by GardenLover | Sep 5, 2012 | Favorite Flora
Pansies don’t wimp out
By Michael Leach
Pansies are more a part of my fall planting plans than mums. While no visual match for a plump mum ball, these small plants brighten the scene long after frost and freeze. Scattered blooms even appear in mild winter weather.
Then the kicker — a spring show before garden centers stock pansies. They can flower until hot weather wilts the lettuce. I usually choose tiny violas, because they tend to self-sow without becoming pesky — at least for me.
But I’m hoping to try the new Cool Wave Pansy, from the developers of Wave petunias. They should give mums a run for it. Introduced this spring, I saw some at the OFA trade show in July — Wow!
Plants grow about 6 to 8 inches tall but spread 2 feet or more. They come in yellow, white, white and violet, and white with pale blue edges. Please visit www.wave-rave.com to find stores near you.
If you’ve tried them, what do you think?
Whatever the type, I’ll plant most of the pansies near the back door (the main entry for my home) and near the big windows on the sun porch. This way I enjoy their colorful contribution coming and going — or sitting comfortably by a window regardless of the weather.
Give these sun/part-shade troupers good, well-drained soil and even moisture. Plant as soon as possible so roots grab hold before cold weather arrives. Come spring, when you’re trimming back brown mums, pansies will be welcoming the new growing season.
by GardenLover | Aug 13, 2012 | Favorite Flora
I grow Easter eggs, noodles and more. How about you?
By Teresa Woodard
When our kids were young I loved planting the most colorful and unusual vegetables all in hopes of recruiting future gardeners and veggie lovers. Easter egg radishes, ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard, Chinese noodle beans, purple pole beans, purple carrots, yellow pear tomatoes, miniature white pumpkins and red-white-and-blue potatoes. We tried them all.
Now as teenagers, our kids still appreciate garden-fresh vegetables, but it’s me who’s most intrigued by the new and unusual varieties. In fact, they teased me at dinner the other night as I slipped in a tie-dye tomato variety with their other sliced red favorites.
Please tell me I’m not alone. We’d love to hear about your experiences in growing novelty vegetables and if you’re trying any new ones in your fall vegetable gardens.
by GardenLover | Jun 27, 2012 | Favorite Flora, Gardens to Drive, Guest blog
Highlights from Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden
The Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden® is one of the coolest corners of downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Located at BHG headquarters, the Test Garden is a half-acre display of new varieties mixed with tried-and-true favorites.
Because we don’t do much spraying or treating, it’s also a fantastic tool for getting a sense of what really does well here in Iowa and the Midwest. Some reblooming hydrangeas, for example, don’t bloom at all (much less produce multiple waves of flowers) and others are garden rock stars. The hydrangea collection – about 30 varieties – is looking particularly stunning, especially standouts ‘Pink Shira’, Endless Summer ‘Blushing Bride’, and ‘Haye’s Starburst’.
I love walking through the Test Garden in summer and looking at all the different coneflowers. It’s fun to see how new varieties, such as ‘Hot Papaya’ stand up to the tried-and-true varieties. (‘Hot Papaya’, by the way, totally does — the color is a garden showstopper, and it’s delightfully fragrant, too.)
Coneflower (Echinacea) ‘Hot Papaya’
The lilies are also looking outstanding right now; the new breeds of Orienpet (Oriental/trumpet hybrids) offer good looks and a great fragrance. In fact, I smelled the intoxicating fragrance of golden-yellow ‘Belladonna’ before I saw it in the garden this morning!
Belladonna Lily
Like much of the Midwest, we’re well ahead of schedule; it’s weird to be in June and seeing the phlox, Russian sage, and even some asters blooming.
If you’d like to visit the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden®, it’s open from 12-2 p.m. every Friday from May to October and located at 1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa.
Justin Hancock is the garden editor for BHG.com, the website of Better Homes & Gardens.
by GardenLover | Jun 15, 2012 | Favorite Flora
Serviceberry, Shadblow, Juneberry (Amelanchier laevis, A. arborea and A.x grandiflora)
By Debra Knapke
What makes a plant desirable? The answer to that question varies with the gardener. Good fall color, beautiful flowers, winter interest, edible – tasty – parts, and wildlife attractor are attributes that come to mind. All of these can be found in our native serviceberries (Amelanchier laevis and A. arborea) and their hybrid “child” (A. x grandiflora).
Just before sitting down to write, I went outside to see if there was a chance of a snack. The birds have eaten most of the berries, and the remaining ones are turning into “raisins”. But I still remember the taste of the delicious cherry-blueberry fruit that covered the tree in late May to early June. As I have sipped my morning tea, I’ve watched robins, cardinals, woodpeckers and bluejays trying to grab some fruit on a fly-by. It’s an entertaining way to start the day.
I’m often asked for plant recommendations.
The serviceberry is my number one tree for smaller spaces. In most landscapes, serviceberry grows 15-25’ tall and 10-15’ wide. It is a secondary canopy tree so it grows well in a sun to part sun location. You have a choice of habit: in nature the serviceberry is multi-stemmed, but it is often pruned and trained to a single trunk. Both forms are attractive and have different landscape functions, but I confess – I prefer its natural multi-stemmed beauty.
One of the most popular garden trends is to incorporate food plants into one’s garden. Adding a serviceberry to your yard is an excellent way to start.
by GardenLover | Apr 6, 2012 | Favorite Flora
Hellebore, Lenten rose (Helleborus x hybrida)
By Debra Knapke
A bowl of hellebore flowers is a spring tradition in our home. Hellebore or Lenten rose isn’t really a rose, but it does bloom during and after Lent, and sometimes before. The nodding flowers are single, double; white to cream to pink to deep dusky purple. They are dotted, spotted, picoteed, shaded and blushed.
If I had to point to a true workhorse in the garden it would be this group of plants. I use the term group, because the complex, hybrid cross is made up of at least five different species, one of them being the original Lenten rose: Helleborus orientalis. Culturally, hellebores are easy to establish and maintain. They grow well in part sun to shade and will tolerate full sun (6+ hours) if most of that sun is from the east and south. They bloom for 2-3 months. You will notice that some flowers are “in seed” while others are just opening. If you are looking for winter interest, the large, glossy, evergreen leaves offer an alternative to bare soil. A bonus is that hellebores do not allow light to filter down to those pesky winter weeds that need light to germinate.
Hellebores take two to three years to establish roots that are drought tolerant. Do not let them dry out the first year and watch them the second and third during dry times and water accordingly. Usually, deer do not eat the leaves, because they are well armed with very sharp serrations, or the flowers which are poisonous. However, if a deer is hungry, all bets are off. If you are a lazy or very busy gardener who doesn’t always get to dividing your perennials, hellebores are happy to grow in the same place for years. I have three-foot-wide plants that have been in the same place for 14 years. When you do divide them, do so carefully, as they are not fond of excessive root disturbance.
So what’s the downside of this plant? They do have a tendency to self-seed; a lot. But, the seedlings are easily raked up and left under the plant to compost back into the soil. Or, thinking about this in another way: you have lots to share.
by GardenLover | Apr 2, 2012 | Favorite Flora, Guest blog
By Jane Rogers
Bloodroot is one of early spring’s most cherished wildflowers, in part because it’s a sure signal spring has arrived. This dazzling white, daisy-like flower pops wide open when the sun comes out, while on cloudy days you’ll notice the petals are closed and the leaf hugs the stem. As bloodroot matures the scalloped leaf makes a handsome groundcover.
When bloodroot is happily sited it spreads and self-seeds which enables me to spread drifts of it along my woodland pathways. Bloodroot will thrive at the edge of a woods or even in full sun if your yard is moist.
If you’d like to add bloodroot to your garden, but if you’re not lucky enough to have a friend who will share a clump, check spring plant sales. 
When planting, take care not to plant the rhizomes (rootstock) too deeply or heavily mulch or your plant may rot. Bloodroot transplants and divides well in spring or fall. Just slice rhizomes into 3” sections including a bud eye (to plant facing upward). Place pieces horizontally, 1/2″ to 1″ deep, cover lightly with leaf litter and water until established. Those orangish-red rhizomes and all parts of the plant will drip colored juices if it’s cut or broken, so be sure to wear an apron and gloves to avoid stains. Native Americans used bloodroot to paint their faces, weapons, baskets and dye their cloth. It’s fun, though, to paint a broken root across the palm of a child and tell this story.
I hope you’ll enjoy growing, multiplying and conserving the beautiful bloodroot in your own garden. By doing so you can help protect our nation’s native wildflowers for future generations to enjoy.
Thanks to Jane for sharing on Heartland Gardening. She’s grows, studies and photographs wildflowers in her backyard in Akron, Ohio. She also lectures and writes on wildflowers and exhibits her award-winning images, most recently in the touring “Three Women in the Woods” exhibit.
