Jan 31
Yellow cosmos flowers can range from soft lemon and creamy yellow to brilliant gold and warm yellow-orange. Although gardeners often group all of these flowers together as “yellow cosmos,” they actually come from two different parts of the cosmos family. The classic bright-yellow cosmos is usually Cosmos sulphureus, an annual species whose natural color range …
Jan 29
Ranunculus flowers have the kind of blooms that almost look too perfect to be real. Their densely layered petals form rounded, rose-like flowers in shades ranging from creamy white and soft blush pink to yellow, orange, coral, red, and deep burgundy. Add their slender stems and delicate green foliage, and it is easy to understand …
Jan 25
Watermelon peperomia is one of those houseplants that manages to look unusual without being particularly intimidating to grow. Its rounded leaves are marked with alternating bands of silver and deep green, creating a pattern remarkably similar to the rind of a watermelon. Reddish leaf stems provide even more contrast, giving this compact tropical plant plenty …
Jan 20
Sweet alyssum is a small flower with an outsized impact in the garden. Its low mounds become covered with clusters of tiny white, pink, lavender, or purple flowers, and many varieties add a noticeable honey-like fragrance to garden beds, containers, pathways, and hanging baskets. Botanically known as Lobularia maritima, sweet alyssum is especially useful when …
Jan 20
Rose of Sharon is one of the most dependable flowering shrubs for bringing color to the garden when many spring and early-summer plants have already finished blooming. From midsummer into early fall, its upright branches can become covered with large hibiscus-like flowers in shades of white, pink, lavender, purple, blue-violet, and red. Botanically known as …
Jan 20
Few shrubs can match a mature rhododendron in full bloom. Dense clusters of pink, purple, white, red, lavender, or occasionally yellow flowers can nearly cover the evergreen foliage, transforming a partly shaded corner of the garden into one of spring’s most impressive displays. Rhododendrons can also live for decades when planted in the right place. …
Jan 20
When summer heat turns many garden flowers tired and thirsty, portulaca often seems to become happier. Also known as moss rose, Portulaca grandiflora is a low-growing annual with fleshy succulent leaves and brilliantly colored flowers that thrive in sunshine, heat, and relatively dry soil. The rose-like blooms come in an impressive range of colors, including …
Jan 20
Nemesia is one of those flowers that can transform a container or garden border almost overnight. Compact plants become covered with masses of delicate two-lipped flowers in shades of white, yellow, orange, pink, red, purple, lavender, blue, and countless bicolored combinations. Some varieties also produce a sweet fragrance that makes them especially appealing around patios, …
Jan 20
Mandevilla brings the look of the tropics to a patio, porch, balcony, or sunny garden with surprisingly little effort. Its glossy green foliage provides the perfect background for large trumpet-shaped flowers in shades of pink, red, white, yellow, and other increasingly varied colors, while vigorous vining varieties can climb several feet during a single growing …
Jan 20
Lobelia can mean very different things depending on which plant is growing in your garden. One gardener may be talking about a tiny mound of brilliant blue flowers spilling from a hanging basket, while another is describing a four-foot-tall native perennial covered with scarlet flowers that hummingbirds visit throughout late summer. Both are Lobelia. The …
