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We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Flower colors are white and luscious shades of red, including burgundy, maroon, mauve, pink, and purple, and often handsomely patterned with contrasting edging and eyes. Blooming in late spring and early summer, the bold colors are striking when massed in beds, borders, containers, and rockeries, or throughout butterfly, cottage, and cutting gardens....

I had purchased them at the Home Depot, planted them, and then sat back and happily watched the spikes bloom in gorgeous shades of purple and blue against my red house. When September came, dragging increasingly chilly nights along with it, the delphiniums died back. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Unless you count snow....

Of insects, that is. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. While you can buy the stuff at pretty much any garden store, you can make your own insecticide using those same lovely flowers that you grow in your garden. You can also use clever companion planting to help discourage annoying pests from visiting your veggies and ornamentals....

How can you begin to tame this jungle and get things back in shape? Perennials Most blooming perennials have finished their first bloom period and are getting ragged-looking by now. This is a good time to trim the plants back by about half. Remove dead stems, leaves, and spent flowers. If you do this about late July, most perennials will have time to bloom again, sometimes giving a better display than the first round....

They are highly annoying but don’t do much harm. The common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) will only lay eggs on fruit that is already damaged or is overripe. The spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) is NOT that kind of fruit fly. It is a fruit-killing machine. The female even has a special egg-laying organ that is serrated like a saw, so she can lay her eggs inside ripening fruit. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

Cover cropping is a common farming practice, with applications for smaller scale plots and raised beds where flowers, fruits, herbs, and vegetables grow as well. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. This article focuses on rotating cover crops rather than growing the same ones in the same places from year to year. Here’s what we’ll cover: Let’s start with a brief review....

You know, the whimsical, open-air shelter that’s all the rage as a backdrop for wedding and prom photos? We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. And if you need some pointers in narrowing down your selection and choosing the best model for your needs, we’ve included this handy buying guide: What’s Your Pleasure? Qualities to Consider Take a few minutes to think about what you want in an outdoor structure....

Firstly, this easy-to-grow aromatic plant provides plentiful harvests during summertime. And secondly, the aerial parts make a delicious and calming herbal infusion. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. A cold infusion will provide you with the lovely aromatics of lemon balm while calming your mind and uplifting your spirit. And a hot infusion is best to access the full spectrum of this plant’s medicinal constituents....

Though dried cranberries often feature in granola blends and baked goods, and the juice is popular in combination with vodka and favored by those who suffer from UTIs, the fresh fruit is something that many of us have never experienced, preferring instead to buy a can of the gloppy jelly-like stuff to include with the holiday meal each Turkey Day. And fresh is always better and full of healthy vitamins and nutrients....

Fall is the time to reap all the goodies that we’ve sown. But winter? It can be a bit lifeless when it comes to gardening. That’s when I fill the windows and shelves around my home with herbs and lettuce. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Want to be able to quickly grab some leafy stuffing for your sandwich?...

This can happen precisely because of the care you have given it, in fact. Unlike many other types of lush houseplants, these plants prefer allowing the soil they’re planted in to dry out between waterings. Watering that is too frequent can cause the roots to become vulnerable to diseases and rot, leading to symptoms including black stems. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

But autumn can be the perfect time for gardening. The soil is still warm and the milder temperatures more pleasant. You might catch yourself eyeing your mature summer crops and wondering, “Do I have time to plant a fall garden?” The answer depends on where you live, and what you want to plant. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

Actually, I’m here to tell you that it’s way more! By definition, xeriscaping is landscaping geared to dry climates where little irrigation is available. It involves the cultivation of “xerophytes,” or plants that require very little water, like cacti and succulents. However, today’s interpretation of the concept is much broader, and may be applied to all climate zones. How can this be? Because xeriscaping isn’t just about growing plants where there isn’t much water....

Whether your color scheme is pinks and reds, yellows and oranges, or an eclectic mix, the addition of blue – at random or as a focal point – wakes up a garden. The plants listed are all native to the US and do exceptionally well in their appropriate regions. This means less watering and maintenance for you, and better habitat for animals like birds, bees, and butterflies and other pollinators....

And once those leaves are cleared away, it’s goodbye to lawn chores until spring, right? Wrong. Even when turf is dormant during the coldest months of the year, it can benefit from a bit of care and attention. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. Warm season grass grows in spring and summer, and turns the color of straw in cold weather....

My answer is that it doesn’t have to be difficult (though it can be). There are two key elements to making your life easier while still enjoying beautiful blossoms. The first way to ensure that you won’t be laboring in the garden all day long is by selecting the right plant for your space. We have a guide to help you with that part. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products....

This group includes several species and hybrids, with some that bloom as early as December and continue until mid- to late spring, depending on your region. Evergreen varieties require mild winters, but most are deciduous with good cold hardiness. Varieties include the very early evergreens like ‘Apple Blossom,’ alpine cultivars such as ‘Pamela Jackman,’ the nodding macropetala varieties like ‘Markham’s Pink,’ incredibly floriferous montanas such as ‘Rubens,’ and the scrambling, rockery varieties like ‘Avalanche....

Breeders have been working for a long time to make roses that don’t shred your arm to pieces when you walk by or go out to take a stem or two for an arrangement. These days, some incredibly stunning blossoms are attached to totally thornless stems. Some others are nearly so, with thorns that are broadly spaced, or not nearly so firm and sharp as the thorns we picture when someone mentions being stuck by a rose....

Poinsettias, the favorite holiday houseplant, have been bred into a wide selection of cultivars, with over 100 different varieties to choose from. These cultivars come in many different colors and patterns. And the plants also have differing growth habits: some may appear rounded and compact while others have a more upright appearance. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

Their eye-catching blossoms (technically an inflorescence) come in a range of colors, from deep purple to bright pink, and icy blue to pale lavender. There are also varieties with white or green blooms. Their display is so splendid that you might find it particularly upsetting when they fail to send out their distinct flowers. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....