A wild Black-Eyed Susan thrives in a gravel ditch on a diet of exhaust fumes and misery. You tuck it into a cozy garden bed, and three years later? The middle starts going bald while the edges strangle your other plants, and suddenly your “easy perennial” is acting like it owns the deed. It’s a…
I’ve spent more time arguing with stubborn soil and dramatic shrubs than I have talking to actual people lately, so yeah, I can give it to you straight. Azaleas are gorgeous when they’re happy, but they’re not the kind of shrub you can ignore and hope for the best. If you want stronger roots, brighter…
One of my friends, a professional engineer but amateur gardener, once said: clematis are high-output machines with terrible cooling systems. She started talking about root-zone thermoregulation and nutrient density; all I heard was blah blah blah… What I do know from growing them is this: keep their roots cool, water them deeply, feed them like…
If your patio feels like a pizza oven by July, fragile plants are not invited. Meet eleven heat-loving container plants that can take full sun, bounce back from dry spells, and still look good when the rest of the patio is begging for mercy. What do you say when summer tries to bake your outdoor…
Normal flowers are fine if you enjoy staring at your feet, but I prefer plants that can look me in the eye. It’s time to think big! Or at least think tall. The Long and the Short of It Nobody likes being looked down on, least of all by a plant. But these tall back-of-the-border…
Growing organic? Afraid of pests? Plant these eight flowers, and let the biology start screaming. smell strange, leak useful compounds, lure in the good bugs, and make pests work harder for lunch. Your chatty neighbor may also suffer minor fence-related discouragement. Now for the floral offenders, and what they actually do once they’re in the…