Tag Archives: year-round interest

Echeveria Plant Care Indoors

October 17, 2017 | Meghan Shinn | 0

It’s hard to resist Echeveria, with their jewel-tone leaves and, if you’re lucky, brilliant flower spikes. They make interesting additions to container plantings and rock gardens, but these frost-tender succulents must be tended as houseplants in cold-winter regions. Here’s how …

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Plant Upright Blue Juniper for Year-round Interest

October 10, 2017 | Meghan Shinn | 0

Virtues: Silvery blue juniper is an easy option for adding year-long color that complements the nearby plants in each season. Tall selections such as ‘Wichita Blue’ and ‘Blue Heaven’ (pictured) provide a strong vertical element in the shrub border. They …

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Enkianthus Shrub Shines Both Spring and Fall

October 3, 2017 | Meghan Shinn | 0

Virtues: Enkianthus campanulatus ‘Jan Iseli Red’ offers bright red flowers in late spring and dramatic red foliage in fall. This deciduous shrub has a narrow, upright habit that fits easily into mixed borders or serves as a vertical accent in …

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Groundcover Junipers New for 2017

April 25, 2017 | Meghan Shinn | 0

Even as spring-blooming bulbs, perennials and flowering shrubs build toward their peak of glory in the spring garden, we can’t help but praise a couple of groundcover junipers that are new from Monrovia this year. Get them onto your spring …

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Rhododendrons: Spring Planting and Care Tips

April 3, 2017 | Meghan Shinn | 0

Rhododendrons are never more noticeable than in spring, when they cover themselves with blooms. It’s enough to inspire you to plant more rhodies in your garden. Here are tips for siting and planting these shade-tolerant favorites, plus spring care tips …

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Use White Spruce to Regulate Winter Weather

February 28, 2017 | Meghan Shinn | 0

Virtues: White spruce, named Evergreen of the Year by the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum’s GreatPlants for the Great Plains program, is a valuable tree in winter. It is useful as a windbreak, hedge, screen or even as a cut or living …

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Witch Hazel, Winter Hazel: What’s the Difference?

December 13, 2016 | Meghan Shinn | 0

With their similar common names and some similar characteristics, winter hazel and witch hazel can be easy to confuse. Here are the differences between these treasured shrubs that flower when little else is in bloom.

Native Big Bluestem Grass Shines in the Fall

November 15, 2016 | Meghan Shinn | 0

Virtues: Once the iconic, dominant grass of the tallgrass prairie but now all too rare, big bluestem can offer a strong sense of place in planted landscapes. It can grow to 8 feet in moist soils, but it develops slowly …

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Little Goblin Winterberry Holly Is a Small Colorful Shrub

October 25, 2016 | Meghan Shinn | 0

Virtues: Little Goblin winterberry holly offers the vivid berries of this favorite deciduous holly, but on a compact shrub that fits small spaces much better than other winterberry varieties. There’s a red-berried Little Goblin and one with orange berries for …

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A Small Arborvitae Alternative to Alberta Spruce

September 13, 2016 | Meghan Shinn | 0

Virtues: ‘Filip’s Magic Moment’ is a small arborvitae that provides exciting and dependable foliage color all year-round. It can be grown in large containers or in the ground. Topping out at 6 to 8 feet tall, this small arborvitae makes …

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Go for the Gold Plants in the Garden

August 1, 2016 | Meghan Shinn | 1

The Summer Olympics open this Friday. While the world’s top athletes covet the gold medal, think about adding golden plants to your garden!