During these sometimes gray winter months, we can still find plant pleasures indoors. Houseplants are the plants that keep on giving enjoyment all year long, whether it be with foliage or with cheerful and entrancing flowers. Here are a few easy-care, no-fail plants from which to choose: Hoya, Sansevieria, Maranta, Holiday Cacti and Oxalis. Check […]
flowers
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A Boost of Winter Color and Fragrance
After taking down the Christmas lights and all the bling is gone, January looks cold, dark and gray. Depressing. Does it have to be this way? Not if you plant a garden that looks good even during the coldest days of the year. Winter is a time to celebrate a quiet place, when the garden […]
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A Garden for Tea
Tea time will stop business in some cultures; it can also conjure up images of romantic and floriferous parties or bring warm relaxation to a cold winter day. Tea… Is it a ritual, an herb or a beverage? Technically, tea is the plant Camellia sinensis. Varieties of true tea plants are not cultivated in many […]
Posted inBlog, Featured, Gardeners Corner
Bulb Planting Tips
There’s still time to plant bulbs, whether it’s directly into the garden or into containers. Bulbs are one of the easiest things to plant and then not much work to do after that. If you choose the correct kinds of bulbs, they’re also the gift that keeps on giving. Generally you’ll have the opportunity to […]
Posted inFeatured, Garden
Put on Your Winter Bloomers
Good garden design shows no bias to seasons; there is something for everyone as the changes mingle and blend. To discover the garden in winter, bundle up and take a walk outside. The season shows the real bone structure and also reveals the nakedness of mixed planting borders that don’t have much to offer after […]
Posted inBlog, Gardeners Corner
Chrysanthemums: An Underused Fall Perennial
If you think chrysanthemums are only the daisy-like, yellow flowers in pots that are regularly seen at big-box stores September through fall, you would be surprised to see what they can really look like. The big-box stores sell mums that are forced to flower in a greenhouse. Sometimes when you buy them and put them […]
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Gifts From the Garden
There is much to learn about the garden: the planting, the weeding, the pruning, what to grow, plus all those plant names. One of the more enjoyable aspects of what a garden teaches is how the garden gives back. A gifting garden is all about growing useful plants — varieties that are harvested and preserved […]
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Standouts for Dry Shade
Ah, gorgeous trees and the shelter and shade they provide! Many local residents are blessed with towering conifers like Western red cedars or the fall colors of maples and other deciduous trees on their properties. Despite all their advantages, trees can create a love-hate relationship, as the area underneath is sometimes a challenging spot to […]
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Renovating a Collector’s Garden
This isn’t about the design of a new garden; this is all about an existing one. As the garden ever changes, much can be said about how it grows and develops character. Then there are the spaces that do not age gracefully; the overhaul of a garden is a different approach than the construction approach […]