June 18-24 is National Pollinator Week in the United States and The Garden Guy is here to encourage you to get on board. I've been a bee and I can tell you the job they do is hard work. What it basically boils down to is no pollinators, no food to eat.

My experience at being a bee came courtesy of the Texas A & M peach breeding program when I ...Read more

It seems as though the gurus of landscape color have been awakened this year to the old-fashioned verbena. While the term old-fashioned might justify with the flower we know as verbena, it's a relatively new variety called EnduraScape that is causing all the fuss.

The EnduraScape series has been out for about 4 years and now boast 10 colors. ...Read more

The color that always catches my eye in the garden is orange. It is not subtle, it reaches out and commands your attention. Though it is in between red and yellow it is the hallmark color on the color wheel.

Now not any old orange will do for The Garden Guy, I want screaming, shocking orange and the best plant for that is Compact Electric ...Read more

When I looked out the office window at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens toward our Rhythm and Blue's Garden I could tell there was an evolvulus performing like none I had ever seen. I was surprised too, as I felt like I was Mr. Evolvulus.

I say that 'tongue and cheek' as there is a very good chance you are wondering what in the world is an...Read more

A recent visit to The Landings shopping center in Columbus Georgia taught me a little lesson. I have been too restricted in my thinking when it comes to selecting plants for mixed containers, Shasta daisies to be exact.

I love Shastas, and always have, but shoot they were for cottage gardens, wildflower patches, and picturesque perennial plots....Read more

There is an old adage that you can't have your cake and eat it too, which is most likely correct, but with Golden Delicious I assure you, you can have your pineapple and eat it too. Well maybe I should clarify; we aren't taking fruit, but the most luscious sage on the planet.

Golden Delicious pineapple sage made its debut about 15 years ago and...Read more

Cobalt blue and indigo blue are terms I regularly see as descriptors or adjectives if you will for one of the relatively new black and bloom salvia, one of hottest plants in the marketplace. Hummingbird magnet and tough-as-nails are other adjectives letting you know this is a special plant.

It's not every day that a plant scores high in trials ...Read more

Cobalt blue and Indigo blue are terms I regularly see as descriptors or adjectives if you will for one of the relatively new Black & Bloom salvia, one of the hottest plants in the marketplace. Hummingbird magnet and tough-as-nails, are other adjectives letting you know this is a special plant.

It's not every day that a plant scores high in ...Read more

The past couple of years it seems one calibrachoa has been like a piece of heaven to the world of gardening and that is the Superbells Lemon Slice. This little petunia-like flower of iridescent yellow and white seems to make all companion flowers look better and yet as a monoculture plant it can stand alone, too.

Calibrachoas have been out for ...Read more

The mountain laurels are blooming in the South adding to what has been an incredible spring. No doubt under Mother Nature's watch full eye the mountain laurel bloom will progress northward in amazing fashion.

Stunning is a word I often use to describe a particular plant but today that word is reserved today for the apparent lack of utilization ...Read more

As we all strive to get our hands on every native milkweed for our states and to the ultimate benefit of the Monarch butterfly I thought I might plug its use for the other guys. Your first thought might be I'm talking about the Queen or Soldier butterflies that are related to the Monarch and also must have milkweeds as larval host plants.

That'...Read more

Calliope has quenched my thirst for long-lasting geraniums. No longer am I jealous of the West Coast as I now have geraniums that I plant in April and they continue to look great at Christmas.

Perhaps there should be a caveat or two to that. I grow geraniums in mixed containers and baskets, which is exactly what I was doing in Rincon Ga., which...Read more

The first time I saw the native sweetshrub I instantly fell in love with it, the small deep burgundy flowers and fragrance was an instant lure. I would see them at old homes and plant swaps but not so much in the marketplace.

It is known botanically as Calycanthus floridus and is native in more than 20 states in the Eastern United States, as ...Read more

Solar storms have been in the news the past couple of weeks in an almost, 'the sky is falling,' scenario but it can be happening in your landscape, too, thanks to new Solar Flare and Solar Glow azaleas!

As spring arrives in the south first, I can tell you landscapes are lighting up with what many consider one of the best of the best azalea ...Read more