Fall container gardens extend the growing season by replacing tired summer annuals with plants that look their best as temperatures drop. Mums, ornamental kale, pansies, and grasses carry color from September well into November, and a well-designed planter keeps a porch, entry, or patio looking intentional through the holidays. Start with clean pots, fresh soil, […]
Euphorbia is one of the largest plant genera on earth, with more than 2,000 species ranging from tiny annual weeds to 30-foot trees. Nearly 1,200 of those species are succulents, and the group includes cactus look-alikes with spines, fleshy-leaved shrubs, and hardy garden perennials. What unites them is a milky white sap that is toxic
A row of lettuce chewed down to stubs overnight is a familiar garden defeat. Rabbits work at dawn and dusk, clip stems at a clean angle, and return night after night until the bed is bare. They are among the most common garden pests in North America, and they are also among the most preventable,
May night salvia (Salvia sylvestris) is a fast-growing herbaceous perennial that stands out for its upright habit and deep purple-blue flower spikes. It blooms through summer, tolerates heat and short dry spells, and performs best in cooler weather, when the color is most intense. While some gardens come alive after dark with bioluminescent flowers that
Raised beds fail more often from how they are filled and maintained than from the plants chosen. Beds packed entirely with purchased soil drain slowly, lose nutrients within a season, and cost a small fortune to fill. Gardeners who layer the fill, test the soil, and replenish organic matter every year keep the same frame
Dracaena plants have earned a place in homes and offices because they tolerate the conditions that kill fussier houseplants. Low light, dry air, and missed waterings barely slow them down, and their spear-shaped leaves add structure to any room. The genus includes dozens of species, from the slim corn plant to the twisted stems of
Rain changes everything about weed control, and the timing of your spray application decides whether the product works or washes away. Wet leaves dilute herbicides, damp soil soaks up products meant to stay on the leaf surface, and runoff carries chemicals into places you never intended to treat. Gardeners who time applications around the weather
Long stretches of hot, dry weather put shrubs under real stress, and pruning during those stretches adds another layer of strain. Every cut removes leaves that feed the plant, forces the shrub to seal a fresh wound, and opens a pathway for moisture loss at exactly the moment the roots have the least water to
Many families take their major vacations during the peak of summer, exactly when landscape plants grow most actively and are most vulnerable to drought injury. Unless an automatic watering system covers the whole lawn and garden, long trips often end with wilted beds and dead containers. A well-designed garden with drought-tolerant plants survives better, especially
A butterfly garden has become one of the most popular features in the home landscape, and the push to create monarch way stations has turned it into a preservation project across the United States. Flowering plants and shrubs such as butterfly bush, butterfly weed, and the pincushion flower ‘Butterfly Blue’ draw these winged visitors, but
