Flowers & Ornamentals

Every spring, I’m amazed by my peonies. It still blows my mind that such a massive, frilly blossom comes from a bud roughly the size of a large marble. Aren’t …

Who doesn’t love hydrangeas? With their giant mopheads of icy blue, soft mauve or creamy white flowers, it’s no wonder they’re one of the most popular flowering shrubs out there. …

Growing lavender means happy buzzing bees and patches of fragrant blossoms in dusky purple. Not to mention glasses of lavender lemonade. But if your lavender is looking lush and leafy …

Irises are often the first flower to kick off the summer perennial season. So it can be incredibly frustrating when that tall crop of sword-shaped leaves ends up being just …

Peonies always make me think of weddings. They’re such a romantic flower, so frilly and beautiful in shades of creamy white, soft pink or magenta. What bride wouldn’t want a …

June is a bit like coming up to the top of the first drop of a roller coaster ride. It’s that slow and steady rise above the daffodils and crocus, …

There comes a moment every spring when my garden threatens to run away from me. One minute, everything is barely waking up, and then I blink, and I’ve got a …

One of my plant-buying pet peeves is when plants come with labels that do more harm than good. Most of the time, it’s just confusing or incomplete information. (Such as …

I love gardening. But I like sitting on the porch admiring my garden a whole heck of a lot more, especially when the mercury starts to climb. As summer cranks …

Creating new garden beds doesn’t require you to dig up the turf and turn over the soil. That is, most certainly, the hardest way to do it. Cutting out the …

Don’t get me wrong, part of the appeal of Russian sage is the gorgeous color of the stems and leaves. That silvery green looks as though it belongs to another …

In “You’ve Got Mail,” Meg Ryan’s character notes that daisies are the friendliest flower. Ahem, really, Meg? How could you have discounted the sunflower so easily? It’s okay; we’ll forgive …

I was thinking recently about gardening expectations. About how, if certain plants don’t do so well one year, I’m ok with that. But when other plants fail to meet my …

Spring is in full glorious bloom in my garden which can only mean two things: Well, maybe a couple of months before we get full hydrangea blooms. But all the …

Wood chip mulch is an attractive ground cover that enhances the health of your soil and the plants you grow. For many gardeners, carpeting the landscape with organic mulches becomes …

I once again have lavender on my mind. My husband and I were walking through our residential neighborhood this past weekend, noticing how spring is well and truly here in …

As we are entering the season of spring celebrations, many hydrangeas will take their pride of place as the centerpieces of our Easter brunch table settings. Or as Mother’s Day …

I was having a good laugh with one of my gardening friends the other day at the expense of her beloved hostas. We were both chuckling at the (entirely made …

Whether you’re picking them from your backyard or buying them, nothing banishes the winter blues like the sunshine yellow of fresh daffodils. When their yellow heads nod in the March …

Are you growing ornamental grasses in your garden? If you are, congrats! You have officially elevated your gardening game to a whole new level. For the longest time, I didn’t …

I recently wrote an article in which I wondered why peonies are so expensive compared to other perennials. I have seen baby peonies going for anywhere between 35 to 80 …

I knew it was the right time to write about irises when someone in a local group posted a wheelbarrow full of them with the message: Hi, I’m lifting bearded …

If you had to guess how many hydrangeas were sold in the United States in a year, what would you go for? Maybe 100,000. Perhaps half a million. Shall we …

It is a truth universally acknowledged that once you learn a gardening “golden rule,” you’ll have to quickly unlearn it. Or at the very least, you might need to add …