IN THE MOOD for something aromatic, hot-colored, and abuzz with insect pollinators, butterflies and hummingbirds? With the help of High Country Gardens’ founder David Salman, let’s make a beeline to plants in the Mint family, like Salvia and Agastache and even wacky-looking Phlomis, to enliven our gardens.
David, also known as the Xeric Gardener, is chief horticulturist of High Country Gardens in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The former garden center, now closed, began in 1984, but you can visit anytime online, or in the print catalog (published since 1993; the catalog-request form is here).
I first met David through my work years ago at Martha Stewart Living, in the days when almost nobody even knew what terms like or water wise, let alone xeric or even sustainable meant as they pertained to our gardens. I’ve been thrilled and impressed to watch David teach and inspire the nation–earning the 2008 American Horticultural Society’s Great American Gardener award, among other honors.
David and I share a passion for pollinator- and hummingbird-friendly plants, and so the mints, technically the Lamiaceae, the seventh-largest family of flowering plants in the world with 7,500-ish species in at least 236 genera says Kew–are often where the action is. In the latest radio podcast, we talked about his favorites—and how gardeners around the country can use them.
my mint-family q&a with david salman
Q.First, let’s just get everyone in the mint mindset—visualizing what plants in the family that they might know, besides the true mints (genus Mentha), or catmints (Nepeta).
A. One of the most popular are the Salvia, or sages. And then there are lamb’s ears (Stachys), for instance.
Q.And a lot of “herb garden” things are in there, too: basil and
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Yes, we’re talking about mint! The breath-saving, tummy-taming, taste-boosting mint. At Fantastic Gardeners, we love this refreshing plant, and why wouldn’t we? It is fragrant, easy to grow, and has many beneficial uses in culinary arts, medicine, and cosmetics.
A fad in modern architecture and gardening or a necessity to bring back nature into industrialised densely built urban landscapes? Living green walls are becoming more and more popular, so we decided to explore the benefits, installation and maintenance process of these structures. Read on to find out how long they have been around, why so many buildings are having them, and how you can make one for your home.
Just because our attention is focused on keeping things steady (ahem, alive) in the garden this deep into the summer, it doesn’t mean we should neglect our leafy loved ones who live indoors—especially if you have travel plans! Houseplants have special needs every season, but summer heat and time away come with their own set of challenges.
The colour of this young Knapweed is dark almost purple. As it opens fully it will become blue and then fade as the flower ages. The colour helps Centaurea montana earn its nickname of Mountain Cornflower or perennial cornflower.
In Yorkshire we are lucky to have several gardens designed using the theme of a Himalayan Garden. The Hut near Ripon at Grewlthorpe is  ‘The Himalayan Garden’ with all the plants you would expect in such a setting including
Britain has some of the best gardens in the world. The choice of which to visit is far larger than this selective list but at least it gives you somewhere to start planning this years outings.
In the cold wet winter it is a good time to plan where to visit as the year improves. The South West is the obvious place to start your visiting tour of gardens containing exotic plants.
China is one of the great destinations for visiting gardens. The influence over garden design and the vast array of plants and flowers is secondary to the investment in time and dedication demonstrated in so many great locations. This is just a selection of those you may consider visiting if you can make the journey..
Yes you can rest happily with this organic treatment for your Aphids. It is called ‘spiders’ and they can be found in every garden and often in your own home.
Peace is not just the absence of war it can be a reflection of a personal inner tranquility. To many gardeners peace may be a state of harmony with nature. It is a theme of several ‘hard landscape’ projects and sculptural works as shown by the selection of Peace gardens below.