Rockin’ Out With Rhododendrons

Rockin’ Out With Rhododendrons

For generations of gardeners, and certainly for me, Rhododendrons represent the arrival of spring in our local landscapes.  Everywhere you drive this time of year there is a stunning Rhododendron in full bloom to catch your eye.  These flowering beauties come in all sorts of…

Going Vertical With Vines

Going Vertical With Vines

Going vertical with climbing plants adds visual interest to any garden, providing nice foliage and often ideal seasonal flower power.  There are useful vines out there in all kinds of shapes and sizes; some for larger areas and others to use as smaller garden accents, or even as simple container specimens.  Whether you are trying to grow on a decorative trellis or obelisk, up a post, along a railing, over a large pergola or arbor, or even naturalize something along a fence line, vines may be exactly what you are looking for…

Early Spring Perennial Color

Early Spring Perennial Color

Now that spring has officially arrived and the sun has returned, our gardens are beginning to brim with activity.  Bees are buzzing about visiting early flowers, foliage is emerging everywhere, and plants are awakening from winter dormancy.  Perennials in particular are a welcome sight for this gardener’s eyes, as they finally spring back to life and…

Amazing Azaleas

Amazing Azaleas

One tried and true shrub for our local gardens are Azaleas - spring flowering beauties that can be utilized in many locations the landscape.  These plants are brothers and sisters to Rhododendrons, offering us spectacular flowers on smaller growing plants that thrive in similar conditions.  There are hundreds of options out there, including…

Japanese Maples for Spring Color

Japanese Maples for Spring Color

Japanese Maples come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, colors, growth habits and foliage types, offering the home gardener a myriad of choices to suit each individual’s taste.  All of these trees get outstanding autumn color, but gardeners should note their spring foliage tones as well…

Bountiful Backyard Blueberries

Bountiful Backyard Blueberries

One of my earliest memories in the garden as a child was devouring berries, of all kinds, that my parents grew in our garden.  Like growing most edibles, there is something a little extra satisfying about cultivating and then harvesting treats like blueberries and even sharing them with friends and neighbors…