Great Design Plant: Thunder and Lightning for Midsummer Garden Color

Take me to a nursery and Im a kid in a candy store. My eyes are naturally drawn to the tall spires of sapphire-blue delphiniums and mounding velvety red roses, but I know that without a strong backbone of foliag

Great Design Plant: California Fuchsia Brings Color and Hummingbirds

Until a few years ago, the only place I remember seeing California fuchsia (Zauschneria californica) was 7,000 feet high near Echo Summit, as patches of red blazing through cracks in gray granite boulders. Today

Great Design Plant: Retreat to the Shade of Hardy Catalpa

Bold and beautiful, hardy catalpa takes a big commitment of space and energy to maintain, but the payoff is worth it. Large, fragrant flowers cover the tree in early summer, and the big heart-shaped leaves prov

How to Make Your Oceanfront Garden Thrive

Beachfront living is tough if youre a plant. Salt spray, searing sun, erosion, drought and hurricane-force winds exclude all but the toughest plants from coastal gardens, but luckily they are also some of the mo

Get Along With Less Lawn — Ideas to Save Water and Effort

Lawns work well as active playspaces for people and pets, and as circulation corridors through landscapes. Thanks to their uniform color and texture, lawns often serve as a place for the eye to rest within an a

Great Design Plant: Red Bird-of-Paradise Soars With Color

When people first see the vibrantly colored flowers of red bird-of-paradise, they literally stop in their tracks to stare at them. Orange-red flowers in varying shades appear on this shrub in spring through summ

Set Your Shade Garden Aglow With Light

Light and life are inextricably related. From its beginning, the human race has worshipped, celebrated and sought to capture light. And I believe that gardeners, more than most people, are aware of light: how i

Herb Garden Essentials: Grow Your Own Tasty, Frilly Dill

Dill may be associated with pickles, but give it a try in other dishes as well. Both the new leaves and seeds are edible, and the blowsy foliage, delicate yellow flowers and 3-foot height (some varieties are sho

Great Design Plant: Fringe Flowers Star Rises

Seems like just yesterday that fringe flower, or Loropetalum chinense, was barely known; it was usually described as a quiet, dignified evergreen shrub. Now, after a rise from obscurity to the top as quick as ac

6 Summer Edibles That Can Really Take the Heat

Whether you live in the tropics or are experiencing a heat wave in your climate, maintaining summer vegetable gardens can be challenging if youve chosen plants that prefer mild temperatures. These herbs and vegg

Herb Garden Essentials: Grow Your Own Culinary Sage

There are hundreds of sages out there that can add color and punch to your landscape. Some are strictly ornamental; others are also used for everything from scenting perfumes and soaps to repelling moths and eli

Bid Bad Garden Bugs Goodbye and Usher In the Good

Summers long days and warm nights are perfect for going outside and enjoying your garden. Finally, all the work youve put in over the past year is paying off, and you can relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor

Great Garden Combo: Planting for Fiery Color and Beautiful Wildlife

There is something magical about seeing butterflies and hummingbirds in the summer garden. While butterflies flit gracefully from flower to flower, their colorful wings lazily dancing on the warm breeze, humming

Great Design Plant: Towering Colewort Adds Playful Drama

Imagine babys breath (Gypsophila spp) on steroids; thats colewort. The oversize foliage and towering inflorescence evoke a fun sense of the tropics for gardeners in colder, drier climes. Colewort, also referred

Great Design Plant: Discover Queen of the Prairies Sweet Aroma

Queen of the Prairie is a slowly spreading perennial that loves moisture. Its frothy pink bloom fills the garden with an exquisite perfume for one to two weeks in midsummer. Consider Queen of the Prairie if you’

Get More From Your Garden by Mixing Things Up

Can you mix formal with informal in garden design? Absolutely. You see it all the time in gardens, especially small gardens, where defined formal hardscape is softened by fluid, informal planting.Most gardens un

Great Design Plant: Lively Fountain Grass Thrives Just About Anywhere

Heres a grass that I would describe as exuberant — animated, jaunty, vivacious, spirited, playful, bright and buoyant. Words out of a dictionary, but when a plant can give you these qualities in a landscape you

Great Design Plant: Sun-Loving Ninebark Puts on a Color Show

This highly adaptable and underused native should be a workhorse in most every sun-loving garden. Thanks to the introduction of recent cultivars, the ninebark now sports numerous foliage colors, grows large into

Herb Garden Essentials: Grow Your Own Tarragon

For many people, tarragon is one of those herbs you’ve heard of but don’t really know. It’s not particularly showy or overly fragrant, yet its leaves are a staple of classic French cuisine, and its light aroma i

Be Your Own Best Florist With a Bouquet Garden

Think about an area in your garden where you most enjoy the beauty of flowering plants. Now imagine bringing that favorite piece of your garden indoors as a bouquet. You may be surprised to find that the combina