… <p>This native of tropical rain forests in Central and South America is noted for its large, architectural foliage, which can reach 10 or 12 feet high. While it does flower … That’s so bats can pollinate them. </p> <p><em>Louteridium</em> donnell-smithii is only hardy to Zone 10, so it’s going to be a container plant for most of us. With constant moisture, rich loose soil, and full shade …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Most plants in the genus Plectranthus that are familiar to northern gardeners are small house plants valued for their colorful aromatic leaves. Being in the mint family, they have square stems and opposite leaves. Large spur-flower looks very different: a large shrub native to forest margins and streams of South Africa, grown for its huge sprays of blue-purple flowers …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… You may already know Persian Shield. It’s been available for many years both as a houseplant and, in our Northern climate, a bedding annual. While it can be grown in the sun, the foliage develops its best color in part to full shade. There, the puckered leaves shimmer in iridescent shades of purple, magenta, and … shrub that reaches 3 feet or more in its native tropics. Though it may not have time to reach that size when used as an annual, this heat-loving, drought tolerant, relatively …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… spread. It blooms in May with showy white, flat-topped clusters of flowers. These give way to yellow fruits in the fall. Fall color for this cultivar is not as brilliant as some others. It will grow in full sun to partial shade and is not fussy about soil types or conditions. Viburnums are a versatile genus …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Weigela hortensis one of the first varieties of Weigela to reach the U.S. from its native Japan, arriving here well before 1900. It's one of the large, … Weigela . The long arching canes lined with clusters of pink trumpet-shaped flowers from mid to late spring, combined with its relative hardiness and easy care made it a favorite in American gardens. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds love Weigela , and so do gardeners. For a plant that gives you so much to look at, they're very easy to care for. No particular …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… February is such an exciting month for gardeners—time for the first seeds to get started indoors, and time for our Seed Swap! As you … unknown flower seeds that the neighbor gave you…that pepper variety that you aspired to, but never sowed, a few years ago. Unfamiliar, unidentified, old, or questionably stored seeds …
Type: Plant Info
… At the end of fall, it is easy for people to think that nature has shut down for the winter—this could not be farther from the … most of the vegetation does go dormant for the winter, there is still a myriad of life to be found, even though it might be more inconspicuous and less flamboyant. McDonald Woods, for …
Type: Blog
… Description: One of five species of swallows seen at the Garden. Look for them flying around the Dixon Prairie where they nest in birdhouses placed out for them and bluebirds. …
Type: Birding
… This plant is suitable for growing indoors. Does not bloom. Propagation by dividing rhizomes, tubers, corms or bulbs (including offsets) It is grown for foliage, is evergreen and smooth textured. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Description: This swallow is most often seen flying over the lakes looking for insects, especially closer to bridges where they build cup-shaped mud nests. …
Type: Birding
