Unlike other palms, these plants aren’t all that tender. They can even handle a freeze now and then, which makes them ideal if you want to put a tropical-looking palm near a door or cold window. It’s no wonder these plants were so highly valued that they were grown most notably by the wealthy and aristocratic people of Japan, throughout the past several centuries. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

Unlike its cousin catnip (Nepeta cataria), Faassen’s catmint does not drive felines wild, so you are free to plant it in your garden without fear of your yard turning into a hangout for tipsy tabbys. All members of the Nepeta genus produce nepetalactone, the kitty intoxicant, but the amount in Faassen’s catmint is considerably less than the amount found in catnip. So you may end up with some super-sensitive kitties in your yard, but not a convention....

It’s a welcome ingredient in cold beverages and teas, as well as in sweet and savory dishes. And its renowned taste and aroma are found in a myriad of products around the home from air fresheners to mouthwash. Bees and other pollinators flock to the enchanting spires and tufts of flowers that bloom in pastel shades of blue, mauve, pink, or white. And this frost-hardy perennial even grows year-round in regions with warm winters....

With its ability to grow tall and its traditional trunk and canopy shape, it’s no wonder the weeping fig is a valued houseplant. And it makes an excellent option to fulfill this desire – with one significant caveat. Part of what makes the weeping fig so appealing, beyond its elegant shape and cascading habit, is its versatility. You can find specimens with braided or twisted stems, and plants that grow to heights ranging from just a few feet tall at maturity to 10 feet or more....

It’s a vigorous plant commonly found growing among the grain crops in farmers’ fields. Also known as cornflower, its delicate blossoms have been charming country folks for generations. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Currently on the USDA’s list of Introduced, Invasive, and Noxious Plants, this plant is prohibited in North Carolina. It is also classified as invasive in Tennessee, Georgia, and Maryland, and is gradually making its way into the prairie lands of the northwestern United States....

That’s because it serves as a beautiful addition to the garden, and it’s also one of those plants that’s essential for any serious home cook. You might be wondering if you can grow bay (also known as sweet bay or bay laurel) in a container as an addition to your patio veggie garden. Or maybe you want a set of elegant topiaries to frame your doorway. Perhaps you have limited space, and want to make the most of it with a plant that can do double duty....

For some reason, watermelon gets all the summertime hype. Some of that needs to go straight to cantaloupe, which in my unpopular opinion, is much tastier than watermelon. With a strange texture, slimy seeds, and an abundance of, well, wateriness, the watermelon just isn’t my type of fruit. Cantaloupe, though, is one of my favorites. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

Celery was the stringy offender in the otherwise pleasant garden vegetable soup she offered up on summer nights. But then one day, my friend’s mom served celery sticks slathered with sugary peanut butter as our playdate snack. I was hooked! We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Celery leaves, used as herbs, also make a tasty addition to soups....

Delightful throughout the garden, the flat-faced flowers beguile in colors and combinations of burgundy, crimson, maroon, mauve, salmon, scarlet, pink, and white, with a soft, lightly rounded fringe. Highly attractive to pollinators like bees and butterflies but resistant to deer, the pretty pinwheel flowers are borne on slender stems with attractive blue-green, elliptical foliage. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

It puts on an effortless and long-lasting show of bright, lovely foliage for almost the entire growing season, and it seems only to require my admiration and endless fawning to keep on keepin’ on. I have to be honest about something else… I am highly biased towards Gaillardia. Not only is it a lovely flower that puts on a nonstop performance, it’s also the first plant my wife and I grew together from seed....

These exceptional root veggies are fairly straightforward to start (no stratifying needed here) once you know what to do. And because they have long taproots that don’t like to be disturbed, they practically beg to be started from seed. Now, all that being said, there are a few tricks to getting the job done. A lot of gardeners will tell you that these veggies are fussy when grown from seed and that germination rates are low....

Or maybe they nabbed one at the farmers market on a whim and then didn’t know what to do with it. I don’t blame my American pals. Radicchio hasn’t gotten its due in the States. I suspect that’s because of its distinctly bitter flavor. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. In Italy, growers have mastered the art of breeding the plants over decades....

These delicious, nutritious hallmarks of summer grow perfectly well in a pot on the patio. This may come as a surprise, given how large zucchini vines can grow in the garden, but it’s true! We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Vining varieties are the ones that spread out many feet along the ground in all directions....

The name has stuck in my head ever since. Though the moths themselves are harmless, their larvae are menaces to trees, chewing holes in the leaves and sometimes stripping the foliage entirely. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. We’ve compiled everything you need to know about these chewing pests in this guide. Here’s what we’ll cover:...

When I think about what species to welcome into my precious garden space, one question I like to ask myself is, “Does this plant serve more than one function?” For this reason, one of my all time favorite herbs to keep in my garden is comfrey! We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. And it is extremely easy to grow – perhaps too easy, as it tends to spread if it’s not well managed....

Once temperature and humidity conditions are right and and it finds a host plant on which to become established, it is extremely difficult to eradicate. The southern blight fungus Sclerotium rolfsii, is hard to miss in healthy, green tomato plants. The leaves of the plants turn a sickly yellow color and begin wilting very quickly. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

And when you propagate your own, they give even more! We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Here’s a quick overview of everything I’m going to cover: If you’d like even more tips for growing these conifers, be sure to check out our complete guide to growing and caring for Norfolk Island pine trees....

So, how do you make sure those blooms last as long as they can and help your perennial produce as many as possible throughout the season? The answer is in the pruning methods that you choose. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. It is important to know when and how to prune this perennial in order to get the best results....

Borage is one of those plants that makes me feel like I am a world champion green-thumb. Whether I start them from seed or grab a few starts at the local farm, they seem to thrive no matter how neglectful I am. That should tell you that if you’re thinking of starting some borage from seed, you don’t have a difficult task ahead of you. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

The pathogen spreads easily between plants and can survive on infested plant material in the soil for years if buried deeply. It can affect other cole crops including close turnip relatives in species Brassica rapa such as bok choy as well as close cousins within species Brassica oleracea such as cabbage. Since this disease takes a while to show symptoms and can spread before you know your plants are infected, prevention is critical – especially for organic growers....