Gaura, also called wandflower or bee blossom, is a native perennial that keeps a garden in motion from early summer to fall. Its wiry stems carry 1-inch, four-petalled white or pink flowers that flutter in the breeze, so from a distance the clump reads as a cloud of butterflies. It tolerates extreme heat and occasional […]
Crown of thorns (Euphorbia milii) is a thorny succulent shrub that blooms nearly year-round in red, yellow, white, orange, and pink. Thick, vibrant green leaves and small flower clusters sit along stems lined with sharp spines, which give the plant its common name. The tiny blooms are bracts surrounding even smaller true flowers, and they
Over-fertilizing burns grass and under-fertilizing leaves it patchy and thin, so the right balance is the whole game. Timing, the type of fertilizer, and the tools used to apply it matter just as much as the quantity, and a miss on any one of them can undo the others. Homeowners who fertilize with good intentions
Liatris, commonly called blazing star or gayfeather, is a long-blooming perennial wildflower with one of the most unusual flower shapes in the garden. Tiny star-shaped blossoms crowd together along a tall, upright bottlebrush spire, while the narrow, grasslike leaves form a low basal clump that turns an attractive bronze color in fall. Depending on the
A bouquet starts losing its freshness the moment the stem leaves the plant. Florists treat cut flowers as a perishable material with a short working window, the same way construction crews judge the working life of fresh concrete before it sets. Cut stems keep taking up water, feed bacteria, and lose moisture through their leaves,
When late summer arrives, many gardeners start cleaning up beds and putting tools away, and that timing leaves weeks of productive growing on the table. Fall planting extends fresh harvests with cool-season crops that tolerate frost, and a few inexpensive covers and soil tricks keep beds producing long after the first chill. Gardeners who plan
Gardeners who grow hibiscus chase one result: more blooms. The flowers are large enough to anchor a garden bed, and a plant covered in them is the reward for a season of care. That status makes hibiscus a magnet for garden folklore, and the most persistent claim is that a spoonful of Epsom salt will
Fall is when hydrangeas decide how well they bloom next year. The spent flowers still on the shrub in October, the mulch around the root zone, and the timing of every cut all feed directly into spring growth. Getting the season right depends on one fact about the plant: whether it blooms on new wood
Sedum, also known as stonecrop, is a hardy succulent that earns its place in the garden with star-shaped flowers in burgundy, copper, pink, and white, plus foliage that holds up through heat and drought. Growing it is easy; pruning it at the right time takes a little more judgment. Cut too early and you remove
Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) are the backbone of many late-summer gardens, with daisy-shaped flowers, golden petals, and dark center cones that keep blooming from midsummer into early fall. When the season winds down, every gardener faces the same question: prune the plants or leave them standing. The answer matters more than it seems, because the
