Heuchera (Coral Bells): Plant, Grow and Care for Heucheras

You don’t need a big backyard or orchard to enjoy the fruits (or vegetables) of your gardening labor! For an abundant fall and winter harvest, you just need pots and some empty space open to the sun, like a balcony, patio, or rooftop!

How to Grow and Care for Weigela Shrubs Weigela spp.

Bedding plants, such as petunias, pelargoniums, pansies and nicotiana, are easy to grow and care for. They look good grown in hanging baskets and pots, and also work in borders, either used to fill gaps or grown together for a colourful display.

One of the secrets to producing big, bushy basil plants is trimming. Many gardeners are shy about harvesting from their herbs and don’t want to cut them back in case it damages the plants or reduces yield. I’m the opposite, constantly trimming herbs like basil to use fresh, or preserve by drying or freezing. Not only does it promote bushier growth it also increases stem and leaf production. Are you ready to learn how to trim your basil plants for maximum yield? When it comes to pruning basil, it doesn’t matter if you’re growing basil in containers or garden beds. It doesn’t matter if you’

How to Grow and Care for Lupines Lupinus spp.

A conversation with Sarah Price about how she designs her planting schemes is fascinating. She works in an unfettered way, with no specific planting plans but an intuitive sense of the plants that will work well together to form the nature-inspired compositions she is known for. Her gardens are like exquisite paintings, comprising layers of detail with a gentle succession of plants that provide interest for most of the year. This summer combination comes from Sarah’s own garden on the edge of Abergavenny. Here, she has created different areas and habitats, including a dry garden in the old walled kitchen garden.

Flanking our waterways in great mops of silver green, the willow is the most poetic and mysterious of trees. In many cultures – including ancient Egypt and ancient Greece – it was associated with immortality, death, and the underworld; old English folklore states that if you sit beside a willow and shed tears, the tree will cry with you. In China, where the weeping willow hails from, it represents strength and resilience, reflecting the instruction in the Tao Te Ching to have a flexible attitude: 'A tree that won't bend, breaks easily in storms.' Being pliant and strong, willow is used for weaving, and its light weight and hardness make it the best wood for cricket bats.

Blooming along the Nile, this sacred flower was a potent symbol among ancient Egyptian royalty and deities. Even found in the famed tomb of King Tutankhamun, it is treasured for its psychoactive blue blooms. Let’s uncover the meaning of the intriguing blue lotus flower!

If you’re a fan of the quintessential indoor-outdoor Western lifestyle that comes along with expansive floor-to-ceiling glass, a warm wash of natural light, breezeways that maximize airflow, and surrounding serene landscape, you can thank famed architect Cliff May. Regarded as the founding father of the iconic California ranch house, May’s work has been repeatedly published in Sunset since the 1930s. What made his work stand out at the time was how he designed homes not so much based on architecture but on the way people wanted to live in them. Making the most of the Western climate, his goal was to provide a closer relationship with nature through garden courtyards and blur the line between how we use interior and exterior spaces. May in turn created private sanctuaries where families could relax and enjoy a lifestyle of informal outdoor living. He invented the way most people want to live in the West, and his influence is felt throughout the region some 90 years later.

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Join us this summer as we explore some of the UK’s best 2-for-1 Gardens to visit in August, for fun days out with all the family. Whether it’s an adventure playground or woodland trail for the kids, or a rose garden or restored Elizabethan garden for the horticulturalists, there is plenty to enjoy at these gardens. Visit using your 2-for-1 Gardens card to save money on your trips to all these wonderful gardens.

11 Reasons (and Solutions!) for Yellow Hibiscus Leaves