Plant Trees for Great Fall Colors
Here in Northeast Kansas, we think highly of our beautiful fall colors. While we certainly are not New England, there have been hundreds of sugar maples planted throughout the area, giving us a name for quality fall color in the Great Plains. Hiawatha, KS is known as the “City of Beautiful Maples” for this reason. […]
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 […]
Using Berries in the Landscape
As autumn leaves begin to litter our yards with colorful tones, the bright berries of fruits and shrubs shine among the leafless branches. Using berries in our yards provides for both us and wildlife. Besides the fruit, many berry bushes have alternate interest in their flowers, bark, and fall color. Using berries in limited numbers […]
Autumn in the Garden
Fall is officially here with the weather this week! We had 2 inches of snow, a hard freeze to 28 degrees and much cooler temperatures. As autumn finally begins to turn the pages of the landscape, we begin to assess and think about what we can do different in our gardens next year. This is […]
6 Great Shrubs for Autumn Color
Fall is almost here and I am chomping at the bit to put in our autumn arrangements. My wife has been decorating for fall in the house and I will be adding all sorts of goodies to the porch and yard. Flags to go up, mums brought in, and pumpkins galore. In these last few […]
Choosing a Tree to Plant
Autumn is the time for fall color. When a lot of people start thinking about autumn color, their minds travel to photos they have seen of New England, with old churches and barns among the Catskills and Adirondack Mountains, a burst in colors of red, purple, yellow, bronze, gold, and orange. However, when I think […]
Groundcovers for the Garden
Groundcovers are one of the most important plants groups in the garden. They play a crucial role in retaining soil on slopes, they can fill large areas of shady ground where grass will not grow, and they can provide an unbroken expanse of color that helps tie garden areas together. There are two main types […]
