Author's posts
Jan 11
Tulip Care
Tulips are among the most recognizable flowers of spring. Their upright stems and brightly colored blooms can transform an otherwise quiet garden into a display of red, yellow, orange, pink, purple, white, burgundy, and almost-black flowers within just a few weeks. Tulips belong to the genus Tulipa in the lily family, Liliaceae. Wild tulip species …
Jan 10
Daffodil Care
Daffodils are among the most dependable flowers of spring. Their cheerful yellow, white, cream, orange, peach, and pink-toned blooms often appear while the garden is still waking from winter, sometimes pushing through cold soil just weeks after snow has disappeared. All daffodils belong to the genus Narcissus. The terms daffodil and narcissus refer to the …
Jan 09
Crocus Care
Crocuses are among the first flowers to announce that winter is ending. Their small goblet-shaped blooms can emerge through cold soil—and sometimes even through snow—bringing flashes of purple, lavender, yellow, white, and striped color to lawns, woodland edges, rock gardens, and flower beds. Most familiar garden crocuses belong to the genus Crocus in the iris …
Jan 08
Hyacinth Care
Hyacinths are among the most fragrant flowers of spring. Their dense flower spikes can fill a garden, porch, or even an entire room with perfume, while their vivid blue, purple, pink, white, yellow, and burgundy flowers provide a concentrated burst of color at a time when many perennials are only beginning to wake from winter. …
Jan 07
Lily of the Valley Care
Lily of the valley is a classic shade-loving perennial known for its arching stems of tiny white bells and remarkably powerful fragrance. Although the flowers are small, a mature colony can perfume an entire section of the garden during spring. The familiar garden species is Convallaria majalis, a rhizomatous perennial native to Eurasia. It belongs …
Jan 07
Autumn Crocus Care
Autumn crocus is one of the garden’s most unusual fall flowers. Just when many summer perennials are fading, goblet-shaped pink, lavender, purple, or white flowers suddenly rise directly from bare soil, often with no leaves in sight. The plant commonly called autumn crocus or meadow saffron is Colchicum autumnale. Despite its common name and its …
Jan 06
Bleeding Heart Care
Bleeding heart is one of the most distinctive flowers of the spring shade garden. Its arching stems are lined with pink, red, or white heart-shaped blossoms that seem to dangle like tiny lockets above soft green foliage. The classic old-fashioned bleeding heart is Lamprocapnos spectabilis, a species long known as Dicentra spectabilis. The older name …
Jan 05
Iris Care
Irises are among the most recognizable flowers in the perennial garden. Their elaborate blooms rise above sword-shaped foliage in shades of purple, blue, white, yellow, pink, peach, bronze, burgundy, and almost every combination in between. The genus Iris contains hundreds of species and an enormous number of garden cultivars. They belong to the family Iridaceae …
Jan 04
Peony Care
Peonies are among the longest-lived and most impressive flowering perennials in the garden. Their enormous spring and early-summer blooms can be simple and elegant or so densely packed with petals that they resemble roses, while established plants can remain productive in the same location for decades. The genus Paeonia includes herbaceous peonies, woody tree peonies, …
Jan 03
Azalea Care
Azaleas are among the most spectacular flowering shrubs of spring, producing masses of funnel-shaped blooms in shades of white, pink, coral, orange, red, purple, and yellow. Some varieties are evergreen, others lose their leaves each fall, and many can live for decades when planted in the right location. Botanically, azaleas belong to the genus Rhododendron …
