Plants Ideas, Tips & Guides

Peace Lilies are stunning tropical plants with glossy green foliage and long-lasting flower stalks that float above. The white bracts turn pale green and linger for at least a month. Blooming freely from spring, these accent houseplants need some care in fall and winter to thrive!

“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” Lucille Ball said this in an interview during the peak of her fame in the 1950s. More than half a century later, the quote came to mind as I was walking around my property, thinking about my garden regrets. 

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As fall rolls in, your garden may begin shimmering with bronze and red autumn leaves—a sight to behold! Instead of raking them away, why not put these fallen leaves to good use in September? Let’s explore.

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Knowing the best spots for your Monstera can help you in transforming your home into a tropical retreat. Here are all the places where this big foliage houseplant will thrive and become a center of attraction.

Whether you're a longtime plant parent or are just beginning to introduce some green friends into your home, it's worth knowing which indoor houseplants deserve your attention.

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EVA NEMETH

As summer’s blooms start to fade, autumn might seem like a fallow period for flower growers. Although the year’s floral productivity is gently winding down, the list of jobs for the following season’s harvest is just revving into gear. Once the August bank holiday is over, a certain focus descends over the flower farm to prepare for the next year. Embrace it, and accept it is virtually impossible to ever prepare as much as you aspire to. Whatever hard graft you do put in through autumn will pay dividends in a season full of flowers from spring onwards.

Aster ‘Mönch’ at the gardens of St Giles House in Dorset

Rudbeckias in Clare Foster's garden

Chinese Gentian (Gentiana sino-ornata)

Certain plants produce more flowers when mildly stressed due to being slightly rootbound. These specimens do well without frequent repotting and surprisingly flower more when their roots are a tangled-up little ball.

My cat has a felt taco cat toy that was scented with catnip a few years ago and she still goes squirrelly whenver I pull it out to give to her. If you have a cat that responds favorably to catnip (apparently not all do), it’s worthwhile to learn how to grow catnip. This perennial herb is incredibly easy to grow from seed and from cuttings. It’s also drought tolerant and not too fussy when it comes to nutrients. Even if you don’t have a cat, catnip is an attractive plant that can be used for its foliage and flowers in cut flower arrangements. Meet the catnip plant A member of the mint family, catnip (Nepeta cataria) originally came from Asia and Europe but is n

On a recent hike in the foothills just southeast of my house, I couldn’t help but notice crisped, curling leaves on big flower cinquefoil ( Drymocallis fissa ) and the drought-tolerant mountain mahogany ( Cercocarpus montanus ), which took me back to the drought of 2001/2002, widely considered the benchmark drought for my area. Though I was a kid, I vividly remember the sense of collective worry and ensuing water restrictions, browning lawns and gardens, and tinder-filled natural spaces. The lack of water is sure to stress out plants, but there are several ways that you can get your garden through a drought without wasting water unnecessarily.

Fall could easily be a time of mourning. It’s the season of withering and dying back, of shortening days and cooling nights. Yet if you look at natural areas of the Southeast in fall, they’re anything but sad. There’s movement beneath the changing colors. Birds are hopping from one branch to another in search of ripening berries, and small critters are busy foraging in the underbrush. Fall brings a bounty like no other, and it’s all made possible by underlying ecosystems of native plants. You can bring some of this autumnal excitement to your own garden, starting with these southeastern native shrubs and perennials that offerexceptional fall interest for autumn gardens:

There’s satisfaction in that perfect crisscross of mown lines across flawless green grass, but with the herbicides, pesticides, water, fuel, and effort it demands, the infamous traditional turf lawn is a monetarily and environmentally costly endeavor. It can also be visually dull for the plant enthusiast and nutritionally dull for wildlife, so there are many good reasons to take on establishing a meadow lawn, whether it replaces all or just a few square feet of your yard.

Orchids possess heavenly beauty, but this charm comes with the downside of being prone to a few pest infestations! Worry not—we help you identify the most common orchid pests and signs of infestations and show you how to get rid of them for good!

We had over 36mm of rain yesterday, when I prepared this vase, more than we had in the whole of August, so conditions for choosing and cutting blooms were not the best. Aster Symphyotrichum ‘Little Carlow’ was my go-to plant this week, quickly joined by white contrasts of Antirrhinum ‘Liberty Classic White’, annual Scabious ‘Snow Maiden’, Limonium ‘Iceberg’ and reflowering spikes of Verbascum chiaxii, with added foliage of polemonium. I am not keen on asters generally, seeing them, like chrysanthemums, as ugly lanky plants, but can tolerate ‘Little Carlow’ which is shorter and a little better behaved.

Happy Monday GPODers!

Hydrangeas are cherished garden plants, renowned for their stunning floral displays that range from soft pastels to vibrant hues. To achieve the best bloom and maintain a healthy plant, proper care is essential, particularly when it comes to pruning. This guide delves into the world of hydrangeas, offering practical advice on pruning, cutting, and caring for these versatile plants.

Grow Your Gardening Confidence with GardenAdvice Courses

At GardenAdvice.co.uk, we know how costly plants can be, especially when you’re aiming for instant impact with large plants. That’s why we offer our members access to our Root, Shoot, and Share scheme, where we send out rooted cuttings to our MyGardenTeam members to help you build your garden without breaking the bank.

Judging by many of our traditions, Southerners will always hedge our bets for a happy and successful life. From eating a big bowl of Hoppin' John on New Year's Day to burying a bottle of bourbon before the wedding day, we don't mind putting in the effort to bring on good tidings for the future. As take-charge as we are superstitious, why risk it when it's something that is relatively no trouble to do?

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However, cauliflower is a cool-season crop, but there are many hybrid cultivars available for both temperate and tropical weather, which means it can be grown diversely in every climate.

Not long after stating publicly on this blog that I didn’t expect to find room for more roses, it occurred to me, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, that extending the small bed behind the shed following removal of the tree stump might in fact just do this after all! The original bed housed rambling rose ‘Rosemarie Viaud’, which rambles over the shed roof, and repeat flowering old rose ‘Rose de Rescht’, but if the latter were replanted elsewhere there would be space for a trio of modern shrub roses, planted to together to give the suggestion of a large bush, as has recently been done in the rose garden.

Some of the most beautiful blooms in the garden emerge from bulbs. But the vigor and floral viability of these fully depend on when you plant them! As we enter fall, here’s our pick of Bulbs to Plant in September for the prettiest and healthiest Spring Blooms.

Hardly an episode goes by where we don’t mention a pollinator plant. But we have never dedicated an entire episode to the topic, which in our minds is bananas! So today we’re fixing that track record and discussing 11 of our favorite pollinator plants. Native plant expert Cheyenne Wine joins us from Rare Roots Nursery in Virginia to add her top picks to the conversation, as well. Listen now to find trees, shrubs, perennials, and even some bulbs to plant if you’re interested in turning your garden into an insect party buzzing with activity!   

Mystery and romance are two words that come to mind when thinking of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It’s mysterious in that its existence is only known through descriptions in ancient Roman and Greek documents; to date, no physical archeological evidence has been uncovered. In fact, the exact location of this fabled ancient feat of engineering is uncertain. It is believed to have been built by the Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife, Queen Amytis, because she longed for the verdant, mountainous landscapes of her homeland—a romantic gesture indeed. The gardens were fabled to be lushly planted with species of her native landscape as well as trees and shrubs from faraway lands. Dripping vines were utilized to mask and soften the edges of the massive structural walls. In modern days, newly conceived landscapes often lack a sense of mystery, romance, and antiquity. Fast growing and adaptable in their functionality, evergreen vines can create gardens that feel mysterious, romantic, and mature beyond their age.

When it comes to gardening in the Southwest, selecting the right flower bulbs is crucial to creating a vibrant landscape. The region’s arid climate and unique soil makeup require plants that can thrive in hot, dry conditions. But the best options still provide those familiar bursts of color that most gardeners are accustomed to seeing when the word “bulb” is mentioned. The following are some of my favorite ornamental flowering bulbs for the Southwest, with varieties that not only survive our regional conditions, but bring unsurpassed beauty to even the most challenging spots.

There is nothing quite like a lawn to really set off a planting bed. A frame is created with the grass below and the sky above. I have a dog, and she loves the lawn. Children and grandchildren also need a place to romp and run, while yard games like cornhole and croquet are played by all ages. Most of us, however, are now realizing the importance of practicing better resource management and using little to no chemicals in our landscapes, which means it’s time to rethink the lawn.

Containers are the finishing touch in any garden and can be filled for every season. Summer is typically seen as the pinnacle of planting for containers, but that is just a starting point. While many see mums (Chrysanthemum cvs.), pansies (Viola cvs.), and ornamental grasses as the go-to options for fall containers, I lean toward materials that are outside the box. With cooler temperatures and shorter days, plants are not in growth mode, and I find my clients have lost interest in watering and waiting for plants to fill in. They want instant gratification. Let’s look at some options for fall container gardens that make life simple and still provide the look we want this time of year.

Known by several names like the inch plant, spiderwort, and zebra plant, the Wandering Jew has always been a wildly popular houseplant. One of the easiest specimens to propagate, we share a list of our favorite tradescantia varieties you can quickly grow from cuttings.

Happy Friday GPODers!