Summer gardening is made easier with tough, drought-tolerant annuals, especially where summers are hot and dry. So many popular bedding plants are tender and water-needy, but there are plenty of waterwise, or xeric, annuals that go beyond low-growing succulents. Many are colorful, resilient, and bloom effortlessly all summer long.
Shaded porches and patios are prime spots for hanging baskets. We spend most of our outdoor leisure time in the shade where their beauty is most welcome, but only certain garden flowers will flower and thrive in less light. Planting the right flowers is essential…
“I have full sun in the front of my home, and I want to put up large containers in the front of my house, but I’m not sure what plants would work. Help! Thank you.” Question from Melissa of Lansing, Michigan Answer: There are lots of great plants…
When visiting older established gardens, if there is a border garden, it will probably contain at least one of these three plants: peony, bearded iris, and clematis. These are often considered old-fashioned plants because they have been regularly planted in gardens for so many years. All three of these…
Annuals aren’t just a summer thing. True, many popular annuals – such as marigolds, zinnias, castor beans, portulacas, and celosias – are unabashed heat-lovers, languishing in chilly conditions and hitting full stride during the long sultry days of July and August. Among the most valuable annuals, however, are those…
Brides traditionally wear or carry “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.” Gardens—whether they are arrays of containers, in-ground beds, or window boxes–often contain those same elements. Agapanthus, sometimes known as “Lily of the Nile”, combines all of those attributes in a single plant. The “something old”…
Since childhood, I have liked the styles and gardens of the Victorian Period (i.e., 1837-1901, the time of Queen Victoria’s reign in England). While driving around my hometown of South Bend, Indiana, I was inspired by the ornate Victorian houses with simple garden plots filled with brightly colored flowers,…
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