Garden Design

Whether you’re walking through your local garden center, flipping through the pages of your favorite catalog, or scrolling the website of an online retailer, the sheer number of plant choices can be overwhelming. With timeless, classic varieties as well as plenty of new releases every year, it can seem impossible to decide which plants should

Today Bob and Linda Vivian are sharing their Pennsylvania garden with us. There’s plenty of garden here to keep Linda and me busy. We don’t mind it at all. It’s a labor of love. I think it keeps us young even in our “golden” years. It gets us up each morning. A morning’s coffee pause

In 1995, Cindy Lindstedt and her husband, John, moved into a newly built log cabin on 142 acres an hour outside Milwaukee. Since then, the pair has turned much of the property—then overrun with buckthorn, honeysuckle, and other invasive plants—into a cultivated paradise. There are approximately 20 separate “themed” gardens, including a rock garden, hosta

As gardeners, we long for the summer months and picking our first cucumber, zucchini, or tomato. However, you don’t have to wait that long if you grow mustard greens (Brassica juncea and cvs., annual). Mustard greens have a 5,000-year history of consumption that was thought to originate in the Himalayan region of India. Add this

Each year we do a feature in our big spring issue introducing folks to a slew of new offerings from plant breeders. But this is not simply a list of plants that we think look interesting. Our standards here at Fine Gardening are higher. We interview breeders, marketers, and the heads of trial gardens across the

At first glance many hostas look similar, with cool-colored leaves and mounded growing habits. Yet this group of plants is incredibly diverse, with some varieties distinguishing themselves as standouts. The following hostas are a few of my favorites. Photo: doreenwynja.com Name: ‘First Frost’  H. ‘First Frost’ Size: 16 inches tall and 3 feet wide  ‘First

If there were a gardening equivalent to the cooking adage “Salt makes everything better,” it would likely be “Pots make everything pop.” Many of us spend precious time and energy each growing season planting containers, and we rely on these designs to dress up our decks and welcome visitors into our entryways. But if our

“Eco roof,” “live roof,” “planted roof,” “green roof”—enough roofs to drive you up one. Whatever you call it, the approach is the same: to plant directly onto a roof’s surface. While that seems simple, the design and execution take some planning. A properly constructed green roof consists of several layers designed to protect your roof

Today we’re visiting Mel’s garden. I have had a landscape design, installation, and maintenance business in the western Catskills since 2005. My business name is Zone4 Landscapes, and I am not changing it to Zone5 Landscapes even though it might be more appropriate now. I called my garden a rustic cabin cottage garden because that

Carol is taking us on the road today to warm, dry, Arizona. I thought I’d join in and share some photos I took while on the road recently. I traveled from Philadelphia to Phoenix and had the opportunity to visit the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix as well as the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Superior.

They’re often called the “exclamation points” of the landscape, drawing attention in a not-so-subtle way. Of course, we’re talking about columnar (AKA fastigiate) plants and today we’re highlighting some of the best options. Skinny plants are invaluable for several reasons other than their ability to catch the eye. They also have a small footprint which

Snake plants (Dracaena spp. and cvs., syn. Sansevieria spp. and cvs., Zones 9–11) are usually discounted in the houseplant world as reliable and reliably dull. But these often-maligned plants so commonly seen in the background of malls and offices can shine as the center of attention. Snake plants are far more diverse than the ubiquitous

March is the starting line at the beginning of the race called spring. It seems that once spring begins, it speeds up until suddenly it is summer. Early-flowering perennials offer real evidence that warm weather is on the way. Here are a few of our favorites. Photo: Shelley Powell Wherry’s foam flower (Tiarella wherryi, syn.

In the Midwest, the frequently unpredictable weather patterns in spring present myriad challenges related to garden preparations and planting times. Daytime temperatures fluctuate greatly over the early spring months, with the potential for continued frost overnight well into May for some locations. The uncertainty of these temperatures makes gardeners wary of planting too soon. Thankfully,

Heirloom vegetables are renowned for many qualities, such as delicious flavors, vibrant colors, and productivity. Many of these characteristics have stood the test of time, delivering hardiness, superior flavor, and great yields each season. However, sometimes things like new diseases, smaller garden spaces, poor seed-saving selection, or erratic weather patterns can send gardeners looking for

Today we’re off to Texas to visit a gardener who makes the most of a small garden space, filling it with a collection of lovely, cottage-style blooms. A small garden space doesn’t mean it can’t be beautiful and filled with flowers. This garden leans heavily on classic favorites like roses to make a romantic space.

Many plants native to California—and the hybridized cultivars of those natives (aka nativars)—are attractive, easy-to-grow pollinator magnets, plus they have evolved strategies to survive California’s long, rainless summers. Even during “normal” years, these plants make wonderful, colorful additions to the containers and flower beds of the water-conscious gardener. During drought years, it’s even more important

Today Nancy Mellen is taking us along on a visit to an unusual Japanese garden. I love the GPOD, and I thought I’d send pictures from my visit in February 2022 to Morikami Japanese Garden in Delray Beach, Florida. This is the beginning of the walk around the lake, with small trees with cloud pruning.

As editors of a gardening magazine, we’re often asked, “What’s your favorite garden?” For me the answer is easy—Barbara Weirich’s garden in Benton Harbor, Michigan. It’s a landscape of garden rooms all fascinating in their makeup and chock full of interesting plants. The drive up to Barbara’s house is magical; plants of all shapes and

My name is Rebecca Last. I live in Ottawa, Canada, which is roughly USDA Zone 4. It’s the second week of March, and winter still has us firmly in her grip, so this is a great time to reflect on photos of gardens past. I’ve been gardening my small suburban plot intensively since we moved