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Plants and Places

Flower gardening is simply the flowers and foliage, and where we place them. That is the heart of gardening. Oh sure, we know about the exercise and fresh air, we wax on and on about the interesting fauna that come to visit our gardens…. but it is the plants we love, and our gardens where we labor with such satisfaction.
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It doesn’t matter where you live- there is a a unique attraction to the landscape of it, and one of the great challenges and rewards in making your own garden is to find these attributes and make the most of them. Each place has its own beauty, its distinctive allure nuanced with light effects, climate idiosyncrasies, and native secrets; all to be had in our own yards.

I like to talk about the genius loci of a place, as in the Style and Design article.

I started the site with articles on bulbs… and those have always been a beloved favorite. The “Plant Profiles”, the general articles on perennials, and the design posts fill out the site… pick out a few and start growing!

It may not always be about growing plants native to your region, but more people are understanding the ideal qualities of a native plant in terms of maintenance, longevity, and usefulness. I’ve planted plenty of plants which couldn’t take the occasional lapses of hardiness zones into a winter cold that hits every ten years or so…. always a zone colder than the “normal”, and it has taught me to appreciate the plants that I know belong in my climate. Have you heard of “xeriscaping”? It is basically a set of methods and plantings that conserve moisture through educated planting. a few articles, one on design and one on method help outline the idea. The New American Garden, and Dry Weather Tips.

But I admit to love the exotics wildly- and my gardens have always been full of them. Just like I love spice in my cooking, I need to see the beautiful and unusual in plantings. Many have been around for generations and are absorbed into the ecosystem.

Places in the Garden

Follow the “Plant Highlights” heading for the profile posts or try the sampling listed below~

Plant Highlights

When discussing exotic (from somewhere else) plant introductions, it is important to remember certain facts and history. There are nuisance plants like the Kudzu vine of the South, that have taken over and smother out just about everything else, there are plants that while less obvious in negative effects, are just as much a problem. Berried shrubs such as the bush honeysuckle can be less nutritious for birdlife than the native shrubs. More about that, here. Nature’s balance can be a precarious thing, but part of gardening is learning about, and doing something about protecting the environment.

The older part of the site has plenty of good information full of my early enthusiasm.