Go for Baroque for a Vivacious, Colorful Garden

Why not give your garden a touch of the baroque? The baroque movement is thought to have originated in 17th-century Italy before spreading to the rest of Europe, where it influenced painting, sculpture, architec

Great Design Plant: Desert Marigold Cheers Up Hot, Dry Areas

The flowers of desert marigold will brighten up the landscape even where water is scarce and the sun is blazing. Often seen along roadsides, in wildflower gardens or even growing alongside cacti, desert marigol

Warm Up Your Home With an Evergreen Windbreak

Planting a windbreak is a commitment to the future, a means of energy conservation as part of a sustainable lifestyle. Yet the rewards are also immediate. Maturing plants provide shelter and food for wildlife a

Why Grow Quince? For Beauty, Fragrance and Old-Time Flavor

Everyone knows apples and pears. But the quince — now that’s something different. It’s a member of the same family grouping, known as pome fruits, with many of the same characteristics, including beautiful pale

A Great Spring Plant Combo for Dappled Shade

When we think of spring, we immediately picture cherry blossoms, daffodils and primroses, yet there are more ways to celebrate the rebirth of the garden. Take advantage of the dappled light and increased visibil

Great Design Plant: Autumn Fern Adds Color All Year

The name of this fern is misleading, suggesting that it offers value to the garden only in fall. Certainly it is a highlight of autumnal designs, but the first photograph below was taken at the end of June! I wa

6 Reasons I’m Not Looking Forward to Spring

I’m a bit of a contrarian, I admit, and the older I get, the more contrarian I feel. Maybe I’ve spent too much time in classrooms playing devil’s advocate with students whose minds I’m trying to stretch, or mayb

Great Design Plant: Sea Grape, a Hardy Coastal Delight

The bright green mouse-ear leaves of the native sea grape tree make me smile. It isn’t just because sea grapes are drought tolerant and salt tolerant — or even because they help stabilize dunes. It’s the plant’s

Great Design Plant: Feathery Cassia for Fragrance in Arid Gardens

In the midst of winter, when flowers are scarce, feathery cassia becomes a focal point in the Southwestern landscape. Masses of fragrant yellow flowers cover this Australian native, which thrives in arid climate

Great Design Plant: Creeping Juniper Holds Its Ground

Ground covers are the base layer of any good garden design, and one of my favorites for low maintenance and year-round good looks is creeping juniper, a low-growing shrub that’s native to the U.S. and grows in a

Get Coneflower Blooms All Summer Long

When you walk into a garden center or nursery, you’re almost always going to see one kind of coneflower: Echinacea purpurea. Oh, you’ll see lots of different coneflowers, often the hottest new thing to tempt you

Great Design Plant: Sunrose Dazzles on Dry Slopes

Sunrose is a carefree perennial that dazzles when in bloom and soothes winter-weary eyes when dormant. This versatile plant loves dry soils and is at home on slopes, in containers and in xeriscapes. Use it as a

Great Design Plant: Sabal Palm Enchants in Balmy Sites

If there’s one plant that instantly conjures up the image of the warm and balmy bliss of Florida and the coastal South, it would be sabal palm. Both Florida and South Carolina proudly claim it as their state tre

Gardening for the Bees, and Why It’s a Good Thing

I stopped gardening for myself years ago. It probably happened about the time I saw a bumblebee pulling itself along the ground one fall morning; once it crossed from shade into light, it stopped, seeming to lay

Great Design Plant: Lilac Vine for a Purple Profusion in Winter

There aren’t many vines that put on a show in the middle of winter, but that is exactly when lilac vine shows off a profusion of purple flowers. As pretty as the flowers are, they aren’t fragrant, but when they

The Quotable Garden: Writings That Will Grab Your Heart

I read a lot. I don’t enjoy it. What I mean is, I don’t enjoy the process of reading — that sitting still, that slow plodding along, that uncertainty of wondering if I’m wasting my time. However, when I hit a ph

Lessons in the Rewards of Selfless Gardening

For the first few years, I gardened for myself. It was an explosion of energy as I bought plants, dug them in, dug them up and moved them a few inches. Plants, plants, plants. Oh, the colors and textures and pot

Great Design Plant: Bugle Weed, a Quick Ground Cover

This versatile ground cover is often overlooked, yet I have found it to be a reliable workhorse. Ignored by deer and rabbits in my garden — so far — it fills in quickly between boulders and larger plants, bringi

Great Design Plant: Blackfoot Daisy for Prettier Dry Ground

Daisies will brighten up any landscape, and blackfoot daisy is no exception. Despite its fragile appearance, this low-growing perennial flourishes with little water in areas that experience bitter-cold winters,

Great Plants for Lush, Low-Water Gardens

If you are dealing with water restrictions, have a lackluster irrigation system or simply want to conserve resources, adding plants that don’t get thirsty is a smart way to green up your outdoor space. Yes, you