No doubt, 2018 will go down as the 'Summer of Love' in the garden. Oh, it's not like the Summer of '42 or the Greek romance Summer Lovers, but it's the year petunias started giving us that 'loving feeling.'

To be exact, the trend probably started a little earlier but hit the market with the proverbial crescendo this year. If you haven't guessed...Read more

A couple of weeks ago I was walking a trail and had one of those OMG moments as I spotted a plant 20 feet away and could tell it was a champion of pollinators. At the risk of being a plant geek, I will tell you it was amazing to watch the bees, swallowtails, and hairstreaks all on a frenzy to get to the flowers. When this happens you simply have...Read more

Basket or border columns may not be something you have heard of or have tried, and you may be asking what a basket column is. My best description is a large wire basket with a coconut coir liner that gives the appearance of floating on air by virtue of being mounted on a 4-by-4-foot post or metal column.

I first saw something similar more than ...Read more

In Yellowstone, as you drive from one scenic point to another you'll notice cars pulled to the side of the road. This is a clear signal that something of extraordinary interest has been spotted. Bison, elk, moose, wolves and of course bears are at the top of the list.

The past few weeks, particularly in Georgia, we've been experiencing this ...Read more

Saucy is nothing short of sensational for an annual salvia. From late April through the heat of August a lot of flowers have come and gone, but Saucy is still putting on the wow factor.

Saucy is a series of Salvia splendens which originated in Brazil. It comes in wine which is purple, red which is lush and saturated in color, and my favorite, ...Read more

Bee Colorful flower mix is so vibrant in color it's as if a color artist was involved in its design. Which always seems to be the case when gardeners use triadic harmony; it simply looks harmonious.

Bee Colorful is a new mix from Suntory of Japan. This mix, no doubt, will attract those pollinating visitors but also will garner wows from your ...Read more

Callaway Gardens is famous for a lot of things in the world of nature and certainly, the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center is among the best in the country. It's the place to give you a glimpse into the butterflies of Central America and the Tropics. Outside the Center, however, is where I like to hang out where you see what can happen at your home....Read more

Three years ago I wrote an article on cupheas and merely gave casual mention to a variety called Vermillionaire which we had been growing for a year. Now after growing three more years including seven at my home on a rocky red clay hillside in west Georgia, I can say this is a must-have plant.

When I say must have you may be thinking that is a ...Read more

It has five years ago most of us first saw Kong Junior coleuses in trials across the country. We liked what we saw but knew we had to get our hands on it to see what it could really become. Now we can all say it is truly a winner and worth of all those accolades. This is a coleus you can truly design around.

Five years ago, I was partial to the...Read more

Something wonderful has happened in the world of purple coneflowers and that is science to the point it would probably even impress an astrophysicist. The science here, however, is with the selections, the breeding, crosses, and backcrosses, stuff that makes a rusty horticulturist like myself amazed and a little envious that I wasn't part of the...Read more

Fifteen years ago, the Sun Parasol mandevilla made its debut in the country and those of us who were present knew this tropical climber was here to stay. What we didn't know was that this series giving a tropical magic to the garden would one day feature 21 varieties. We could not have imagined a red and white striped selection, like Stars and ...Read more

All right begonia lovers there is a new kid on the block with the crazy name Funky Pink and it will make a wonderful addition to mixed baskets and planters. I am growing it with Heavenly Blue Surfinia in rectangular baskets hanging from a deck and it is everything I had hoped it would be.

Funky Pink was hybridized by Benary Seed which to be ...Read more

If there was a flower that was the proverbial poster child of underutilized flowers it would have to be the globe amaranth or gomphrena. Two years ago, the Ping Pong series slipped under the radar with its debut and quietly won accolades in trials from South Texas to Pennsylvania.

This summer in Columbus, Ga., it has amazed me with its ...Read more