hydrangea

Fall Flowers For Cold Climates

– Posted in: What's up/blooming

Where do people get this silly idea that hardly anything blooms in autumn? I gave my colchicum presentation this week and one attendee remarked that I inspired her to have color in her fall garden. There's plenty of color in my fall garden, without even looking at the trees. Here's just a sampling of what I see as I stroll around.

Cold Climate Gardening Books: New Titles

– Posted in: Book reviews

Here are four gardening books where you don't have to worry if the plants will survive the winter, you don't have to mentally adjust the planting or maintenance schedule, and you'll usually get a few tips on overcoming some of our climates challenges. In other words, books for cold climate gardeners! Plus a link to the big book roundup I did a few years ago.

October’s Bounty: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day October 2017

– Posted in: What's up/blooming

Visitors asked about two plants at my Colchicum Open Garden. The first one is readily available at garden centers or online. The second one is a little trickier to find--it helps if you know someone. But visitors were also surprised to see so much in bloom at the end of September. It helps if you know my special plants and (not so) secret techniques. Click over to my blog post and I'll share them with you!

Good Fall Is Here! Garden Bloggers Bloom Day September 2017

– Posted in: What's up/blooming

In my mind there are two kinds of fall: "Good" Fall and "Bad" Fall. Good Fall is what we have now. The leaves on the trees are starting to turn color, temperatures have moderated so that you want to work in the garden again, the colchicums have started blooming and the many native autumn-blooming plants are at their peak, summer annuals are still going strong and some perennials are having a second flush of bloom. (Bad Fall is after the leaves drop and it's cold enough that they'd call it winter down South.) In this blog post, I'd like to share some of the best that autumn has to offer.

New Plants Blooming In August

– Posted in: What's up/blooming

There is a comfort in seeing plants bloom when you expect them to bloom. You sense the rhythm of the seasons that is one of the pleasures of gardening. But if the garden were totally predictable it would get a little boring. That's why even though my garden is supposedly full, I continue to add new plants, even if it means taking out others. Read on to see the plants that are either new to me this year or just hitting their stride this August.

Jaw-Dropping Flowering Shrubs: New Webinar from Kerry Mendez

– Posted in: Events

Just ten days until Kerry Mendez's latest webinar, Jaw Dropping Shrubs--The New No-Fuss Glamour Plants, goes live on Thursday, April 27 at 2pm Eastern time. Are you looking for high impact, low-maintenance, pollinator-friendly plants for your garden? Then flowering shrubs are your answer! Kerry's online lecture features exceptional, head-turning varieties that will be the talk [...]

Autumn Blooms: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day September 2016

– Posted in: What's up/blooming

Autumn blooms come in three categories: fall-only bloomers, "summer" annuals, and rebloomers. Because of this, September usually has more blooming plants than August. When you combine fall-bloomers, late-bloomers, and rebloomers in one bed, it hardly looks like the fall garden is waning. With thoughtful planning and cooperative weather, September can be a floriferous month. What's [...]

Mow Your Leaves and Pamper Your Plants

– Posted in: Garden chores

We are blessed to have a couple of hundred-year-old trees in our front yard. For the past two years, I have asked the family member in charge of mowing the front yard to use the bag attachment on the lawn mower for the final mowing, so that the leaves are shredded and collected by the [...]