How to Grow Astilbe for Color in the Shade Garden

 Part of Tom Massey's

IT WASN’T ONE OF THOSE “KA-POW!” YEARS in the garden, visually (well, unless you were my dear old rhubarb, above). In fact at many moments it was more “ka-bam!” (as in things crashing and burning, rather than showing off in bursts of glory).

This is the 12th of our monthly Urgent Garden Question Q&A shows, and we thank you for your support—and for your questions most of all. You can keep them coming any time in comments or by email, using the contact form, or at Facebook.Read along as you listen to the Jan. 1, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Plus: Enter to win a copy of Ken’s n

Dr. Tripp, the voice of Robin Hood Radio’s newest program, “Your Health,” received her D.O. from the University of New England. In previous incarnations she has her BS and MS from Cornell; her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University, where she also served as Curator of Conifers for the famed J.C. Raulston Arboretum, and did postdoctoral work at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. She knows from trees and shrubs—and that’s what we talked about:q&a: great trees for gardens, with kim trippQ.What woody plants always got your recommendation—what did you try to encourage clients to plant when you were making gardens for people, while supporting yourself through medical school? A. The first thing I always did, especially with a new client, was to walk around with them and say, “Let’s just see what’s growing here now–what’s out there and doing well,” and have a look at it and see if we like it or don’t. And we’d go from there.I found a few plants in our region that no matter what the conditions, were always doing well—even with deer browse.They were thi

Karen Perkins has since 2009 owned Garden Visions Epimediums, a small retail mail-order nursery located in rural central Massachusetts, and founded in 1997 by Darrell Probst. She’s also open for visits and in-person shopping a couple of spectacular weeks each May during Epimedium peak season.Read along as you listen to the March 11, 2019 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).epimediums for shade gardens, with karen perkinsQ. I wish

AUTHOR MARTA MCDOWELL, a gardener and landscape designer in contemporary New Jersey, has an enduring passion for digging into history, particularly into noted authors and their gardens—what she calls the “connection between the pen and the trowel.” She’s written books from that vantage point on Emily Dickinson, Beatrix Potter and Laura Ingalls Wilder, and now her latest is on the prolific author Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of the century-old children’s classic “The Secret Garden” that’s still in print.

You all know Ken Druse, author and photographer of 20 garden books and a daring gardener and plant propagator. He spoke to me from his garden among the trees in New Jersey to talk about oh-so-carefully tucking small things in among tree roots, about creating a bit more light with artful pruning, some favorite plants and more.Plus: Enter to win a copy of his 2015 book “The New Shade Garden” (affiliate link) by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the January 17, 2022 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).shade-garden tips with ken druse

There is no surefire way to rid your garden of the possibility of a deer buffet.As the evening falls, the four-legged rats – *ahem

Wherever it is in the garden, Amsonia (aka blue star) will hold interest.In bloom or not, this sun-loving perennial stands tall

A mainstay in many shade gardens, astilbe will be at its best when given the right food at the right time.We link to vendors to help you

Deservedly one of the most popular houseplants in the UK, the peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii) is relatively easy to grow and, in good condition, always looks elegant. Above a mass of large, glossy evergreen leaves that stand tall and proud, the plant intermittently sends up white arrow-shaped spathes. These petal-like bracts, which can be 15-centimetres long and resemble the sails of a ship, are not flowers, but encase the flowers proper, which are held on a spike known as a spadix. In bloom, the peace lily is reminiscent of the arum lily and our native lords-and-ladies (sometimes known as lily grass or jack-in-the-pulpit), which also belong to the arum family (Araceae); none are true lilies (Lilium).

Air plants (Tillandsia) earn their name by being capable of growing without soil. In their native habitat of Central and South America, they cling to trees, cliffs, roofs, and telephone wires with their roots and absorb nutrients from the air. Their grey-green foliage is coated in a silvery frosting of water-absorbing hairs called trichomes; these are capable of taking moisture from the atmosphere, especially in rainy or misty conditions.