Garden Design

Today we’re visiting with Sharon Danovich Lupone in Pittsburgh. We’ve been to her garden before (Sharon’s Pennsylvania Garden, Part 2 and Sharon’s Pennsylvania Garden), and today she’s sharing some views of the garden is it moves into fall. As summer winds down, the blooms of the panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata, Zones 3–8) take on rosey

It might sound counterintuitive, but when the possibility of cooler weather arrives in fall, it’s time to think about spring flowers. Some of the best spring bloomers only do well if the seed is planted in the fall. The seed is surface sown after any mulch is applied and once the temperatures are cool. Sometimes

Hello, this is Cindy in Chicago. A good friend was expecting her first baby this past spring. I knew she would be busy with an infant, so I volunteered to help her grow some of her favorite plants—sunflowers (Helianthus annuus, annual). Three years ago, we started a spring cleanup tradition of pulling weeds and amending

We’re traveling with Deborah Dorman today, who is taking us to Mendenhall Gardens in Juneau, Alaska. A flurry of golden bidens flowers (Bidens ferulifolia, Zones 9–11 or as an annual) accentuates the beauty of these rock formations. Blue lobelia (Lobelia erinus, annual) is a beautiful little plant that thrives best in cooler temperatures, so it

Shallots (Allium cepa var. aggregatum and cvs.) are expensive to purchase in the store, which is one reason I like to grow my own. A member of the allium or onion family, shallots have a subtle yet distinctive flavor and clumping growth habit. They are surprisingly easy to grow; however, gardeners may face some challenges

A tree is a big investment, so it is worth taking some time to find exactly the right tree for your garden. Before you begin shopping, it’s a good idea to research the cultural needs of any trees you are considering and think about how well these needs match up with the conditions at your

Today’s photos are from Dede Lifgren. Welcome to my garden in Brewster, New York (Zone 6a). I am an artist and garden lover. Much of my artwork centers around my garden. Or is it the other way around? Either way, I love to take full advantage of both! My pineapple columns and some potted impatiens

Although summer is a great and botanically bountiful season, fall is always a much-welcome time of year—especially after the heat of summer. I love living in the Northwest. The extremes in the seasons make the gardening year so diverse and exciting. I particularly love the fall when cooler nights and days trigger a wonderful palette

Nancy Kressin designs containers in Boston and is sharing some of them with us today. I first learned the term “shopping in my garden” from the writer and podcast host Margaret Roach. As I planted my pots this year, in an effort to fill them without going bankrupt, I went shopping at my local garden

It shouldn’t be a surprise that many of our perennial borders in the Northeast become less exciting in late summer and fall; after all, most of us only buy perennials in spring, and often when they are in bud or in bloom. This can leave color gaps that can start showing up in August and

Just when the heat and dryness of a Southwestern summer are starting to get to you, fall brings some respite. The plus side of living in such a warm region is that we have a multitude of plants that look good at every time of the year. The following are some of my favorite shrubs

Southern California seems to be one of those areas that’s feeling the impact of drought more critically than many other parts of the country. Yet as autumn begins, there is still the need for traditional harvesting, planting, and garden cleanup. But more than that, the coming winter months will determine next year’s water supply, the

Earlier this year I highlighted some of my favorite ground-cover sedums. But I can’t ignore the taller, upright sedums, or stonecrops, which are extremely showy in fall. Upright sedums are low maintenance, have minimal disease and pest problems, bloom from late summer into fall, and are beloved by bees (many of which were buzzing all

Your garden designs are put to the test throughout the growing season. Even when you are in the thick of the midseason rush, it is worth taking time to assess what is working and what is not. If you find a lot to fix, rest assured that even the best gardens must be edited. You’ll

As fall swiftly approaches in the Pacific Northwest I start to look forward to harvesting pumpkins. In my area there are several places to purchase pumpkins for fall eating and decorating. The cost of designer pumpkins, like white ghost pumpkins and flattened Cinderella or fairytale pumpkins, has gone up over the years. So growing them

Soil composition plays a critical role in the success of any garden. Plants respond to a variety of factors, with soil structure being one of the most important. Few of us are blessed with the well-drained, moist, loamy soil that most plants prefer. Instead, we might have clay soil, which does not drain well and

This week we’re on the road with Cherry Ong again, looking back at some gardens she got to visit on a garden tour organized by the Toronto Botanical Garden. Today is another beautiful private home garden, full of great ideas worth stealing for your own garden. At the heart of the back garden is a

While cool nights and diminishing daylight in fall triggers putting our gardens to bed at the forefront of our minds, don’t forget that this is the time to consider enlivening the spring garden with fall-planted bulbs. Our local garden centers and nurseries carry a wide range of beautiful and hardy bulbs for fall installation (as

Late summer through autumn, millions of birds pass through the Southern Plains on their migration to southern wintering grounds. Birds follow four main paths as they migrate. The Southern Plains Region lies at the heart of the largest of these, the Central Flyway. Roughly half of North America’s migratory waterfowl use the Central Flyway, as

In an episode of Fine Gardening‘s podcast, Let’s Argue About Plants, the hosts discuss the importance of evergreen plants, and the particular perks of broadleaf evergreens: “The key to any successful four-season garden is evergreens. Conifers are great, but they can be pricey and slow to bulk up. Broadleaf evergreens, on the other hand, bulk up