Crepe myrtles put on two shows a year: summer flowers, then a fall display of red, orange, and yellow leaves. Long, cool, relatively dry autumns produce the best color, and what you do after the flowers fade decides next summer’s bloom. Fall care is mostly restraint: stop feeding, cut water, and leave the pruners in […]
Landscaping close to the house is one of the fastest ways to raise curb appeal, but placement matters more than most homeowners realize. Roots can crack foundations and lift driveways, aggressive stems work their way into siding, and berries and pollen stain paint. The fix is knowing which species belong away from the structure and
Lavender earns its place in a landscape with scent, color, and a steady stream of pollinators, but it does not maintain itself. A plant left unpruned grows woody, flops open in the middle, and blooms less each year. Fall is one of the two windows when a trim matters most, and doing it wrong is
By the end of summer, sunflower stalks have done their job. Heads droop, petals drop, and the plants turn from showpiece to eyesore, which pushes gardeners to a familiar September question: cut the stalks down now or let them stand through winter. There is no single right answer, and the best choice depends on the
Pumpkins, gourds, and a row of potted mums have defined the fall front porch for decades. Chrysanthemums remain the default autumn flower, but more gardeners are swapping them out for marigolds, a bloomer that delivers the same warm oranges, golds, and reds with less fuss. Making the switch takes an afternoon, a fraction of the
Potted chrysanthemums show up on store shelves and porch steps every September, and by the first hard frost many of them end up in the compost bin. Whether store-bought mums can be planted in the ground depends on the plant’s breeding, your hardiness zone, and the date on the calendar. The short version: some can,
The honeysuckle name travels well. It belongs to a genus of about 180 species of flowering vines and shrubs, and it also lends its name to a popular home design, the Honeysuckle II three-bedroom farmhouse floor plan with open-concept living. In the garden, Lonicera species earn their keep with fragrant blooms in red, orange, pink,
Leafcutter bees rank among the most efficient pollinators a home garden can host, yet most gardeners never notice them working. These solitary members of the Megachilidae family are about the size of a honeybee, black and furry, and entirely unbothered by people. A single female can visit thousands of flowers in a season, and one
Shrimp plants, known botanically as Justicia brandegeana, are tropical shrubs admired for striking, shrimp-shaped flowers in shades of red, pink, and yellow. Native to Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, they thrive in warm climates around the world. Mature plants reach 3 to 4 feet in both height and width, with deep green leaves and flower clusters
Himalayan blue poppies, members of the Meconopsis genus, especially Meconopsis baileyi and Meconopsis betonicifolia, are perennials prized for delicate blue, bowl-shaped flowers with yellow centers. Plants often reach 4 feet tall, and the blooms open in succession through late spring and early summer, filling shaded corners of the garden with color. The plants belong to
