Great Design Plant: Conoclinium Coelestinum

About half of my Nebraska garden blooms from mid-August through October, and blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum) is a key plant during that time. It’s short and unassuming for months, but late-summer bloom

6 Deer-Resistant Ground Covers to Plant This Fall

Ground covers are among the most practical plants in the garden designer’s palette. They give the most bang for the buck by colonizing large areas through plantings of tiny, inexpensive plugs. There are many opt

10 Reasons to Love Vertical Gardens

When you live in an urban area, bits of greenery can be hard to come by — but vertical gardens offer a wonderful way to refresh your living space, inside and out. From boosting privacy to enhancing small outdoor

7 Delightfully Different Bulbs for Your Spring Garden

As the fall days become shorter and the weather gets less appealing for gardening, its easy to put thoughts about your garden on hold and focus on warm, cozy winter days indoors. But dont tuck yourself indoors j

Backyard Birds: Invite Entertaining Hummingbirds Into Your Garden

Hummingbirds are dazzling jewels in any landscape. You might not know it, but hummingbirds, or hummers, as they are affectionately known, live only in North, Central and South America. What better way to celebra

10 Deer-Resistant Native Flowers to Plant This Fall

As interest in native plants grows, so does the desire for finding those that are not mowed to the ground by deer. Natives are an especially popular choice for large naturalized plantings, just the sort of envir

4 Ways to Break the Rules in Your Garden

I want every garden I see to blow my mind open, throw my senses into overdrive and transport my body to another level of being in a way that only nature can. The point of a garden is for it to be an artistic int

Great Design Plant: Solidago Flexicaulis Colors the Fall Shade Garden

Zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis) is an eastern U.S. native perennial that can be found growing in shady sites, including prairies, meadows, woodlands, old fields and woodland understories and edges. It is

Great Design Plant: Teucrium Fruticans for Drought-Tolerant Gardens

Shrubby germander (Teucrium fruticans) is a drought-tolerant beauty that basks in full sun, while its foliage and flowers provide a visually cooling backdrop. This Mediterranean native, also called shrubby germa

Great Design Plant: Skyblue Aster (Symphyotrichum Oolentangiense)

There’s so much to like about skyblue aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense), a drought-tolerant, highly adaptable central U.S. native. It swarms with pollinators, has tall masses of bright flowers in fall and is

Great Design Plant: Solidago Speciosa

Showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa) is the first native goldenrod that I grew at home. Though its rather dull green foliage blends in with other plants through the summer, tall, upright golden plumes stand up an

Backyard Birds: The Wonder of Warblers

Warblers. Where does one begin? There are so many to choose from, with over 50 species calling North America home. Their coloration, migration, secretive behavior and flair for the spectacular make them an objec

5 Invaluable Life Lessons From the Garden

In 2003 I moved into a townhome, and my visiting mother took me to a nursery to “spruce up” my 60-square-foot patio area. Four years of tinkering had led me to take the plunge — moving into a new house with over

Lush, Foodie Abundance in a Small Urban Garden

“I was spending a lot of money on organic food,” Esiah Levy says, explaining how he came to create his super-productive garden in Croydon, south London. “So I set about finding alternative sources of organic foo

8 Sumptuous Shade Garden Plant Combinations

Before moving to the Seattle area nine years ago, I was a Southern California girl. That’s right, sun, sun and more sun. I’ll admit, at first I was a bit intimidated by planting in shade. In hindsight, it’s cle

Great Design Plant: Juniperus Conferta ‘Golden Pacific’

Landscape designers have a wide variety of plants in their arsenal. Certain plants, however, are go-to plants, special because they are adaptable and hardy, and bring special color, texture and form to the garde

Backyard Birds: Create a Home for American Kestrels

The American kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America and one of our fiercest predators of invertebrates, small rodents and small birds. The male of this species has a distinctive slate-blue head with a r

6 Plants for Colorful Fall Foliage in the Water-Wise Western Garden

Before you lament a fall season devoid of colorful fall foliage in the arid West and Southwest regions of the U.S., here are some favorite water-wise shrubs and trees that will add glorious color in varying shad

Herb Garden Essentials: Versatile Cilantro Adds Flavor to Herb Gardens

Whether you call it cilantro, coriander or Chinese parsley, cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) elicits a strong reaction. Many people love it. A sizable minority can’t stand it, often calling the flavor “soapy,” whic

10 Creative Ideas for Cactus and Succulent Gardens

All cactuses are succulents, but not all succulents are cactuses. Confused? Don’t worry — no matter what they are called, many cactuses and other succulents work well in plantings together, thanks to sharing sim