… broad green foliage with an extended period of flowering. This annual can be allowed to reseed in the garden or seeds can be collected and sown in late winter for transplanting after the last hard freezes are past in early spring. Full sun and well-drained soils are ideal. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Almost black stems support the dark green leaves, making this cultivar easy to identify in a crowd of asters. Butterflies, honeybees, etc. can't resist the nectar and pollen. The narrow upright form of the flowering stems make this a favorite cut flower. Plant this aster in full sun and in moderately moist soils. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… This aster blooms in late summer-early fall with masses of fine-petaled lavender-pink flowers. It can reach a height of 1 foot with a 2 foot spread, but should be clipped back by a fourth in early summer. This creates a denser, more compact plant with more flowers. It should be planted in full sun and well-drained soil. Once established, it is both heat and drought tolerant. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… rue ( Thalictrum aquiligiifolium ) grows 2' to 3' tall and has a lovely ethereal quality in the garden. Use it in the middle of a sunny perennial garden. Flowers, which consist mostly of colorful stamens, are very small but extremely abundant. Lilac flowers adorn this plant in early summer. The columbine meadow rue is a delicate plant of very fine texture. A first-rate …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Trees or shrubs can be artfully pruned into fanciful figures or geometric shapes. Most gardens in the Midwest favor the geometric look in training plants. Consider the number of precisely pruned yew and boxwood shrubs — in globes, flat rectangles, cones, or pyramids. Sunny gardens might feature walls of sheared …
Type: Plant Info
… Foliage In any garden, foliage color is an important element. Flowers come and go, but leaves stay the season. Foliage is especially important in shady gardens, where flowers are usually more subtle and less showy. In many cases, leaves, with their texture, shape, size and color, contribute more to a shade …
Type: Plant Info
… on managing bees for optimal pollination, she's trying some new planting combinations "in the field." Using Lisa's techniques, you can increase your garden's yield and improve the … health of your neighborhood bee population, too. A sweat bee ( Halictus ligatus ) covered in Rudbeckia pollen, which the bee gathers to feed to her larvae. Photo by Alex Wild Not all … pollination even more. Wild bees such as bumblebees, sweat bees, or mason bees can pollinate in only one visit, and much prefer foraging in blueberries than the honey bee—which would need …
Type: Plant Info
… across. Native to east Africa and Madagascar, the genus is a highly sought-after ornamental in USDA Zones 9 and warmer. The genus name celebrates the French physician, botanist, and … Joseph Dombey. Under the auspices of the French crown, he undertook plant explorations in South America in the eighteenth century. The British seized Dombey's first shipment of specimens, including …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Description: Look in areas of scattered trees for this distinctively colored bird of open savanna habitats. They are often seen in the Dixon Prairie. …
Type: Birding
… This vine blooms in early spring to late fall. With a bloom color of red or orange, it does best when grown in full sun. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
