Photo: Chrumps (CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Agnes Monkelbaan (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Dominicus Johannes Bergsma. (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) With its magnificent flower clusters in white, pink, red, purple, or yellow, rhododendron is one of the most spectacular flowering shrubs you can grow. For this Asian beauty to bloom abundantly…
Photo: Photo (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) (GFDL 1.2, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) (GFDL 1.2, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Basile Morin (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Hydrangeas (Hydrangea) are the undisputed queens of the summer garden. With their lush, mophead or lacecap flower clusters in white, pink, blue, purple, or green,…
Introduction Photo: H. Zell (CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Maurocatanese86 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Salicyna (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Why Parsley Thrives in Pots Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is one of the easiest herbs to grow on a balcony, patio, or windowsill. As a biennial usually grown as an annual for its…
Photo: C. E. Price (Public domain, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: David Howard (CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Acabashi (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) The forsythia, often called golden bells, is one of the first heralds of spring in the garden with its bright yellow flowers. Before a single leaf appears, the shrub covers its branches…
Photo: Didier Descouens (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Anna.Massini (CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), also known as shrub hibiscus, brings a touch of tropical flair to the garden with its large, exotic-looking flowers. From July to October, new blooms open every day in white, pink, blue, or violet, often…
Photo: Avenue (CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Luvs2Garden (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Clematis, often called the queen of climbing plants, is beloved for its plate-sized, star-shaped flowers that bloom in nearly every color of the rainbow. It transforms fences, pergolas, and house walls into flowering works of art. The key to abundant blooms…
Photo: Uoaei1 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Uoaei1 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Uoaei1 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Ivy (Hedera helix) is perhaps the most versatile and toughest climbing plant for the home garden. With its evergreen leaves, it offers year-round privacy screening, provides valuable habitat for birds and insects, and thrives…
Photo: Aleksey Gnilenkov from Moscow, Russia (CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: division, CSIRO (CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Aleksey Gnilenkov from Moscow, Russia (CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons) Spider mites are almost impossible to see with the naked eye — but the damage they cause is impossible to miss. They multiply explosively, especially…
Photo: D-Kuru (CC BY-SA 3.0 at, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Tero Keski-Valkama (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Tero Keski-Valkama (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Scale insects and their fuzzy relatives, mealybugs, are among the most stubborn pests on houseplants. They cling motionless to stems and leaves, suck plant sap, and excrete sticky honeydew. If you…
Photo: Ddra5202 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: peganum from Small Dole, England (CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons) Photo: Jeremyida002 (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons) Division is the simplest form of propagation there is: rather than coaxing a cutting to grow new roots, you’re separating a plant that has already made multiple, independent root-and-shoot units…
