Watermelon is the iconic fruit of summer, and a packet of seeds costs three to fifteen dollars, making homegrown fruit one of the season’s cheapest treats. The seeds of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) can go directly into the garden once the soil warms, or they can be started early indoors for an earlier harvest in short-season […]
Catawba rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense) is a slow-growing, multi-stemmed shrub grown for the large clusters of lavender flowers that cover it in late spring. It asks for shade, cool moist roots, and acidic soil that drains freely, which makes it a natural fit for woodland gardens and the shaded side of a house. All parts of
Above-ground saltwater pools pair the low entry cost of a freestanding pool with a chlorine generator that many swimmers find gentler than traditional chemical dosing. Instead of pouring in tablets and shock, the owner keeps a measured amount of salt dissolved in the water, and the generator converts it into sanitizer through electrolysis. The approach
Sod is a layer of pre-grown grass, complete with soil and roots, cut into squares or rolls and laid on top of prepared ground. A lawn installed from sod looks finished the day it goes down, while a seeded lawn takes weeks or months to fill in. That speed is the main reason homeowners choose
The dragon lily, or dragon arum (Dracunculus vulgaris), is a plant that gardeners remember for decades. It grows from a tuber, sends up a 6-foot stalk with broad leaves, and produces a deep maroon spathe up to 2 feet long around a long black spadix. The bloom smells like rotting meat, which is exactly the
Pineapple lily (Eucomis) is a flower bulb, but it is neither a pineapple nor a true lily. Its flower stalk carries dozens of tiny star-shaped blooms that open in a cylindrical raceme from the bottom up, capped by a little crown of leafy bracts that looks like the feathers on a cap. That pineapple-shaped flower
Red mulberry (Morus rubra) is a large native North American tree prized for sweet berries and broad summer shade. It has become an uncommon sight in the wild and in the nursery trade because the invasive white mulberry out-competes it and hybridizes with it, diluting the native gene pool. With rich soil, full sun, and
Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata) fills the summer border with clusters of trumpet-shaped blooms and a fragrance that peaks at dusk. The fast-growing ornamental is native to southern Brazil, northern Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Colombia, and its fuzzy, sticky foliage gives the plant a soft texture from a distance. Gardeners who already manage azalea care will
Straw bale gardening, sometimes called bale gardening or hay bale gardening, uses ordinary farmer’s straw as the growing medium instead of soil. A conditioned bale becomes a self-contained raised bed: the straw holds moisture, drains freely, and breaks down slowly through the season, releasing nutrients to the plants rooted in it. The setup takes about
Contorted filbert (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’) is the woody shrub behind the common name Harry Lauder’s walking stick. Its gnarly, twisted branches rise in corkscrew patterns, and the rounded, serrated leaves are green and slightly hairy through the growing season. The branch structure is the main event: bare and dramatic in winter, then dressed with yellow
