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Norman Winter/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Hollywood VIP a hibiscus for the ages

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Norman Winter/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Catch Lightning in a phlox with this new variety

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Norman Winter/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Heart to Heart caladiums persevere in a summer of triple digits

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Her native plant garden brings all the butterflies to the yard -- and admirers too

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Norman Winter/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Miss America is a real beauty for the garden

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Nathaniel Levine/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Sacramento is building more community gardens. Who will take care of them?

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Handout/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Estrellita Scarlet stars in the pollinator garden

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

LSU AgCenter/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Let loose the chartreuse

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images North America/TNS

Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro and Patti Smith join fight to save NYC Elizabeth Street Garden

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Norman Winter/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: You will be Totally Tempted by these new cupheas

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Norman Winter/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: America's Sweetheart: A Hollywood Hibiscus story comes true

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Norman Winter/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Tiara Blue will dazzle with Supertunia magic

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Handout/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Move over fans: The Scaevola has become a star

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Norman Winter/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Pineapple lily production a crowning achievement for gardeners

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

In a hot LA neighborhood full of brown lawns, his DIY native plant garden thrives

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Handout/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: Tiara Pink a jewel of a Supertunia

Gardening / Gardening News /

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

Handout/Norman Winter/TNS

On Gardening: New Stokes aster will have you Totally Stoked

Gardening / Gardening News /

The Garden Guy used to drive Mississippi’s Highway 49 from Hattiesburg to Gulfport to fall in love with the native Stokes aster. They aren’t just native to Mississippi but found throughout the South. I have loved them at homes I have owned and in places like the Columbus Botanical Garden when I was director. I promise you will be stoked over...Read more

 

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