The Garden Guy has known of the summersweet or Clethra alnifolia for over 20 years; when the variety Hummingbird was selected as a Georgia Gold Medal Winner in 1996. If I may pose the question, however, do you, 'really' know it? Embarrassingly I have to admit, I didn't.

I am here to tell you it is a champion of pollinators. I have been watching...Read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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