Tulips, daffodils, hyacinth and crocus are great for spring color. Nothing says spring like these bulbs. In order to keep them coming back strong year after year, one or maybe two steps are required after bloom. What are they?
Category: Annuals
Rules 5-7 of Garden Catalog Shopping
Getting the most out of your online or hardcopy garden catalog experience is best done by following rules. Well, they’re not so much rules as “guidelines”; Bill Murray knows what this is all about. For the Midwestern gardener, rules 5-7 focus mostly on the size of the plants and where they are planted in the landscape.
Thinking Ahead: Annual and Perennial Flowers
Growing a vegetable garden versus growing a flower garden can be hotly debated. Vegetable gardeners ask, “What good is it if you can’t eat it?” Flower growers think if it is not pretty, what’s the point? For me, growing both vegetables and flowers are necessary—vegetables nourish my body while flowers feed my soul. As the…
Deadheading
No, this is not an article on the trials, exhilarations and tribulations of The Grateful Dead. It’s about dead flowers. Dead flowers should be removed from annuals, perennials, bulbs and shrubs as soon as possible to prevent seeds from forming. As far as the plant is concerned aka if the plant had a mind with…
Valentine’s Day Alternatives
No doubt there are certain reported health benefits to a little dark chocolate now and then, but maybe this year, an alternative is in order for your loved one. Here’s a short list of good ones: *A potted plant – pots of Boston fern, rosemary, African violets, orchids and sweet bay can last…
Classic Color Combinations
The keys to success with patio planters and pots of all sizes are: Designing with the thriller, chiller and spiller concept in mind. The “thriller” is a plant chosen to “wow” you, to attract attention. The “spiller” is the plant that cascades over the edge of the pot, providing a softening effect, and the…