Flowers Ideas, Tips & Guides

Vines and climbers do wonders in sprucing up dull walls, empty fences, bare pathways, and barren entrances. Hence, we’ve curated a selection of plants that produce beautiful blooms and the sweetest scents while climbing up. Check out our list of the best fragrant vines for your garden!

There's perhaps no flower that's inspired more poetry, art, and prose than a rose. From formal rose gardens surrounded by boxwood hedges to cottage gardens overflowing with roses, foxglove, and native flowers, these layered blooms are held up as the star of the garden. They're carefully pruned into formal arrangements and allowed to climb and cascade over charming trellises.

Happy Friday GPODers, and welcome to our second installment of GPOD Vignettes! In case you missed it, check out our first installment of this series here: GPOD Vignette #1.

Plants need a certain amount of specific nutrients to grow well. Most of the time, garden and houseplants do fine without any help from you. But fertilizing actually gives plants a boost that helps them flourish. “Photosynthesis is how plants make food,” says Stacey Hirvela, horticulturalist withSpring Meadow Nursery andProven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. “But fertilizer is like giving them vitamins.”

We all know that it's pretty hard to maintain a flourishing garden and yard in the hot summer months. But of course, some outliers do bloom amongst the sunshine and continue to grow throughout the fall and winter months.

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Hi GPOD!

Without a doubt, there is one pot of flowers that is the most colorful on my patio right now. The surprising news is we just recently potted it despite the hot summer heat we're experiencing. I’m in steamy Alabama, with record humidity, so it’s a soupy, sticky, kind of hot here outdoors. Daily watering of many of my plants in the summer heat is simply is a must.

Southerners love their gardening and landscaping, but if you really want to make your outside space feel welcoming and ideal for entertaining, it's time to figure out a hardscape plan. Unlike landscape which refers to the living elements like grass, trees, and flowers in your outdoor design, hardscape is the «non-living» elements like concrete, stone, and more.

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Gardeners just getting into garlic have some decisions to make: there are dozens of different varieties, and choosing which one to grow can be difficult. But it’s hard to go wrong. Experimenting with various varieties can lead to a new appreciation of a crop you already love.

Years ago, I was introduced to honeyberries (known to me as haskap berries) via a delicious jam from the province of Saskatchewan. Little did I know back then that growing honeberries is pretty easy. Though it’s not a fruit commonly known in North America, the shrubs thrive in most of the U.S. and Canada—even Alaska—and make a beautiful garden addition. Once established, the plants can produce for 30 years or more. With a flavor that can be described as a cross between a blueberry and a raspberry—with a bit of a zing—honeyberries are versatil

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Photography by Mangiwau / Getty Images

On the United States Department of Agriculture's Plant Hardiness Zone Map, Zone 6 is a band stretching in latitude from eastern Massachusetts to northern Virginia, spanning much of the nation's midsection until it crosses the Rockies and heads north to the interior of Oregon and Washington. Zone 6 has an average annual minimum temperature of -5 to 10 degrees F, so plants need to withstand a solid freeze.

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Not all plants need fertile, moist, rich soil to grow in. There’s a whole world of flora that has adapted and thrives in dry, arid climes with sandy, rocky, gritty soils that barely hold any water. Perfect for xeriscapes and busy gardeners alike, check out these plants that prefer dry soil!

Back in February, I was talking about the new direction our garden was taking, and what it might become in the future, and it’s about time for an update.

Hey GPODers! Today we’re getting a summertime update from Lee Miller’s garden in Long Island (check out her first submission: Long Island Garden Tour). She sent over lots of photos and great information, so I’ll let her take it away:

Cosmos are sun-loving plants with a long flowering season. They fill borders with a profusion of flowers, ranging in colour from white through to pink, red and orange, and they have masses of feathery foliage.

Planting flower bulbs in pots is great for creating gardens in small spaces, and they can be moved around to different locations. If you're interested on how to grow flower bulbs in pots successfully, here are some of our top tips:

Lavender is a Mediterranean evergreen shrub, grown for its fragrant leaves and bee-friendly flowers. There are hardy, half-hardy and tender species of lavender to choose from.

Although June’s abundance of bloom and colour has moved on, July has brought its own striking sights throughout the garden – plants blooming for the first time, growing much taller than usual or otherwise making an impact in a way they never had before. I have already shown Clematis ‘Prince George’ a number of times this year, but it is now flowering literally from bottom to top and I can’t resist sharing it again (below). The individual blooms are delightful too, intriguingly crinkly (above).

Mantises are something of an eccentric in the world of insects. The males can fly, but more often they move slowly among shrubs and flowers. They can be fearsome hunters but usually wait for their prey to find them.

You may recognize those unsightly raised ridges and bumps all over your lawn as the handiwork ofmoles digging around for their dinners. But some types of tunneling are caused by a different small mammal called a vole. While moles typically make a mess of lawns, voles can be destructive throughout your garden.

Drought-tolerant plant combinations don’t need to be dry and boring. Xeriscaping, or designing a landscape to use as little water as possible, can be done while still maintaining a beautiful and interesting landscape. The physical traits that allow some plants to thrive without supplemental water can also lend fascinating colors, textures, and architecture to a design. Choosing plants native to areas where water is in short supply ensures that you are choosing plants that evolved naturally to withstand tough conditions.

Garden shows are crowded. That’s what I remember most about the first time I met Susan Calhoun. It was nearly 18 years ago at the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival in Seattle, and as an exhibitor, she had built an amazing show garden. After jockeying my way between dozens of people to flip through her portfolio, I was convinced that one of her projects would be perfect for Fine Gardening. The following spring I found myself getting onto a plane, into a rental car, and boarding a ferry to see Susan and to photograph one of her gorgeous designs for our publication. 

Created by a local craftsman using Eyam stone pitchers, the cambered path winds between beds planted with pollinator friendly, cottage garden favourites, including a froth of tall white Artemisia lactiflora ‘Elfenbein’, crimson Knautia macedonica, silvery Stachys byzantina, white Silene fimbriata and lofty, pale yellow Cephalaria gigantea. These tolerate the exposed location and move beautifully in the wind.

Bougainvilleas

Some planting combinations are designed to be stable and static, with reliable perennials that work well together and stay largely in proportion for years. Other schemes are more dynamic, changing dramatically year by year as plants self-seed and move around, perhaps making use of annuals and biennials to add interest.

Crocuses, calla lilies, dahlias, irises, and tulips are some classic flowers that don't grow from seeds but from bulbs, an underground structure. Bulbs have short stems, and fleshy leaves and go through a period of dormancy. Growing bulbs requires planning because you don't plant them in the same season the flowers bloom. For example, if you want to enjoy beautiful tulips in the spring, you'll be planting them in the fall.

Many annuals and perennials need plenty of sunlight to thrive. Whether you have sunny areas in your front, side, or backyard or a porch, patio, or balcony and want to add more plants that will come back year after year, there are plenty of sun loving perennials to choose from. Many full-sun perennials provide important food sources for bees, butterflies, birds, bats, and moths. While you're enjoying the colorful hues and curious and cool looking blossoms, you'll also get a pollinator show with their frequent visits.

How To Propagate Bird of Paradise Plants

The world has finally begun recognizing the value of indigenous, perennial plants in restoring diversity. Therefore, we have compiled a list of native American herbs and spices that lend stunning flavors, are replete with medicinal uses, and lure endemic wildlife back to your backyard.

The best way to enjoy roses is up close and personal so you may fully relish their intricate patterns, fragrance, and brilliant hues, especially in smaller spaces or when you want to try something unique. Here are some straightforward tips for growing roses in hanging baskets and ensuring long-lasting blooms.