Aubrieta (Aubrieta spp.), also called false rock cress, is a low-growing perennial that covers the ground in a carpet of pink, purple, or white flowers each spring. It is a great candidate for edging paths and tucking into stone walls, and after the profuse flowers fade, the grayish-green foliage keeps a handsome mat over bare […]
Mexican heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia), also called false heather or elfin herb, is a small shrub grown for its trumpet-shaped flowers in shades of purple, pink, and white. The blooms open continuously from late spring until the first hard frost and draw bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to the garden. This member of the Lythraceae family comes
The leopard plant (Farfugium japonicum) stands out in the shade garden for one simple reason: its leaves. Large, rounded, and leathery, with a glossy deep-green surface, they can reach dinner-plate size, and in the spotted cultivar the foliage carries the leopard-print markings that give the plant its name. Clusters of tiny golden-yellow daisy-like flowers rise
The licorice plant (Helichrysum petiolare) takes its common name from the faint sweet scent of its crushed leaves, not from any edible root. Gardeners grow this South African native for the visual payoff: cascading stems packed with soft, silvery-gray, woolly foliage that keeps its color from spring through fall. The vigorous, compact shrub works equally
The latest season of the Regency-era series Bridgerton is full of scenes set in romantic gardens, with sunlight falling across pastel flower beds, roses climbing over stone walls, and ornate fountains at the center of symmetrical lawns. It is also the inspiration for a wave of garden makeovers. The look, sometimes called Regencycore, translates pastel
Summer arrives and the yard that looked fine in April suddenly shows every bare patch, brown spot, and overgrown border. Homeowners are not ignoring it. According to a 2024 survey of more than 1,000 homeowners conducted by Thumbtack, 62 percent plan to tackle a landscaping project this summer, making it the number one home project
The croaking starts at dusk and carries through the night, and by morning small frogs are scattered across the patio, the porch steps, and the edges of the garden beds. For many homeowners that is the moment they start searching for ways to remove frogs from the yard. Before reaching for a spray can, it
Weeping redbud is the cascading form of the eastern redbud, a North American native that fills gardens with pink-purple flowers every spring before the leaves emerge. Its arching branches, heart-shaped foliage, and modest size make it one of the most requested ornamental trees for small properties. The same landscape planning and tree care principles that
Composting turns kitchen scraps, fallen leaves, and grass clippings into a dark, crumbly soil amendment for garden beds. A beginner can start with a simple pile, a fork, and a patch of bare soil; after about three months the material becomes rich compost that barely resembles what went in. The process accelerates the natural decomposition
Nigella damascena, better known as love-in-a-mist, earns its common name from the tangle of ferny, fennel-like foliage that forms a mist around each flower. The blooms are soft cups of blue, white, pink, or purple held above airy bracts, and the inflated, ribbed seed pods that follow are just as ornamental as the flowers. A
