Celebrate blooming branches

The air is cool, the sky is gray, and you begin to wonder whether winter will last forever. Suddenly, trees that have stood bare and silent all season erupt in a floral display that takes your breath away.Branches a

Chesapeake Snowflake Star of Bethlehem

When its winter white flowers fade, this Ornithogalum hybrid will feel right at home in the garden in the mild-winter West.The recent introduction is now finding its way into florists, supermarkets, and garden cente

Plant in fall: Pieris

For a shrub that changes with the seasons, Pieris is tough to beat. Clusters of tiny pink, red, or white flower buds start appearing in fall; then, from mid-winter to midspring, blooms open in the same shades.New sp

Delphinium elatum

• Zones 1-10,14-24, 32, 34, 36-41• Full sun• Regular wateringDelphiniums majestic bloom spikes are a mainstay of many summer gardens. Flower color covers the full range of blues and purples, and youll find cool pink

Glossy abelia (Abelia x grandiflora)

• Evergreen or semievergreen• Climate zones 4-24, 28-35• Full sun or partial shade• Regular wateringThis mounding, arching shrub grows 6 to 8 feet tall, 4 to 5 feet wide. Oval, glossy, ½- to 1-inch leaves often turn

Mediterranean herb garden

Mediterranean herbs are some of the most rewarding plants you can grow. Their leaves flavor everything from meats, soups, and stews to pizza and spaghetti. And the plants add beauty to kitchen gardens - many are eve

Washington thorn, Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum)

 • Deciduous• Zones 2-12, 14-17, 28, 30-41• Full sun• Moderate water• Growth rate: moderateReaching 25 feet tall and 20 feet wide, Washington thorn has a graceful, open structure. The glossy leaves are 2 to 3 inches

Globe amaranth (Gomphrena)

Annuals and perennials• Warm-season• Annual• Full sun• Moderate wateringCloverlike blossoms in red, pink, orange, purple, and white are borne on plants 9 inches to 2 feet tall. Easy to dry for winter bouquets. Space

Canterbury bells (Campanula medium)

• Biennial• Full sun or partial shade• Regular wateringAnother choice for an old-fashioned garden, Canterbury bells sends up leafy, 2 1/2- to 4-foot stems bearing loose clusters of bell-shaped flowers 1 to 2 inches

Growing tips

Choose a planting site in full sun and amend the soil with plenty of compost or other organic matter. If soil is acidic, also add lime.Get rhizomes into the ground immediately; they cant tolerate drying out. Plant 1

Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus)

• Cool-season• Annual• Full sun• Regular wateringDelightfully fragrant sweet peas bloom in shades of pink, purple, blue, salmon, and red, as well as white, cream, and bicolors. Plant size varies: bush types grow 1 t

Japonica camellias

The early varieties start blooming in October or November, the midseason ones in January or February, and the late-season ones in March (in colder climates, plants start blooming in winter and continue into May). Fl

Create a bouquet of callas

Step-by-step:  How to make a bridal bouquetElegant as they are, the white flowers of common callas pale beside newer, more vivid dwarf callas. In the garden, colored callas make excellent border plants, and they thr

Falls brightest flowers

Not long ago, when English-style perennial gardens were all the rage, annuals fell from favor. But now theyre making a comeback, as savvy gardeners rediscover the important role they play in beds, borders, and conta

Hollyhock (Alcea rosea)

• Biennial• Full sun• Regular wateringAn old-fashioned favorite with 3- to 6-inch-wide, single to double flowers on stems that range from 2 1/2 feet to a towering 9 feet tall. Blossoms appear in summer; colors inclu

Sea bed

Imagine diving into the cool waters of a cove somewhere along the Pacific Coast, then peering through your divers mask at the undersea life shimmering in the depths. What might you see? Perhaps a scene that looks mu

Mexican native plant is perfect poolside companion

Able to thrive in full sun and reflected heat, ladys slipper (Pedilanthus macrocarpus) makes the perfect poolside companion. The succulent shrubs waxy 1/2-inch stems even have a wet look. The stems remain bare most

5 flowers to plant in spring

1. CALIBRACHOA HYBRIDS; Sunset climate zones 8, 9, 14-24 as a perennial; zones 2-7, 10-13 as an annual. Tougher than petunias, calibrachoa has smaller flowers that last longer and fall off cleanly after bloom. Theyr

Yellow oxalis (Oxalis corniculata)

A very aggressive perennial weed, yellow oxalis (also called yellow wood sorrel) thrives throughout most of North America. Happy in sun or shade, it spreads quickly by seed. Seedlings start out from a single taproot

Spectacular succulents

Maybe you think you know as much as you want to about succulents. I know I did. Theyre the sculptural little plants, usually shunted off to the side in nurseries, that you dash past without a glance on your way to c