Great Design Plant: Globe Mallow

Globe mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) is a beautiful perennial that is equally at home in an English-style garden or along a desert roadside. Like many native desert perennials, it has a delicate appearance thats

Great Design Plant: Peonies

Sometimes the best flowers are the old-fashioned ones that Grandma used to grow, like peonies. These long-lived flowering perennials come in a stunning array of colors and are typically fairly low maintenance, m

Summer Crops: How to Grow Watermelons

Watermelon is the quintessential summer fruit. Though its not in the same genus as other melons, its growing conditions are almost identical, just on a larger scale. Watermelons usually need even more space than

Great Design Plant: Fan Aloe

A landscape of succulents tops my list of favorites, but sometimes a little variation from the tight rosettes that define their silhouette is necessary for a dynamic and interesting gardenscape. Enter fan aloe (

How to Grow a Rose Garden in Pots

Have you ever heard that anything that grows in the ground can be grown in a container? Thats true, even for roses. While potted roses have additional watering and fertilizing requirements, they are wonderful fo

5 Exotic Rose Colors for a Beautifully Different Garden

I know we all love our pink, red, yellow and white roses, but sometimes its fun to step outside of the norm and go a little bolder with color — or a little funkier. How about some lavender, peach or caramel, or

20 Ways to Create a Chartreuse Splash in the Landscape

Design-savvy gardeners know that chartreuse can be combined with pretty much anything, and the range of plant choices is growing every year. Here are some ways to use old favorites, new cultivars and bold accent

California Gardeners April Checklist

Water shortages along with energy crises and other realities of modern living have taught us valuable lessons about conserving our priceless resources. And in our gardens, we Californians have pioneered sustaina

Northeast Gardeners April Checklist

Springtime delights abound: Red-winged blackbirds call from the wetlands as they begin their nesting rituals; spring peepers punctuate the evening from the woodlands behind our home; and wondrous ephemerals like

Southwest Gardeners April Checklist

The American Southwest is a vast area, covering all of Arizona and New Mexico as well as parts of California, Nevada, Texas and Utah. The regions of the Southwest are varied and include low deserts, high desert

Southeast Gardeners April Checklist

The entire month of April is wrapped in spring. With March madness behind us and the merriment of May ahead, many feel the need to stop and appreciate our gardens in April (or at least I do). The month of April

7 Edible, Pretty Wonders of the Plant World

If one doesnt have to be a chef to be a gourmet, does one need to be a garden designer to grow pretty edibles? Obviously not. Yet a few cues from a designer and plantsman might help make your potager that much m

Great Design Plant: Pride of Madeira

To describe Pride of Madeiras features as anything other than stunning doesn’t do the plant justice. You’ve probably heard the list of attributes before — purple flower spikes, mounding habit, low water use, co

Make Your Roses Even More Beautiful With These Companion Plants

Companion planting simply means that some plants can, and should, be planted together to create a beautiful and healthy garden. When choosing companion plants for your roses, opt for ones that have the same sun

Great Native Plant: Pasque Flower

Folks are always lamenting that they have few flowers both late in the growing season and early. Well, I can solve the latter with pasque flower (Pulsatilla patens), a clumping, slowly expanding native flower th

5 Red Roses to Stir Garden Passions

Who doesnt love a red rose? This timeless classic signifies love, passion and courage — and the number of red roses sends a message as well. One shows love, a dozen signifies gratitude, 25 conveys congratulation

What the Heck Is a Ha-Ha, and How Can It Help Your Garden?

Having trouble with animals straying into your garden? The 18th-century English gentry had the perfect answer to protecting their manicured lawns from marauding sheep or cattle — the sunken ditch, or ha-ha. The

Great Design Plant: Lungwort

A cottage garden favorite, this easy-care perennial has it all. Whether you need an attractive alternative to hostas for your shade garden, a unique foliage plant for a sunny border or an early-blooming treat fo

6 Wonderfully Easy Roses for Any Gardener

Calling roses easy may seem like an oxymoron, but there truly are some varieties that are low maintenance. Many roses are susceptible to black spot, aphids and fungal diseases and need a fair amount of spraying

Great Design Plant: Blue Fescue

Without doubt, certain plants are strongly tied to specific garden styles and are limited by climate and available square footage. But the last thing Im looking for in landscape design is another rule to follow.