Finding the Right Plant Articles
Plant-based strategies for supporting pollinators
You’ve probably read the news stories on the “insect apocalypse”: the recent steep decline in insect populations and the potentially dire consequences it holds for other animals and ourselves. It’s easy to get discouraged listening to all the doom and gloom, but the good news is that this is an issue we can all play a part in resolving. The solution is so simple: plant something. Plants and their flowers play a crucial role in sustaining insects, and they in turn sustain everything that eats them, and on up the food chain.
A Guide to Understanding Light Levels in Your Garden
Full sun, part sun, part shade, full shade...what exactly does it all mean? And how do you know what you have in your own garden? Let's take a closer look at light levels so you can be sure to select the right plants for your containers and landscape.
If you have gardened in the South, you are likely quite familiar with Caladiums. These tropical plants are a garden staple both in landscapes and containers in the southern portion of the United States. For many of the rest of us, Caladiums are an exotic and unusual plant. These versatile plants that comprise our Heart to Heart program include Caladiums that perform well in both sun and shade with several that are for shade only. In addition to a wide array of tropical colors they add to landscapes and recipes, they are also wonderful additions to cut-flower arrangements. Here you’ll find container recipes we’ve designed with Heart to Heart Caladiums and we’re hoping this provides ideas on how you can bring a tropical flair to your garden!
It’s true—we all want to create interesting, dynamic flower beds, so here are a few tips to help you accomplish your goal this season.
Looking to fill a few large spaces in your garden beds quickly? Check out this useful pictorial guide to fast growing annuals, perennials and shrubs for landscapes.
Learn about ways to use blue in your garden, along with some plants you can use that have blue flowers or foliage.
Looking for just the right plant to fit in that narrow space along your front walkway or unique plants to tuck into a retaining wall? Find those and many more in this pictorial guide to plants for tight spaces.
Colorful plants that offer sweeping swathes of color are wonderful additions to landscapes. As I well know, filling those large spaces - I have a 60 foot by 8-foot bed where I fill in lots of space with annuals - can get expensive. I love how annuals provide constant, all-summer color and flexibility to change my color scheme. I also enjoy a good deal which is why I often choose fast-growing, wide-spreading annuals that I can depend on to fill the border with color. Here are some of my favorites for adding lots of color with not that many plants.
We all love ‘the hunt’ in spring, the stroll down the garden center aisles, looking left and right for the new plant varieties you’ve been hearing about for months! Then, the excitement of seeing the newest cultivars, putting them in your cart, mentally planning just exactly how you are going to use it…that’s the joy of the season ahead.
Every garden has its challenges that you'll need to tackle. For many people, full sun and high heat are among those challenges. Long term, you can create a lower maintenance landscape by choosing durable plants that are well-suited to the area you have in mind. Check out the 20 plants we recommend for sunny, hot gardens.
