Next up in my college lawn-class reports: what I learned about clover and alternative grass seed mixes that include flowering plants, and what I would do if I (still) had a lawn myself. Alternatives to conventional cool-season grasses In climates where cool-season grasses are grown, tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass are the default, largely because … Read more
Like so many of your gardens, mine is undergoing the greatest test of all – prolonged extreme heat with no rain. And I’m betting you’re like me in not having an irrigation system to rely on. (Never wanted one, though. Still don’t.) I’m in a humid hardiness zone 7. So you may want to join … Read more
It’s summer. That means glorious sunny days with flower-filled gardens and air filled with heady fragrances. I found out by accident that abelias are perfumed Unless you’re in my part of Britain, in which case it often means rain. The Importance Of Perfumed Plants Even the most foliage-obsessed of us enjoy flowers. There seems to … Read more
Even more than lilacs (!!) in late June and a remarkable run on my wildlife Bingo card, my most treasured takeaway from this year’s Slow Flowers Summit is the scent of wolf willow (Eleagnus commutata), a sturdy shrub clothed in silvery, sage-green foliage. The plant’s tiny, almost obscure yellow flowers emit an alluring alpine fragrance … Read more
The ‘Accent Coral’ Impatiens was found to support the most pollinators of any Impatiens. Need a statistic to convince you of the need to nudge customers toward more beneficial annuals? “Among all flowering plants sold at garden centers in the United States every year, more than half are annual flowers, totaling nearly $2 billion in … Read more
My first lawn-replacement project. The combo of clover and Sedum sarmentosum looked great – for about a year. Back in 2007 I started experimenting with other groundcovers – to replace a tiny front lawn and also a 1,000-sf back lawn on a slope. I ditched my lawns for two very selfish reasons – because lawn … Read more
Some people look out for interesting street food or creative entertainers and artists while traveling, craving a unique cultural fix. Not me. I’m into street plants, especially hitchhikers and rowdy renegades looking to party. I can fall head over heels for a gutter poppy (below) or an opportunistic malva (above). Give me a hothead survivor … Read more
When I sit in those pink chairs on my front patio I want some screening from the cars and people passing nearby. That’s why 12 years ago when I moved here I reflectively planted a short boxwood hedge, some of which is visible here on the right. Like most of us, I assumed that only … Read more
‘Little Joe’ Joe Pye weed Seeing Joe Pye weeds blooming now in my garden and around town, I say “Where has this great perennial been all my gardening life?” It seems it wasn’t available here in the U.S. until the Europeans fell in love with this native of Eastern and Central U.S. and its popularity … Read more
We’d all been missing the bees and butterflies, due to the cold and wet we’d had. Then a little heat and they’re back! Bombing around, making up for lost time: Here they are, on an Echinops sphaerocephalus, otherwise Globe Thistle, which I can’t resist putting up for you, for the sheer plethora of bee. They … Read more