Kansas Gardener’s Garden August-Septemer
Part 3 of my gardens. The saga continues…. This is the Monarch Waystation in late summer, full of rudbeckias and garden phlox and grasses. The double-flowered rudbeckia variety is ‘Hortensia’ from my grandmother’s garden in Cloud County, KS. The tallest grass in the middle is switchgrass ‘Dallas Blues’, one of the first things I […]
Best Border Plants for Your Garden
Now that fall is here and plants are on sale across the nursery, remember Grimm’s Pink Flag Sale, we can talk about how to put in borders along your garden beds. Over the years, I have experimented with many different plants for borders, from groundcovers to squatty perennials to annuals. I like to use the […]
Plant Perennials (and Trees) Now!
Autumn is finally here with the advent of some much wanted and needed cooler temperatures, and lovely fall rains. When the weather cools down to daily temperatures in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and the night-time temperatures stay around the 50s, then it is the best time to plant most of our perennials, shrubs, grasses, […]
Natives Spotlight: Willowleaf Sunflower
In 2016, I was introduced to a new native sunflower, new to me anyways. Willowleaf sunflower (Helianthus salicifolius), was growing in the prairie ditches on my was to an event in Ft. Scott, KS. Back at Grimm’s, we ordered some ourselves and planted a few plants around the office. Let me tell you, this plant […]
Bluestar for the Garden
Selecting perennials for the garden can be a difficult task given the number of species and the amazing number of cultivars per species. It would be easy to be a collector of certain species, there are over 1200 daylily varieties alone! In several species: echinacea, hosta, iris, peony, dahlia, and others; there may be over […]
Plant Profiles: The Peony
Peonies have long been cultivated throughout the world and valued for their durability, fragrance, flower colors, and longevity. Peonies have been used in nearly every American garden since our ancestors set foot on this land. There is a certain air of age and wonder associated with peonies. It is not difficult to go to an […]
More Daylilies?
I know it seems crazy to think about adding more daylilies to your garden, but for me, it is not a stretch. Back in 2000 when I first thought about becoming a landscape designer, I constantly studied plant materials and their use in American landscapes. Here is what I noticed: Americans have a love affair […]
2019 Perennial Plant of the Year: Stachys ‘Hummelo’
Every year, the Perennial Plant Association promotes a perennial of the year. In the past it has been butterfly milkweed, allium ‘Millenium’, switchgrass ‘Northwind’ and others, since starting the list in 1990. This year, the PPA has selected stachys ‘Hummelo’ as the perennial plant of the year. That is good news for us here in […]
Spring Pollinator Plants
Finding plants for pollinators in springtime can be a bit frustrating. While there are lots of trees and shrubs, not to mention natives, blooming around you, it can be difficult to discover exactly which plant is best suited for your own pollinator paradise. And spring blooming flowers for the garden can be difficult to come […]
