Finding the Right Plant Articles
Colorful plants that offer sweeping swathes of color are wonderful additions to landscapes. As I well know, filling those large spaces - I have a 60 foot by 8-foot bed where I fill in lots of space with annuals - can get expensive. I love how annuals provide constant, all-summer color and flexibility to change my color scheme. I also enjoy a good deal which is why I often choose fast-growing, wide-spreading annuals that I can depend on to fill the border with color. Here are some of my favorites for adding lots of color with not that many plants.
We all love ‘the hunt’ in spring, the stroll down the garden center aisles, looking left and right for the new plant varieties you’ve been hearing about for months! Then, the excitement of seeing the newest cultivars, putting them in your cart, mentally planning just exactly how you are going to use it…that’s the joy of the season ahead.
Every garden has its challenges that you'll need to tackle. For many people, full sun and high heat are among those challenges. Long term, you can create a lower maintenance landscape by choosing durable plants that are well-suited for sunny, hot gardens. Check out this list we recommend of the 20 best plants for full sun and heat.
Panicle hydrangeas – also known as peegee hydrangeas, hardy hydrangeas, and Limelight hydrangeas, are the easiest to grow, most adaptable of all hydrangeas. We like to call them the “black thumb hydrangea” because they are so easy and reliable, they make even people who have no experience (or claim to have a black thumb, which we don’t believe even exists, frankly) look like garden rock stars. So don’t be intimidated by this guide – we created it just to address the myriad questions we get on these popular plants.
The garden is a constant teacher. What did you learn this year? Here are the lessons from plant enthusiasts just like you.
When ornamental grasses are in their prime in landscapes across North America each fall, questions pour in to our feedback line. Do you have a question about grasses, too? Here’s a list of the most commonly asked questions about their traits, uses and growing conditions.
Think of any spot in your garden and there’s likely an ornamental grass to fit. This versatile group of plants suits all sorts of uses in landscapes and containers, even in water gardens. Though most prefer quite a bit of sunshine, some grasses can handle filtered shade. Let’s take a look at five ways to use ornamental grasses in your garden this season.
If you want to plant an attention grabbing garden, vividly colored plants are just the ticket. These brightly colored flowers are a great way to bring life to your garden beds and will create a traffic stopping display!
When the dog days of summer arrive, the heat is stifling and the humidity is high, most plants are going to be stressed. However, there are full sun annuals that not only survive, they thrive when the heat is on.
Heuchera, commonly called coral bells, are easy to grow and thrive in zones 4-9. Dolce® and Primo® varieties were bred from native North American species and provide colorful foliage all season. Some also produce pretty sprays of airy flowers in early summer.
