I love things that are indescribable, like the taste of an avocado or the smell of a gardenia. Barbra Streisand
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Fall Annuals for the South
Summer can be tough on annual flowers in the South. That's why gardeners replant a fall crop of annual flowers to keep the flowering season going into winter. | |
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How to Grow and Care for Shasta Daisies
Shasta daisies, with their white petals surrounding yellow centers, are similar to the familiar meadow daisy but have larger flowers and bloom from early summer until fall. | |
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Ecological Strategies to Prep the Garden for Fall/Winter
Over the next several months across the country, gardens will slowly start to transition into winter dormancy. This period of the year can also be one of the most ornamental, with many late flowering plants like the asters and goldenrods coming into full flower. Other plants will have attractive seed heads and many others will have blazing red, golden, and orange autumnal colors. As the gardens become dormant, there are many approaches the gardener can use to make their garden supportive of a variety of ecological functions. | |
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Storing the Harvest
You can enjoy many vegetables, including winter squash, pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, beets, and turnips, long into the winter if you can provide them with the storage conditions they need. | |
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Removing Lawn Thatch
Thatch, the buildup of dead grass between living grass and the soil, causes trouble for your lawn when it exceeds 1/2 inch thick. Cutting through and removing thatch improves your lawn's health. | |
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Let There Be Light, But Not Too Much
Air and water pollution make headlines, but there's another kind of pollution that has a big impact: light pollution. As I watched the evening's fireflies, I wondered how much brighter they'd be if it weren't for the nearby streetlight. | |
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Pruning a Hedge
Dense hedges start with the right pruning techniques at planting time and regular maintenance each year thereafter, with vigorous, rapidly growing shrubs needing more frequent shearing than shrubs that grow more slowly. | |
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Ornamental Onions
You'll know these pretty plants are in the onion family from the mildly pungent odor of their leaves when cut, but they certainly won't bring tears to your eyes! Plant them mid-fall for a show next spring. | |
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Here are some random selections from our Plants Database, selected for inclusion here based on visitor activity over the past week:
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Pink Knotweed (Persicaria capitata)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun, Full Sun to Partial Shade Water Preferences: Mesic Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 7b -15 °C (5 °F) to -12.2 °C (10 °F) Plant Height: 2 to 3 inches Plant Spread: Forms dense carpets 2 to 4 feet or more. Leaves: Unusual foliage color, Deciduous, Malodorous, Other Fruit: Other Flowers: Showy Flower Color: Pink Bloom Size: Under 1" Flower Time: Summer, Late summer or early fall Suitable Locations: Houseplant, Xeriscapic Uses: Groundcover, Medicinal Herb, Will Naturalize, Suitable as Annual Wildlife Attractant: Bees Resistances: Humidity tolerant, Drought tolerant Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots, Suitable for hanging baskets
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Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Black Fury')
Hybridizer: Stadler Year of Registration or Introduction: 2008 Foliage type: Dormant Scape height: 30 inches Bloom size: 5 inches Bloom time: Midseason Plant Traits: Diurnal Bud Count: 16-20 Branching: 3-way Bloom Traits: Edged Bloom Form: Single Color description: black with red edge above yellow to green red circle throat Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 3 -40 °C (-40 °F) to -37.2 °C (-35) Flowers: Showy Ploidy: Tetraploid Parentage: Black Market x (Black Briar Bay x Night Wings)
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Chinese Crown Orchid (Eulophia graminea)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade, Partial or Dappled Shade Water Preferences: Mesic Plant Height: 2 to 3 feet Plant Spread: 12 to 18 inches Flowers: Showy Flower Color: Other, Green Bloom Size: Under 1" Uses: Groundcover, Will Naturalize Resistances: Salt tolerant, Humidity tolerant Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots
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Hogwort (Croton capitatus)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Annual Sun Requirements: Full Sun Plant Height: 1-2 feet Plant Spread: 12 inches Flowers: Inconspicuous Flower Color: White Bloom Size: Under 1" Flower Time: Late spring or early summer, Summer Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic Uses: Cut Flower, Erosion control
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Horseherb (Calyptocarpus vialis)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade, Partial or Dappled Shade, Partial Shade to Full Shade Water Preferences: Mesic Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 8a -12.2 °C (10 °F) to -9.4 °C (15 °F) Plant Height: 6 to 12 inches Plant Spread: 6 to 12 inches Flowers: Inconspicuous Flower Color: Yellow Bloom Size: Under 1" Flower Time: Spring, Late spring or early summer, Summer, Late summer or early fall, Late winter or early spring, Fall Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic Uses: Groundcover, Will Naturalize, Erosion control Wildlife Attractant: Butterflies, Bees Resistances: Deer Resistant, Humidity tolerant, Drought tolerant, Tolerates foot traffic
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Photo by Char
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Photo by HamiltonSquare "Jensenobotrya lossowiana"
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Photo by HamiltonSquare "Crassula marchandii"
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Photo by Calif_Sue
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Photo by gwhizz
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Photo by treehugger
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Photo by RuuddeBlock
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Photo by pmpauley
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Photo by Baja_Costero
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Photo by Valery33
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Active threads from our forums:
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The numbers from this week:
242 members joined.
3,423 posts written in our forums.
557 photos posted to the plant database.
697 plants added to personal inventory lists.
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The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly. William Wordsworth
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