Design Style and Theme Posts
Peaceful Fountains, Meandering Pathways
...the combination of a path curving through a garden, a spot with a gently splashing fountain, and a garden seat are ideal in the creation of a garden
read moreVariegated Leaves
Variegation can produce some gorgeous effects in the garden and we instinctively know that by the way our eyes and hearts are drawn to these “color freaks” in the garden centers. Variegation is the effect of two different colors in the leaves and stems of plants, it occurs very rarely in nature. Variegated plants are chimerasin botany: usually single organisms composed of two genetically different types of tissue.. Mutations consisting of the loss of the chloroplasts, with a resulting difference in color is the cause...
read moreToo Many Flowers
How can you say that there are too many flowers? What sort of garden heresy is this? Perhaps too many flowers all at one time is a distraction in your garden, instead of an attraction. Perhaps the idea of garden design which highlights the season’s beauty, but in an edited and focused way might be both better visually and better practically ( in terms of work and money). May Dreams Gardens in her post, “Garden Design Elements: Seasonal-shift” said, “I find it very confusing to be in a garden where plants are blooming...
read moreButterfly Garden, Make Your Yard A Destination
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 having no pesticide barriers. Butterflies are insects, after all, and the pesticide will not distinguish between insects you love and those you abhor. But a...
read moreContainers: Favorite Annuals 2
[Part One] [Part Two] Continuing to feature some of the beautiful ways that annuals can brighten up a garden. By joining the container recipes and annual plant highlights in the post, this gives ideas you can use in your garden beds, too. Simply increase the numbers of the same plants combined in the containers to give visual impact in flower beds! See More…5 Container TipsPlant Great Containers On this page New Guinea impatiensLantana Mexican Feather Grass'Diamond Frost' euphorbia Strawberry...
read moreVictorian Gardens
The History: The Victorian Age lasted over a long period and holds an evolution of style, but there are characteristics that stand out among Victorian gardens, just as there are in Victorian architecture and costume. This was a time when plant exploration came into its own. The middle class expanded with an accompanying barrage of tastemakers, opining on everything from manners to interior decoration, architecture styles to garden landscapes. Ideas such as “a small city garden should be “dainty and neat”" were common. Some...
read moreContainers with Favorite Annuals
[Part One] [Part Two] I love annuals. So much so, that it is a daunting task to try to profile all my favorites. As I was planting up my containers, it occurred to me that highlighting those I was combining in my pots and baskets would be an ideal way to group some of those favorites together. Each year available plants vary in the garden centers, these ideas give some easy suggestions, while including all the necessary information to combine light and moisture needs for plantings that thrive throughout the season. General information...
read moreOutside My Window: A Look Into Garden
My favorite garden author, Helen Van Pelt Wilson, had an intensely planted space she called her “Look Into” garden. Looking through a large casement window in her kitchen, she viewed this little plot of a garden every day. It existed purely for the pleasure of something pretty to look at on a daily basis. As we grow older and desire less overall work, this sort of garden gains immense attraction. In fact, I have always wanted this sort of feature, but my old fashioned home did not come with large windows. Yet, there are always...
read more5 Container Tips and 5 Recipes
Follow These Easy Container Tips get the most beauty from your patio plants Use sphagnum moss to retain moisture. Planting in sun? Don’t use dark colored containers which soak up more heat. Use the largest containers to give your plants the best root growing environment. Larger containers look more impressive, too. How you water is an extremely important part of container gardening. Use a good potting soil, water often. Choose plant companions with similar water, soil, and light needs Add worm castings to your container soil and...
read moreYour Own French Potager
There are Kitchen gardens, and then there is the French potager. Like saying, there is cuisine, and then there is French cuisine. You may interpret the distinction in your own mind, but I think there is a subcategory that the French potager holds as all its own in the concept of kitchen gardens. Just as we have come to appreciate the special inflection of the Cottage garden in feeling and style, the French potager has its own flavor that springs from the context of a rich cultural history that holds food, art, and beauty and enjoyment of...
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