Cut Flower Gardening
Part of the joy of growing flowers at home is cutting and displaying those flowers in your home. With proper planning, you can have flowers available for cutting from early spring until killing frosts arrive in autumn. A wide range of suitable plants are available. Location Most gardeners will incorporate cutting type cultivars into […]
Prairie Plantings: Improving your Quality of Life
There something so simple and calming about the prairie. Growing up in north central Kansas, I knew too well the heat and drought of the plains states. Even in the shade of the wooded creek bottoms near our house, it was sultry and hot. Later, when I lived in Manhattan, KS, a quiet walk on […]
How to Cut Garden Flowers For Floral Arrangements: Country Floral Design
I absolutely love cut flowers. I look forward to bringing in a new bouquet into my house every chance I get. If you want to bring some of your landscape flowers indoors but don’t know how to, you are in the right place. (Click to our second edition of Floral Design) Materials: 1 Quart Mason […]
Peach Fuzz – The Color of the Year
Peach fuzz is the 2024 color of the year, according to Pantone. Each year, Pantone picks a color as a snapshot in time, trying to connect with our emotions and deep-seated feelings. Peach fuzz is a hue not really pink and not quite orange. It captures our desires to nurture kindness, compassion, and connection, all […]
Powerful Perennials – Top 10
What are powerful perennials? These are perennial flowers that rock the garden each season. They are long blooming, long lasting, long lived, and good for pollinators. Picking a top 10 is the hardest part, because there are a lot of powerful perennials to choose from. What is it that gardeners want in their gardens? Hopefully, […]
Tidy Gardening
Recently, a colleague asked me about plants for tidy gardening. But what is tidy gardening, and how does one achieve it? I have discussed many times my gardening ideals, which include diversity, and lots of plant materials. But I realize there are many homeowners, and some gardeners who prefer to have a tidy look, with […]
Showy Sedum – October Plant of the Month
Showy sedum is our September Plant of the Month for 2023. Also known as live forever, orpine, tall sedum, and butterfly stonecrop; it is one of the best late summer and fall perennials for pollinators. If you have not planted this perennial then you cannot imagine the amount of insects it attracts. Easy to grow […]
Rain Garden Plants
What is a rain garden? A rain garden is an area within the landscape that gets the majority of its moisture from rain. It may also get wet from a hose runoff or hillside springs. The rain garden can be a functional and beautiful part of the landscape. I have heard some people call their […]
Native Wildflowers – Late Summer Bloomers
Late summer and into fall is a hard time for native wildflowers. While there are many things still blooming from earlier, not much gets going this time of the year. Except for aster and goldenrods, the 2 big powerhouses of late summer blooms. Even though not much else starts to bloom now, you can still […]
