Get to Know the Different Groups of Japanese Maples
Perhaps the most adored of all trees, Japanese maples have an aura around them – a flavor of the exotic, the special, and the desirable. For many gardeners they are their most valued…
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Some Evergreen Trees of Japan – Hinoki, Sawara and Sugu
In this blog, and those that will follow, we are going to explore the conifers (evergreens) that grow in Japan. Not so much to learn more about garden varieties that can be grown…
Diervilla, a Neglected Native Shrub – neglected no more
With so many plants in the world, it is inevitable that some good garden plants get overlooked. This is especially a problem in America, because our gardening is built on a foundation of…
Choose the Right Lavender for Your Garden
The beautiful blue-purple flower spikes of lavender are one of the highlights of summer, and this plant is one of the most loved, and one that has a nostalgic charm. Perhaps it’s the…
Get the Most Out of Hosta – and have outstanding shade gardens
Every gardener will recognize a Hosta plant, be it blue, green, yellow or green and white. It is certainly the most popular of all shade plants, and given that almost every garden has…
Thinking Hydrangeas? Think Native!
Once you have been gardening for a bit, a treasure chest opens up. Suddenly you realize that there are WAY more beautiful plants in the world that you ever thought possible. Tens of…
What is Wintergreen?
Once found in every medicine cabinet, wintergreen is also an attractive garden plant, with a variety of uses, both decorative and practical. Preparing a description for it, I thought some further background information…
Get to Know the Asters
At this time of year, the well-planned garden gets a big boost, with the arrival of the brilliant, jewel colors of asters blooming in garden beds or natural areas. Few garden visions are…
Why Isn’t My Garden Growing?
You are new to gardening, or recently moved into a new home. You invested money and time into setting up what you pictured as a little paradise, but it isn’t working. The plants…
Plant Trees for the Future – Here’s How to Succeed
Economists tell us that the further away a reward is, the less we will pay for it today. Our world, and modern economy, is built on having it now, as soon as possible,…
The Chinese Money Plant – Pass it On
Most of us tend to hang on to our money, but when it comes to plants, we’re different. People love to pass on plants a friend admires, and that is how the popular…
Everything you need to know about Japanese Cedar – Cryptomeria
Evergreens are among the most important plants in any garden. They bring a look of permanence and structure, with forms that are with us every day of the year. The garden will still…
Get to Know Snake Plants – Sansevieria
If you like having plants around the house, but don’t have the proverbial ‘green thumb’, then it’s time to grow a snake plant or two. Talk about indestructible – these plants should probably…
You Should be Growing Liriope in Your Garden – Here’s Why
The best way to raise your garden to a new level is to get rid of all those patches of bare earth. Not only do they encourage weeds, but they lose more water…
Grow Your Own Avocados – (but not from a stone)
Once upon a time, avocados were an exotic, rare fruit, perhaps appearing in that Tex-Mex staple, guacamole, as a dip with beer, but otherwise hardly seen at all. How things have changed. Today…
All About Hybrid Philodendrons
In this in-depth look at the important houseplant, Philodendron, we started in an earlier blog post by learning more about their amazing biology – where they come from, and where and how they…
The Exciting World of Philodendrons
In this in-depth look at the important houseplant, Philodendron, we started in an earlier blog post by learning more about their amazing biology – where they come from, and where and how they…
How to Grow Philodendrons
So you bought a Philodendron, or are thinking about buying one, and you want to know how to grow it. The good news is that these houseplants are among the easiest to grow,…
Grow Exciting Prayer Plants – Calathea
In a previous blog post we took a look at the secrets of growing those popular and gorgeous houseplants called Prayer Plants, or Calathea. In this post we are going to take a…
Calathea – The Answer to Your Houseplant Prayers
Once you get growing with houseplants, and have mastered those old indestructibles, like snake plants, Swiss cheese and spider plants, it’s natural to start looking for more. I bet you have often dreamed…
The Pine Trees of America #4
PART 4 – THE 2-NEEDLE PINES OF AMERICA In this series of blogs we are taking a deeper look at our native pine trees, both in the wild and in our gardens. In…
The Pine Trees of America #3
PART 3, THE 3-NEEDLE PINES OF AMERICA In this series of blogs we are taking a deeper look at our native pine trees, both in the wild and in our gardens. In the…
The Pine Trees of America #2
PART 2, THE 5-NEEDLE PINES OF AMERICA In the first part of this look at our native Pines, we talked about how to identify pine trees with a reasonable degree of accuracy. In…
The Pine Trees of America #1
PART 1, IDENTIFICATION Pine Trees are everywhere, in city and country, and their distinctive long needles make them a tree that is almost as widely recognized as maple. As garden trees, pines have…
Get to Know Russian Sage
Never truly Russian, and until recently not a sage either, Russian Sage is that plant you see in a garden and go, “Wow! What is that?” A striking concoction of silver and blue,…
Coral Bells, Foam Flowers and Foamy Bells
Once upon a time, boys and girls, Coral Bells were simple plants with marbled leaves and sprays of tiny bright coral-pink flowers on tall stems that fluttered in the breeze. Sometimes you saw…
The Yin and Yang of Viburnums
Some plants are so packed with charisma that they can become cult items, admired and coveted by every gardener who encounters them. To achieve this status usually requires two things – at least…
Tired of Boring Hedges? – here are some great ideas.
Most gardeners love hedges – formal or informal, they make the perfect background to a garden, defining it’s space, giving privacy and showing off your plants against a neutral background. But why is…
Rose of Sharon – Some New Takes on an Old Favorite
There was a time when the arrival of a new plant was a great event. When that happened in Europe around 1600, when a new, remarkable bush began to appear in gardens, one…
All You Need to Know About Gardening with Ferns
Valuable solutions for shady parts of your garden, ferns offer us an enormous variety of forms. Large or small, bold or lacy, there are fern solutions to most gardening problems, and they add…
Five Great and Different Fast-growing Privacy Shrubs
When it comes to privacy, it’s a shame that a small handful of plants have taken over, so most gardens use the same old plants, and we all end up looking the same….
5 New Plants For Your Garden
There is nothing so much fun as planting something new in your garden. The planning and thinking about it’s suitability; the waiting for its arrival; unpacking that box; choosing the perfect spot for…
Choosing Screening Trees and Shrubs
Most of us want privacy in our gardens, so we can relax and enjoy ourselves, free from the noise and dust of a highway, the curiosity of passersby, or the scrutiny of neighbors….
Shrubs Beside Water (or in Wet Soil)
One of the most common instructions we find ourselves giving is to grow a certain plant in ‘well-drained soil’. That is fine, but what if you don’t have soil like that, perhaps because…
The New American Garden: A Home-Grown Garden Style
Without realizing it, many of us create gardens in styles that we bring from other countries. This is obvious when you are inspired by Japan or Asia to emulate their beautiful gardens, but…
Chinese Astilbe – Top Choice for Drier Gardens
Perennial plants add an extra dimension of beauty to any garden, and ones that are pest-free, long-blooming and low-maintenance are the best ones of all. Add in weeks and weeks of summer blooming,…
How to Succeed with Winterberry Bushes
‘Winter’ and ‘Berries’ definitely go together. The traditional Christmas holly may dominate the Christmas card market, but as many gardeners soon discover, if you live in areas that are too cold or too…
Meet the Viburnums – Some Of Our Best Flowering Shrubs
If you want to know the secret to creating an attractive garden, there is a one-word answer – ‘structure’. I don’t mean pergolas and gazebos, but structure from shrubs and small tree. A…
Shrubs for Exciting Ground Cover
Every garden has spaces beneath the plants where the earth can be seen. These areas attract weeds, and they lose water to the air, drying out your plants faster. They also look boring,…
Victor Lemoine – the Lilac Man
Especially for gardeners in colder zones, lilacs are classic flowering shrubs no-one would want to be without. Their large heads of fragrant flowers are a delight, and available in a wide range of…
How to Grow Blueberries in Pots
Everyone loves blueberries – they are America’s #2 berry (after strawberries) – and we just love them in muffins and pancakes, in pies and smoothies, scattered over cereal or just popped straight into…
Trees and Shrubs for Alkaline Soils – Part 2
A couple of weeks back we started this two-parter on choosing plants that will grow well for you if you have alkaline soil. If you are looking for some suitable trees, or are…
5 Ways to Make a Beautiful Garden with White-flowering Shrubs
It doesn’t take long, once you start gardening, to start thinking about color. Yes, it is very important to arrange your beds using interesting shapes – a blend of vertical, rounded and horizontal…
Get to Know the Quince
If you haven’t smelled the fruit of the quince, you have missed out on something beautiful. These strange hard fruits are renowned for their perfume, and were first used in the Middle East…
The Perfect Substitute for Boxwood – New Hollies
Boxwood is definitely one of the most iconic garden plants there is. Most people recognize it straight away, and those clipped hedges are a symbol of the organize, formal look for gardens. Start…
Everything You Need to Know About Wisteria
Instantly recognizable, the long, hanging blue flowers of the wisteria are a highlight of spring, sometimes blooming as early as March in the south, or May in the north. A good specimen in…
Fairytale Lilacs Make Garden Dreams Come True
Plant breeders are dreamers – they dream of plants that will be closer to our ideals, and they want to give us beautiful plants to fill our own garden dreams. Northern gardeners dream…
Double-Acts – Flowering Shrubs with Good Fall Color
Creating a rich and fulfilling garden can be tricky and it takes some thought and planning. There is a basic principle, though, that can really help you build a garden that is interesting…
Choose the Right Red Maple for Your Garden
There was a time when our streets were lined with elm trees, but those days are gone. Much more likely today is to find streets lined with Red Maple, Acer rubrum, a native…
January in Your Garden
Of all the months of the year, January is the one which will be very different in your garden, depending on where you live. In colder zones you can pretty much guarantee it…