Multiseason Garden Bed with Hesse Cotoneaster

We’re back with more from Susan Esche’s visit to the beautiful University of British Columbia Botanical Garden in Vancouver in early September. It is open to the public and has many different sections and types of gardens to explore.

As NASA plans missions to the Moon and Mars, a key factor is figuring out how to feed crew members during their weeks, months, and even years in space.

We’ve visited Susan Esche’s home garden before (A Garden Wedding, the Flowers, and the Deer), but today she’s taking us along to visit a public garden in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Horse manure makes an extremely good soil improver for the garden. Often combined with stable bedding and allowed to rot down for a couple of years, horse manure is perfect for digging into planting holes or spreading onto the surface of bare soil. Fresh manure mustn’t be used directly on the garden as it can actually remove nutrients from the soil and scorch plants, but it can be added to compost heaps.

Fall is a great time for garden chores. This is the time to clean up before winter, protect vulnerable plants, and wind down the growing season. This isn’t the right time for all tasks, though. Know what to do with your garden in the fall and what not to do — for instance, what plants should not be cut back in the fall — to best prepare it for next year.

Take a tour of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and discover a meeting ground of natural beauty, expert design, and horticultural excellence. Nestled in the picturesque landscape of coastal Maine, this garden offers a symphony of colors, fragrances, and serene vistas that will surely captivate any nature enthusiast. In this video, director of horticulture (and frequent Fine Gardening contributing writer) Andy Brand takes us on a journey through three of his favorite gardens and gives insights as to what makes them unique. This tour barely scratches the surface of what CMBG has to offer, however, with its more than 300 acres and 16 unique gardens connected by well-maintained paths and trails. You can spend days at the garden and still find something new.

Explore the aromatic world of mint with these 11 Fragrant Mint Varieties for Herb Garden. Each mint type boasts a unique scent, from refreshing peppermint to chocolatey notes and citrusy hints. Learn how to cultivate these delightful herbs and elevate your culinary creations.

REDUCING THE footprint of our lawns has been a key environmental message for gardeners in recent years, since lawns lack biodiversity and involve huge amounts of pollution between fertilizers, herbicides, and the gas used in mowing. But what to cultivate instead? That is the subject of a nearly 15-year native lawn research project at Cornell Botanic Gardens in Ithaca, New York, with some interesting insights.

Isn’t every plant great in a group? Well, the answer is no. Some plants are too vigorous in their growth habits to share the stage, while others are better if put on a pedestal all their own (i.e. the focal point plants of the landscape). Today’s episode we talk about plants that are great in masses—that is to say—in groups of three or more. We have options for shade, choices for sun, and selections for those in-between exposures situations. We’ll also feature some great plants that we’ve seen grouped to perfection in gardens featured in Fine Gardening. And you don’t have to be a millionaire to group plants. Many of our suggestions are easily divided after just a year or two, providing you with multiple plants for the price of just one.

If, like the plants, you’re starting to feel the chills of winter, here are some of the best glasshouses and hot houses you can visit using our 2-for-1 Gardens card.

I love this time of year when the roadsides and gardens become full of gold. Goldenrod is everywhere! It brightens the landscape and lifts my mood. Goldenrod comes in all different shapes, sizes, and even colors (Solidago ptarmicoides, for example, has white, daisy-like flowers). A search for goldenrod on the extremely useful and informative website Namethatplant.net returned 61 tax in the Carolinas and Georgia, a solidago for almost every garden situation. Zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis) is an easy-care woodland goldenrod. Unsurprisingly, southern bog goldenrod (Solidago austrina) thrives in sunny, boggy areas. As its scientific name indicates, Solidago odora has fragrant, anise-scented leaves when crushed. Finally, South Carolina’s state wildflower, Solidago altissima (tall goldenrod), is a plant of drier, disturbed soil.

The idea of keeping at least some of a garden natural and relatively uncultivated is growing in popularity. Even in traditionally well-manicured suburban enclaves, the concept is taking root.