Black bat flower, Tacca chantrieri
In painting, black is the deepest hue. It gives structure to a composition by creating the illusion of depth and drawing the eye. And in the garden, black (or almost black) flowers attract attention, too, while creating dramatic contrast with other colors. I often include black plants in my designs just to pump up the volume. Continue reading
Brookside Gardens is a gem of a garden tucked away amidst the sprawling neighborhoods of Maryland’s Montgomery County. Covering nearly 50 acres, it features rolling hills, sculpted ponds, woodlands and formal gardens filled with hundreds of varieties of plants. It’s my go-to destination when I’m looking for new ideas for plants and plant combinations. Continue reading
Over the past few years, an unusual kind of garden has taken root at the base of Seattle’s Space Needle. Composed of an eye-opening mix of plants and glass, it was created by artist and Washington native, Dale Chihuly. Appropriately titled Chihuly Garden and Glass, it’s a cheerful space, filled with translucence and shimmer. And it’s an awe-inspiring expression of what color and light can do for a garden.
Glass ‘ferns’ at Chihuly Garden and Glass
Chihuly Garden and Glass is the largest Chihuly exhibit in the world. Built on the grounds of a former amusement park, the 1.5-acre space includes eight indoor galleries, a central Glasshouse and a series of dynamic, glass-embellished gardens. It is also home to the artist’s largest suspended sculpture, an expansive 100-foot long floral ‘chandelier’ composed of red, orange, yellow and amber glass.
Chihuly’s giant floral chandelier
A few of Chihuly’s glass bowls
Giant glass flowers face Seattle’s Space Needle
Touring Chihuly Garden and Glass is a visual treat filled with lots of surprises. Large glass sculptures anchor each of the four main areas, while hundreds of glass ‘plants’ other ethereal forms stir the imagination amidst a lush backdrop of ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers. Follow below as I tour the garden.
GARDEN # 1
Located directly behind the Glass House, this garden is designed around a large, mounded space crowned by a brilliant glass ‘sun’. Gold, with fiery red rays, the sculpture sits atop a dusky-brown bed of New Zealand flax. A hedge of deep green Japanese pittosporum encircles the garden.
Glass ‘sun’ in Chihuly Garden and Glass
GARDEN #2
Running along the back side of the property, this garden is a study in light pinks and brilliant blues. Cerulean glass reeds sprout from amidst a sea of purple verbena, gentian sage and ‘Tiny Tuff Stuff’ hydrangeas. Dwarf bear breeches and icy white carpet roses complement the mainly cool palette.
Cerulean glass reeds are the main motif in Garden #2
GARDEN #3
This installation continues the blue theme with cobalt glass reeds and the introduction of serpentine sculptures along with blue and green glass spheres. Scattered among drifts of purple primula, white ranunculus, sea holly and dwarf bear’s breeches, the sculptures add a strong vertical element. Japanese maples echo the straight lines of the brilliant-toned sculptures.
The cobalt blue glass sculptures of Garden #3
GARDEN #4
By contrast to the cooler-toned spaces, this garden is a cheerful composition of oranges and yellows. Japanese sweet flag, gold-leaved forest grass, giant May apple and an assortment of ferns accentuate the deep red trunks of assorted paperbark maples. Just beyond, orange glass balls and eel-like shapes point the way to Chihuly’s lime-colored ‘conifer’ in the distance.
Gold-leaved forest grass paired with orange glass ‘eels’ in Garden #4
GARDENS # 5 and #7
These spaces feature a dynamic red glass sculpture composed of trumpet-shaped botanical ‘flowers’. Silhouetted against dark green weeping Alaskan cedars, the color is nothing short of remarkable. Fothergilla, Redtwig dogwood and Japanese witch hazels round out the garden.
Chihuly’s red glass sculpture
GARDEN #6
The largest glass sculpture, composed of wine-colored glass cubes, dominates this garden. Perched atop a bed of Japanese mahonia, viburnum and privet honeysuckle, it makes a dramatic statement against the curves of the translucent Glass House. 
Chihuly’s wine-colored glass sculpture ends the garden tour.
For more information on the gardens and their hours of operation, click here for the website.
Covering over 20 acres of rolling hills and valleys, Kubota Garden is a quiet refuge amidst the bustling city of Seattle. The garden is a magical blend of what might at first glance seem to be contradictions; that is, Japanese garden concepts and native Pacific Northwest plants. Somehow it all works, though, and the garden unfolds in a progression of spaces to reveal streams, waterfalls, ponds and dramatic rock outcroppings, all embellished with a rich assortment of specimen trees and plants.
If you’re looking to reconnect with nature, this place is for you.
FROM DREAM TO REALITY
The garden is the legacy of Fugitaro Kubota, who emigrated to the United States in 1907 from the Japanese island of Shikoku. As a young man in America, he discovered a hidden passion for gardening and in 1923, he established his own nursery and landscaping firm called the Kubota Gardening Company.
Entirely self-taught as a gardener, Kubota began his first garden in 1927 with the purchase of five acres of logged-off swampland in the Rainier Beach neighborhood of Seattle. His initial intent was to use the land as a nursery for the native plants he sold to his customers. But as the years passed and his nursery stock grew in size, he began experimenting with ways to showcase the plants themselves in a garden-like setting.
Kubota began to dream of one day creating a garden that would display the rich diversity of Pacific Northwest plants in an intimate, multi-layered Japanese setting. To gain expertise, he returned to Japan a number of times to study traditional gardening techniques. As his business grew, the Rainier Beach garden grew as well, eventually expanding to encompass 20 acres.
Over time, Kubota began introducing Japanese-inspired streams and ponds to his Seattle garden, enclosing them within high hedges of native cypress, spruce and hemlock. He positioned specimen blue spruces, white pines and weeping hemlocks amidst broad swathes of indigenous hydrangeas, viburnums, and rhododendrons. To his garden’s winding paths, he added low masses of indigenous azalea, cotoneaster and flowering perennials that, just like in Japanese gardens, functioned to both reveal and conceal the view.
In the 1960s, Kubota brought in 400 tons of stones to create a ‘Mountainside’ featuring waterfalls, reflecting pools and mature specimen trees. He also introduced traditional Japanese garden ornaments into the garden, such as lanterns, bells and bridges.
In Japanese gardens, bridges symbolize a journey from one world to another
Eventually, Kubota’s garden came to serve as a home, nursery and business location for the entire Kubota family. As their Japanese-American style garden grew in popularity, the family regularly opened it to the public. By the 1950s, Kubota Garden had become a center of social and cultural activities for Seattle’s Japanese community.
In 1972, Kubota was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese Government “for his achievements in his adopted country, for introducing and building respect for Japanese gardening in this area.” Kubota died in 1973 with the hope that one day his garden would help increase American understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture.
In 1987, the City of Seattle bought the garden from the Kubota family, and it is now maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation as well as volunteers from the Kubota Garden Foundation.
THE GARDEN
Visitors begin their tour of Kubota Garden by passing through a traditional Japanese entrance gate. Imbued with deep, symbolic meaning, the gate functions simultaneously as a screen and a threshold, offering tantalizing hints of the garden beyond.
A large bronze bell is located to the right of the walkway.
To the left, a broad path winds uphill to a Japanese pagoda. The walkway climbs through masses of azaleas, dogwoods, rhododendrons, irises and thousands of specimen evergreens and Japanese maples.
Path leading uphill to the overlook and pagoda
A small sampling of the diverse number of evergreens at Kubota Garden
Directly behind the pagoda, at the highest point of the garden, a green lawn fans out towards a backdrop of large evergreen trees. The expansive area is framed by generous groupings of hydrangeas, viburnums and azaleas interspersed with flowering perennials.
Right side of lawn behind pagoda
Left side of lawn behind pagoda
From the pagoda, a series of serpentine paths lead back down the hill into different sections of the garden. The garden spaces, which vary greatly in character, are all carefully maintained to look as natural as possible, in keeping with Japanese gardening principles.
JAPANESE INFLUENCES
Kubota Garden is at heart a Japanese garden; albeit composed entirely of native Pacific Northwest plants. And, in Japanese gardens, water is a fundamental component. Flowing streams, waterfalls and ponds are all common features in Kubota Garden. This quiet pond inspires reflection, framed as it is by the colorful and multi-textured evergreens planted along its borders.
This natural-looking waterfall cascades over a ‘mountainside’ composed of large rocks.
There is also a healthy respect for mass and proportion at Kubota Garden, both in the arrangement of plant materials and the placement of garden structures and ornaments. All these elements contribute to a sense of balance and harmony in the garden, in keeping with Japanese principles. This pair of simple stone bridges, while slightly different in design, are united by their diminutive scale and proportion, a perfect complement to the small pond they traverse.
In Japanese gardens, ponds can represent lakes and rocks can represent whole mountains. In Kubota Garden, stones (or are they mountains?) carry deep symbolism as they point the way through the garden.
To a Western eye, the ‘emptiness’ of a Japanese garden can prove unsettling. However, it is a key element in Japanese landscape design. This striking space, reached through a small opening in a hedge, makes use of empty space to show how nothing defines something.
These spaces, and many more, are all free to the public. For more information on Kubota Gardens, click here for the official website.
The National Library of Medicine Herb Garden
A stroll through the secluded campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland is an otherworldly experience. First, there’s the security, then there are the imposing, mainly windowless limestone buildings towering hundreds of feet in the air. I stopped by NIH late last week to visit a little known but remarkable garden. Located directly across the parking lot from the world’s largest biomedical library, it is known as the National Library of Medicine Herb Garden.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Herb Garden was established in 1976 as part of NIH’s Bicentennial celebration. Initially composed of low borders of boxwood, lavender and thyme, the garden has since grown to include over 100 flowering herbs. Meticulously arranged in symmetrical beds, the plants bear silent witness to the healing power of nature and the integral role it has played in the development of modern medicine over time.
View of the National Library of Medicine Herb Garden
The first thing you notice upon entering the space is a large Indian totem pole located at the far end of the garden. A part of the NLM’s new Native Voices exhibit, it was carved by Jewell Praying Wolf James of the Lummi Nation from western red cedar found in Washington State. The totem, which symbolizes and promotes good health and healing, is the main focal point of the garden. Its colors also have deep meaning.
Totem pole is focal point at the NIH Herb Garden
Flanking the totem pole are two ‘story-telling’ benches, also carved from western red cedar. The bench on the right side of the totem depicts the Salish traditional story of the Bear and the Steelhead, which teaches respect for nature and the natural cycles of life.
NLM Native American sculpture ‘The Bear and the Steelhead’
The bench on the left side of the totem depicts the Salish traditional story of the Raven and the Sun. The story tells of how at great pain, the Raven delivered the sun, moon, stars and fire to humanity and how we humans should treasure them as essential to our survival.
NLM Native American sculpture ‘The Raven and the Sun’
Among the nearly 20 million books and other forms of medical information on its library shelves, the National Library of Medicine considers Culpepers’s Complete Herbal to be a primary source for information on herbs and herbal medicine. Written over 350 years ago by Nicholas Culpeper (1616-54), the guide contains a wealth of pharmaceutical and herbal knowledge. It also includes a listing of herbs and their properties, many of which can be found in the garden.
Culpeper’s master work, The Complete Herbal
Culpeper was a 17th century physician and herbalist who spent much of his life outdoors gathering and cataloguing medicinal herbs. Although he studied medicine at Cambridge, he abandoned a traditional practice in order to provide low-cost health services to the poor. He believed that no man should have to ‘starve’ to pay a physician.
Mikania micrantha growing wild in the forest
Culpeper saw plenty of suffering around him. So, he sourced his medicines from the surrounding countryside, which enabled him to offer the bulk of his services for free.
He wrote,
This not being pleasing, and less profitable to me, I consulted with my two brothers, Dr. Reason and Dr. Experience, and took a voyage to visit my mother Nature, by whose advice, together with the help of Dr. Diligence, I at last obtained my desire; and, being warned by Mr. Honesty, a stranger in our days, to publish it to the world, I have done it.”
Considered a radical in his time, Culpeper’s herbal medicine practice and writings on the subject proved to be a thorn in the side of his fellow physicians. Moreover, Culpeper believed that expensive fees and the use of Latin by doctors kept power and freedom from the general public. He shocked the establishment by publishing the Complete Herbal and other works in vernacular English so that everyone could read them.
Today, it is widely believed that Culpeper’s systemization of the use of herbals was a key development in the evolution of modern pharmaceuticals.
Up close in the NLM Herb Garden with Verbena bonariensis in the background
A sample of some of Culpeper’s cures using various plants and flowers can be found on the National Library of Medicine Herb Garden website. I caution you, however, from attempting any of the remedies at home since they have not been officially proven to work. Following are just a few plants whose healing properties caught my eye.
Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) USES: Diaphoretic, immunostimulant and tonic.
Boneset
Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans) USES: To reduce inflammation and treat sore mouths and ulcers. It also can be applied to painful joints.
Cinquefoil
Goldenrod (Solidago Canadensis) USES: Mild diuretic and treatment for urinary tract inflammation and kidney stones.
Goldenrod
African Blue Basil (Ocimum kilimandscharicum x O. basilicum ‘Dark Opal’) USES: Reduces fever and treats skin infections.
African Blue Basil
Comfrey, Knitbone (Symphytum Officionale) USES: A healing plant for broken bones, wounds and ulcers.
Comfrey, also known as Knitbone
Here was a surprise. Although I am aware that Lenten Rose, Helleborus orientalis, can be somewhat toxic, I didn’t know it can also kill rats.
Finally, I certainly didn’t know that Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) can be used topically for wounds, cuts and abrasions and is also good for allergic mucus problems including hay fever. I may try it out!
Yarrow
These are just a very few of the many interesting and beautiful flowering herbs to be found at the National Library of Medicine Herb Garden. The garden is maintained by the Montgomery County Master Gardeners and the Potomac Chapter of the Herb Society of America. For more information on the garden and how to get there, click here for the website.
There’s nothing like a shot of hot color to add sizzle to your landscape. In mid summer, red, orange and yellow flowers sing out in the sun, instantly invigorating spring’s soft pastel palette. Creating a hot color scheme is easy providing you don’t overdo it. The key is to balance hot-toned plants with cool ones so that they don’t overpower the garden. Continue reading
In Annapolis, Maryland there’s an impressive brick mansion that towers over the city’s historic district. Built in the 1760s, the home once belonged to William Paca, a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence and Governor of Maryland. In the 1960s, the property underwent a painstaking restoration. And today, the William Paca House and Garden is a faithful representation of what a Colonial-era residence used to be, offering visitors a quiet respite in the heart of this capital city.
Aided by two seemingly unrelated events, the restoration of the William Paca garden took an unusual course. Separated by almost two centuries, the events ended up providing important details about the original garden. The happy coincidence enabled historians and horticulturalists to recreate the original 18th-century landscape, complete with buildings and plants, with near-perfect precision.
The first event took place in 1772 when Charles Willson Peale (1741-1847) painted a full-length portrait of William Paca in front of his garden. The painting documented key architectural features of the landscape. These included a red brick wall, central pathway, two-story white summerhouse and a Chippendale-style bridge.
Portrait of William Paca by Charles Willson Peale
The second event took place over a century later during the early 1900s when the house functioned as a hotel for the U.S. Naval Academy. To make room for new dormitories, the Academy added fill dirt to a portion of the property. By happy accident, the soil acted as a cushion, preserving all of the brick foundations of Paca’s original garden and outbuildings.
According to Joseph Sherren, an intern with the curatorial department,
“It was one of those happy accidents that come about once in a lifetime.”
Main view into the William Paca Garden
Using the details in the Peale portrait along with what was revealed in the excavated foundations, researchers and historians gradually reconstructed the bones of the original garden. They then consulted Colonial-era garden manuals and plant lists to determine what plants might have grown in the various spaces.
Today the garden is composed of a series of terraces enclosed by shrubbery and brick walls, a style characteristic of colonial gardens in the Chesapeake region. The third terrace slopes down toward a pond and the Wilderness Garden. And the property’s focal point, the two-story white summerhouse, presides on a small hill at the end of the garden, just like it does in Peale’s painting.
The tour begins on the uppermost terrace, which was designed to serve as a platform for entertaining and for viewing the garden. It is the first glimpse a visitor has of the garden.
The next two levels are laid out in parterres. The Rose Parterre (on the left) features many heirloom roses including alba roses, which were being grown as far back as the Middle Ages. There is also a broad assortment of companion annuals and perennials. During my afternoon visit, the flesh pink rose ‘Maiden’s Blush’, purple allium, verbena bonariensis, perennial foxglove and tropical-looking yellow canna lilies were all blooming.
Rose Parterre
Close-up of purple verbena bonariensis
The Flower Parterre, which lies directly opposite from the Rose Parterre, was designed to provide three seasons of colorful flowers. At the time of my visit, pink and apricot daylilies, soft pink echinacea and purple liatris were all in bloom. Spiky blue veronica, golden lantana and lavender-pink Stokes’ asters rounded out the mix.
The Kitchen Garden features a colonial-style shed and trellises and latticework crafted from branches and string. I observed lush crops of salad greens, snap peas and squash growing in raised beds, a tiny shelf stacked with herbs planted in terra cotta pots and many heirloom varieties of apples, pears, plums, cherries and figs trained as espaliers. (Products made from the fruits, herbs and vegetables grown in the garden are sold in the gift shop.)
Kitchen Garden
On the second terrace, the Holly and Boxwood Parterres provide year-round interest with their carefully maintained geometric designs.
Boxwood Parterre
Holly Parterre
The Summerhouse is the focal point of the garden. It lies in the wilderness area, which consists of a series of meandering paths through beds of mixed plantings. Reminiscent of the ‘picturesque’ style of gardening that was popular in Colonial America during Paca’s time, the miniature, thumb-shaped building is reached by crossing a Chinese-style latticework bridge that spans a fish-shaped pond.
The upper floor of the two-story building served as a viewing point for the garden during the summer while providing the Paca family with cool garden breezes from the Chesapeake Bay.
Tail-end (literally) of the fish-shaped pond
THE ART OF DRAINAGE
Paca was an innovator when it came to designing ways to channel the natural runoff across his property. He built a system of drains that diverted water into pleasing garden elements. At the lowest level of his garden, he constructed a brick canal to direct water into a spring house. It is a key architectural element in the lower terrace of the garden.
Today, the natural spring, which is still active in the spring house, feeds the pond. In Paca’s day, the water was also repurposed for household use.
One of Paca’s brick canals used to drain water from the garden
The State of Maryland and Historic Annapolis bought the Paca mansion in 1965 to save it from demolition. They spent the following decade restoring the house and garden. In 1971, the site was recognized as a National Historic Landmark. For more on the house and gardens, click here for the website.
The property hosts the annual William Paca Garden Plant Sale on Mother’s Day weekend every year.
Seashore gardening can present its own set of challenges. Plants that do well in the suburbs often perform differently at the shore. Still, there are many species to choose from that don’t mind drying winds and some salt in the soil. It just takes a little know-how and the right plants, and you can create a coastal garden that flowers non-stop from now until fall.
Strong winds are typical to the seashore – after all, that’s what produced them. And coastal gardens often bear the brunt of these winds that can leave plants vulnerable to breakage. Salt spray not only can damage buds, stems and leaves, but can also lead to dieback. Often, these symptoms don’t show up until early spring.
In order to perform at their best, seaside plants need some protection. Screens are one way to protect vulnerable blooms. Another way is to site your garden close to the house or behind a stand of trees that can help break the wind and lessen its impact.
My own seaside garden: a mix of mostly drought-tolerant plants
If you’re growing plants at the shore, you are gardening in sandy soil. And sandy soil is naturally more porous. This means it tends to drain quickly and has trouble retaining water. You can combat this by adding compost, leafmold or other organic matter to your soil. This will not only help it conserve moisture, but also provide essential nutrients that your plants need to grow.
Sandy soil drains water more rapidly
That being said, the number one way to ensure your coastal garden’s success is to choose mostly drought-tolerant plants. For those species that need more attention, make sure you’re around to water them. Or, install a drip line on a timer. All living organisms need water to survive.
Bright colors show up better at the shore. That’s because bold hues stand out in strong sunlight, which tends to wash out lighter colors. Choose strong purples, blues, magentas, yellows and oranges for your coastal garden. And select plants with bold architecture like big leaves and strong stems for added definition.
Bold colors show up best in bright sunlight
To give plants a healthy start, install trees, shrubs and large perennials in the fall when the soil is still warm. This will allow their roots to begin growing before the soil freezes.
Plant trees, shrubs and large perennials in the fall
Of the many allium varieties, ‘Purple Sensation’ is probably the bestl known. The giant ornamental onion has 4-inch rounded purple blooms that appear in late spring to early summer. Alliums, however, are a large family of bulbs that come in many shapes, sizes and colors. Yellowing foliage can sometimes be a problem, though, so pair them with large-leaved perennials to hide any decay.
Black-Eyed Susans are some of the most heat and drought-tolerant plants around. Native to North America, these tall, golden wildflowers bloom from mid-summer until fall. Plant them in large masses in sun or part-shade for high-impact in the garden.
Daylilies seem to thrive in just about any condition. I’ve left clumps of them out all winter long and they still settle happily back into the ground come spring. Daylilies come in a wide variety of colors, from deepest purples to pinks, reds, yellows and even creamy white. There’s something for everyone.
It’s hard not to think of a seaside garden without first conjuring up visions of round pink and blue flowers. Hydrangeas are synonymous with coastal living. My own hydrangeas flourish alongside my house where they feel safe and protected, faithfully producing blooms from June through August.
In town, my lamb’s ear needs constant maintenance to look its best. When the plants receive too much water, their velvety leaves start to droop and decay. However, at the shore, my lamb’s ear adopts a new appearance, forming stiff, upright silvery-grey mounds.
In mid June, lamb’s ear often produces tall furry spikes of blue-grey flowers. They’re not to everyone’s liking, and many people remove them. At the shore, I leave them be so I can watch them sway in the ocean breezes.
This plant is perfectly suited to coastal gardens. Lavender loves lots of sun and once established, thrives in near drought conditions. I’m constantly having to beat back my own lavender Hidcote to keep it in bounds in the border. Check out these great tips from Soleado Lavender Farm on the best species to plant and how to maintain them.
This hardy, drought-resistant perennial resembles lavender, but has a softer, more delicate appearance. It produces purple-blue flower stalks in May/June from above grey-green clumps of fine-textured foliage. I trim my nepeta back hard after its first flowering and enjoy a slightly smaller bloom in July. Nepeta’s soft grey-green foliage looks great paired with bright yellow daylilies and almost anything red or orange.
A low, creeping annual with succulent-looking stems and foliage, portulaca thrives in coastal gardens. Use it in the front of a border, trailing over a wall or in hanging baskets. Its bright colored blooms come in a range of shades from orange, red and yellow to bright white.
I love this striking plant that sends up bright yellow-orange poker-shaped flowers on 3-foot stems. Drought resistant and attractive to pollinators, red hot poker likes lots of sun and isn’t picky about soil. It blooms in mid-summer.
A perfect plant for coastal gardens, verbena’s large clusters of deep purple flowers and deep green foliage look good all summer long. The plant is primarily known for its purple blooms. However, you can now find cultivars in blue, pink, red and white that grow from 6 inches to 3 feet tall.
Also known as Speedwell, this long-blooming perennial with tall flower spikes is the perfect addition to a sunny coastal border. Best known for its intense, violet-blue flowers, it also comes in pink, rose and white. My favorite variety is the mid-sized Ulster Blue Dwarf, one of the truest blue perennials. Veronica is also a great source of nectar for bees and butterflies.
This elegant plant has flat-topped golden yellow flowers borne high atop asparagus-fern like foliage. Yarrow is especially captivating in seaside gardens where it sways softly to summer breezes.
Yarrow blooms from mid-summer to fall and in addition to the traditional yellow, come in shades of orange, red, pink and white. It also makes a long-lasting and sturdy cut flower.
While most of these plants are drought-tolerant, they’ll still need watering from time to time. Give your coastal garden a healthy start by improving the soil with compost or other organic matter before planting. Mulch well to hold in moisture and use overhead irrigation whenever possible to wash off salt from the foliage. And avoid watering your plants during the hottest hours of the day, which can burn the foliage.
The Kips Bay Decorator Show House, now in its 44th year, is one of New York City’s top springtime attractions. For eight weeks, some of the country’s leading designers and architects lend their energy and talent to creating an amazing array of indoor and outdoor spaces. This year’s show house, located at the newly-renovated Carlton House Townhouse on East 61st Street, features a veritable treasure trove of ideas from 21 top designers. I visited recently to see what was trending in the gardening world. Continue reading
Memorial Day weekend is a big weekend for gardeners. Nurseries are teeming with bright-colored annuals, perennials in full bloom, and a seemingly endless selection of flowering plants, shrubs and trees. It’s enough to make even the most experienced of gardeners a little bit crazed. Continue reading
