Archive for the ‘Honey bees’ Category

Ten Powerhouse Summer Flowering Perennials

For many years of floral beauty in your perennial garden, get off to a good start. Plant in an area in full or partial sun along with good air circulation to avoid mildew and leaf spot disease problems. Before planting, generously amend soil with compost and well-drained ground. Irrigate the first year to establish the landscape planting. […]

Perennial Salvias Getting Better

Perennial salvias (Salvia × sylvestris) represent a number of hybrid crosses between S. nemorosa and S. pratensis but may include S. × alpestris, S. × asperula, S. × collina, and S. × superba. Most cultivars are branched, upright, clump-forming, perennials with opposite, oblong to lanceolate, medium green leaves and showy spikes of tiny, tubular, two-lipped flowers (each to 1/2” long). Flower color choices range from blue to lavender to purple, depending […]

Three Salvias To Try

Back in early spring you may have planted several kinds of salvias (sages). The arrival of the cool autumn weather turns up the flower power of sages. They’re members of the mint family and the leaves emit a mild anise scent when crushed. Looking ahead to summer of 2024, here are three salvias that you […]

Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena)

Three important objectives of area gardeners are: 1. Inviting more pollinators, 2. Growing more natives, and 3. Reducing garden maintenance. Gomphrenas, aka Globe amaranths, are becoming more recognized as outstanding annual flowering plants for Tennessee/Virginia/North Carolina gardens. Gomphrenas are North American natives (Texas, New Mexico, and northeastern Mexico) and are blooming machines in the heat, the […]

Coneflower Variety Trials At MT. Cuba Center

Coneflowers (Echinacea spp) are immensely popular native flowering perennials prized for their summer floral beauty. Nine species of Echinacea are native in North America and are found primarily in the central and southeastern U.S. Additionally, some populations of Echinacea angustifolia extend from the U.S. northwards into southcentral Canada. Since the 1990s, a boom in Echinacea breeding has resulted in large numbers of new […]

More Cool Small Flowering Shrubs

For many urban gardeners, landscape space is very limited. Here are several showy shrub choices along walkways and perennial border, and in deck and patio containers. Each year the list of dwarf shrubs continues to get longer. They are low maintenance, including very little annual pruning. Shrub Roses – like Drift™ and Flower Carpet™ roses- […]

2020 Evaluation of Russian Sages By CBG

Russian sage (Perovskia spp.) is a popular garden and landscape plant valued for its lavender-blue flowers and long bloom period. Leaves are silvery green leaves. Long cultivated as an herbaceous perennial, Russian sage is technically a subshrub, a plant with a woody base that produces herbaceous stems. Perovskia spp. has recently renamed Salvia yangii and is a member […]

Possum Haw Holly

Possum haw (Ilex decidua) is a deciduous holly, grown as a large shrub or small tree. Its colorful winter berries brighten woodlands along creeks and rivers in the Midwest and Southeastern U.S. (USDA hardiness zones 5 -9). It is known by a number of common names, including bearberry, winterberry, deciduous holly, among others. Its popular […]

Perennials With Great Autumn Foliage

Bloody cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum) – short 9-12 inches high clump forming groundcover that bears purple flowers in May-June. Its deeply cut foliage green leaves turn shades of red after first frost. (Zones 3-8). Red leaf mukdenia (Mukdenia rossii) – fanned, maple-like leaves emerge bright green in spring, age to bronze-green in summer, and finish green […]

Attracting Hummingbirds

This time of year many gardeners are setting out bird feeders, including those filled with a sugar solution to encourage hummingbirds to visit your garden. Unfortunately, the sugary drink will also attracts numerous ants, bees, and wasps. When warm spring and summer weather arrives, the solution clouds up with bacteria which ferments or perhaps fatal […]