Archive for the ‘Fragrant’ Category

Black Snakeroot (Bugbanes) For Woodland Beauty

The bugbanes (Actae spp.) represent a varied botanical genus. In my opinion, the most attractive and easy to grow perennial form is black cohosh or snakeroot (Actaea racemosa), formerly (Cimicifuga racemosa). It is a tall growing U.S woodland native (USDA hardiness zones 4 – 8). Bugbanes are beloved for their tall architectural floral spikes. Small, […]

Shorter Version Of Six Landscape Shrubs

Sugar Shack™ Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis Sugar Shack™) – Full Sun (6+ hours), Part Sun (4-6 hours), Full Shade (up to 4 hours). 3 to 4 feet tall and wide. cut the size in half and added colorful red fruit and glossy foliage. Add in cool looking, fragrant white flowers and you’ve got a delightful plant […]

Little Leaf Linden

Littleleaf linden Littleleaf linden (Tilia cordata) is highly praised as an excellent urban shade tree. The species reaches 60 to 70 feet tall and spread of 30 to 40 feet. The foliage tolerates several urban pollutants. This durable tree is often utilized as a street and park tree because of its environmental adaptability. Two year […]

Ashe Magnolia

Ashe magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla subsp. Ashei) is a small 10-20 feet tree with enormous leaf and flower sizes (zone (5)6-9). Anindividual white flower measures 6- 12 inches across with a purple blotch at the base of 3 inner petal-like tepals. Ashe magnolia blooms in late May – early June in Tennessee. Many of the white […]

Annuals To Plant In 2021

I spend spring, summer, and fall months visiting public gardens mostly in the eastern and southeast U.S. (Ohio/Pennsylvania south to Florida with camera in hand). I get ideas of new flowers to plant in my garden next year. Here are five flowering annuals that caught my attention. Begonia ‘Canary Wing’ – this golden leaf plant […]

Fragrant Snowbell

Fragrant snowbell (Styrax obassia) is a small deciduous tree or large shrub that grows 20 to 30 feet tall (15-25 feet wide). It is indigenous to Japan, Korea, and Manchuria (USDA hardiness zones 5-8). Fragrant snowbell exhibits multi-season interest: spring flowering, showy fall leaf color, and an attractive bark. Fragrant, bell-shaped, white flowers (racemes) are […]

Winter-blooming Wintersweet

Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) is a landscape shrub offers four seasons of landscape interest. Also called Japanese allspice, this deciduous mid-sized shrub typically grows 10-15 feet tall and 8-12 feet wide and blooms during winter (USDA zones 7-9). You can also risk planting wintersweet in a protected courtyard garden in Zones 6 to minimize freeze injury […]

Seven Shrubs That Bloom In February

If you have ever dreamt of creating a year-round landscape garden, here are seven fine shrubs to start with. These shrubs bloom in late winter and are also important to early insect pollinators — native ground bees, bumble bees, and butterflies. In USDA hardiness zones 7-9, winter temperatures begin to moderate and some shrubs burst into floral […]

New Landscape Roses With Exceptional Fragrance

Over a century of rose breeding has rewarded gardeners with so many gorgeous garden roses: hybrid tea, grandiflora, floribunda and shrub types. Rose breeders have concentrated on plant vigor, flower color, disease resistance, and greater numbers of flowers over the growing season. Over the years, floral fragrance has been mostly ignored. In the past two […]

Calamint – 2021 Perennial Plant of The Year (PPOY)

Too begin a new gardening year, the Perennial Plant Association has named calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta) as the 2021 Perennial Plant of the Year. One landscaper designer describes calamint as “a cloud of confetti, tiny white flowers”. Plants are dotted with masses of tiny white (or pale blue) flowers from early summer to fall. […]