turn up the heat: hot-colored annuals slideshow

A cherry plum, sweet, thin-skinned and very prolific (you’ll also find it sold under ‘Red Grape Sugar Plum’). It was in the top three of our recent taste test and everyone liked it for its strong tomato flavour that’s sweet but not overly so, and its firm not mushy texture. It has a slight acidity running through it which all sweet tomatoes need. It ripens quite late compared to ‘Sungold’ and produces for a long period of time. It’s lovely in a mixed salad with the larger varieties. 

As we continue to break heat records in many different regions around the world, gardeners have to think more than ever about how they can create gardens that can stand the heat.

Collaborative post

I can easily spot rose-of-Sharon or shrub althea (Hibiscus syriacus) at this time of year, even when traveling at 55 mph. This deciduous shrub flowers during the torrid months of July, August, and early September.

Want to brighten up a shady spot in your summer annual containers? Caladiums are an excellent choice. Due to their insignificant flowers, caladiums are grown for their colorful foliage. The leaf colors range in a wide variety of red, pink, white, and green combinations with contrasting leaf margins.

Are you frustrated because there are dandelions and other weeds in your lawn? Did you know that dandelion flowers provide one of the first springtime sources of pollen for bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects?

So, I am just enjoying my time in my yard, throwing a ball for my dogs, Penny and Ruby, who may or may not bring it back when I spot a small clump of weedy plants in my lawn. Instead of heading straight for my herbicide cabinet. I always ask myself a few questions: 1) is this weedy area problematic enough to warrant treatment, 2) what is the best option to treat the area, and 3) are the conditions right to treat. Question one is entirely up to the individual homeowner based on their desires and preferences for their landscape. Question two can easily be answered by research and/or by asking a local Extension agent. Question three, though, is an often-over-looked thought, as the other two questions always seem to be the leading topics for many homeowners. The timing and conditions must be right for herbicides to produce the desired effect. For information on timing your weed control, please see HGIC 2334, Lawn Weed Control Timing Chart.

The Rosedown Plantation gardens were the province of Martha Turnbull throughout her life. The Turnbulls’ 1828 honeymoon in Europe included great formal gardens of France, England, and Italy, an influence seen in Martha’s gardening activities at Rosedown. During Martha’s lifetime, the landscaped gardens covered about 28 acres. The present gardens now cover 18 acres.

Rosedown Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana has 12 historic buildings. Here are a few of the outbuildings that surround the house. Rosedown was the home of Daniel and Martha Turnbull.

A tour of Rosedown Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana. The house was built in 1834 and was completed by May 1835. It was the home of Daniel and Martha Turnbull.

If you too are facing the problem of your Basil Leaves Turning Black or Brown, then you are at the right post! Here are all the details on why it happens and how to keep this herb plant thriving.

MY GARDENING LIFE STARTED with a hedge—cutting one back hard, specifically. It was the threadbare, tall old privet surrounding my childhood home, and I was determined to “rejuvenate” it, after reading about the process in a book. No artful hedge has ever been created by my hands, though—a fact that feels all the more lamentable after watching Sean Conway’s video tour (above) of designer and nurseryman Piet Oudolf’s garden in the Netherlands. What magic.