Flower pots, you might assume, were invented so that people without in-ground space could grow plants. While that’s the main idea, there’s no rule that says decks, porches and patios are the only places you can use pots. Plants in containers make good sense in many other spots around the yard – including in garden […]
Lots of good plants are available these days to serve as the centerpiece plant or “star” of a big container. Some people call them the “thriller” in the classic thriller/filler/spiller design of a pot arrangement. If you’re looking for ideas, here are 10 showy choices that I like: * Elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta). This tropical […]
Lancaster County’s Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum is one of those attractions we tend to overlook because it’s so close to our own back yard. A lot of locals have never seen it, and many more have been there once – maybe on a fifth-grade elementary-school field trip. But this bucolic 100 acres off […]
Is it just me, or did the dogwoods look better this spring than they have in a long time? Our native American dogwood (Cornus florida) can be as showy as any tree when it blooms in white, pink or rose in April. This year’s show was particularly stunning – especially the dark-pink ones that I […]
Some plants like it hot. Some like it cold. Your job as gardener is to know which is which — and especially determine whether your temperatures fall within a plant’s tolerance range before buying it.
It’s easy to hit a gap in color in that “in-between time” after the early bulbs fade and the summer bloomers take over. Here’s a game plan and list of plant suggestions.
I’m not bragging or anything, but I thought I’d let you know that 90 percent of my vegetable garden is already planted. I don’t mention this to make any of you “later bloomers” feel bad but to illustrate how many crops can – and really should – go into the ground before the threat of […]
Longwood Gardens is getting close to reopening its 5-acre flagship Main Fountain Garden, the one with the huge dancing, lighted plumes that’s been closed for a $90 million re-do the past 2 years. Prepare to be amazed… as if you’re not already by everything Longwood does. Come May 27, the new Main Fountain Garden will […]
Bioengineers have come up with plants that kill bugs and glow in the dark. How about a plant that weeds its own space? Or one with Venus flytrap genes so its mouth could grab cabbageworms?
Well, there went the ridiculously early spring in a hurry. Just when you (and our landscape plants) thought spring was happening way ahead of time this year, along came a string of sub-20-degree nights and a very big dumping of snow to remind us that the calendar still says winter. I’m not so much concerned […]