Garden Design

My name is Elizabeth. I am 24 years old and live in Pennsylvania. My grandma is my best friend and has over 10 acres of farm land. On her farm she has a small 40-foot by 80-foot garden. I planted over 20 crops this year with her. I love how larkspur (Consolida ajacis, annual) looks

Most likely native to Southeast Asia, colocasia (Colocasia esculenta, Zones 7b–12) is used by many gardeners for its large, tropical-looking foliage. This plant also has a long history of being used in cooking. Visitors to Hawaii are often treated to poi, a starchy Polynesian edible food paste made from its rootlike corm. Common names of

Summer is here! Vegetable gardens have yielded the first tomatoes of the season, perennial borders are overflowing with colorful blooms, fruit is ripening in the orchards, and rose bushes are flushing out with their second round of flowers. On the surface, it might appear that summer brings nothing but a profusion of delightful blooms, lush

Today’s photos are from Mary Murphy in Minnetonka, Minnesota. We’ve visited her garden before (More Blooms From Mary), and today she’s focusing on her lily collection. Here are some photos of my lilies (Lilium hybrids, Zones 3–8). I have gradually added to my collection over the years. I started with this variety, Lilium ‘Tiny Pearl’.

Today’s photos are from Carla Z. Mudry in Malvern, Pennsylvania. I was part of my very first garden tour on June 24, The Hardy Plant Society Mid Atlantic Member Garden Tour. Even when it was raining, they came. And they liked my garden! And they loved all of the birds we share the garden and

Oak wilt kills hundreds of thousands of oaks (Quercus spp. and cvs. Zones 3–11) in the Midwest and beyond every year, but what is it? Oak wilt is caused by a fungus (Bretziella fagacearum, formerly Ceratocystis fagacearum) This lethal fungal disease is a threat to oaks in residential settings and forests. Oak wilt fungus grows through

Today we’re in Lake Bluff, Illinois, visiting Nicki Snoblin’s garden. This year I decided to dig up about a third of my front yard to make a place for sun-loving, pollinator-friendly perennials. I had many plants in my backyard that were no longer getting the sun they needed as the landscape matured over the years.

Today we’re visiting with Judith. After 25 years of living in my home in Pines Lake, a lake community in Wayne, New Jersey, my garden is still a work in progress with constant challenges. I have a tiered property, and the upper woodland area area was once filled with hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis, Zones 3–7), but

I am Jeff Sisil. My wife and I live in Cypress, California. I started gardening about 20 years ago. Here are some current photos of spring plants and flowers. I’m having pretty good luck with hydrangeas and staghorn ferns. I also grow bromeliads, tillandsias, Spanish moss, succulents, nasturtium, senecio, and a few others. The challenge

Drought has become synonymous with gardening in the past several years. It seems like regardless of where you live, you will experience some sort of dry conditions in summer. This has led many of us to reevaluate our plant choices. Perennials we once relied on to fill our beds and borders may flag in July

Jorge Rodriguez shared today’s photos, which offer a beautiful look at the garden Jorge designed for the Chelsea Flower Show. Chelsea is one of the premier garden shows in the world, with countless designers creating gardens to showcase different design ideas. The heat wave of 2022 presented huge issues in the maintenance of traditional British

My name is Helen Stephenson, and I have been gardening in the Halton Region of Ontario for over 20 years. For the past 10 years I have tried to plant mostly native species. I am on the northern edge of the Carolinian eco-region, which is an area that makes up just 1% of Canada’s total

I am Renata Puckett. I plant mainly gifted and some bought plants in Morgan County, Alabama. I grow and divide them to fill my country gardens around the house. I have plenty of space to fill, since we have four acres around the house. It’s a lot of work but also a lot of pleasure

Tom Sterenberg is sharing some photos today of roses he’s grown in the sometimes difficult climate of the Canadian prairie. “Roses Are Difficult Here” by prairie writer W. O. Mitchell expresses the frustration of trying to grow roses in the extreme climate of the Canadian prairie. Tea roses and David Austins may survive for a

I have mixed feelings about growing and promoting butterfly bushes. On the one hand, they are beautiful and reliable garden plants; on the other hand, their weedy nature cannot be denied. Keep these facts in mind before buying one of these shrubs. Butterfly Bush Facts Butterfly bush’s weedy to invasive nature is due to prolific

Today we’re visiting with Lisa Chapman. Hi from Waxhaw, North Carolina (Zone 8a/7b). Thank you for featuring me in the GPOD this past November. It was absolutely the best early Christmas present. (See Lisa’s North Carolina Garden.) I’m sharing a few updated pictures of some new things growing in the garden. I’ve done a lot

Today’s photos are from Susan Warde of St. Paul, Minnesota (Zone 4b). The rose family (Rosaceae) provides us with numerous beautiful plants besides just the rose species. Here are a few examples from my garden. This puff of cotton candy, queen-of-the-prairie (Filipendula rubra, Zones 3–8), was on the property when we bought our house. Its

I’m Sheila Abair, and I garden in northern Vermont (Zone 4b/5a). I have sent in pictures before (Sheila’s Vermont Garden). Gardening runs in my family. I am attracted to cottage-style gardens with lots of winding paths, and I enjoy water features. A pleasing combination of Hosta (Zones 3–8), peony (Paeonia hybrid, Zones 3–7), and Clematis

My name is Allison Pond, and I’m the owner of Primo Pots and Planters in Moorestown, New Jersey. This is a chapter 2 career for me after 20 years in sales ranging from Xerox copiers to pharmaceuticals. After surviving countless layoffs, I left the industry to pursue a job that didn’t destroy my soul. I

Today we’re visiting with Anthony Zanfini, who gardens in Toronto. I’ve been gardening since I was in diapers, when I would play in the dirt of my grandparents’ and other family members’ backyard gardens. As an older child and teenager, I would take the lead gardening in the yard of my family home. Some highlights