Garden Design

While winter in the Midwest brings an end to active growth in the garden, there’s no reason why containers out in our gardens can’t continue to contribute color and texture. The ornamental plant features that we most appreciate in the winter landscape (colorful stems, ornamental bark, showy seedheads, interesting texture, etc.) can also be used

Yesterday we visited Chad and Seyra’s garden in Woodbury, Connecticut, and today we’re back to see more of their beautiful plants. Like a lot of other gardeners, we love the birds who come to our garden. Over the years, we have increasingly considered their needs when selecting new plants. But choosing coneflowers was a happy

Our names are Chad and Seyra Hammond. These are some photos of our garden in Woodbury, Connecticut. I (Seyra) am a lifelong gardener. I inherited my passion for gardening at a young age from several family members. Shortly after my husband and I met, I began indoctrinating him, and now it’s a hobby we share.

Let’s face it, growing gourds is confusing. Bottle gourds are cucurbits, members of the gourd family Cucurbitaceae. Both beginner and experienced gardeners generally can recognize the basic similarities they share with other cucurbits like squash or pumpkins, but what about growing them? Can we grow them in the Northeast. If we can, how do we

Texas sage is one of the most distinctive native shrubs in the Southwest, blooming periodically throughout the year but dazzling in summer and fall. Purple is for everyone, and especially those in the brilliant world of the Desert Southwest. Pastel colors may bleach out in our intense sun, but not purple. This is a color

As the winter creeps up and frost is evident in the world around us, many of us consider ways to stay connected with and enjoy the beauty of nature indoors. We often think of bringing the outside in at different times of the year, from spring bulb forcing to cut flowers in summer, but we

As the weather starts to cool in midfall, many flower beds drift into a slump. The mighty summer bloomers have declined and gone to seed, and there aren’t many plants up to carrying their torch through to the end of the season. It’s as if the entire garden shrugs and says, “What now?” This sudden

In Jason Reeves’ article Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring, he discusses how plants that bloom during the coldest time of the year, often go underappreciated: “Some of these plants are common but often overlooked at nurseries because they are not in bloom when most people are shopping for plants in late

We’re traveling with Cherry Ong today, looking back on a garden tour she went on this past spring while visiting Toronto. The garden is a shady woodland garden dominated by four oak trees. Heavily shaded gardens can be a challenge sometimes, but this gardener has turned this one into a dreamy and appealing space. The

Hi GPODers, this is your editor, Joseph, and as we head into serious winter here in my northern Indiana garden, I’m looking back at my favorite garden moments from the year that just passed. I hope it’ll inspire you to do the same and to send your favorites into the GPOD so we can all

Margherita Fabrizio and her husband, Andy Jordan, live in a beautiful historic 1918 home in the heart of downtown Ithaca, New York. When they purchased their property in 2009, they certainly fell in love with the house, but it was the landscape that truly sealed the deal. The steep, north-facing quarter-acre property sits at the

While cleft grafting and side veneer grafting are two of the most commonly used methods in commercial plant production, there are many other forms of grafting that may be used in different circumstances. Here are three more types of grafting, how to do them, and what situations you can use them for. Splice Grafting When

Today Nancy Mellen is sharing some photos of fall foliage, berries, and other end-of-the-season beauties from her garden in Hingham, Massachusetts. She grows primarily native perennials and shrubs for the birds, insects, and critters to enjoy in the garden around her antique home. Hepticodium miconioides (seven sons flower, Zones 5–9). The white flowers have fallen

For many people, picking up a potted moth ­orchid (Phalaenopsis spp. and cvs., Zones 10–12) is like buying cut flowers; they don’t care for the plant once it stops blooming. But for indoor gardeners, buying one or getting one as a gift is a challenge. How to keep this exotic thing alive? Moth orchids are

What do I do after it’s done blooming? This is the million-dollar question for many people. Follow these steps to keep your plant happy after bloom. 1. Cut off that finished flower spike, snipping close to the base of the leaves. This won’t hurt the plant and will allow it to direct more energy into

It doesn’t matter whether we’ve been naughty (Danielle) or nice (Carol) this year—we’re still going ahead and adding plenty of plants to our wish lists. We’re talking about trees that we’ve had our eyes on for months and a perennial that shines in spring, summer, and light up electric yellow in fall. Many of these

Gardening in dry shade is often considered a challenge, yet shade is actually a major plus for any gardener concerned with Northern California’s ongoing water concerns. Surprisingly, even though they may become slightly leggy and bloom with less abandon, many sun-tolerant plants perform well in the shade—and do so using less water. For example, several

Today we’re visiting with Bill Ziebarth. I live in Duluth, Minnesota. You used my photos in the GPOD two years ago (A Garden Full of Art and Flowers). I now have been gardening at this home for 25 years. I am 75 years old and have expanded my gardens in four areas for next year. I

My name is Michael Follose, and since my last submission (Michael’s Garden in Oregon and Returning to a Garden After Almost a Decade ), I’ve had two birch (Betula) trees removed, including one that I planted 45 years ago. My husband, Don, and I built a new picket fence out front and terraced some of

If this zinnia were on a dating app, it would be a solid swipe right. ‘Queeny Lime Orange’—which opens in warm shades of lime, yellow, peach, salmon, and orange—is like a sunset on a stem. With beautiful summer blooms that reach 2 to 4 inches in diameter, this gem won the 2018 All-America Selections Flower

Silver and gold foliage are fantastic in their ability to make a container combination shine, especially in entry combinations that need help emphasizing details from a distance. Silver plants make blues and purples look a bit bluer, and gold foliage offers a little warmth to cool-color schemes. Both read well from a distance and, just

Hello! My name is Renee and I live in Memphis, Tennessee. I wanted to share my back garden in four seasons as well as “before” pictures. I started working on this area of my garden in early 2020; the “before” pictures are from February 2020. Every bit of this I did myself. When I started

Hello Fine Gardening! I’m Carey. My nickname, since I was three, has been CareBear. I’ve been gardening for about 15 years. I grew up in Washington, and that’s where gardening started for me. We had a garden at home, and I helped build terraced beds there, which my parents still grow roses in to this

My name is Nick Bresso. I live in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, which is just north of Detroit. My garden is in Zone 6a. We moved to our home four years ago and started with a blank slate for the garden. Fothergilla gardenii (Zones 5–8) put on a magnificent show of fall foliage, surrounded by liriope

Recall for a moment the sense of excitement you feel while strolling through your garden on a summer morning. You take in the colors, the scents, the daily changes as the season flows. Gardeners make observations constantly, whether or not they do so consciously. My new dahlias are finally in bloom! The bumblebees love this

This diverse and exciting plant group seems like it appeared overnight, with new varieties emerging every day. Sun or shade, upright or trailing, dwarf or massive—there is a coleus for just about every container application. Their seductive color spectrum ranges from bright chartreuse to nearly pitch-black. Coleus can and should be used as the exclamation

The principles and elements of design allow us to pair the plants we choose with the right companions and containers and to place them in the perfect location within the surrounding landscape, thus heightening their overall beauty. These principles and elements can be the basis for all the designs you create. Once you, as a

While many conifers are able to grow without any staking or training at all, newly planted trees may require it in order to establish well. Additionally, staking and training can be used to modify or adjust the central leader of a conifer, either to straighten it or to bend it. Traditional stakes, guying anchors, and

Hello all! It is Joseph your GPOD editor here, taking you along on a recent trip I took to Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago. I’d not been there before and wasn’t sure what to expect. The stats on the website are impressive: 4.5 acres under glass, over a hundred years old, an exceptional collection of

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not because it’s the holidays, because it’s the annual Q & A episode here on Let’s Argue About Plants. When we put a call out each year asking you, our faithful listeners, to send us your most pressing questions about plants and gardening, we never know