Underused Plants
As you spend your time planning for next year, look for underused plants. They come in all shapes and sizes, and many of them can be stars of the garden. I spend a lot of time with such plants, trying them in various places in my gardens. Some are ongoing trials, while others are stars […]
Fall Cleanups – To Do or Not To Do?
Fall cleanups have become a source of great tribulation for the gardener in the past few years. And not because of the work involved. Rather, it is a trial on social media and among fellow gardeners, as a moral issue. As gardeners trend toward using more natives, and less pesticides in their landscapes, it becomes […]
Long-Lived Perennials for the Garden
Long-lived perennials should be a staple in the garden, right? Well, with so many options these days for perennials and plants, finding the truly long-lived ones is not as easy. Some of our Grandmother’s favorite flowers are the long-lived plants we desire now, but cannot find. Sometimes we need to go back to our roots […]
Late Summer Gardening Chores
Gardening chores for late summer include division, cutback, deadheading, fertilizing, and harvesting. We do not typically think of August as a time to be working in the garden. It is hot outside right? Now is the time when we gardeners want to be lazy or go on summer vacations before school starts again for our […]
Caladiums!
The heat is almost over but there is so much of the year left. And caladiums are the top pick for the heat of summer. Ideally, many of you have already put caladiums into your containers, flower beds, or patio pots, but some of you may not know anything about them. What are caladiums? And […]
Favorite Natives (And Nativars) of the Author’s Garden
How many favorite natives can you have? I have been gardening for more than 30 years, and adding natives into my gardens from the very beginning. At my parent’s home in North Central Kansas, I recognized several natives which made their way into my container gardens, and eventually into the landscaping I did for my […]
Star Annuals for the Central Great Plains
What are star annuals? Many years ago, Kansas State University developed their Prairie Star List, a list of Annuals for the state of Kansas. However, this list is no longer being presented, as the main testing location for annual flowers has been shut down due to lack of funding. Several years ago, I started evaluating […]
Dry Streams – Adding Functionality to the Garden
Dry streams are a way to hide or transform water using locations within the garden. These areas are not rain gardens, but low and sloped spots that water runs through quickly after a rain. It might be the location of the downspout outflow, a sloped spot in a level lawn, or a drainage swale used […]
Bleeding Hearts – April Plant of the Month
The bleeding hearts are our 2021 Plant of the Month for April. I love these plants in my garden, as well as the native ones growing in the woods nearby. Each spring I look forward to their fern-like foliage, topped with pink, red, or white “hearts”. There are two separate genuses that the bleeding hearts […]
