Victor Lemoine – the Lilac Man
Especially for gardeners in colder zones, lilacs are classic flowering shrubs no-one would want to be without. Their large heads of fragrant flowers are a delight, and available in a wide range of…
Get all the latest insight into the world of plants, from experts.
Especially for gardeners in colder zones, lilacs are classic flowering shrubs no-one would want to be without. Their large heads of fragrant flowers are a delight, and available in a wide range of…
A couple of weeks back we started this two-parter on choosing plants that will grow well for you if you have alkaline soil. If you are looking for some suitable trees, or are…
It doesn’t take long, once you start gardening, to start thinking about color. Yes, it is very important to arrange your beds using interesting shapes – a blend of vertical, rounded and horizontal…
The Right Plant in the Right Place is a slogan that you will often hear from professional landscape designers and horticulturists. It’s a simple principle, but one often ignored in the rush to…
If you haven’t smelled the fruit of the quince, you have missed out on something beautiful. These strange hard fruits are renowned for their perfume, and were first used in the Middle East…
Older generations of gardeners who love roses might know the name Sam McGredy. One of the most famous rose breeders of the last century, Irish-born Sam, who was the fourth breeder in his…
With winter settling in around us we are turning up the heat and bringing out the duvets. Gardeners are casting an anxious eye on those border-line shrubs they planted in the now-distant spring…
Boxwood is definitely one of the most iconic garden plants there is. Most people recognize it straight away, and those clipped hedges are a symbol of the organize, formal look for gardens. Start…
Hedges are important components in just about every garden. In cities and suburbs they give privacy and a calm background to your garden, screening out neighbors, traffic noise, and unsightly views. In rural…
Nothing beats a bowl of berries – fresh, juicy, tangy and sweet – delicious! If you are a berry lover, nothing truly beats the taste of berries fresh from the bush, perhaps still…
If you are out front of the latest health trends you may have heard already about the Aronia, or Chokeberry. These small black berries are being widely promoted for their powerful antioxidant content,…
Sometimes the stories of our garden plants are as interesting as the plants themselves and knowing them adds to the pleasure of growing them. Just like getting to know your neighbors enriches your…
Almostall gardeners agree that there is nothing so beautiful as a garden with rhododendrons and azaleas growing in it. But often the first attempts are disappointing, and these plants are often relegated to…
Most gardeners have some idea of the main groups of rose – hybrid teas, floribunda, climbing roses, and so on – even if with new varieties those old borders have become a little…
Tough, vigorous and beautiful, the Smoke Tree – Cotinus coggygria – has been a reliable garden shrub for a very long time. Whether you go for the original green-leaf version, or the very…
Plant breeders are dreamers – they dream of plants that will be closer to our ideals, and they want to give us beautiful plants to fill our own garden dreams. Northern gardeners dream…
Creating a rich and fulfilling garden can be tricky and it takes some thought and planning. There is a basic principle, though, that can really help you build a garden that is interesting…
Southern gardeners have their azaleas, magnolias and camellias, and if you garden in the north you might feel deprived. Don’t, because you too have a plant that rivals and even beats those favorites….
What happens in your garden in March depends on where you live. In colder zones the answer will probably be, “Broken promises,” with warmer, sunny days that turn cold at night and then…
Everyone is using colored leaves in the garden these days – colored something other than green that is. Perhaps it is precisely because green is so ubiquitous that there is an eternal fascination…
There are many kinds of roses – Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, Landscape Rose, and many more – but the same rose can come in different ways too. Typically, they are grown to produce stems…
Evergreen azaleas are among the most attractive and colorful flowers we can grow in our gardens. It used to be that spring was the season for them, and they brighten our beds and…
Across the hills of a large part of eastern North America, carpeting the forest floor beneath trees, growing on slopes, or edging streams, grows the mountain laurel. Found all the way from southern…
Lilacs hold a special place in gardens, and in the hearts of garden lovers. Praised by poets, they spell ‘home’ to many of us, with their old-fashioned charm and their association with older…