The plants that stole the show at this year's Chelsea Flower Show | House & Garden

I actually have no certain diagnosis; so many of these issues look somewhat alike, unless you are a plant pathologist, and so far I only have a relative few affected leaves. I nevertheless love Cornell’s diagnostic tool, a photo-driven system arranged by plant part (leaves, stem, fruit).What I do not seem to have, thankfully, is the late blight that’s been the source of the most dramatic headlines, and of a thorough story by Adrian Higgins of The Washington Post, late last week. This dramatic outbreak has also prompted warning bulletins from Cornell and other extension services. My plants have none of its characteristic early sign: dark stem lesions.This is the affliction (affecting tomatoes and potatoes) that caused the 1840s Irish Potato Famine, and it has never been recorded this early in the United States, apparently, nor this extensive

These non-native “ladybugs,” introduced by the Department of Agriculture to help combat certain agricultural pests, have made themselves right at home in America—and in my house, too. In fall, the south-facing side of the exterior can be teeming with patches of them, as they look for places to tuck into and overwinter. The USDA imported lady beetles from Japan as early as 1916 as a beneficial insect, to gobble up unwanted pests on forest and orchard trees, but it was probably later releases, in the late 1970s and early 80s in the Southeast, that took hold. Today, multicolored Asian lady beetles have made themselves completely at home around the United States, easily adapting to regions as diverse as Louisiana, Oregon, and mine in New York State.

Now Joseph Tychonievich, the sought-after Michigan-based garden writer and author, has confidence-building advice for me in his just-out book, “Rock Gardening: Reimagining a Classic Style.” Joseph is also author of “Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener.”Read along as you listen to the Oct. 24, 2016 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).my rock-garden q&a with joseph tychonievichQ. How did you get the rock-garden bug? Did you catch it in your time working at Arrowhead Alpi

Besides wanting to know what’s next there at a place that’s been known for a long time for its influence on American gardeners, Patrick has a personal passion I’m very curious about. It’s what he calls “natural community gardening,” as in taking our cues from habitats or plant communities in nature to guide how we design and care for our gardens.Patrick came to Heronswood last fall from Clemson University in South Carolina, where he ran the South Carolina Botanical Garden and was a professor in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences. He

Are you looking for the Best Hanging Houseplants that Won’t Die Easily? We have the most low-maintenance ones lined up for you that you can display beautifully in hanging baskets!

Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University are partnering with us in our technology addiction project that stands alongside our 'Chained to Tech' garden design. At RHS Tatton Flower Show, researchers will be surveying guests to gauge their attitudes and perceptions towards our garden.

Plants that are Called Lilies are a fascinating group of specimens popular for their elegant blooms and graceful presence. From the iconic Easter lily to the vibrant daylilies, these plants offer a wide variety of colors, shapes, and fragrances!

Deservedly one of the most popular houseplants in the UK, the peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii) is relatively easy to grow and, in good condition, always looks elegant. Above a mass of large, glossy evergreen leaves that stand tall and proud, the plant intermittently sends up white arrow-shaped spathes. These petal-like bracts, which can be 15-centimetres long and resemble the sails of a ship, are not flowers, but encase the flowers proper, which are held on a spike known as a spadix. In bloom, the peace lily is reminiscent of the arum lily and our native lords-and-ladies (sometimes known as lily grass or jack-in-the-pulpit), which also belong to the arum family (Araceae); none are true lilies (Lilium).

Air plants (Tillandsia) earn their name by being capable of growing without soil. In their native habitat of Central and South America, they cling to trees, cliffs, roofs, and telephone wires with their roots and absorb nutrients from the air. Their grey-green foliage is coated in a silvery frosting of water-absorbing hairs called trichomes; these are capable of taking moisture from the atmosphere, especially in rainy or misty conditions.

Ina Garten at her East Hampton home.

Set back on an 11-acre property in Surrey is the faded-brick Arts and Crafts house that once belonged to the influential British horticulturalist, garden designer and writer, Gertrude Jekyll VMH, Munstead Wood. Gertude was the first woman to be awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honour – the most prominent of awards for British horticulturalists – following an illustrious career during which she “transformed horticultural practice and inspired others to become gardeners through her books and more than 1,000 articles,” says the National Trust. Designed by her frequent collaborator Sir Edward Lutyens, the house is a charming emblem of classic English Arts and Crafts design and, thanks to Gertrude's own talents in gardening and floriculture, the house's garden is a “horticultural gem.”

A book about pesticides hardly sounds like a page-turner, but in the skilled hands of Rachel Carson, it became precisely that—and so much more. "Silent Spring," published in 1962, is widely hailed as the single most influential book on the environmental conservation movement. Carson's cool, meticulous arguments against the rampant spraying of toxic chemicals on crops, forests, and bodies of water resonated with a public largely unaware of what was going on, spurring them to action.