Asclepias incarnata
19.07.2024 - 00:02 / southernliving.com / Lauren David
Many annuals and perennials need plenty of sunlight to thrive. Whether you have sunny areas in your front, side, or backyard or a porch, patio, or balcony and want to add more plants that will come back year after year, there are plenty of sun loving perennials to choose from. Many full-sun perennials provide important food sources for bees, butterflies, birds, bats, and moths. While you're enjoying the colorful hues and curious and cool looking blossoms, you'll also get a pollinator show with their frequent visits.
Want a plant that has white flowers before producing stunning purple-hued round berries? Plant American Beautyberry.«Small clusters of white flowers bloom in the late spring and early summer and the bright berries encircle the stems from August through October,» says Nicole Dillon, micro-flower farmer and owner of Breemar Flower Farm based in Ashland, Virginia. The berries are an important food source for many bird species, especially in the colder months when there is less available. «The fruit(s) will remain on the stems through winter and are a valuable food source for birds and small mammals,» she says. As long as you grow them in a sunny area, these hardy plants will grow well in most types of soil so long as it drains well.
If you want to grow natives
Asclepias incarnata
Cunila origanoides
Panayoti Kelaidis is the senior curator and director of outreach at Denver Botanic Gardens , a founding member and collaborator with the Plant Select plant introduction program, and an active member and past president of the North American Rock Garden Society .
Penstemon eatonii
Asclepias verticillata
Salvia greggii ‘Pink Preference’
Every year, Better Homes & Gardens celebrates innovators, influencers, and creators who offer inspiration and joy in the realms of food, home, garden, and lifestyle. They're called Stylemakers. Some are household names, and others are everyday people making a difference in their corner of the world, but they're all some of our favorite creative thinkers, dreamers, and doers. Here you'll learn a bit about each 2024 Stylemaker plus their current projects and passions.
Most gardeners are familiar with the USDA plant hardiness zone map, which represents cold hardiness. But cold hardiness only indicates one aspect of a plant’s preferred conditions. Its ability to tolerate heat is equally important. You might have seen heat zones listed along with hardiness zones on your plant labels, but what do they mean? The following info will help you better understand and use this valuable gardening tool.
From temperature extremes to shifting rainfall patterns, communities coast to coast are experiencing the increasing impacts of climate change. In many areas summers are hotter and drier, making gardeners more reliant on supplemental irrigation to grow the same plants that thrived for them in years past. Meanwhile, restrictions on watering in some regions make responding to drought more challenging. In the face of unpredictable rainfall and unprecedented temperature fluctuations, it’s more important than ever to invest in plants that can withstand waves of heat and drought.
The colder months of the year take away the blooms of most plants, but not all! Instead of waiting till spring and summer for sunny blossoms, we suggest you grow these flowers in August for a spectacular display of blooms in fall!
WHEN MOST OF US think of growing herbs each spring, what we probably put into our shopping cart, whether from online seed catalogs or at the garden center, are the culinary must-haves: the basil, the parsley, the dill and such.
The Summer Olympics are here, and for the ninth time, Ralph Lauren has dressed the U.S. competitors in his All-American designs, including jeans, a navy blazer with white and blue piping that’s emblazoned with the iconic Polo logo, a blue and white striped shirt, and a navy knit tie for a timeless—and truly American—look.