 Nature never goes out of style.
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Editor's Note: our annual photo contest is still underway and we eagerly invite you to submit your favorite photos! Bluestone Perennials is giving away hundreds of dollars in prizes to the winners, and it's all completely free to enter! You have until the evening of Monday, November 29th to enter. Login to your Garden.org account and then visit our contest homepage to see how to enter your photos.
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Articles to read this week:
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Peony Care
Peonies are renowned for their large, colorful, bowl-shaped, flowers and dark green foliage. Once established, these beauties are some of the longest-lived and most reliable garden plants. |
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Harvesting Onions
There's never a time when onions aren't ready for harvesting. They can be picked and eaten at any stage. No matter how many onions you use during the season, though, it's nice to have a crop of big onions mature at the end of summer to store for the fall and winter months. |
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Forcing Tulips Indoors
For those who can never get enough of tulips or can't wait until they spring up naturally in the garden, they can be forced indoors. |
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Top 50 Trees and Shrubs
Learn all about our favorite 50 trees and shrubs for your garden. From roses to butterfly bushes and everything in between, Dave breaks down the best qualities in each of our favorites. |
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Prolific and Terrific: Ranunculus
These are brilliantly colored flowers with multiple layers of delicate, crepe paper-thin petals. They look more like an origami masterwork than a flower. |
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Harvesting & Preserving Peanuts
Inspect your peanut plants every couple of days as harvest time approaches. Check plants in different parts of the row to determine if the pods directly under the main part of the plant are ready to harvest. |
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Winter Care for your Houseplants
Everyone needs a little R and R, and for houseplants winter is the time to get it. Daylight is dramatically reduced, the air is dry, and temperatures are cool — not the perfect growing conditions. Follow these tips to keep your houseplants in shape through the winter. |
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Watering & Fertilizing Beans
Beans need about one inch of water a week for good growth. If your garden doesn't get sufficient rain, you must water. Watering is probably the most critical summer gardening chore for many people, and it's the job most often done wrong. |
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New feature for our newsletter: Plants from our Database
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We have spent the past couple weeks working on some new weekly segments for our newsletter, and this week we are introducing this first new segment: Popular Plants. We look through the traffic reports on Garden.org to see which plants in our database are getting the most views. Here they are!
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Elephant's Ear (Alocasia gageana 'Albo-variegata')
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Wet Mesic, Mesic
Plant Height: 18 to 36 inches (45-90 cm)
Plant Spread: 18 to 36 inches (45-90 cm)
Flower Time: Other
Underground structures: Rhizome
Resistances: Rabbit Resistant, Deer Resistant
Toxicity: Other
Propagation: Seeds: Other info
Propagation: Other methods: Division, Offsets
Containers: Suitable in 1 gallon, Suitable in 3 gallon or larger, Needs excellent drainage in pots
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Purslane (Portulaca umbraticola)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Annual
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Dry
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: White, Yellow, Orange, Pink
Bloom Size: 1"-2"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer, Summer, Late summer or early fall, Fall
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Groundcover, Suitable as Annual
Wildlife Attractant: Hummingbirds, Bees
Resistances: Humidity tolerant
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots
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Texas Thistle (Cirsium texanum)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Biennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic, Dry Mesic
Plant Height: 3 to 6 feet
Leaves: Semi-evergreen
Fruit: Showy, Edible to birds
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Purple, Lavender
Bloom Size: 1"-2"
Flower Time: Spring, Late spring or early summer, Summer
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Will Naturalize
Wildlife Attractant: Birds, Hummingbirds, Butterflies, Bees
Resistances: Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Other info
Propagation: Other methods: Offsets
Miscellaneous: With thorns/spines/prickles/teeth, Tolerates poor soil
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The most popular photos from this past week:
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 Photo by celestialrose
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 Photo by kousa
"Love this peachy shade!"
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 Photo by Hillsepicacti
"An engineered hybrid that is unique"
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 Photo by sunkissed
"Grown outdoors in morning sun, bright light zone 9b watered with rain."
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 Photo by Baja_Costero
"1 year old seedling, 6 inch pot"
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 Photo by Betja
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 Photo by AnnKNCalif
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 Photo by plantladylin
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 Photo by Calebstroh
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Active threads from our forums:
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The numbers from this week:
486 members joined.
4,041 posts written in our forums.
565 photos posted to the plant database.
484 plants added to personal inventory lists.
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 The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.
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