Catmint (Nepeta) is a perennial ornamental herb from the mint family that earns its place in the garden two ways at once: the flowers pull in bees and butterflies, and the aromatic foliage drives away insect pests. The plant forms tidy mounds of gray-green leaves topped with spikes of white, pink, or lavender-blue flowers, and […]
Sunflowers pair well with a wide range of vegetables, herbs, and flowers, which makes them a favorite for mixed gardens and pollinator beds. Their tall stalks provide structure, their blooms draw bees, and their deep roots break up soil. Companion planting around them works best when you match each neighbor to the sunflower’s height, shade,
Snake plants (Dracaena trifasciata, still widely sold under the older name Sansevieria) are among the most forgiving houseplants you can grow, and they are also among the easiest to multiply. Propagation is straightforward, but it requires patience: roots or new shoots can take several months to appear depending on the method you choose. If you
Fruit trees in the ground or in containers reward homeowners with fresh fruit, spring blossoms that draw pollinators, and summer shade, but none of that happens by accident. Pruning keeps a tree tidy, encourages vigorous growth, and supports a healthy harvest, yet timing errors do more damage than skipping the cut altogether. Cuts made during
China asters (Callistephus chinensis) deliver weeks of color at a time when many summer annuals start to fade. These cool-season annuals bloom from midsummer into fall, producing single, semi-double, and double flowers in red, pink, white, lavender, and blue on plants that range from compact foot-high mounds to three-foot border giants. They earn a place
The goldflame honeysuckle (Lonicera x heckrottii) is a vining perennial grown for its bi-color tubular blooms and oval, glossy leaves. This hybrid of Lonicera americana and Lonicera sempervirens earns its place on fences, arbors, and trellises, where it climbs to about 15 feet when left alone or shapes into a billowy 6-foot privacy screen under
Tomatoes are the most cold-sensitive staple of the summer garden. Their high water content and delicate tissue make them the first plants to suffer when temperatures drop, and a single cold night can end a season that was producing a basket of fruit a week. The physics behind that damage is the same physics that
Rubber plants (Ficus elastica) are among the hardiest houseplants: they grow quickly, tolerate neglect, and look good in almost any room. But even this easygoing tropical shows stress, and yellowing leaves are usually the first sign. Yellow rarely means the plant is dying; it means something in the care routine is off. The color works
Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) is a drought-tolerant perennial known for its silver-gray foliage and lavender-blue flower spikes. Native to central Asia, it thrives in full sun and well-drained soil, which makes it a practical choice for dry or rocky landscapes where many ornamentals struggle. Homeowners and landscape contractors value it for the same reason: once
Contractors schedule concrete pours around temperature for a reason, and the same reasoning behind hot weather concreting applies to garden work: outdoor materials, including soil and bulbs, behave differently at different temperatures. Calendar fall arrives long before soil fall, and several classic fall tasks actually cause rot, disease, or poor flavor when they are completed
