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On Gardening: Supertunia Mini Vista petunias a plum choice for 2025
Four years ago or so, Supertunia Mini Vista Indigo was extensively used in our area and was like the shot heard round the world. We all looked at each other with a sense of bewilderment asking how a Mini Vista could compete with the Vistas for a long, hot summer show of color. With every new variety or addition to the series, it has been the ...Read more
On Gardening: Hollywood VIP a hibiscus for the ages
The Garden Guy has always been a tropical plant geek, and not a closet one either. My second book was "Paradise Found: Growing Tropicals In Your Own Backyard." The years I was the host of Mississippi State’s Southern Gardening TV, I was most always decked out in a tropical floral shirt.
So, when Proven Winners announced this year that ...Read more
On Gardening: Catch Lightning in a phlox with this new variety
You have heard or perhaps even said something like, "Wow, he caught lightning in a bottle." It may now be said, "Boy, they caught lightning in that phlox." You will see what I mean if you try the new Luminary Pink Lightning phlox coming out in 2025.
The Luminary series already has Opalescence, a light pink tall garden phlox that is indeed the ...Read more
On Gardening: Heart to Heart caladiums persevere in a summer of triple digits
I looked at one of my photos the other night and thought "Holy wow!" I leaned over to the couch and said to my bride, Jan, "Look at this."
She said much the same but asked, "Where is that garden?"
Delightfully, I said, "In your backyard!"
The picture was clear evidence that the Heart to Heart caladiums faced the onslaught of extreme summer ...Read more
Her native plant garden brings all the butterflies to the yard -- and admirers too
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 -- When Aurora Anaya bought her little Art Deco house on a corner lot in Whittier, California, she was excited about the chance to create her own garden. And then she met a man...Read more
On Gardening: Miss America is a real beauty for the garden
There is a grand lady who has been gracing my garden the past couple of years. In fact I would say she is definitely Miss America. You know The Garden Guy is having fun, as I am talking about Shadowland Miss America hosta.
The past two summers have to go down as a hosta survivability challenge of sorts. If the hostas are not crying uncle The ...Read more
Sacramento is building more community gardens. Who will take care of them?
SACRAMENTO — Eight-foot sunflower stalks tower over tracts overrun with weeds. A wooden post marks a habitat for ground-nesting native bees. Near one garden entrance, a tree’s branches droop to the ground, laden with ripe yellow peaches.
Here, in the River District, at the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers, large green ...Read more
On Gardening: Estrellita Scarlet stars in the pollinator garden
Last year was exciting for The Garden Guy as I became introduced to a plant called Estrellita Little Star. The name is neat to me as Estrellita actually means Little Star. While that might sound redundant it also sounds like a profound introduction: This beautiful flower is Estrellita…. Little Star. It is like Spanish and English celebrating ...Read more
On Gardening: Let loose the chartreuse
Over the years The Garden Guy has written about the various Pantone Colors of the Year. I really love applying trendy colors to the garden. A new coleus making its debut has made me really start to think about this color that is so thrilling. It is a color that you simply can’t use wrong. It makes you happy when you see it in mixed containers...Read more
Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Patti Smith join fight to save NYC Elizabeth Street Garden
NEW YORK — High octane celebrities Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Patti Smith waded into a fight to keep the Elizabeth Street Garden, a whimsical greenspace near Little Italy, from being turned into affordable housing on Thursday, penning letters to Mayor Eric Adams and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development....Read more
On Gardening: You will be Totally Tempted by these new cupheas
There will be a lot of temptation for gardeners in 2025; so many new plants are showing up at the garden center. Being the astute gardener you are, you probably can guess I am yanking your chain a little as I introduce you to the Totally Tempted cuphea series.
If you are a hummingbird lover you already know some cupheas. The Totally Tempted ...Read more
On Gardening: America's Sweetheart: A Hollywood Hibiscus story comes true
Early in the summer, I was sent a press release that caused one of those "holy wow!" moments. The headline said it all: "Proven Winners ColorChoice Expands Catalog with the Addition of Hollywood Hibiscus." I had already become familiar with the Hollywood Hibiscus series and was thrilled that Proven Winners was adding this to their lineup.
Even ...Read more
On Gardening: Tiara Blue will dazzle with Supertunia magic
There is no doubt that the new Supertunia Tiara petunias have triggered the excitement meter for the new plants of 2025. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Supertunia Tiara Pink that is truly a "holy wow" new introduction. But there is a partner named Supertunia Tiara Blue that will take your breath away.
Tiara Blue will reach about 12 inches tall ...Read more
On Gardening: Move over fans: The Scaevola has become a star
The Garden Guy was a scaevola guru when scaevola wasn’t cool. Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration; let me explain. The year was 1997 and your humble columnist was the coordinator of the Mississippi Medallion Award program, whereby we selected outstanding plants for promotion, based on how they performed in trials. That year we chose ...Read more
On Gardening: Pineapple lily production a crowning achievement for gardeners
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
In a hot LA neighborhood full of brown lawns, his DIY native plant garden thrives
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
On Gardening: Tiara Pink a jewel of a Supertunia
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