By Sandra Nelson As much as I love plants and gardening, I have always felt that my gardens were — to put it bluntly — markedly mediocre. The individual plants were lovely, but somehow they just didn’t fit together to make the dramatic impact I dreamed of. So, with all of the extra time …
Read More »
By Sandra Nelson This week’s pick by Jo Ann Prieto, horticulturist and seasonal color specialist. Lantana “A great, sturdy heat tolerant plant that can be used en mass in the landscape and in pots as trailers.” Each bloom a living rainbow for the garden, lantana adds a playful zest to …
Read More »
By Sandra Nelson With grocery store shelves emptying, schools closing, layoffs increasing, hospitals warning of patient overload, large public gatherings being banned and repeated pleas for extended periods of self-quarantine, the world is becoming a scary place. Every newscast, every online article and even our Facebook posts revolve around the pandemic and its sweeping …
Read More »
By Sandra Nelson This week’s pick was submitted by an anonymous staff member at Embassy Landscape Group. Calla Lilies “Peaceful…an almost indescribable peacefulness…” Simple elegance; calm, stately beauty; exotic other-worldly grace — just a few of the ways that the calla lily has been described by those who love them. Not …
Read More »
By Sandra Nelson Although it was never called by name, in retrospect I realize that my grandmother’s wild and free style of gardening that I talked about last week — her rambunctious garden — was her personal version of what we would call an English cottage garden. Cottage gardens can be traced …
Read More »
By Sandra Nelson Today’s pick is by Shawn Eptig, Lily of the Valley I’ve heard it said that this is the fragrance of heaven. Straight from your grandmother’s garden, the familiar lily of the valley is a hardy ground cover for shady spots. Masses of …
Read More »By Sandra Nelson My grandmother was famous in our neighborhood for her rambunctiously beautiful flower gardens. To my knowledge, she never purchased a commercially produced seed or plant. Instead, each fall she carefully collected and saved seeds from her favorite flowers, dug summer bulbs and took some cuttings to grow on …
Read More »
By Sandra Nelson This week’s pick is by Philip Grubb, Horticulturist Virginia Sweetspire Graceful in the spring, fragrant in the summer, striking in the fall and structural in the winter, this native deciduous shrub is truly an all-season plant. Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica) is easily grown in moist, well-drained soil, making …
Read More »
By Sandra Nelson We had a quick taste of spring this past weekend. It was warm and sunny and people in our neighborhood were out in full force taking advantage of the beautiful days to begin their spring yard clean-up. Leaves were raked and bagged, perennials chopped back to the ground, trees were …
Read More »
This week’s pick is by Art Hayzlett, Irrigation Service Manager Bloomerang Lilac If you’re longing for the sweet scent of lilacs all summer long, then the reblooming Bloomerang Lilac could be the answer. At only 4 feet tall, this easy to grow variety is suitable for foundation plantings, hedges, …
Read More »