I need a bumper sticker with this phrase: “I brake for hibiscus.” I saw a plant last summer with flowers so big they looked like pink dinner plates hanging on a bush. Who could drive by without stopping to look?
If you’ve never seen flowers this big, you might think it’s ...
Before the high tech world of smartphones, iPads, Kindles and Play Stations, there was another world to explore. This fascinating place in which I grew up was called nature.
Early in the morning, neighborhood kids would gather and prepare to explore the nearby fields, ponds and woods in search of interesting ...
I like to grow different tomato varieties, but I also like to find the top of my kitchen counter at harvest time. That is why I usually grow just four plants. Last summer I had 17.
Some of them were candidates for the compost pile, like the four-pack of desiccated ‘Jet ...
As gardeners, we have been patiently or perhaps not so patiently waiting for April and May and the beginning of the gardening season. We look forward to enjoying some of our old garden favorites but will also be interested in exploring new gardening trends and the new plants for this ...
As we enter September and October, we look forward to harvest and a beautiful fall season. We must also realize that during these two months there will be work ahead as we close up our home gardens and landscapes for the winter.
September is the prime time to plant trees.
Trees for ...
If you are an ornamental grass, you need to practice the fine art of patience. While summer gardens are full of blooming flowers, ornamental grasses remain in the background, quietly and discreetly, growing and waiting their turn.
In late August and early September, the role reversal begins. Summer flowering plants are ...
In the mid 1800’s, Illinois was discovered as an incredible landscape for those who wished to settle in an ocean of tall grass prairie and rich soils. A prairie full of native grasses and flowers for hundreds of miles.
Our plant communities have since changed, as people inhabited this great nation. ...
By the middle of summer, some of our enthusiasm for gardening may be waning a little bit. However, some of our very favorite plants are about to appear in our gardens to be enjoyed this month.
Annual plants should be filled out and looking beautiful in July. Annuals in the ground ...
Do you have a love-hate relationship with your garden phlox?
The large clusters of long-blooming flowers are sweetly scented and oh-so beautiful. Their nectar attracts butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.
The downside is that once the heat and high humidity of summer rolls in, white spots can appear on the stems, leaves and ...
The flower garden of our dreams has beautiful color all season long. We look longingly at catalog pictures, attend seminars, read advice from experts, and know every garden center within 50 miles.
We buy new plants, pull out dead plants, get divisions from friends, and move things around ...
