A showy new sweet potato vine, two heavy-blooming new begonias, and arguably the best yellow petunia yet top the list of interesting new annual flowers debuting in 2021. Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked those and more for my four-part, best-new-plants series that I compile each January – a good […]
One of the best resources for making wise plant picks in Pennsylvania gardens is the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Gold Medal Plant Program. Each year, a panel of regional plant experts gets together to hash out what are some of the best trees, shrubs, evergreens, and perennial flowers that deserve greater use in our […]
This week’s 2020 Philadelphia Flower Show is showcasing plants and gardening of the Mediterranean – especially the gardens of southern France, Monaco, northwestern Italy, and a touch of Spain. This is a colorful, fragrant, and highly textural form of gardening that I think a lot of Pennsylvanians would like… if we didn’t have […]
The grass is always greener on the other side (unless you’re a fertilizer fanatic). The same is often true with plants when you travel to other climates and see what those gardeners can grow that you can’t. Warmer winters, different soils, and less erratic/extreme weather add up to a lot of amazing […]
The heat and humidity of a typical Harrisburg August is enough to make it seem as if we’re living in the tropics. If that’s the case, we may as well grow with the flow. Plenty of tropical plants do nicely here as summertime in-ground, landscape plants. They think they’re at home. […]
Hardly anyone plants masses of in-ground annual flowers anymore. For one thing, it’s expensive since $4 plants in four- and six-inch pots have largely supplanted cheaper six-packs. For another, most people don’t want the planting work and watering time that so many new plants require. I’m not even sure most people […]
Back when winter-long snow-covers were the norm, plants and their leafless skeletons were little more than different forms of white sticking out above the snowy sea. But now that winter typically gives us at least periodic spells of bare ground, the winter landscape is no longer a three-month write-off. Cold weather no longer […]
Perennial gardens are hard to get blooming on all cylinders all at once. But a few tricks of the trade help them look fuller and more colorful for longer.
Just because a plant label says “full sun” doesn’t mean there’s no chance it’ll do reasonably well in at least part shade. Don’t be afraid to experiment. This article includes some tips and a list of sun-lovers worth trying in shadier spots.
Just because a new plant problem comes along doesn’t mean it’s time to scrap the plant. The alternatives may have even worse problems that we’ve just learned to accept.