10 Exceptional Red Foliage Plants for Fall

Posted in Featured Articles, foliage color These plants have exceptional fall color. They are fine examples of how you can include bright red autumn foliage into a variety of garden spaces, from the humble Strawberry plants to the sophisticated Japanese maple. During the growing season the leaves produce plenty of chlorophyll, but once cooler temperatures signal the coming winter hibernation the chlorophyll is destroyed and...
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English Ivy

Posted in Featured Articles, groundcover, plant profiles, vines Beloved of some and bane to others, English Ivy, Hedera helix, is a groundcover/climber that I happen to love. It is on the PCA “Least Wanted” List,  so caveats are sprinkled through this profile.  One way I love to use English ivy is in containers, they will readily grow in any type of plant container; indoors as well as out. Good as groundcover, especially where bulbs...
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Why Plant Perennials?

Posted in Featured Articles, perennials With the economy still in the dumps, everyone is interested in growing their own food (including me), so what is the purpose in growing plants for mere ornamentation? Especially plants that seem to provide bloom for only one part of a growing season rather than the entire summer, like annuals? You might be surprised at the economic and common sense involved in a choice of planting perennials in...
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The Mystery of Purple, Mahogany, and Burgundy

Posted in Featured Articles, foliage color, landscaping Anthocyanins are naturally occurring pigments and they are the cause of purple pigments in plants. There are said to be over 500 anthocyanins. Anthocyanin production requires light, and sunny exposures will increase intensity of color; acidity affects it as well. Whether through breeding or by mutations, purple-foliaged plants fascinate and draw attention to themselves. Gardeners often love...
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Butterfly Garden, Make Your Yard A Destination

Posted in Featured Articles, Garden Research, insects Butterfly gardens are simply a collection of plants, butterfly friendly methods, and the addition of a few special features. Anyone can have one in any size space. The magic begins when the butterflies discover it, and come. Butterfly gardens aren’t perfect gardens… they have some plants that you might otherwise ignore, some with holes in the leaves from being a host plant and...
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Pictures Worth A Thousand Words

Posted in Featured Articles, garden stories I have a few photos of my garden, and it reminded me of advice to take pictures for a more objective view of your garden, to use as a base for making plans and noting what you like, what is working, and what you might want to change. I find as my garden in maturing that there is a need to change the design and plantings, but I am so attached, sentimentally so, to a garden that has been such a...
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