… bloom is just one of the reasons. It's the first true dwarf Weigela with variegated foliage. In shade, the leaves are bordered with white, and in full sun they're infused with various shades of pink. At just 12 to 18 inches high, you can easily tuck it into a container or a border, even in a small garden and enjoy the show throughout the growing season. Bees, butterflies, and …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… the basic form of the flower, which consists of three petals surrounded by three sepals—often in dramatic and contrasting colors and in a variety of shapes and sizes. Although some orchids are native to temperate zones, most … derive moisture and nutrients from the air and support from another plant; few orchids grow in soil. Orchids usually prefer a diurnal temperature fluctuation—meaning warmer days and cooler …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… terminal clusters of exquisite royal-purple blooms from fall throughout most of the winter in conservatories. It requires full sun and moderate soil fertility—use acid fertilizers, similar … felted leaves on a rounded shrub up to 7 feet make this an ornamental with all-year interest. In colder areas it can be grown in a container, but must be brought indoors before a heavy frost. A native to Brazil, glory bush …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… is a hybrid tea rose, featuring long, pointed buds with flowers that open golden-yellow, edged in pink. The fragrance is described as fruity and is not overpoweringly strong. Unlike many other … all the way to the ground throughout the growing season, eliminating the need to plant annuals in front of the rose to hide the "ugly ankles." It is hardy to USDA Zone 6, so plants must be protected in the Chicago region over winter with a layer of leaves or mulch about 18 inches high over the …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… 'Belle Poitevine' was introduced in 1894, and she's still regarded as one of the best hybrid rugosas available. Her magenta buds … (zone 3), and that wrinkled foliage that's typical of rugosas makes her disease resistant. In fact, she doesn't like chemicals on her foliage and will drop leaves if you spray her. She's … gardener who doesn't use rose gauntlets. Pruning is pretty much up to you. Cut her back to fit in a border, or let her stand tall as a specimen or hedge. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… A native of the Himalayas, Aconitum ferox is known as blue aconite in India. In fact, the blue of its bloom is so rich that it's said to have turned the Indian god Shiva blue. As a high altitude mountain flower, it's one aconite that can thrive in rocky soil and full sun. It's also the most toxic of the Aconitums, so wear your gardening …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… you'll need a male vine for pollination. The fragrant clusters of ivory-white flowers appear in late spring, followed in September with deliciously sweet, smooth-skinned fruit about the size of a grape. 'Cordifolia' … you can be confident Chicago winters won't faze it. It's not fussy about soil. And it's happy in full sun or part shade. However, it will need frequent pruning and strong support...the vines …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… and reddish stems. Too large to be a house plant, these plants do well as a border plant in tropical areas. Bromeliads are tropical American succulent plants that grow on tree branches or tucked into crevices of moist cliffs. They grow in rosettes, with stiff leaves radiating from the center. Plants in the tropical American genus Aechmea are called vase plants or urn plants. Their curved leaves …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… show of trumpet-shaped blossoms — white with purple stripes and red to yellow spots inside — in long panicles of 10 to 30 blooms. The pollinated blooms then begin the process of transformation into long, thin, beanlike pods, which hang in great clusters from the tree long into fall (and sometimes winter). A rapidly growing deciduous tree, northern catalpa may grow up to 70 feet tall in optimal conditions and prefers moist, deep, rich soils but adapts well to dry or wet soils and …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Double white flowers age to light pink from mid-September through early October. Plant in full sun and moist but well-drained soils. Divide when the clumps of corms have become so … up to the surface of the soil. Interplant corms with companion plants that begin growth late in the season to accommodate the luxuriant spring foliage and provide a backdrop for the flowers in fall. Examples include cultivars of Heuchera , Phlox paniculata , Hylotelephium spectabile , …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
