Late-Winter Blooming Plants for Pollinators in Pacific Northwest

Hanging baskets are a versatile and visually captivating way to bring greenery into any outdoor space. While seasonal blooms offer bursts of colour, evergreen plants for hanging baskets provide interest that lasts throughout the year. From cascading, lush foliage to delicate textures and colourful flowers, evergreens bring life to vertical spaces, offering a dynamic backdrop that complements any garden.

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A shady corner, border or garden can be brought to life in spring with the right planting. Silver or variegated leaves work really well to brighten a dark spot, as do white or pale flowers, which almost seem to glow in shade. There is a plant for every shady spring garden and here we share some of our favourites. Included are plants for both dry and moist soils, evergreen perennials to provide interest all year round, as well as deciduous plants that seem to appear from nowhere in spring to brighten the garden with their delicate beauty. Our choices include recommendations from the Gardeners’ World team and familiar faces from across the gardening industry.

Although pollinator populations are diminishing worldwide due to habitat loss, climate change, pesticides, and disease, gardeners can slow this decline through cultivating and maintaining safe environments where winged garden visitors can find sustenance and take shelter. Combining well-chosen trees, shrubs, perennials, and vines to create a varied habitat will attract and support a broad range of bird, mammal, and insect species. Incorporating a strategic array of ground covers into this mix is a great way to maximize the wildlife benefits your garden offers.

How to Grow and Care for Camassia (Wild Hyacinth) Camassia spp.

Brighten up a shady area in the garden with the colorful flowers and silvery foliage of lungwort (Pulmonaria spp.). It pairs well with hellebores, hostas, ferns, bleeding hearts, and other shade perennials. The patterned leaves have a silvery hue that contrasts well with the green foliage of other perennials. Plant it under deciduous trees or along woodland pathways for edging.

Are you looking for advice on the best plants for outdoor pots?

One of the greatest drawbacks to successful gardening is badly drained ground. Wherever water lies in the ground at a depth easily reached by the roots of most cultivated plants they do not thrive, except where the water is constantly on the move, such as the bank of a river, brook or lake; there many plants will flourish. There are some wild plants that succeed in soil that has reached a water logged state, but generally such land is useless for gardening, farming or forestry purposes unless steps are taken to free it from superfluous moisture.

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Kathy Sandel has shared her gardens with us before (More of Kathy’s Calabasas Garden, Kathy’s Garden Transformation in Sacramento), but today she’s sharing the garden she created for her daughter in Sacramento, California.