Star Plant of the Show

Iris ‘Benton Olive’ in Sarah Price's garden

If you are bored of growing your green friends in pots and want a different way to showcase them, then you can try Plants on Lava Rock. Sounds weird? It’s not! Read ahead!

Harry's Chelsea garden, The School Food Matters Garden

With large scarlet blooms, Texas Star hibiscus brings a lush, exotic feel to the garden without the drawbacks of short-lived, non-native tropical varieties. Texas Star hibiscus blooms mid-summer into fall. Its striking red flower petals grow to 6-inches wide and are cut deeply and finer than other hibiscus.In the center, dramatic yellow stamens entice pollinators. Texas Star features 5-petaled, palmate leaves with deep red stems ideal for adding interesting landscape structure in addition to the blooms. Its tropical-like flowers attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.  

The BC Home + Garden Show is back in full bloom with expert advice on building, gardening and whipping up tasty dishes in the kitchen. Also on hand will be vendors showcasing renovation products and the latest innovations.

Marianne Willburn, a longtime garden writer who gardens in Virginia, is a contributing editor to the collaborative blog called Garden Rant. And she’s also author of the 2021 book “Tropical Plants and How to Love Them” (affiliate link). She offered guidance on which of these tempting tropicals at the garden center to indulge in for the combination of visual and culinary enjoyment, like ‘Snowdrift’ turmeric in her garden, above.Plus: Enter to win a copy of the book by commenting in the box at the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the March 27, 2023 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)

I love surprises, and that’s precisely what I got when I received an envelope from 10 speed press the other day containing of all things, a graphic novel about vegetable gardening written by my friend Joseph Tychonievich and illustrated by Liz Anne Kozik. But first, I should share some background here, about me. In my previous life, I was a creative director for Hasbro (you know, Transformers, My Little Pony, Marvel Comics, Star Wars, etc). Comic books were part of my everyday life, from Comicon to day-long meetings at Marvel Studios. Not that I am anything close to a comic book fan, but I can appreciate the medium and especially the higher-end category of graphic novels, like this.

A plant on your desk can do more than just decorate your workspace. It can boost your mood, increase productivity, and even clean the air. In this article, we’ll introduce you to the Best Office Desk Plants that require minimal maintenance and are perfect for adding some greenery to your workspace.

These are the 6 Most Common Snake Plant Varieties You Can Start Planting Indoors Now! They look decorative and thrive on neglect.

The Best of the Rest from the Show Gardens

Plants that Pleased at Chelsea I’ve been trawling through my many images of Chelsea and. Some are just for admiring – others I may well emulate. Orange was definitely the colour du jour with geums, verbascums and erysimums popping up in many of the gardens.

In my earlier post about Sir Paul Smith, I wrote about the role of green as the anchor that holds everything in place in a garden – so it’s unsurprising that the greenness was what I noticed as I looked at some of the drawings of this year’s Chelsea gardens. No doubt, when we get to Chelsea our eyes will seek out the excitement, and the actual gardens will be further enlivened by shape, texture and the play of light, but it is useful to see the contribution that green makes to each of the gardens and bear it in mind for the planting in our own garden. Jo Thompson’s Sylvan Retreat will h