When we first think about invasive plants, we often conjure images of plants that are not pretty. I often think of the brambles that Maleficent casts around the castle in Sleeping Beauty. Sharp thorns, jagged edges, overall, a barren landscape. Invasive plants are not new. We know that some thistles, leafy spurge, and palmer amaranth…
Category: Landscaping
Old But New
Plant breeders have given us some spectacular wonders for our gardens over the years. We now have beebalm and phlox that are more resistant to powdery mildew. Coneflowers now come in bright bolder colors with sturdier stems. We even have different Joe-Pye-Weeds that are shorter, more compact and even some like Eupatorium altissimum ‘Prairie Jewel’…
Summer Landscaping
Summer landscapes and gardens are in full swing now. The biggest issue many places are facing is the drought, but there are other things to deal with in your gardens other than just irrigation. Here are a few things to do in your landscape or garden related to weeding and feeding the garden. Weeding Weeds…
Seven Sons in Fall
In the fall, there are just simply fewer landscape plants that offer great appeal. Sure, goldenrod, asters, plumbago, turtlehead, sedums and mums should be a part of just about any landscape, but the ratio of spring and summer bloomers is probably about 3:1 or even more. For that reason, let’s highlight one more fall appealing plant – the Seven Sons tree/flower/shrub.
Euonymous, Anyone?
In this case, you might want the shrub or vine, euonymous, but not the common euonymous scale insects that often infest them. In fact, in some landscapes, the scale infestations are so common that budding horticulturists and entomologists often think that the symptoms and signs are a natural occurrence, as in “they’re supposed to be there”.