Shaded areas in the landscape may be difficult areas to grow turfgrass and vegetables, but offer an opportunity for a shade garden. Success in shade gardening is heavily influenced by plant selection and site preparation.
Category: Flowers
Goats and Ladders
Every year, I discover a new plant to obsess over. Some have thrived in our garden, like the bush clematis, hairy beardtongue, and camas. This summer, I added Creeping Jacob’s Ladder and goat’s rue to my must-have list. While the former is a lovely ground cover, the latter has a complicated history as a milk production aid and natural insecticide. Careful not to confuse it with the invasive Goatsrue, I look forward to seeing how these newcomers fare in my urban garden.
Container Gardens – Regular and Unique
There’s the traditional “garden variety” container garden and then there are unusual, unique or out of the ordinary, edgy ones. Traditional patio planters or front porch pots tend to be round or rectangular and flat, facilitating the display of flowers on a horizonal and perhaps cascading plane. Other types of planters expand the viewing of the plant material in vertical, rounded and hanging arrangements, often in combination of other hardscape elements of the landscape.
2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone
The USDA updated their Hardiness Zone map publicized in November 2023, reflecting changes in average extreme minimum temperatures, moving several Nebraska and Iowa counties to zone 6a. The author reminds gardeners to consider factors not covered by the map, such as anomalies and soil conditions, before purchasing new plants.
Rethinking Sweet Autumn Clematis
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…