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On Gardening: Florida Sunshine, golden in cool-season mixed containers
This has been a great year of cool-season container color thanks to the addition of a little Florida Sunshine. Your first thought might be that the cloud cover finally broke and the sun was shining ever so brightly. However, we are under rain and thunder it seems forevermore, but our mixed containers or ever so beautiful thanks to Florida ...Read more
On Gardening: Peacocks showing up in landscapes dazzling with color and texture
Peacocks are showing up in the landscape this year and causing many of us to become fixated on their beauty. As you might expect, The Garden Guy is playing semantics with you. I am talking Peacock kale. The innovative commercial landscaper industry in my area has caught on to the monolithic size and beauty these plants exhibit.
I have always ...Read more
Kids and seniors growing (more than plants) together in garden mentoring program
When Marti Kohl retired from her work as a paralegal, she decided to take up gardening at the Rancho Carlsbad Community Garden. Her plot was right next to the plots reserved for the children in the Rancho Carlsbad Garden Mentoring Program, a partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad.
"Truth be told, when I took on a garden plot, I ...Read more
On Gardening: Christmas over, time for a tulip planting party
Now that Christmas is over, it's time to put our thoughts on tulips. At least this is when many in the South do it. Friends and relatives in the North hopefully got theirs in sometime in October before the ground froze.
The Garden Guy will freely admit that a mass of tulips in bloom is about as beautiful a sight as there is in the world of ...Read more
On Gardening: Pantone Color of the Year Classic Blue an 'inspiration for gardeners'
The New Year will be rockin' baby thanks to Proven Winners' introduction of the Salvia Rockin' Blue Suede Shoes. Not only will this salvia bring in the hummingbirds, bees and butterflies all summer, but it will be trending with the celebration of 2020 Pantone Color of the Year 'Classic Blue'.
To be exact, Classic Blue is Pantone 19-4052, for ...Read more
On Gardening: 'This was the most beautiful Christmas ever'
It was a 191 years ago that Ambassador Joel Poinsett brought the plant we now know as the poinsettia to the United States. There is no way he could have dreamed of all of the colors, shapes, treatments or enhancements you find with today's poinsettias. Ambassador, we thank you for your vision.
Recently I was at a high-end food market and was ...Read more
On Gardening: ColorMax violas offer months of dazzling cool season color
The November Polar Express put a lot of good gardening folks in a funk. Consider, many of us had virtually had no frost, then the front swooped down dropping temperatures to a bone-chilling 22 degrees in West Georgia. So, if you are in a funk or simply found yourself behind in cool-season color then reach for a flat or two of ColorMax violas. I ...Read more
On Gardening: Cool-season euphorbias offer color, texture and a crescendo of blooms
Euphorbias are starting to amaze in cool-season plantings whether they be in containers, or as the perfect pansy partner in the landscape. More than likely your first thought is euphorbias for the summer landscape like Diamond Frost but I'm talking Ascot Rainbow that has been the rage since it was declared a Texas Superstar in 2011 and Miner's ...Read more
On Gardening: Peanut butter for the holidays, a most rewarding gift
Peanut butter for the holidays may elicit a 'that's for the birds' response, and, you would be right. But who doesn't like peanut butter cups and peanut butter swirled ice cream? Peanut butter, however, is a special treat for the birds, and if you like birds coming to your sunflower or thistle seed feeders, you will be in birdwatching ecstasy ...Read more
On Gardening: Lacebark elm offers fall and winter magic
The lacebark elm met Old Man Winter's confrontation head-on and won and is now showing out in the Chattahoochee Valley area of West Georgia. While record cold took its toll by freezing leaves to the tree, these small elms are decorating neighborhoods with a soft, orange and yellow glow.
The lacebark elm is known botanically as Ulmus parvifolia ...Read more
On Gardening: Fatsia tropical foliage and flowers for pollinator feasting
Fatsia and pollinators don't often find themselves in the same discussion but in the last few years my eyes have been opened to the point I can give a Holy Wow to this 'Shrub of the South.' Most of us never pay attention to the blooms of the fatsia which on their own are as intricate as a bottlebrush but comprised of showy spheres or globes. ...Read more
Hydrangea varieties add long-lasting color to the garden
Electric blue and neon purple in "The Garden Guy's" hydrangeas made 2019 an unforgettable year in the garden. These colors came courtesy of Let's Dance Rave hydrangeas from Proven Winners. We've all seen those photos in catalogs and brochures making us wonder if those flowers really will look like that for me, and I can say, yes, they did!
This...Read more
On Gardening: Make the woodland garden picturesque with anise
Fall is the best time to plant trees and shrubs from the standpoint of acclimatization in the landscape. That being said, I would like to give a shout-out for an underused illicium or anise.
Throughout the South or Pacific Northwest in zones 7 and warmer, the illicium is a much-used shrub for the evergreen structure or bones of the landscape. ...Read more
On Gardening: October Magic camellias put you in a gardening frame of mind for fall
October Magic camellias have captured The Garden Guy's heart in recent years with blooms that are nothing short of exquisite and of a size and vigor of plant that seems perfect for the landscape. I have had camellia sasanquas that reached the second story and took a pretty tall ladder to do a little trimming.
When you think about October, it is...Read more
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