Woodlands are magnificent places in early spring as ephemeral wildflowers blanket the forest floor. Here are just a few of the beauties you might see on your trek through the woods. Skunk Cabbage Skunk cabbage grows along streams and wetlands and is the first wildflower up in spring, sometimes even pushing through ice and snow. [Continue]
What are some good plants for shade gardens? The first answers to that question that come to mind for most people are hostas and ferns, right? There are better answers to the question. Native woodland plants provide beauty as well as ecological services in the form of food and shelter for insects, birds and larger [Continue]
The Perennial Plant Association has named Allium ‘Milenium’ its 2018 Perennial Plant of the Year. Like most alliums, ‘Milenium’ grows upright on a stiff stem topped by a perfectly round sphere of tiny flowers called umbels. ‘Milenium’s’ are rose-purple and last for up to four weeks, much longer than many perennial plant flowers. Better [Continue]
One of the first flowers children learn to draw are tulips. A few curved petals, a stem, and two pointy leaves. There are some beautiful tulips that look just like those simple drawings, but others differ greatly. Some look like peonies or roses or carnations. Others look like no flower you’ve seen before. ‘Queensland’ is [Continue]
The colors of the late summer garden are mostly brilliant purples, reds, oranges and yellows. Turtlehead is an easy-to-grow perennial plant native to our area whose late summer flowers provide a serene contrast to all that intensity with creamy white blooms. The Latin name for turtlehead is Chelone glabra. “Chelone” is the Greek word for [Continue]
The Perennial Plant Association has chosen butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa, as its 2017 Perennial Plant of the Year. You might wonder at the choice of a plant with “weed” in its name, but this beautiful plant is anything buy weedy. It is a versatile plant that is at home in both formal landscapes and more [Continue]
Edelweiss, Edelweiss Every morning you greet me. Small and white Clean and bright You look happy to meet me. Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow Bloom and grow forever. Edelweiss, Edelweiss Bless my homeland forever. Many of us are familiar with the song “Edelweiss” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1965 musical “Sound of [Continue]
Scores of mums are shouting from door-side displays at every big box store in town this time of year. Mums are short-lived, if they survive at all once out of their pots. The native plant counterpart that provides a much longer lasting splash of fall color than that of mums are the asters. Asters do [Continue]
Scores of mums are shouting from door-side displays at every big box store in town this time of year. Mums are short-lived, if they survive at all once out of their pots. The native plant counterpart that provides a much longer lasting splash of fall color than that of mums are the asters. [Continue]
The Perennial Plant Association has named Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’ the Perennial Plant of the Year for 2015. For starters, here is how it is pronounced: jer-AY-nee-um kan-tuh-brij-ee-EN-see bi-o-KO-vo. Notice that this is a perennial plant, not the potted annual geraniums that you buy by the dozen. ‘Biokovo’ has many wonderful qualities, and when I [Continue]