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Fall-Blooming Heathers for Autumn Color
In all the time I’ve been designing gardens, I have never had anyone tell me, “please, no heathers!”. Thank goodness, because heathers are my secret weapon for extending any season’s interest. By the end of summer many perennials have stopped blooming, but the winter bloomers and fall colors haven’t started in earnest to continue the…
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How to Deadhead Mexican Bush Sage or Salvia leucantha (Video Tutorial)
I shot this video in December, when this Salvia was at the end of its blooming season and just starting to think about going dormant, but the advice for how to deadhead and prune it is still great for summer. Right now, many of the Mexican Bush Sages in the gardens that I maintain are…
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How to Prune Your Hardy Geranium or Cranesbill (Or: Ode to ‘Rozanne’) (Video Tutorial)
I am a huge fan of Geranium ‘Rozanne’. Here’s a plant that’s gotten tons of press in the last few years (tons of press for a plant at least!), winning all kinds of plant-y awards and generally being the plant world’s Paris Hilton. Except ‘Rozanne’? She actually deserves the attention. She blooms gorgeously from her…
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How to Prune Heath and Heather
Heathers are one of my favorite winter-interest plants. There are Ericas (Heaths) which bloom around November and December, Daboecia (Irish Heath) which bloom spring to late fall, and Callunas (Scotch Heather) which bloom in summer but often have vibrant winter foliage. They are very low-maintenance plants, but they do need pruning once a year after…
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Small Plants to Enhance Your Winter Garden
While the twigs and branches of dormant shrubs have their own interest, if your garden doesn’t have much variety in winter, things can be dull. A quick fix for those bare areas is to tuck a few winter-interest fillers in the foreground, to bring a prettily arching form, bright foliage color, or some cheerful blooms…
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Five Often-Overlooked Shrubs for Gorgeous Winter Color
So we’ve talked about why you want to plant in fall – you don’t have to water as much, plants get their roots well established through the winter, and there’s less transplant shock – meaning those plants you paid top dollar for will be glowing with health in the spring! But it can be rather…
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Winter-Blooming Annuals to Help Your Garden Shine
Winter can be dull if we haven’t prepared for it, with the gray skies and so many plants dormant. Much as I am a fan of shrubs and low-maintenance perennials, annuals can be a fantastic way of filling in the time between fall dormancy and spring with sparks of cheery color. You can set out…
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‘Tis The Season To – Wait, What? Plant?
I know it may seem counter-intuitive to get moving in the garden just as the weather starts becoming dreary, but for the northwest, this is an ideal time to get new shrubs and trees established in the garden. You can skip the watering for the most part, and no need to worry about transplant shock…