The 3 Ingredients of a Magical Night Garden

As the long summer nights are waning, we appreciate our evenings in the garden more and more. Busy modern lifestyles can lead to hurried days, with early morning and evening being the only time we have to savor

Northern California Gardeners September Checklist

Back in the 1960s, with a baby daughter and another on the way, I had a second job working at a nursery on weekends (and needed a third). Each fall we brought out the banners calling autumn “California’s second

Great Design Plant: Honey Locust Tree

The honey locust tree is a rural and urban pioneer. While its more likely to sprout naturally in country fields, this tree is one of the most popular choices for sidewalks, city parks and parking lots, because i

Great Design Plant: Milk Bush

Succulents are architectural and clean-textured garden accents, adding modern funk and humor to your planting palette. Milk bush (Euphorbia tirucalli), also known as pencil tree, takes that description to the ex

8 Flowers That Dazzle With Fall Color

Although springtime seems to own bragging rights to the most profusely blooming flowers, autumn is not far behind. Now that were done with the scorching summer months, its time to kick our fall gardens in gear b

Great Design Plant: Shenandoah Switchgrass

September brings a change in the air — it’s almost tangible. Cooler evenings have us hunting for our favorite sweater again, heavy morning dew reveals the cobwebs spun overnight by busy spiders, and an indefinab

8 Flowers That Hummingbirds Adore

What is it about hummingbirds that makes them so darned irresistible? Is it the way their wings beat 75 times per second, making them look like they’re hardly moving? Is it their petite physique, with their bodi

Weed War: When and How to Use Chemical Herbicides

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, it’s time to bring out the big guns of weed management: the chemicals. Think carefully before using chemical herbicides in your landscape, and make sure theyre part of an int

The Underdog Color That Fits Any Garden

Imagine you could only pick one color (aside from green) to add to your garden. Id want to add gray. Now, that might sound crazy considering the potential rainbow of hues, but gray is the perfect complement in a

5 Best-Behaved Trees to Grace a Patio

What makes an ideal tree for a patio or other moderate-size outdoor living area? Generally you’ll want a plant that’s on the small side, good looking when you’re sitting near or under it, and well groomed withou

Give Your Turf the Fall Tune-up It Deserves

Your lawn probably has taken a beating this summer — family gatherings, fetch with the dog, and kids games and toys have likely been working together with heat and drought to make your grass gasp for a breather.

Great Design Plant: Blazing Star

Are you tired of perennials with the usual round flowers and mounding habit? Looking for an accent, something that screams “wowee zowee” but doesn’t take up much real estate? Like butterflies to boot? Liatris, o

After-Summer Care for a Fabulous Fall Garden

September is a transition month in the garden. Although we may still have warm, even hot, weather, its time to clean up our summer gardens to make room for autumns bounty. Cooler days and crisp evenings and morn

Great Design Plant: Kousa Dogwood

Cornus kousa (kousa dogwood) is a beautiful ornamental tree that isnt quite as common as its popular relative, Cornus florida (flowering dogwood). If youre looking for a spring bloomer for your yard, a kousa dog

Great Design Plant: New Zealand Flax

New Zealand flax brings texture, color and foliage to the landscape year-round — especially welcome in otherwise barren fall and winter gardens. While falling leaves, a visible cue of the changing of the seasons

9 Low-Growing Hedges That Make Good Neighbors

When we think of low-growing hedges, were most likely to think of boxwood (box) hedging, Buxus spp, used in knot gardens and to edge herb gardens and herbaceous borders. But today there are other kinds of low he

Great Design Plant: Common Fig

The common fig tree has a long and colorful history around the world. Adam and Eve are depicted with leaves to cover themselves (its the modesty shield of choice in works of art), and its fruits were Cleopatras

Great Design Plant: Bluestem Joint Fir

Do you love the fine texture of ornamental grasses but hate the bare space you’re stuck with when they’ve been cut back in the spring? Do you have a dry, sunny spot that could use a hit of cool blue color? Are

Great Design Plant: Indian Grass

In my experience there are few grasses that can hold up to the drought-deluge cycle of a plains summer, but Indian grass is one of them. A native to tall-grass prairies, its often found alongside big bluestem an

Great Design Plant: Autumn Snakeroot

Black is a tone not to be used lightly. Show up in head-to-toe black and you’re sure to be taken seriously. Paint your walls dark and people know design is your thing. Same goes for the garden. While black plant