Fall is the perfect time to plant bulbs for a colorful spring garden. These bulbs to plant in fall include some of the most popular spring-flowering favorites, from cheerful tulips and daffodils to fragrant hyacinths and showy alliums. Plant them before the ground freezes, then let the bulbs spend the winter developing roots before they…
Would you like to create a cottage garden in your yard, and are wondering what to plant in it? Check out the list of cottage garden flowers and pictures below for inspiration. You can use it to identify flowers and plants you have seen and liked, or to discover new types of cottage garden flowers…
Do you enjoy a garden that blooms in spring? Check out the list of early spring flowers and pictures below for inspiration. Use it to identify flowers you’ve seen and liked, or to discover new types of spring flowers to plant in your garden this year. Of the 55+ spring flower types in this list,…
Gloriosa lily (gloriosa rothschildiana) is a climbing tender perennial that is sure to catch the eye of anyone who likes dramatic flowers. The flame-colored red flowers have scalloped yellow edges and swept back petals. If you have a bare trellis or a wall in your garden that needs spicing up, plant gloriosa and prepare yourself…
If you love beautiful perennials, you’ll probably have some irises growing in your garden. This may prompt you to wonder, “When do irises bloom?“. The answer to this question varies. Iris blooming season can be any time from late winter to early fall, depending on the type you grow. Ironically, irises can be one of…
Today’s featured flower is the Red Emperor Tulip. I love tulips. I have a big patch of these perennial bulbs in my front garden bed and they are gorgeous. They don’t last long but the show that they put on is just incredible for a few short weeks. Emperor tulips are old hybrids, but have…
Do you have a shady garden and don’t know which plants will grow in it? Try adding one of these plants that like shade. This list has 18 types of shade garden plants, including annuals, perennials, and shrubs. All of the plants will thrive outdoors with full shade and partial shade. Each shade garden plant…
If you grow irises, you’ll get to the point when dividing them becomes necessary. There are four telltale signs that will let you know when it’s time for transplanting iris. If you notice fewer blooms, overcrowded clumps, and rhizomes pushing out of the soil, these are indications that your irises need more space to grow….
There is one thing that you can be sure to find in flower shops and nurseries early in spring each year. The trumpet-shaped flower of the Easter Lily – (lilium longiflorum) – is a well known Easter plant decoration. These beautiful perennials are forced to bloom around the time of the religious holiday, but this…
Oxalis plant care is generally easy but some varieties of the plant can be considered a weed. Even so, it is a popular perennial plant that often shows up around St. Patrick’s Day. Another version (candy cane sorrel) is also commonly seen during the holidays as a Christmas plant, because of its candy cane striped…
Learn how to grow irises with our handy guide. This popular flowering plant is an early spring bloomer, which is easy to care for. Irises have showy flowers and are popular in cottage gardens. They come in many colors, shapes, and sizes. They are deer-resistant and attractive to both birds and butterflies. With more than…
These tips for growing calla lilies will let you experience their beauty in your garden at a much less cost than from a florist. Have you ever priced single calla lilies at a florist? If you have, you will have discovered that they sell for up to $10 a STEM. Why pay those kind of…
A commonly asked question from readers of my blog is “how to keep squirrels from digging up bulbs in my garden?” Since fall is bulb-planting time for daffodils, crocuses, and tulips, the question is posed even more often right now. If you spend much time in the garden, you will likely have had a run-in…
This article shows you how to use onions as indoor plants. Growing onions indoors is a fun project and one that the kids will love to help with.Onions are easy to grow outdoors as well as inside the home. They are one of those vegetables that we use often and the demand for this means that…
Forcing paperwhites indoors will give you a delightful splash of spring color in just a few weeks. The project can be done in soil or in water and the kids will love to help. These pretty blooms can be used as a Christmas plant for decorating. Since spring is far off, these white flowers on…
Do you like Bluegrass music with a side of daylilies? If you do, you’ll enjoy this virtual tour of the daylilies at Wildwood Farms in Floyd, Virginia. Located just 42 miles from Roanoke, VA and very close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, you will find Wildwood Farms. This general store features live Bluegrass music from…
How well do you know your flower bulb types? Do the words bulbs corms rhizomes tubers and bulbets seem like Greek to you? Read on and you find out what you need to know to be a bulb expert. Flowering bulbs are some of the easiest plants to grow. Some of the spring flowering bulbs,…
The red hot poker is a showy and dramatic plant. If you love growing perennials that give color all summer long, this is the plant for you. Other names for this showy plant are torch lily and poker plant. The botanical name for this plant is kniphofia uvaria and there are more than 70 known…
Biltmore Estate Gardens are a highlight of a visit to this iconic estate in Western North Carolina. The gardens, while not classified as a Botanical Gardens per se, is a fabulous place to see plants of all types. My husband and I recently spent several days in the mountains of North Carolina with our daughter….
This year, we spent the summer on a garden make over. I thought it would be fun to share the tips that I learned during the process. It’s that time again. Time to transform one of my garden beds that just won’t seem to keep to a single design. I call it my “what will…
My husband used to buy me lilies all the time because he loved the look of them so much. I love them too, but not as cut flowers indoors (they have a stinky smell inside that I don’t like.) I never had the inclination to tell him that they were not my favorite cut flower…
Red Vols Daylily is a spectacular daylily that was a Better Homes and Gardens winner of the year in 2000 and it’s easy to see why. Anyone who gets interested in growing perennials while find themselves also interested in daylilies. These showing perennial bulbs are dramatic, come back year after year and are easy to…
I love vegetable gardening. There is nothing quite like harvesting and cooking vegetables that you have grown. If you like to grow vegetables but are a beginner, be sure to ready my post about how to troubleshoot vegetable garden problems as well as some solutions. It is helpful in learning what to do about problems…
This year has been a series of setbacks in my garden. It is almost the end of May and I’m way behind, but finally have some progress to show for all my work. Things that set me back were: My father’s death in February resulted in two trips to Maine. A very long winter and…
Gladiolus bulbs are one of my father’s favorite. I added them to my garden bed that features flowers from five generations. Growing perennials means lots of color when you plant gladioli. There is something about a bare piece of ground that suddenly breaks with foliage at an amazing rate and then bursts in a splendid…
It’s time to check out my garden in March to see what is blooming for me. This has been the longest winter ever. I used to live in Maine and am used to long, cold winters. But here in North Carolina, normally, I have a lot of things growing, especially vegetables, by this time in…