you see all the special packages of Christmas bulbs to force into bloom. The all-time favorite is the amaryllis. When I grew my first amaryllis the only color you could get was bright red. Now you can get red, white, pink, and bi-color. There are even specialty colors available from online sources.
Watching an amaryllis grow is something everyone loves. You open the box, start watering, and within a few days a tiny sprout shows up. However, the next morning when you get up that tiny sprout is 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 >
Planting Fall Bulbs
Oct 10th
Bulbs are often a very underused, misunderstood plant. I think part of the reason is that you usually buy them when they are dormant and not very interesting. However, taking the time to plant some bulbs now, will bring you a wealth of color in the early spring.
There are plants that bloom almost any time of the growing season, but they are best known for spring because they are usually some of the very first color after the bleakness of winter.
Just like any plant, give them a good start and they’ll continue to produce for you for years to come. More >