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On Gardening: Big Blue salvia is indeed big, blue, and wonderful
Last year Big Blue stunned us at the plant trials. This year, when we're able to get our hands on it, we can say it is indeed big, blue, and wonderful providing all of the spikes you could want to create excitement in the garden. Botanically speaking, Big Blue is a salvia farinacea x S. longispicata cross. If you are a salvia guru then you ...Read more
On Gardening: QIS Carmine gomphrena and Uproar Rose zinnia host a spectacle of nature
Carmine is not a word I grew up with describing color. By definition, it is a vivid crimson. The QIS Carmine gomphrena is a prime example. If you were partnering up a color, an intense yellow gold would be perfect, so send in a dozen or so American goldfinches to eat not only gomphrena seeds, but zinnias, too.
The spectacle has been happening ...Read more
On Gardening: Calliope Large Orange Splash electrifying in color
Calliope Large Orange Splash geranium is new this year and has been causing an assortment of 'oohs and ahhs' at this year at trial gardens. It was particularly so at the Young's Plant Farm Trials at Auburn, Ala., First off, Calliope has really become the go-to geranium in the south for season-long performance.
Syngenta Flowers has packaged the ...Read more
On Gardening: Viking begonias shaking up the garden world
Life seemed as it should for all of us gardeners and horticultural gurus. We loved Big Begonias, Whopper Begonias and Tophat that had just introduced white. Shoot we still had Dragon Wing at the throne when it came to hanging baskets. Then something happened in the space-time continuum of begonias and gardeners. Our happiness has been shaken ...Read more
On Gardening: Hummingbird mints add color and excitement to the garden
The Agastache plants have been laughing in the face of weather that most have called miserable since the beginning of May. The heat combined with no rain was fierce. Then June shows up where we have rainfalls that total four to seven inches a day and although temps are in the 80s the indexes say it feels like 94 plus.
It's been just over 4 ...Read more
On Gardening: Fiesta hibiscus … vacation packaged as a plant
An old hibiscus has The Garden Guy under a magical spell this year for a couple of reasons. Now when I say old, I'm not talking about a specific plant but a variety, Fiesta, that made its debut 53 years ago.
It is incredible that major suppliers are still producing Fiesta after all of the countless new varieties that have made their debut in ...Read more
On Gardening: Superbena Whiteout verbena heads the list of great new white flowers
Each year my color-design guru son orders plants for use at his client's homes, shopping centers, apartment communities, and office complexes. Though he is now way better than his dad, I always reserve the right to ask, have you got plenty of blue.
The answer is always, of course, but the question has now been turned to the dad, as he asks me, ...Read more
On Gardening: Waikiki Sunset a festive lysimachia for mixed containers
Holy Wow gardeners you have got to try Waikiki Sunset lysimachia. It's been almost 20 years since I wrote about Outback Sunset and to be honest it just kind of disappeared from the market at the time. Waikiki is different, foliage more brightly variegated and flowers that are much larger acting making a real impact versus a conversation item.
...Read more
On Gardening: Rockin salvias color, performance and pollinators
Rockin salvias are living up to that name in Georgia. I have never claimed to be a Madison Avenue marketing guru but the name Rockin for a salvia caught me as strange. Then again, who am I to instruct Proven Winners one of the most successful plant groups in the history of horticulture.
True to the name Rockin Deep Purple and Rockin Fuchsia are...Read more
On Gardening: Luna moth sighting one of life's special moments
Last year was a banner year for me in that I saw three Luna moths at my house. Let's just say I am a seasoned horticulturist and wannabe naturalist and probably have seen far less than a dozen in my life. I would ask, how many have you seen and pose the question a little deeper, have you ever seen one?
Some recent photos on Georgia Nature ...Read more
Heidi Stevens: 'It doesn't make the pain go away, but it makes it a little better': 29 years after girl's death, a community garden grows strong
CHICAGO -- Zoey Holmquist-Kuhn, 11, unearthed a slimy white slug and could not have been happier about it.
"I love slugs and worms and ants and spiders and flies and butterflies and moths and caterpillars," she told me. "I like slimy stuff and dirt."
She was in her element, surrounded by a dozen of her fellow Girl Scouts from Troop 25174, ...Read more
On Gardening: Coreopsis light up the roadways and gardens across the country
Everywhere you look in Georgia, coreopsis, are lighting up the roadsides. It makes no difference whether it is a superhighway or a little country road there is the fiery yellow gold of thousands of coreopsis. You would swear it was The Year of the Coreopsis but believe it or not that was 2018, and besides, we always look like that.
This native ...Read more
On Gardening: Truffla Pink Gomphrena looks to be among hottest 2019 plants
Truffula Pink has everyone talking this year and is expected to be among the hottest plants at garden centers. It will be so hot you better buy it when you see it. Truffula is a new Gomphrena pulchella coming from Proven Winners. Like its taller sibling Fireworks, each iridescent hot pink bloom looks as though it is exploding with little yellow ...Read more
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