ArcaMax

The Garden Guy fell in love with the pineapple lily during the years as director of the Coastal Georgia Botanical Garden in Savannah. Every year they returned and did their beautiful display without any extra attention from any of the horticulturists. They also enlarged their clumps giving multiple blooms. All I could think was how in the world ...Read more

Q: My pumpkin and squash vines started to wilt. I investigated the plants and found a white grub inside the vine. Do you know what it is and how to prevent it next year? I think some of the vines are going to survive, so that is good news.

A: Good work on finding the larvae of the squash vine borer. There are four life cycle stages to the ...Read more

Water-hungry lawns are symbols of Los Angeles' past. In this series, we spotlight yards with alternative, low-water landscaping built for the future.

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LOS ANGELES -- The temperature was in the 90s in West Hills, but that didn't deter an astonishing number of monarch butterflies, hummingbirds and bees from feeding on the California-...Read more

One of the plants that literally took your breath away at the plant trials this year was the new Supertunia Tiara Pink. Shoot, I am not even a pink flower guy in the least but this one had me mesmerized. Subsequently the ones made available to me in testing have been the same, a "Holy wow!"

I’ve recently posted a photo on my Facebook page and...Read more

Q: We are living in an area that is having a drought. We were talking to a neighbor, and he said that he was thinking about upgrading his irrigation system to a smart system. I am not sure what a smart irrigation system does that our current system doesn't do. We watch the weather and the rainfall and adjust accordingly. We have many plants that...Read more

The Garden Guy used to drive Mississippi’s Highway 49 from Hattiesburg to Gulfport to fall in love with the native Stokes aster. They aren’t just native to Mississippi but found throughout the South. I have loved them at homes I have owned and in places like the Columbus Botanical Garden when I was director. I promise you will be stoked over...Read more

Q: When I was younger, we had a purple clematis that bloomed in May while I was still in school. The other day, I saw a clematis that was in full bloom at the end of June. It was pretty so I looked into clematis, and there are so many different groups and pruning methods that I am really confused. How can I get a spring and a summer blooming ...Read more

Q: Our crab apple tree is suddenly losing all of its leaves. Some are yellow, some are green and some have large brown spots on them. The lawn next to the tree is irrigated, so we think the tree is getting enough water. What else can we do?

A: It sounds like the tree has a fungal disease called apple scab. It is a common disease on older apples...Read more

At the end of April, I had a gardening epiphany, a virtuoso experience if you will: I grew my first dahlia.

The hot and humid region of the Chattahoochee Valley of west Georgia is probably not the first area of the country that comes to mind at the mention of a dahlia paradise. But this day in April, as I looked at the Pinkerific, I felt as if...Read more

A year ago, a lot of us had the opportunity to try Supertunia Hoopla Vivid Orchid petunia. Even more importantly though, these new plants were part of the university trial programs. My first reaction was that these petunias were just a fancy novelty. These trial programs proved me wrong and this year the gardening public is showing their delight...Read more

Q: We were looking at our flowers the other evening and saw an amazing insect with huge pincers on its rear end. What is it, does it do any damage and how do we get rid of it, if it does?

A: An insect pest many people seem to have this summer is the earwig. They are 1-inch-long insects with pincers on the back end. They can pinch, but not too ...Read more

After seeing the flowers at the Young’s Plant Farm annual garden tour in Auburn, Alabama, I felt a sense of desperation to get my hands on the Luscious Basket Tangeglow lantana. I don’t always think about lantana being a component plant in mixed-container designs, but they had several that were simply dazzling.

Luscious Basket Tangeglow is ...Read more

Q: We bought some early sweet corn from the farmers market. It was the sweetest I have ever eaten. I want to grow some in my garden next year. The lady at the market didn't know what kind it was. Any ideas on what to look for?

A: In the case of many garden plants and sweet corn in particular, a great deal of work has been done to produce new ...Read more

During The Garden Guy’s stint as executive director of the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, I was completely taken by a native plant named the Manfreda maculosa. The common names associated with this plant are false aloe, spice lily and Texas tuberose and it was comfortably residing in the Agavaceae or Agave family. I’ll chase ...Read more

Q: I am having a problem with thistles in my flower beds. I can't seem to get rid of them. What is the best treatment?

A: The key to many weed problems is timing. Most thistles are biennials. This means that during this spring, summer and fall, new plants will sprout from seeds. A rosette of leaves will grow a taproot to store energy so it can ...Read more

As a national garden writer, I can tell the trumpet call has gone out for the long summer ahead. This is a call for petunias, summer’s favorite flowers, and they are trumpet shaped, of course. This call is also one of panic as I hear it in the voices of gardeners saying "I can’t find my Bubblegums."

This means they can’t find their ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Looking out the front windows of their northeast L.A. home, Kyle Anido and Katie Cordeal say their front yard is barely recognizable from a year ago when it was a lawn.

"It's crazy to see how lively the garden is now," says Anido, a 37-year-old camera operator. "There is so much bee activity."

"It has absolutely exploded," adds ...Read more

Q: A few weeks ago, I bought a columbine plant that had pretty red flowers. The plant tag said that the blooming time was May and June. The flowers lasted only a few days. We aren't even halfway through the time the tag said they will bloom. Was this short blooming time because I just planted it, because it is a young plant or because of some ...Read more

The National Garden Bureau designated 2024 as the Year of the Hosta, but I would dare say that once you start growing hostas, every year thereafter will be a cause of celebration. It is a job well done, however, that the National Garden Bureau made this declaration as there will always be gardeners, both young and old, who need to experience the...Read more

Q: My daylilies are usually beautiful, but they already have long stripes of yellow and dead areas on the leaves. I looked for insects but didn't see any. I don't think I over fertilized, but I don't know what else to look for.

A: The most likely problem is a simple fungus disease called daylily leaf streak. The first thing you might see is ...Read more