Planting Ideas
Below are links to articles posted in Planting Ideas.
My New Tanyosho Pine
I went to Rome in June, read all about it here. I fell in love with the beautiful stone pines that dotted the landscape. They are a very graceful pine with no understory branches and an upside down pyramid flat-top upperstory. Unfortunately they are not hardy where I live in Michigan. Well, a few weeks […]
A Border of Happy Returns Daylilies
My back garden is looking great again this year and I attribute much of it to my row of “Happy Returns” daylilies. Remember, a daylily is so named because each bloom lasts only for 1 day, and yet each day this row is covered by atleast a hundred blooms, and such blooming power will last […]
Barberry, a great shrub for the landscape
There is something to be said about barberries. They do not have beautiful flowers. Their scent can be bad. Their foliage, though nice, is beat by other plants. And yet I find myself thinking of them as one of the best bushes for the landscape. The reasons? Sheer growability. Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii) are hardy […]
Nature Hills Makes Good
Last Spring, well over a year ago, I purchased a ‘Forest Pansy’ redbud from Nature Hills Nursery. It didn’t bloom that first year, so I couldn’t confirm bloom color, and the leaves were green, instead of the purple they are supposed to be. I gave it the benefit of the doubt though and thought maybe […]
My New Plant Wish List
Late last Winter I posted a plant wishlist and I thought it’d be fun to do one again. I still haven’t gotten an American Beautyberry with it’s wonderful purple berries, so that is still on my list. Luckily or unluckily I did have a tree die, and I so bought my ‘Forest Pansy’ Redbud, so […]
Use Water Crystals for More Flexible Plantings
Plants should be planted with similar plants that have the same soil, light, and watering needs. You shouldn’t plant a water loving plant like a hardy hibiscus (rose mallow) next to a dry loving plant like a yucca or sedum, or should you? Well, there is a way to do this. Something I’ve just started […]
Using Plants with Contrasting Foliage
I wrote a new article today on using plants with contrasting foliage. Check it out. This is the first article in what will be a series. Now that I’ve laid the general groundwork I will go back and tackle specific plants for each popular foliage color such as red, blue, and yellow.
Buying for Bloom Power
We just got dumped on with a big load of snow, so this is a perfect time to talk about flowers. Seriously though, it is mid-February and the gardening catalogues have started to arrive in full force. I know I am starting to think about what new plants I’ll buy this year, and I’m sure […]
Using Ditch Lilies to Fill Spaces
We have some bad neighbors, they don’t take any care of their house or lawn, they’re constantly being cited by our city’s ordinance enforcement department for things like having grass that is too long. No one on our block likes them, when we moved in we heard nothing but bad things about them from all […]
Asters or Mums for Fall Color?
I bought two plants from Lowes in 6 inch pots in the fall of 2004. One was labeled Beth, a mum (short for chrysanthemum). The other was Wood’s Purple an aster. Both asters and mums are daisy-like flowers known for their fall color, meaning they bloom in the fall when others are not blooming. Over […]