In praise of smol things

What would us gardeners do without dahlias? If your garden needs more colour in summer: plant some dahlias. If it needs more colour in autumn: plant some dahlias. If it needs some tall plants to make the back of the garden more colourful: plant some dahlias. If you’re looking for some easy cut flowers to grow that come back year after year: plant some dahlias. If there’s a colour missing in your garden (except blue!): there’s a dahlia for it.

Want to know what happens When 40 Cheap Flea Market Things Become Garden Decor? Well, keep reading to get some awesome ideas!

If you spend a lot of time behind the wheel, chances are your car needs a good tidying up. Maybe you’ve amassed a collection of wadded-up napkins in your glove compartment from frequent drive-thru outings (hey, no judgment here). Or perhaps there’s a bunch of coffee cups and water bottles left over from your work commute. Suffice it to say, you’ve got a lot of stuff that’s hitching a ride—and it’s time to part ways. “As a professional organizer, I've learned that many individuals treat their vehicles as an extension of their homes, leading to unintentional clutter,” says Aaron Traub, owner and lead organizer at My Professional Organizer Dallas. “While keeping certain items in your car for convenience is tempting, some can create messes, odors, or even deteriorate due to temperature fluctuations.” Below, experts weigh in on what needs to be kicked out and stored elsewhere.

Evening is the best time to relax after a routine day’s work. Besides relaxing in the garden, you can do productive and interesting tasks that will result in a beautiful place to relish a great cup of coffee. So, if you are thinking about What to do in  Garden in the Evening, have a look at the following innovative pointers below!

Header image: Ella and Nicki at the Mars Desert Research Station. Provided by the author.

Collaborative post

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes at J. Parker's? We're giving you a glimpse of what our staff get up to when they're not in the office. This week, we've talked to Joanne (from Accounts) about her beekeeping hobby and her side business — honey!  If you've been thinking of starting a new green hobby, then maybe Jo will give you the inspiration you need to dive in.  What was it about beekeeping that got you started?

Rhododendrons have many praiseworthy characteristics.

The common bleeding heart, Dicentra spectabilis (epecially the gold-leaf cultivar ‘Gold Heart’), gives the peonies a run for their money; so does Jeffersonia diphylla (twinleaf) and many heucheras. Scientists postulate that in some cases anthocyanins, flavonoid pigments which are often masked in the main growing season by the green of chlorophyll, may either serve to deter herbivores from nibbling tender new shoots or perhaps help attract pollinators, a kind of lurid “come hither” ensemble. If you don’t look like a leaf, maybe nobody will eat you–and looking like a flower extra-early increases your chance of getting pollinated when your flowers come not too long afterward.These pigments probably taste bad, too, compared to green ones–another deterrent to nibbling–and may help also tender young leaves cope with excess light (meaning the pigments are “photoprotective“).Whatever the particulars, I am happy to crawl around enjoying it, camera in hand. Crawl around with me in a quick slideshow? (Click the first thum

OKAY, I WILL ADMIT TO A BIT OF A COMPULSION about edging. It is my contention that even a mediocre garden can look pretty swell with a clean edge on it (or at least you’ll impress people with your mastery of edging in and of itself).

I gave L. sempervirens (Zones 4-9), whose woody stems twist around the corner post on my back porch the last decade, a serious pruning last year, after it seemed to have a lot of leggy growth that was especially appealing to the aphids. It has responded really favorably: heavy bloom and stronger growth after a year of recovery.Its far more subtle yellow-flowered cousin (above), L.s. ‘Flava’ or ‘Sulphurea,’ hasn’t really been troubled by insects here in all the years I’ve had it, and seems content to grow in part shade, not just full sun, an added blessing. If you will only have one sempervirens, maybe this should be it? (Hint, hint.)The L. heckrottii hybrid called ‘Goldflame’ (above, Zone 5-9) has been around for years and is also sold as ‘Pink Lemona

I’ve been sitting here with vases of multiflowered (also called bouquet) tulips in the house for more than two weeks now, specifically the variety ‘Red Bouquet,’ and from tightly closed to overblown and about to fall apart (about how I feel at the moment as well, by the way) they are a delight.The reason multiflowered tulips aren’t a formal class, the way Triumph or Double-Late or Greigii or another of the 15 officially recognized tulip classifications is? Because varieties with multiple flowers can occur in any class. The amazing red-hot tulip Tulipa praestans ‘Fusilier,’ for example, which will perennialize