Archive for the ‘watering tips’ Category

American Yellowwood Deserves To Be Planted More

    American yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea) is a beautiful native tree which  is rarely planted in U.S. landscapes (USDA hardiness zones 4-8). Yellowwood is a tree for all seasons. It is both a lovely shade and flowering specimen. Long white wisteria-like flowers appear in mid- to late-May. It eventually matures into a lovely 35 to […]

Cosmos For Sunny Gardens

Cosmos, indigenous to Mexico and South America, are one of the easiest-to-grow flowering annuals. They start blooming in early summer and are at their best in late summer and early autumn. Two most popular species are Cosmos sulphureus and C. bipinnatus. Flower heads are composed of disc and ray flowers. Cosmos is a member of the aster […]

Fill Flower Gardens & Containers With Sweet Alyssums

 Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) is one of the easiest annuals to grow. A member of the mustard family (Brassicaeae), it is native in the Mediterranean region and the Canary and Azores Islands (AHS heat zones 3-8). Modern day cultivars possess exceptional heat, humidity, and drought tolerance in summer months once fully established.  Alyssums may be utilized in mixed […]

Cardinal Flower Attracts Hummingbirds and Butterflies

With their vibrant red colored blooms in July and August and a strong vertical growth habit, you visually can’t miss with our native cardinal flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) (USDA hardiness zones 3-9). Hummingbirds and butterflies won’t pass them by either. Cardinal flowers are also called scarlet lobelias. Their vibrant red single raceme flowers single them out […]

Good News About Garden Impatiens

  Gardeners no longer have to give up growing garden impatiens (Impatiens walleriana). No, the worldwide disease outbreak of downy mildew  on garden impatiens is not over. But new disease resistant cultivars of impatiens are arriving at garden centers this spring. Two of the newest are: SunPatiens® Spreading Shell Pink and Bounce® Pink Flame (‘Balboufink’). […]

American Fringetree – A Spring Flowering Treasure

American fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) is one of the finest spring flowering trees (USDA hardiness zones 4-9). Individual flower heads are large and billowy, snowy white, and very fragrant in the early evening hours. Flower panicles peak through the large leaves, and are large and showy compared to Chinese fringetree (which I also like). Leaf sizes […]

Japanese Kerria Beautiful Old-fashioned Shrub

                Japanese Kerria (Kerria japonica) is an old fashioned shrub that never seems to go out of style (USDA hardiness zones 5-9). Some call it the “Yellow Rose of Texas”, although kerria originates from eastern Asia. Its showy yellow buttercup-like flowers bloom in spring, after the forsythias have […]

Many New Beebalm Cultivars Continue to Roll Out

Bee balms, aka bergamots or Oswego tea (Monarda spp.) are native to eastern North America (USDA hardiness zones 4-9). Plants are easy to grow, bloom beautifully, and multiply rapidly. They are treasured for their raging colored flowers and medicinal properties. Numerous bee pollinators as well as butterflies and hummingbirds favor the summer blooms. The native […]

Wonderful Bellworts For Woodland Gardens

                  The soft yellow bell-shaped flowers of bellworts (Uvularia spp.), aka merrybells, contribute to spring’s awakening in U.S. woodlands and shade gardens (USDA hardiness zones 3-9). On both U. grandiflora and U. perfoliata, flower stems pierce (pass through) the center of the leaves. A third species, (U. sessilifolia), nicknamed Wild Oats, […]

Ground Nesting Bees Are Beneficial Pollinators

Spring signals the return of many species of birds and the bees to yards and gardens. In early spring increased activity by ground nesting bees cause alarm for many people; dirt pile nests start appearing in bare patches in the lawn. They are beneficial pollinators in the garden. Bees in the families Colletidae and Andrenidae represent the ground nesting […]