German Iris bloom in late April or throughout May, but you plant them in late March and throughout April.
Important Perennials Give Garden Beauty
If you want all season garden beauty, then perennial plants are the go-to category for planning for flowers and interest throughout the year.
Tip for Blooming Peonies
Planting Depth For Peonies . “Plant peonies for a lifetime of spring flowers, but remember not more than three inches below the surface” From Kim, Hypertufagardener If the growing points are too far below the soil surface, it hinders or even prevents the plant from blooming. A general rule is to place the plant about…
How To Grow Lavender For Its Heavenly Scent
Lavender is one of the loveliest members of the herb garden. Learn how to grow it, use it, and appreciate it.
Daylilies Grow On You
I just wrote a page about Daylilies, and then saw Kathy Purdy’s post on Facebook with a delightful portrait of a variety called “Going Bananas”. It got me thinking about what colors of Hemerocallis I like best. Time For Daylilies, on Ilona’s Garden From earliest memory when visiting old fashioned gardens that often had a…
Do You Like Lavender?
I love it. It is a plant that I have been growing during most of my gardening career, starting with the first herb plants I tucked into my city lot garden. It was in that garden on Glen Echo Drive that I discovered how perfectly paired English lavender (Lavender vera) and dark purple petunias (Purple…
You’ll Rue The Day…
Rue with no view of the flagstone path Ever heard that saying? It might become all too meaningful if you are working on a hot summer day, especially while trimming back the “Herb of Grace” Ruta graveolens, AKA “Rue”. The sap from cut or bruised plants can be very irritating. Some people actually blister from…
Our Prairie Home
One of the things I love about garden writers is the way they express the familiar through new eyes. I may not agree completely on their take of it, but it brings me into a new appreciation of something that I might have cataloged and then filed away in some obscure forgotten corner of my…
Arrange the July garden around lilies
Every month has it’s supreme leading lady flower of the garden; June has the Rose, but July has the Lily. Especially now that the “Orienpets” have been created. They were the belle of several beds at the Inniswood Gardens Metro Park, and I would love to have some in my garden next year. “Orania” was…
Hellebore Happiness
This month, during a couple visits to Whole Foods, I picked up some indoor pots of hellebores that were on sale. Considering that they are pricey to order, I have the enjoyment of blooms on my windowsill, and later (hopefully), three new hellebores to put into my garden this year -all for a sale price….
Siberian Iris, Hardy Elegance
Siberian irises are one of my favorite garden plants, and they hold a sentimental value as well. Growing up, we had an impressive stand of a deep purple variety that I believe was “Caesar’s Brother” that old centurion of perennial gardens. Beware “Hand-Me-Down” Names For me, they were something out of the Japanese prints my…