There was a luxuriant stand of it in my grandparent’s garden. It fascinated me as a child and I would be hard put to say whether the tiny waxy bells or the scent – rich, fresh and sweet all at once – attracted me most. When I started my own garden, lily of the valley … Read more
What’s in a plant name, indeed? I enjoy finding new-to-me cultivars at the garden center or spring plant sales that stretch the limits of reasonable nomenclature with their hyperbolic, fanciful or puzzling monikers. Kind of like my favorite example outside the garden sphere, a local company called Accurate Trash Removal. This season’s discoveries started with … Read more
I think I’m a reasonably competent gardener. I’ve been gardening for over 25 years now, and for 20 of those years I’ve been earning my living in nurseries and gardens. In the early days I was confident about my knowledge; now I’ve come to be at peace with the vastness of things I will never … Read more
Massive storms rolled through Kentucky in late May. We were spared disaster. Thousands of others weren’t so lucky. Trees were downed and power knocked out. This wasn’t the Commonwealth’s maiden voyage with Mother Nature’s crumbling disposition. We’ve been nipped in the bud before, and we’ll be nipped again. I may be stalled by the … Read more
My career has, so far, involved working with both nurseries and private gardens. I’m also involved in plant trials and, without wanting to sound too big-headed, I have a reputation as someone who knows a thing or two about plants. There’s one question I struggle to answer; what actually makes a good plant? F&F: Flowers … Read more
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