Foliage Favorites Illuminate Shade
Shady spots need not be ho-hum when there’s heuchera to brighten the space. With tall spikes of tiny coral bells and distinctive mounded foliage, heuchera illuminates low-light areas with splashes of vibrant color and unique texture. With an average height of 6 inches to 1½ feet and spread of 1- to 2½ feet, heuchera produce…
Look What We Have Growing On
A fresh growing season always begs the question, “so what’s new?” Every year, breeders launch hundreds of new plants, including in the perennial and shrub categories that we grow. While some, but not all, of the following plants may have seen a season or two already, all of these are new for the growing season…
Hardy Plants Make Their Seasonal Comeback
Hardy plants are “tough” choices for landscape designs because they stand up to a variety of environmental stresses and bounce back year after year with reliable color and form. From extreme temperatures and poor soils to drought, flooding, high winds and tricky light conditions, hardy plants are garden workhorses. Their ability to withstand environmental anxieties…
Upright Junipers and Columnar Arborvitae
Upright evergreen trees are prized in the landscape for their reliability and stand-up coolness. Taylor Juniper (Juniperus virginiana ‘Taylor’) Like squirrels stock up on nuts for winter sustenance, upright juniper and arborvitae store water and nutrients in their roots. This enables them to slow their growth when the ground is frozen but not go dormant.…
Ornamental Grasses - the Stars of Fall
Long may they wave! Big on textures, colors, varieties and styles, ornamental grasses bring bold personality to landscapes large and small. And just when other plants begin to lose their summer appeal, grasses get going, unfurling their foliage and sending up creamy plumes, adding mystique to late-year seasons. Flame Grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Purpurascens’) – At…
All About Hostas
They run along the edges of sidewalks and lounge in perennial beds. Although some don’t mind sun, they relax when trees lend their shade. And sometimes, they offer shade, too – to a heat-weary frog or wayward toad, even to a few sleepy insects. They almost always play a supporting role, and won’t have dramatic…
Supporting Thriving Populations
It is beginning. Populations of monarch butterflies, traveling from as far north as southern Canada, are beginning their 3,000-mile-plus winged journey southward to roost in the fir forests of central Mexico. They’ll stay there through our Midwest winter until spring, when they begin their flight back to us. And, hopefully, they will do so in…
The Allure of Roses
With about 150 species of wild roses and another 30,000 cultivated varieties, the first rose described for science – Rosa hilliae – was discovered in 1883 by Charles Leo Lesquereux, a paleobotanist. Lesquereux’s rose was initially found by geologists in samples collected in 1877 from the Colorado Florissant Fossil Beds. While that’s pretty impressive, roses…
Conserving Water in Summer
Do you have an efficient landscape? You know, one that kicks in when temperatures soar and there isn’t a rain event in the forecast for days. As our climate changes, it’s more important than ever to conserve water into the soil so healthy plants can continue to grow and thrive. Healthy plants are the backbone…
Delightful Daylilies
Bursts of color provide visual excitement when daylilies are planted in the landscape. Serving an aesthetic purpose in a variety of warm, cool and neutral colors, daylilies also offer practical solutions in problem areas where mowing is a challenge and soil erosion is present. Because they are easy to care for, daylilies can be left…