A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself. ~May Sarton
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Time for Color!
With so many flowers getting ready to burst forth, we are reminded of how important color is in our lives and gardens. This is a great time to start observing flower color and learn how to incorporate it effectively into your garden. | |
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How to Grow and Care for Butterfly Bushes
It is a delight to watch all types of butterflies sip nectar from these shrubs' abundant flowers, which bloom in shades of blue, pink, red, violet, yellow, and white from midsummer to fall. | |
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Watermelon -- Slices of Summer!
If there's one fruit whose taste says "summer," it's watermelon. Biting into a crisp, sweet, juicy slice of this delectable fruit instantly evokes those hot, late summer days when you were a kid and school vacation still seemed endless. | |
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Planting a Window Box
Combine flowering plants and those with attractive foliage in window boxes to add color to decks, window sashes, and porch rails, including those trailing, spiky, and shrubby growth habits. | |
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Gourds in the Garden
Gourds have been cultivated for ages. Today they're still used for containers and birdhouses, as well as for seasonal decorations. And some types of gourds can even be eaten. | |
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Create a Garden Retreat
If you spend more time working in your garden than relaxing and enjoying it, maybe it's time to create a garden retreat. After all, a successful landscape isn't just attractive, it's also inviting and livable. | |
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Home Brewed Compost Tea
Compost can be heavy and bulky to transport and spread. Compost tea offers the benefits of compost in a lighter-weight package. It's a liquid version of compost. | |
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Together with Victory Seed CompanyThis is a picture of the tomato 'Rosy Finch' - it's a "micro tomato" and what you see in the picture above is the maximum size it gets. We grew this fine specimen on our back porch and we were delighted by how well it did. The fruit are a bit smaller than golf balls, quite prolific, and stunningly beautiful. Best of all, they give the same homegrown tomato flavor that we're always looking for. It can easily be grown in small containers on your patio, just make sure it gets enough sunlight. Grab a container and some potting soil, and take a look at our micro tomatoes collection.
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Rose (Rosa 'Friendship')
Bloom size: Very large: 6" or more Petal count: full: 26-40 petals Rose bloom color: Medium pink Rebloom: Good Class: Hybrid tea Growth Habit: Tall, 5-7 feet, upright Fragrance: Strong Hybridizer & year: Robert V. Lindquist, 1978 Optimal growing zones: USDA zone 7 and warmer Awards: AARS Plant Habit: Shrub Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun Plant Height: 5-7 feet Plant Spread: 2-3 feet Leaves: Deciduous Flowers: Showy, Fragrant Flower Color: Pink Flower Time: Spring, Summer, Fall Uses: Cut Flower Wildlife Attractant: Bees Parentage: Fragrant Cloud x Miss All-American Beauty
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Pony's Foot (Dichondra carolinensis)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade Water Preferences: Wet Mesic, Mesic Plant Height: 1 to 2 inches Plant Spread: Forms large mats to 36 inches Fruit: Other, Indehiscent Flowers: Inconspicuous Flower Color: White, Other Bloom Size: Under 1" Flower Time: Spring, Late spring or early summer, Summer, Late summer or early fall Uses: Groundcover, Culinary Herb, Will Naturalize, Cooked greens Edible Parts: Leaves Eating Methods: Culinary Herb/Spice, Cooked Resistances: Humidity tolerant, Tolerates foot traffic
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Chinese Tallow Tree (Triadica sebifera)
Plant Habit: Tree Sun Requirements: Full Sun Water Preferences: Mesic Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 8a -12.2 °C (10 °F) to -9.4 °C (15 °F) Plant Height: 30-40 feet Plant Spread: 15-20 feet Leaves: Good fall color, Deciduous Flower Color: Other, Green Flower Time: Summer Uses: Shade Tree Resistances: Salt tolerant Toxicity: Other Pollinators: Various insects, Bees
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Clematis 'The First Lady'
Typical Plant Size: Typically 6 to 8 feet Pruning Group: Group 1 - Spring flowering, no pruning Bloom Diameter: Medium - between 4 to 6 inches, Medium/Large - typically 6 inches Bloom Color (Tepals): Lilac/Lavender hue Center Color (Anthers): Purple anthers Bloom Shape: Single Preferred Light: Prefers partial shade Moisture Requirements: Average moisture requirements Disease Resistance: Susceptible to clematis wilt Plant Habit: Vine Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade Plant Height: 6-8 feet Leaves: Deciduous Flowers: Showy Flower Color: Mauve Flower Time: Spring, Late spring or early summer Wildlife Attractant: Bees
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Dalmatian Bellflower (Campanula portenschlagiana Get Mee® Purple)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade Water Preferences: Mesic Plant Height: 6-12 inches Plant Spread: 12-36 inches Leaves: Other Flowers: Showy Flower Color: Blue, Other, Purple, Lavender Flower Time: Late summer or early fall Suitable Locations: Alpine Gardening Uses: Groundcover, Cut Flower, Will Naturalize Wildlife Attractant: Hummingbirds, Butterflies, Bees Pollinators: Self, Bees, Flies, Moths and Butterflies, Beetles Containers: Suitable in 1 gallon, Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
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Photo by robertduval14
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Photo by Valery33
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Photo by AnnKNCalif
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Photo by Mieko2 "Bess Bockstoce"
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Photo by floota "UP AGAINST THE SUN"
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Photo by Sscape "Mid Morning Image"
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Photo by Bloombuddie
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Photo by purpleinopp
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Photo by bumplbea
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Photo by scvirginia "photo by Cornell Plantations via Cornell University Library's eCommons: https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/1100"
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Active threads from our forums:
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The numbers from this week:
327 members joined.
4,638 posts written in our forums.
1,649 photos posted to the plant database.
934 plants added to personal inventory lists.
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From the end spring new beginnings. Pliny the Elder
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