Category: Home & Garden

Create a sustainable garden to help the environment and reduce your carbon footprint. You can get compost, mulch, and fresh food from it while mimicking nature’s ecosystem in your yard. Begin with organic gardening techniques, conserving resources, and adding natural elements to your garden bed. Follow these tips for a long-lasting and thriving sustainable garden.

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What is a sustainable garden?

Discover the wonders of eco-friendly gardening! By incorporating organic methods and resource management, this practice promotes a healthy planet and sustainable growth. Sustainable gardening acknowledges the impact we make on both present and future generations, supports the surrounding ecosystem, and collaborates with nature rather than opposing it. Plus, enjoy a stunning garden while making a positive impact on the environment.

To achieve sustainable gardening, it’s crucial to use plants that are native to your area. This not only ensures they thrive in the appropriate climate but also prevents invasive species from taking over your yard and your neighbor’s. Adopting a collaborative attitude with Mother Nature also contributes to success. Rather than ruling your garden with an iron trowel, view it as a joint effort with nature for mutual rewards.

How do I make an organic garden?

If you are looking for how to do organic gardening, then you are on the right track. Don’t worry if you lack knowledge and experience, the plant identifier app will fill this gap. There is a useful application – Plant Identifier, which allows you to recognize a plant in an instant. That’s not all, an app for plants allows you to learn more about the needs of different types of plants. If you install this app for iPhone, then you will know what kind of top dressing is needed, and what are the preferences of the plant. In case of illness, the plant app allows you to identify it and gives advice on how to treat it. A very comprehensive service that will definitely come in handy for beginners, but also for experienced gardeners.

Cut out pesticides

If you’re looking to make your gardening more sustainable, eliminating pesticides is a great first step. Overuse of pesticides has contributed to a significant decrease in insect populations, which has a ripple effect on the entire ecosystem. By using companion planting instead, you can control pests naturally. This technique involves planting compatible crops together, such as French marigolds which emit an odor that repels greenfly and blackfly. This method is not only good for the environment but also helps ensure clean air, water, and food for us all.

Proper sunlight and utilization of shade

To cultivate a thriving garden, choose a section of your yard that gets at least six hours of sunlight per day. If you have spots with partial shade, consider planting vegetables that thrive in those conditions, including kale, lettuce, spinach, and root vegetables.

Buy peat-free compost

When buying compost, opt for ones that are entirely free of peat. This is crucial as peatlands are vital in reducing the effects of climate change and maintaining the carbon cycle by storing carbon. Despite taking centuries to form, peatlands are often destroyed in a matter of days to meet human demands. Luckily, there are plenty of alternatives to peat such as coconut fiber, wood fiber, and other organic materials that can be used instead.

Mulching and composting

Composting and mulching provide valuable benefits to the environment by replenishing crucial nutrients in the soil and improving its water retention capacity. It’s essential to utilize organic mulch in both garden beds and pathways. For optimal results, establish a compost pile in your yard and incorporate green materials, ash, and kitchen scraps regularly for a steady supply of nutrient-rich soil to enhance your garden naturally.

Create a compost heap

Did you know that you can turn your food and organic waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer for your garden? Making your own compost heap is a great way to recycle, and you can even repurpose materials you already have instead of purchasing a new compost bin. Take the opportunity to get creative with household items – try creating biodegradable seedling pots out of cardboard tubes and newspapers. Simply cut and fold them to size, and plant them directly into the soil.

Collecting and conserving water

Sustainability aims to rely solely on nature’s water supply. Collect rainwater in barrels or containers for future use in the garden. Any uncollected water that is lost to sewers is wasted. You can help by enhancing soil quality and using natural pathways to absorb water. Mulch, trees, and ground cover help soil retain more water. There are many ways to preserve water in your garden.

Attract beneficial insects

Did you know that there are many beneficial insects in your garden? The good news is that you can attract them with a variety of plants! Bees, butterflies, and birds are crucial pollinators for a healthy garden. To keep them coming all season long, try diversifying the plants and flowers in your garden with extended blooming periods. Your garden will thank you for it!

Conclusion

Creating a sustainable garden isn’t just good for the environment – it’s also incredibly rewarding and satisfying. With these tips, you can create a garden that will thrive while being mindful of the planet’s resources. From choosing native plants to composting and mulching, there are plenty of ways to make your garden more sustainable. So get growing!

Replacing your garden plants with drought-tolerant perennials is the smart choice for a low-maintenance garden that conserves water. For any hot hot summers, this can be a real lifesaver for your garden, energy, and water bill! Here are a few of my favourite drought-tolerant perennial flowers.

The climate is changing, and what we used to be able to count on for garden micro-climates is now all over the map.

By now, you may know that I live in Vancouver, BC. Vancouver is a rainforest, specifically a temperate rainforest, considered part of the rainy Pacific Northwest. It’s green and lush and mossy.

Well, it was green and lush and mossy. Now we are facing drought conditions in the summer from too little rainfall and not enough snow over winter. Drought!

The forest fires that ensue from crispy plant material are horrendous, and they spread like (I won’t say it, but you know!). All the water we have goes to fighting these fires, leaving us with watering restrictions for gardens.

As I pray for rain and water my plants with the little rainwater we have, I can’t help but think that it’s time to look into what plants can survive well and even thrive in drought conditions.

There are some cool plants here that won’t even make you think twice about those water-sucking perennials you used to have!

This post will cover…

Top 21 Drought Tolerant Perennials

Aster

Symphyotrichum spp.

Zones 3-8

Many of the other drought-tolerant perennial flowers on this list will bloom in the summer, but the aster is a late-season flower that blooms from August to October. So if you live in an area with a hot autumn, you can still enjoy some colour.

My favourite is the New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae). It can come in pink, purple, or white. Asters need a decent amount of room, spreading 1-4 ft. wide. Every few years, they need to be divided so the center doesn’t become bare.

Blue Fescue Grass

Festuca glauca

Zones 4-8

To add some different texture to your garden, I highly recommend grasses. Many of them are quite drought-tolerant. Blue fescue grass is a popular option thanks to its bright blue-grey foliage.

You can use fescue frass to conserve soil moisture for neighbouring plants and prevent weed growth. It loves full sunlight, and when it’s quite hot, the plant will stop growing until it rains. Mature plants, however, are especially drought-tolerant and won’t miss a beat.

Coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

Zones 3-8

Purple echinacea is one of my favourite drought-tolerant perennial flowers. Every garden I’ve had features them from summer to fall, as they have long bloom times. They’ll bloom even after the first frost.

In their first year, they may need some protection for colder climates. But after that, they’re among the hardiest perennials you can find out there.

While fairly maintenance-free, you’ll want to routinely deadhead them to keep them blooming all season long.

Echinacea is amazing for the cold and flu season, helping to boost your immune system. Visit this post to learn you can make a tincture using echinacea root, leaves, and flowers.

Daylilies

Hemerocallis spp.

Zones 3-10

You’ll find daylilies in many front yards and ornamental beds. They’re an excellent space filler that works well for edges. The most famous type of daylily is probably the yellow Stella d’Oro, but many more come in reds, oranges, and even purples and pinks.

Daylilies bloom from spring through to late summer. The best way to source one is by inheriting a daylily clump from another gardener. Daylilies respond well to being divided and often need splitting every few years.

Daylilies are also on my list of edible flowers.

False Indigo

Baptisia australis

Zones 3-9

False indigo is a member of the pea family, Fabaceae, and creates tall, beautiful spikes of pea-like flowers. The flowers bloom from April to June atop grey-green leaves.

After the blooms fade, they’re replaced by black seed pods. They add some nice garden interest during winter if you leave them on the plant.

If you plant false indigo from seed, you’ll have to wait 3-4 years before the plant reaches its maximum height. If you’re not feeling patient, then you can plant one from the garden centre, and it should be full-sized within a year.

Feverfew

Tanacetum parthenium

Zones 5-9

Not only is feverfew a great drought-tolerant perennial, but it’s also a powerful medicinal herb. It’s well known for helping to prevent migraines and headaches and has anti-inflammatory properties.

I don’t have to worry about planting feverfew because it’s wild and will pop up without any input from me. But if you want to grow it in your garden, it’s easy to grab some seeds and then let the plant take over from there.

Feverfew self-seeds, so if you want to control the spread, make sure to deadhead and only leave a few heads to self-seed and return the following year.

Firecracker Penstemon

Penstemon eatonii

Zones 3-8

Firecracker red is right with this drought-tolerant perennial! On one of the 2-3 ft tall stems, firecracker penstemon can form 5-10 tubular, bright red flowers. It can bloom from late spring to late summer.

It grows well in dry, rocky areas and only requires partial shade, making it a very low-maintenance plant. It looks great in prairie plantings, rock gardens, and cottage gardens.

French Mallow

Malva sylvestris

Zones 4-8

Every cottage garden needs French mallow as one of its drought-tolerant perennials. It grows as a perennial in the Mediterranean and as a biennial elsewhere but will self-seed for many years of enjoyment. You may also recognize the plant by its other common name, cheeses mallow.

The flowers are a deep purple with noticeable vibrant veining. Bees love the flowers for their pollen.

French Mallow is easy to grow from seed. The plant can grow up to 5 ft high and has long, hairy stems.

Goldenrod

Solidago spp.

Zones 2-8

Native to North America, you’ve probably seen goldenrod growing amongst meadows and bush or alongside highways in ditches. While once considered a weed, many people now appreciate this wildflower’s beauty and durability.

The plant will grow fine on its own, not needing any supplemental fertilizer and very little water, except when young and not yet established. As it gets taller, it may need staking or support to prevent it from flopping over.

Hens and Chicks

Sempervivum tectorum

Zones 3-11

Hens and chicks get its cute name comes from the main rosette acting as the hen with the small rosettes growing from it known as the chicks. It’s one of the most popular succulents, partly because it’s so low maintenance and can survive cold winters.

As a type of succulent, it likes dry and warm climates and needs next to no supplemental watering. It can grow in sandy and rocky soil, doing well in rock gardens and in between landscaping stone.

Lamb’s Ear

Stachys byzantine

Zones 4-9

When it comes to foliage, there’s nothing quite like lamb’s ear. It has thick, silvery foliage that feels as soft as a teddy bear. In the garden, it can become a beautiful ground cover as it spreads fast.

Place them in areas where the soil is poor, and other plants struggle. When in rich soil, it can spread fast.

It doesn’t like lots of wet soil. Add a layer of mulch to prevent the leaves from getting wet and soggy.

Lavender

Lavandula spp.

Zones 5-9

Lavender will always be one of my most near and dear plants. It’s one of those powerhouse plants, being beautiful, edible, medicinal, great for pollinators, and a drought-tolerant, full sun perennial.

Native to the Mediterranean, it likes hot and dry conditions in the summer and cool winters. It responds well to pruning, so shear off the spent blooms after the first round of flowers, and you may get a second round of lavender.

The two most popular types of lavender are English (Lavandula angustifolia) and Spanish (Lavandula stoechas). Both are great options for a drought-tolerant garden.

Lavender Hyssop

Agastache foeniculum

Zones 3-8

This drought-tolerant perennial is native to prairies and dry forested areas. You can find lavender hyssop in the Midwestern USA and From Ontario to BC. They’re a pollinator favourite, blooming from late summer to early fall.

Some also recognize this plant by its other name, anise hyssop, because it has a slight anise smell. It’s a member of the mint family.

Lavender hyssop can grow up to 5 ft. tall and 3 ft. wide, so they work well planted in the back of a bed. It will get lanky if planted in partial shade, so give it full sun.

Liatris

Liatris spicata

Zones 3-9

While liatris is a member of the daisy family, it doesn’t have the signature petals like others in the family. It grows in tall spikes decorated with star-like flowers that form a fuzzy-looking head. They’re a beautiful purple colour and a welcome sight for butterflies.

Most liatris is grown from corms or by purchasing starts from the garden centre. This way, they’ll flower in their first year.

Liatris are native to the prairies and are one of the best summer-flowering bulbs for cold areas. Plant the corms in early spring for purple flowers from mid-late summer.

Lupine

Lupinus x hybrida

Zones 4-8

Another member of the pea family, the lupine is a beautiful wildflower that has impressive large spikes of pea-like blooms. They are most often found in purple but also come in blue, white, and yellow.

You can purchase lupine as both a perennial and an annual, so ensure you’re getting the right one! However, the plant will produce many seed pods (which are toxic).

It should be noted that some areas consider lupine an invasive species, which is toxic to humans and animals. So plant with care.

Rosemary

Salvia Rosmarinus

Zone 7-10

Rosemary is a staple for many cooks, but it’s also a beautiful ornamental shrub—that smells absolutely divine! It can grow to be 4×4 ft., so make sure you plant it somewhere with enough room.

You can grow rosemary from seed prior to the last frost, or start a plant as a cutting from someone else’s rosemary. They’re fairly inexpensive to get as a start from the garden centre as well.

There are many different rosemary cultivars; some are more cold-hardy than others. Look for one that is best suited to your area.

Rudbeckia

Rudbeckia hirta

Zones 3-9

You may recognize rudbeckia by its more common name, black-eyed Susan. It’s easy to see where it gets its name, with its great brown center contrasting against the yellow, daisy-like petals. Rudbeckia has turned into a garden staple, thanks to their bright appearance and low-maintenance needs.

Rudbeckia is a short-lived perennial, meaning it will live about 3-5 years before declining. The plant will self-seed, however, which can mean plenty of natural blooms.

Help your rudbeckia get established with supplemental watering in their first year. After that, they’re pretty hardy to drought conditions.

Sedum

Sedum spp.

Zones 3-10

Sedum is a beautiful groundcover succulent that is naturally drought tolerant. They have thick, fleshy leaves and produce clusters of small flowers. The leaves come in various shades, as well as the flowers.

Almost every continent has sedum, meaning you can likely find a native species to add to your full sun garden. They work well in mass plantings, in containers, groundcover, and for borders.

Sedum are self-reliant as long as they’re planted in well-draining soil and get full sun. You don’t need to worry about deadheading the spent flowers.

Thyme

Thymus vulgaris

Zones 4-11

Thyme is the general name for 300-400 species, but it’s a beloved herb for its culinary and medicinal uses. It’s native to Europe and Asia, so it can grow in various temperate climates.

Starting thyme from seed is difficult and time-consuming, so I suggest buying thyme as a start or taking cuttings from a friend.

You’ll only need to water established thyme plants when the soil is completely dry, though it can go through periods of drought just fine. Divide the plants every 3-4 years to prevent the stems from getting too woody and tasteless.

Tickseed

Coreopsis spp.

Zones 2-11

If you want to fill a bed with bright sunshine-like flowers, tickseed is the perfect plant for you! This drought-tolerant, full sun perennial is native to North America and is super low maintenance.

There are quite a few varieties of tickseed. Some will get tall and spread quite a bit, so plan accordingly.

They’re fairly maintenance-free, but if you want to encourage more blooms, deadheading is recommended. Plant them in full sun. They aren’t too particular about their soil needs.

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Zones 3-9

Wild yarrow is traditionally white and used for medicinal purposes, but you can find yarrow in just about any colour from the garden centre. They respond well to division, so if you have a plant with lots of stalks, try separating them before planting them for even more plants.

You can also grow yarrow from seed easily. Start them indoors before the last frost, or direct sow them outside afterwards. They’re not picky about where to grow, often sprouting from poor soil. In fact, they can be aggressive spreaders, so keep that in mind if you don’t want the wild look.

Frequently Asked Questions about Drought-Tolerant Perennials

More Perennials to Grow

Overall food prices have soared by 25%-30% in only three years (again, this means that you are now paying 30% more this year for food than you were paying at the beginning of 2020). Chicken is up from $3 per pound to $4 per pound.  Beef is up from $3.50 to $6 per pound.  Corn is up from $3.50 per pound to $4.70 per pound.  Wheat is up from $5 per pound to $7 per pound.  In 2019 the average American household was spending $8100 on food annually; with a 30% increase, in 2023 Americans will be spending at least $10,500 per household.          

By the end of 2019, the average rental price of a single family home was around $1450 per month.  This year the price is around $2000 per month.  At the beginning of 2020, the median cost of a home was $320,000; by 2023 the price skyrocketed to an average of $416,000.  

For gasoline, the price in early 2020 was around $2.50 per gallon.  The price has fluctuated dramatically due to Biden’s manipulation of the market using strategic reserves, but still remains high today at $3.80 per gallon.  

The cost of electricity has risen swiftly, holding steady around .13 cents per kilowatt hour for a decade, then spiking to at least .17 cents per kilowatt hour by 2023.

Remember, most of these costs are static and are difficult to reduce through household spending cuts.  These are not items that are easily removed from a monthly budget and the expenditures add up to considerable pressure on consumer accounts.  This is probably why around 74% of the public in polls say that the economy is getting worse, not better.  It’s because government statistics are not highlighting the true inflationary crisis.

When we look at the cumulative climb of prices in necessities since before the inflation crisis officially began, the truth is that Americans now have to increase their wages by at least 25%-30% on average to maintain the same standard of living they had three years ago.  This is a disaster not seen since the stagflationary event of the 1970s and early 1980s.  If you have a strange feeling like your bank account is being rapidly drained in recent months, that’s because it is.”

Please plant gardens and learn how to grow your own food. It’s really important. There is no relief on the horizon.

Continue reading to learn about how to grow winter cabbage in your garden.

What Is Winter Cabbage?

When growing cabbage for a winter harvest, you’ll need to select a late-season cultivar, also known as “storage variety” or “overwintering” cabbage.

These names refer to the late season types that have better cold tolerance than others, and can provide you with a fresh harvest from November right through to February or March.

Often favored for use in making ferments like sauerkraut – an excellent storage option with probiotic benefits – these varieties often grow the largest heads at maturity, and they tend to keep in cold storage for longer periods than other cultivars as well.

You might be surprised to learn that the main limiting factor for growing cabbage in winter isn’t cold, but light. In the late fall and winter months, the decrease in daylight slows plant growth.

Therefore, it’s important to get plants in the ground early enough so that they have time to mature before the days draw in.

To sow seeds, rake the soil and amend it with compost if necessary. Sow at 1/2 inch deep and 11-18 inches apart.

When transplanting seedlings, space plants 12-18 inches apart.

Winter cabbage requires less water than cabbages grown in the spring. Otherwise, growing requirements are the same as for other types of cabbage – see our full growing guide for more info.

Another option is to plant your storage variety cabbage in a container. Choose one that is at least 1 foot in diameter and 1 foot deep. Also, make sure the container has drainage holes, as this vegetable doesn’t like waterlogged conditions.

If you choose to plant in a container, follow the same schedule of planting dates mentioned above.

Provide Protection from Cold

Most cabbages can survive light frosts, but when temperatures dip below 20ºF this can damage them. If you live in an area where the temperature gets this cold, plan to protect your plants.

Floating row covers can protect plants from frost and increase temperatures a little under the cover.

For frost protection, choose a heavyweight cover. Make sure the sides are weighted down and the ends gathered to provide maximum protection against the elements.

Cold frames and low tunnels are other options to protect cabbage from extreme cold.

And if your plants are growing in containers, you can simply bring them inside and place them by a sunny window when very low temperatures are forecast.

Harvest Tips

Cabbage is ready to harvest when the heads are full and firm.

According to Grethen Voyle at Michigan State University Extension, cabbages can be harvested even if they appear frost damaged. Simply peel back damaged leaves until you reach the healthy ones inside.

As an added bonus, light frosts can actually increase the sweetness of these hardy vegetables.

Storage Tips

One of my favorite things about cabbage is that it’s easy to store, and lasts a long time. Once you’ve harvested your heads, they will keep for up to three months in a root cellar.

If you don’t have a root cellar, they will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. I’ve found the best storage method is to place heads in a plastic bag on a shelf.

If you plan to store your crop longer than a week, leave the extra outer leaves intact and wait to wash until you’re ready to prep and eat. Avoiding extra exposure to moisture will help to keep them fresher for longer.

If you pull your cabbage out of storage and discover some rotten leaves, simply peel back the bad ones until you find a healthy-looking head underneath.

Cherry Ong recently visited Seattle’s Pike Place Market, which is a famous farmers market; however, she was focused not on the fresh produce for sale, but on the beautiful plantings.

This garden bed with the Corten steel edging is located by the Market Pavilion and overlooks the water. The bed is everything you would want in a summer garden—bold, spicy, and full of color and energy.

Huge castor beans (Ricinus communis, Zones 9–11 or as an annual) dominate the planting here with bold, dark leaves and showy red developing seeds.

A morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea, annual) has been trained to grow as a mound of foliage sprinkled with beautiful purple blooms that will fade in the afternoon.

Closer look at the morning glory blooms

Petunias (Petunia hybrids, Zones 9–11 or as an annual) are blooming amid sweet potato vines (Ipomoea batatas, Zone 10–12 or as an annual. The dark sweet potato foliage makes the petunia flowers glow.

Spotted bee balm (Monarda punctata, Zones 4–9). Most bee balms are grown for their showy flowers, but on this species, the flowers are small and almost unnoticeable compared to the large, beautiful, white-and-pink bracts that surround them.

Though not technically petals, these brachts perform the same function—attracting pollinators.

A cluster of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus, annual) not yet in bloom still provide great beauty thanks to their bold foliage.

Brilliant gold sweet potato vine and blue sea holly (Eryngium sp.)

A big patch of marigolds (Tagetes patula, annual) brings intense color to this bed. Marigolds are among the easiest and heaviest-flowering annuals you can grow.

This incredible hanging basket includes sweet potato vines in two colors and some gorgeous petunias.

Another hanging basket, with almost the same plants, gives a completely different feel without the red petunias.

 

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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Mother Fern, Asplenium bulbiferum

With a name like mother fern, this plant must be the end-all-be-all, mother of all ferns, right? You wouldn’t be far from the truth. I’m a huge fan of this magnificent specimen and I routinely add it to shady gardens. Hmm…..maybe another common name for this plant should be favorite ferny friend? (I am totally aware that this might not catch on.)

Please keep reading to learn more about this fabulous fern:

Mother fern also goes by hen and chickens fern, mother spleenwort, and New Zealand common spleenwort. With names like those, you instantly realize that this tropical fern is both native to New Zealand and probably holds some medicinal value to spleens. True on both counts: mother fern hails from the NZ region, and indigenous Maori collected young fronds and ate them raw or cooked. The hen and chickens moniker comes from the fact that the feathery fronds develop tiny offsets at the edges that grow to roughly two inches before falling off and then sprouting into new ferns near the parent plant. This is probably the real reason they call it mother fern.

Hardy to USDA Zones 9-11, this mildly tender evergreen fern really brings a vibrant and lush feel to gardens with its bright green lacy fronds that arch to two to three feet high; the entire plant grows to three feet wide. I like adding this fern to gardens where Japanese maples create dappled shade, where acorus and hakonechloa act as a grassy ground cover, and where other water-loving plants prevail. This fern also looks lovely tucked next to a large rock or around a water feature with fellow ferns and aquatic plants.

If you live in a colder region, consider growing this fern inside. A spot with lots of natural light is preferred. Even a covered porch or patio will work. Avoid hot direct sun through a window or skylight as this will scorch and dry out the delicate fronds. Indoors, this fern also likes consistent moisture but not soggy, so make sure your container drains properly. And if you really want to be successful with this fern, give your indoor plant a mini summer vacation by taking it outside and giving it a shower and some fresh air before bringing it back in.

Cheat Sheet

• Perfect for modern, tropical or woodland gardens. Indoors, thrives near north- or east-facing windows.
• Attractive plant partners include shade-tolerant palms, ornamental grasses, heucheras, philodendrons, and, of course, other ferns.
• This graceful plant also makes a great container specimen, inside or outside the home.
• Deer, slugs, and snails unfortunately find this fern tasty.

Keep It Alive

• Plant this fern in a shady spot away from drying winds and thirsty roots of large trees. Deep shade is also tolerated.
• Keep the soil moist. You will know your fern is dehydrated when the fronds droop and shrivel a bit. You can prevent this from happening by giving it regular water.
• To make this fern happy, give it rich soil amended with compost or worm casings.
• To protect the roots and help retain moisture, make sure you add an organic mulch around the base.
• Carefully trim off any brown or dying fronds, being careful not to cut any emerging new growth.

See also:

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1. Estwing Fireside Friend

Don’t let the petite size and light weight fool you – the Estwing Fireside Friend is a hatchet-sized maul that delivers outstanding results.

Robustly built of high-grade American steel, the forged, one-piece construction gives plenty of heft and power for a small tool.

Meant for a one-handed swing, it cleanly rends small logs and wood rounds along the grain and chops kindling like it’s slicing butter.

Estwing Fireside Friend

The head is double tempered for exceptional hardness and the bit is hand-sharpened for a precision edge. The large, round poll end can be used with a sledge or wedge as needed.

A durable vinyl grip is permanently bonded and molded to the handle, providing shock reduction and ergonomic comfort by absorbing and reducing impact vibration.

Finished to exacting standards, the four-pound, royal blue head and 14-inch shaft are covered with a protective UV coating. Included is a nylon sheath for head protection while in storage.

Well-made and highly effective, it’s perfect for camping or the backyard fire pit.

Current prices and customer reviews can be found at Walmart.

2. Fiskars IsoCore Maul

The Fiskars IsoCore maul is big and well-designed to plow through knotty or green wood, with a brawny head and vibration-free handle.

The dual head provides a splitting face and an extra-large driving poll for striking wedges and stakes.

Fiskars IsoCore Maul

Forged and heat treated, the steel is strong, tough, and durable, with a rust-resistant coating that helps to prevent sticking when driven deep into wood.

The blade geometry has been optimized with a convex wedge shape to efficiently rend along the grain, forcing wood apart.

A high-end composite handle provides optimal comfort with an insulating, steel-reinforced fiberglass core.

Shock waves are absorbed and dispersed, and a comfortable, textured grip of thermoplastic rubber reduces fatigue. The handle heel has a flared edge to prevent slips, keeping your swing controlled and powerful.

Fiskars IsoCore Maul

Safety features include a riveted head that won’t slip or separate and a steel-reinforced shoulder guard to prevent damage from overstrikes.

Tested to exceed both US and ISO standards for striking tool endurance, the Fiskars IsoCore measures 36 inches and has an eight-pound head.

Made in Finland, this is a big, well-built stick for big jobs. It comes with a lifetime warranty to be free of defects in materials and workmanship.

Read customer reviews and check prices now at Walmart.

3. Fiskars Super Splitting Axe

Light and nimble, the Super Splitting Axe has an extra-long, 36-inch handle that generates plenty of head speed to tackle most backyard firewood chores.

With perfect weight distribution and the wedge-shaped geometry of a maul, it also has a sharp cutting edge to maximize performance, biting into and rending wood with little effort.

Fiskars Super Splitting Axe

The heat-treated, forged steel blade has a hard, sharp edge and a low-friction coating that helps it travel cleanly through wood without getting stuck. And for extra security, the head is over-molded so the blade can’t separate from the handle.

The FiberComp handle is made for ergonomic comfort with a nylon/fiberglass composite that provides excellent shock absorption. The durable composite also protects against overstrikes and is rust- and corrosion-free, and the hooked end prevents slipping.

The Super Splitting Axe has a four-pound head, and it’s lightweight and easy to control with the long handle.. Made in Finland, it comes with a lifetime warranty against defects in materials or workmanship.

Find current prices and customer reviews now at Tractor Supply.

4. Fiskars X11

The ideal tool for small or quick jobs, Fiskars X11 is compact and beautifully balanced, easily splitting small logs and kindling with a one-handed swing.

Molded of high-carbon steel, the blade has an ultra-sharp edge for chopping or limbing and a broad, robust head with a non-friction coating that cleanly rends along the grain, dispersing wood with a minimum of strikes.

Fiskars X11

The FiberComp handle has a hollow chamber that absorbs shock and an overmold provides shoulder protection, ensuring the head is permanently in place and won’t loosen. The textured handle gives ergonomic comfort and the deer-hoof tip keeps it firmly in hand.

The handle measures 17 inches and the head weighs two and three-quarter pounds. Made in Finland, it comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

High quality in a mini maul size that’s well-suited for camping or the firepit, this model is available via Amazon.

5. Garrett Wade Professional Maul

For those who enjoy the natural feel of a wooden handle, Garrett Wade’s Professional splitting maul uses oiled American hickory for a tool that’s well-balanced and efficient at quickly working through billets or logs.

The forged German steel axe head has distinctive raised cheeks, forming a wedge to push wood apart and prevent sticking. A solid, rectangular poll can strike or be struck as needed to wedge through larger jobs.

Garrett Wade Professional Maul

The straight-grained hickory handle has a flared tip to maintain a sure grip, and an extra-wide shoulder with a red steel spaulder prevents damage and shock from overstrikes.

The Garrett Wade Pro has a 31-inch handle and a four-pound head. Made in Germany, it comes with a 90-day money back guarantee. Returns in the USA are paid by Garrett Wade with the prepaid shipping label included in the original packaging.

Mid-sized and lightweight, this is a big-time performer. Find prices and customer reviews at Garrett Wade.

6. Garrett Wade Super Splitter

A Garrett Wade exclusive, the Super Splitter maul features a six-pound head of German steel with a sharp, convex bit that quickly broadens to wide shoulders – the ideal combo to bite into and rend rounds without jamming, even in tight-grained wood.

Garrett Wade Super Splitter

The sturdy handle of straight and true oiled American hickory has a slightly hooked tip to maintain a safe grip. Extra-wide shoulders have a red steel safety collar that helps resist shock from overstrikes and prevents damage to the upper handle.

The handle measures 31 inches and the head weighs six pounds. Made in Germany, Garrett Wade provides a 90-day money back guarantee.

Sturdy and well-balanced with the natural feel of wood, this is another excellent option. Find it now at Garrett Wade.

7. Halder Simplex Maul

Halder Simplex’s nine-pound maul features a unique head with a forged steel blade for splitting and a poll end of superplastic nylon for striking wedges.

The wedge-shaped head has a sharp bit for biting into wood and the durable superplastic is engineered to hit hardened steel without cracking or chipping, even in cold temperatures.

Halder Simplex Maul

A cast iron housing unit neatly holds all the pieces together. With excellent break resistance, it forms a protective overstrike area and is easily disassembled to replace components as needed.

A long-grained hickory handle absorbs shock without shattering and is lightly contoured for ergonomic comfort.

The Simplex head weighs nine pounds and the handle measures 35 inches. Made in Germany, it comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

This is a tough, durable hybrid for heavy-duty jobs. Customer ratings and prices can be found at Home Depot.

8. Husky Premium Log Super Splitter

Husky’s Premium Super Splitter is constructed to specifications that exceed ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) standards.

Delivering outstanding durability and safety, the axe-head is built with large, raised cheeks to neatly cleave small to mid-sized rounds or whittle up a pile of kindling.

The forged head has a sharp blade that bites cleanly into surfaces while the wedge forcefully rends along the grain, easily splitting wood with a minimal number of strikes.

Husky Premium Log Super Splitter

A double- injected fiberglass handle increases strength and durability, and a full sleeve encircles the shoulder for overstrike protection. A soft TPR rubber handle gives a comfortable, sure-handed grip and the deer-hoof tip ensures it won’t slip from your hands.

The handle measures 34 inches and the head weighs four pounds. Made in Vietnam, it comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

Lightweight but effective for fatigue-free chopping, maybe this is the tool for you. Prices and customer reviews are available at Home Depot.

9. Husqvarna Splitting Axe

The Husqvarna splitting axe is a cross between a hatchet and a maul, constructed of high-quality, drop forged steel with a sharp axe bit and flared edges that form a wedge, effectively cutting small to medium pieces of firewood.

Husqvarna Splitting Axe

The head is treated with a nonstick coating that reduces friction when driving through tight grains, and the flat, milled butt can be used as a hammer with aluminum or plastic wedges, but should not be used on steel wedges.

The composite rubber handle is fiberglass reinforced, providing a comfortable, shock-absorbing grip, plus tough, long-lasting durability. A stainless steel spaulder provides protection to the overstrike area.

The handle measures 24 inches and the head weighs two and seven-tenths pounds. Made in Sweden, Husqvarna provides a limited lifetime warranty.

Small, light, and easy to maneuver for medium duties, you can check prices and find customer reviews now at Amazon.

10. Razor-Back #8 Wood Maul

A full-sized tool constructed with a brawny, eight-pound head of quality forged steel, the Razor-Back #8 maul is designed for excellent control, functionality, and safety.

The sturdy, wedge-shaped head has a deep bit for rending logs and rounds plus a large, round poll for striking wedges. And the head-to-handle connection is reinforced with a steel pin for maximum safety and head retention.

Razor-Back #8 Wood Maul

A solid fiberglass core absorbs shocks through the length of the handle and the thermoplastic rubber (TPE) overmold gives a comfortable, secure grip.

Three layers of TPE form the overstrike collar and the flared tip ensures safe handling without slippage.

The Razor-Back #8 has an eight-pound head and 34-inch handle. Assembled in the USA using American-made as well as internationally sourced components, it comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

Well-built and comfortable for extended use, consider adding this model to your tool chest. Prices and customer reviews can be found at Home Depot.

Axes vs. Mauls

While they have many similarities, axes and mauls serve different functions.

Both are simple machines that use a wedge and lever.

The handle is a lever that increases head speed – or in other words, the longer the handle, the more speed it creates.

The head is wedge-shaped to transfer energy into a cut or split. A narrow wedge is better for cutting and a wide wedge is best for splitting.

Head weight is variable, with heavier heads increasing energy at impact.

Let’s have a quick look at how they work.

With its distinctive flavor and fragrance, basil is a treasured kitchen herb that thrives in summer’s heat.

Gardeners love its fast growth in response to warm temperatures. But this frost-tender annual is short-lived and needs to be resown yearly.

These vigorous plants flower and set seed freely. And once the growing season slows down, collecting seed from your favorite varieties is a smart way to ensure a repeat performance next year.

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Just a few flowering basil plants can produce hundreds of seeds, which makes growing a steady supply of flavorful leaves easy and economical.

You’ll always have your own curated supply to make successive plantings from spring through midsummer, and beyond!

And with your own seedbank, you can grow plants whenever you like. Try cultivating basil all winter indoors with a good grow light or start garden seedlings early, before seasonal supplies are readily available.

The collection process is the same for all varieties of basil. So whether you grow sweet ‘Genovese’ or pretty ‘Purple Thai,’ the easy steps described here apply across the board.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this article:

Watch for Flowers First

Basil is grown for its exquisitely fragrant and flavorful leaves, and pinching out emerging flower buds is always recommended to extend the season.

However, if you want to collect seeds for planting next year, or perhaps for use in cooking, some of the plants must be allowed to flower.

Only a few plants are required, as each one can produce several tall flower spires laden with pods containing hundreds of seeds! These serve to attract beneficial pollinators as well.

It’s important that the pods have enough time to fully mature and ripen after flowering but before the first frost of the season arrives in order to produce viable seeds for planting next year’s crop.

This process can take six to 12 weeks to complete, so flowers should be allowed to develop fully by mid-July to mid-August at the latest, depending on your region.

Basil plants love the heat and sun, and when cool temperatures hit they can shut down quickly, resulting in the potential loss of any unripe pods that are still developing.

At the start of July, or August in warmer regions, choose a few healthy basil plants and stop pinching out the central stems to allow flower buds to develop.

Continue to water and fertilize your plants regularly, caring for them as you normally would.

After flowering, pods will form at the base of the spent flowers. These contain the seeds, and they are ready to harvest when they begin to dry and change from green to tan or light brown in color.

Take care to harvest before the pods open and disperse their contents throughout the garden or into your planters. Use clean scissors or a sharp knife to cut the stems at the base.

Process the Pods

Allow the pods and stems to dry completely, for at least a  few days. Place them in a warm, dry location out of direct sunlight. When they’re dry, the pods will be light brown and brittle to the touch.

After drying, hold the stems over a large bowl, paper bag, or shallow tray and rub the pods between your fingers to gently release the mature black seeds.

You can also place the stems into a paper bag and lightly crush the bag with a rolling pin. Use a gentle touch and apply just enough pressure to break the pod shells open without pulverizing what’s inside.

Tip the crushed material into a mesh sieve held over a shallow tray. The seeds are tiny, and a typical metal kitchen sieve will allow them to pass through while blocking most of the chaff. A splatter screen also works well for this.

Gently shake and swirl the sieve until only the chaff remains.

Some fine particles will also go through the sieve. Use your fingertip or a small artist’s brush to separate and sweep away any debris. You can also blow lightly to disperse the chaff.

Discard the excess plant material in the trash or the compost pile.

After processing, it’s time for your dried harvest to go into storage.

Storage Tips

When stored properly, basil seed has a long shelf life, staying viable for up to five years.

Select a container that seals well, such as a small envelope, or a glass or plastic jar with a tight-fitting lid.

Ensure that everything is completely dry before storing, including the containers. Moisture can lead to the growth of mold or a failure to germinate.

Label and date the containers, and rotate them each year so the oldest in your collection are used up first.

Store the containers in a cool, dark, and dry spot away from any heat sources.

The ideal temperature for storage is 40 to 50°F. Due to fluctuations in humidity, the refrigerator should be avoided for storage.

Save, Sow, and Savor

With its sweet anise-like flavor, spicy fragrance, and easy growth, basil is a garden favorite. And saving your own seeds from the garden means you can sow plants easily and savor your favorite flavors for years to come.

Remember to give your selected plants plenty of time to flower and produce mature pods. Ensure that everything is completely dry before storing, and rotate your stock each year to use the oldest ones first.

That’s all it takes to harvest and save homegrown basil seed – and start your own heritage collection!

Do you folks have any tips or tricks for cleaning the chaff from small seeds like basil? Let us know in the comments below.

And for more information about growing basil, be sure to read these articles next:

Accidents happen. This is one of the universal truths of life, and it’s also true of pumpkins, my favorite fall fregetables.

Take this scenario, for example:

You’ve been growing several gorgeous gourds on a strong, hardy vine, and they’re getting larger every day.

You dream of making your own homegrown pumpkins into pie, or of carving your giant squash into the most delightful jack-o’-lanterns.

But then, something terrible happens. Maybe it’s caused by an early frost, an extreme case of powdery mildew, or an energetic young helper in the garden who accidentally broke the vine.

Whatever the reason, the life-giving vine dies, leaving your unripe gourd sitting pretty… and it’s pretty green.

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If this has happened to you, take a deep breath and keep reading. If the fruit is close enough to maturity, you can still help it to turn orange.

We will show you how!

If you’re looking for basic tips to grow your own pumpkins at home, read our guide.

In this article, here’s what you’ll discover:

How to Turn Pumpkins Orange After the Vine Dies

Why Did My Vine Die?

Let’s go into a bit more detail about the three main reasons why your vine may have died before the squash could turn orange.

But first, a caveat: if the vine dies only halfway through the growing season, unfortunately there’s nothing you can do to coax the fruit to turn orange.

This guide is for those late-season issues that can befall your plants, resulting in a nearly mature pumpkin that isn’t orange yet.

1. A Frost You Didn’t See Coming

Nothing hits your vines harder than a freeze of 32°F or lower. An early or unexpected frost can make gardeners despair – especially if they are growing pumpkins!

According to Benjamin Phillips and Ronald Goldy, experts with the Michigan State University Extension, it’s best to plant seeds so that your fruits will be 50 percent mature at least one month before your area’s average first frost date.

Let’s take south central Alaska, where I live, as an example. My area’s average last frost date falls on May 29, and the first frost date falls on September 11, meaning we have a short growing season of just over 100 days.

Most pumpkins mature within 75 to 120 days, depending on the cultivar.

If I wanted to grow a gourd that ripens in 100 days, I’d need to start seeds indoors six weeks before the average last frost date and transplant the seedlings out to the garden around June 12, two weeks after the last average frost date in the spring, just to be safe.

Use your area’s average frost dates, along with the time to maturity as stated on your seed packet or online to calculate when you need to get your seedlings in the ground so the fruit can ripen on time.

But say you planted them out a little too late or a frost came a little earlier than expected. What do you do?

Well, here’s the good news: though a light freeze will kill the vine, it won’t hurt the squash. Anything below 28°F, on the other hand, can ruin the fruit, causing the skin to freeze and beginning the process of decay once it thaws.

If frost or snow has arrived early in your region, it’s best to harvest your gourds right after that first vine-killing freeze happens. Take no chances with your precious pumpkins!

2. A Disease That Kills the Vine

Any time when you notice signs of disease on your gourd plants, such as wilting, white spots, or yellowing of the leaves – essentially, anything other than verdant leaves and vines, and robustly growing fruits – it’s time to take action.

Keep an eye on the health of your plants, and try not to wait until it’s too late and they’re already dying!

For help with figuring out what’s causing your plant to begin shriveling up or going limp, our guide to the reasons why your pumpkin plant is wilting can help.

We also have a resource for those who are dealing with powdery mildew, a common disease which can plague gourds.

Now, even though we want you to catch every malady before it gets too serious, we know this isn’t necessarily possible all the time.

Life gets busy, and you might forget to check on your gourds every day, only discovering that a vine has died before you had a chance to try to fix the problem.

Don’t beat yourself up about it!

3. A Broken Vine

Did you accidentally break the vine leading to one of your nearly mature pumpkins when you were weeding?

Or maybe, while trimming the mass of vines, you inadvertently cut off one that led to your biggest, most prized gourd.

Whatever the reason, a broken vine no longer offers any benefit to your gourd. But if the fruit is large and near maturity, even if it’s still green, you may just be able to help it to turn orange.

How to Turn Your Pumpkins Orange

Regardless of how the vine dies, the first thing to do when you notice a problem is to cut the gourd away from it.

You don’t want the decaying vine to let in pests or diseases that can mess with your gourd’s health.

Use a sharp, clean knife to cut the fruit off along with at least three to five inches of stem.

Remember to always carry your fruit by holding the base, not the stem. If the stem breaks and opens the gourd, the wound can lead to rot within just a few days.

Use a dry cloth to wipe your gourd clean. I like to use microfiber cleaning cloths like these, which are available from the Home Depot.

Microfiber Cloths

Now, you need to find a warm, sunny, dry spot for it.

You can leave the unripened fruit outside on a sunny porch if your vines weren’t killed by frost – or in other words, if the weather is consistently well above 32°F overnight.

Here’s the thing: you want your fruit to be warm. Somewhere between 80 and 85°F is ideal, and high temperatures will quicken the ripening process.

If you have that type of weather outdoors, by all means, leave your gourd outside and turn it every day until the green parts are orange.

But if the vine died because of an early frost, it’s probably going to be too cold to keep the fruit outside for too much longer. You may as well bring it inside where it’s dry and warm.

Find a window in your home that lets in as much sunlight as possible – ideally at least six to eight hours a day.

Use a chair or a stool to set your pumpkin up and turn the greenest part toward the sun. Rotate the squash every day until it turns orange.

It can take several weeks for a green pumpkin to ripen, so don’t worry if it seems to be taking a long time.

An added bonus of allowing your gourd to spend this time in the sun is that you’re also curing it, which we talk more about in our guide to harvesting these homegrown fruits.

Once it’s orange, you can store it in a cool, dry area that’s around 50°F if you’re saving it to use for cooking. Or, use it as decoration in your home for a month or two – and then carve it up as your Halloween jack-o’-lantern.

Orange (or Green) Goodness

Okay, here’s the thing, folks: sometimes, no matter how long you leave it in the sun and faithfully rotate it, your pumpkin just might not turn orange.

But guess what? Even a green gourd makes a fantastic jack-o’-lantern. Or, you can prepare it in recipes, using it as you would a mature pumpkin.

Truly! The flavor and texture may not be as impressive as you’d like, but all hope is not lost.

Have you ever had to deal with green pumpkins before? Let us know in the comments below, and send us any questions or stories, too!

And before you go, check out our wealth of information about growing pumpkins next:

Freezing tomatillos is a great way to preserve them so you have some on hand whenever you need them.

The process is easy, and frozen tomatillos maintain their texture and flavor very well, even without blanching.

They’re perfect to use in any recipe, like for making salsas, soups, and casseroles, all year long.

In this post, I’ll show you exactly how to freeze tomatillos fresh from your garden or the grocery store, with easy-to-follow steps.

Can You Freeze Tomatillos?

Yes, you can freeze tomatillos for future use, and it’s simple. They hold their texture and flavor very well, whether you leave them whole, cut them up, or puree or roast them first.

It’s an easy way to preserve your garden’s bounty before it goes bad, or you could freeze ones from the farmer’s market or grocery store.

Related Post: How To Grow Kohlrabi At Home

Preparing Tomatillos For Freezing

The first thing you need to do to prepare your tomatillos for freezing is to peel off and discard the papery husks and stems.

Rinse them with water to remove any dirt or debris, gently scrubbing with a vegetable brush if necessary, drain them in a colander, and pat them dry.

You can leave them whole if you’re short on time, or cut them up any way you prefer to make them easier to use in your recipes later on.

Do You Have To Blanch Tomatillos Before Freezing?

No, you do not have to blanch tomatillos before freezing them. But if you want to remove the skins, then blanching them will make it easier.

How To Blanch Tomatillos To Freeze

To blanch tomatillos to freeze, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil on the stove.

Use a slotted spoon to carefully submerge them (pieces or whole), and boil them for 3 minutes. Then place them into a bowl of ice water right away to stop the cooking process.

Alternatively, you can broil them in the oven for 15 minutes, or roast them at 400°F for 20-30 minutes. Allow them to cool completely before freezing.

Methods For Freezing Tomatillos

There are several ways to freeze tomatillos, and I’ll talk about each option below. The method you choose depends on the time you have now and how you plan to use them later.

Freezing Whole Or Chopped Tomatillo Pieces

You can slice, quarter, or half your tomatillos, or keep them whole for freezing – they are so versatile.

The fastest option is to leave them whole, which is ideal if you’re short on time (and what gardener isn’t in the fall?).

But I like to cut them into pieces so I can use only what I need, and I don’t have this added step later while I’m cooking.

Freezing Tomatillo Puree

Pureeing your tomatillos before freezing them is another option, and convenient for quickly making recipes like salsa verde and sauces.

You can fill up freezer bags with the exact portion of puree you’ll need later, or freeze it in ice cube trays first for less mess.

Freezing Roasted Tomatillos

To save yourself even more time in the future, you can choose to roast your tomatillos in the oven before you freeze them.

If you want to try this, either broil them for 15 minutes or bake them for 20-30 minutes at 400°F. Then let them to cool completely before freezing them.

Flash Freezing Tomatillos

Flash freezing your tomatillos is optional, but I highly recommend doing it, as it prevents them from sticking together in one large clump.

Otherwise, it will be difficult to separate them without thawing the whole clump first. If you’ve portioned out the exact amount you need, then you can skip this step.

Simply place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper so they aren’t touching each other, then freeze them for about an hour, or until they’re hard to the touch.

Related Post: How To Freeze Kohlrabi (With Or Without Blanching)

Tools & Supplies Needed

Below is a list of the tools and equipment you may need. But depending on the process you choose to use, you might not need everything.

How To Store Tomatillos In The Freezer

To store your tomatillos, place them into freezer bags and squeeze out as much air as you can. Then lay them flat, label and date them using a permanent marker, and stack them in your freezer.

If you plan to leave them whole, you can use larger gallon sized bags. Or, if you prefer, use any type of freezer-safe container that you have on hand.

How Long Do Frozen Tomatillos Last?

When stored properly, frozen tomatillos will last in your freezer for about 6 months. You could try using a food vacuum sealer to help them last longer.

FAQs

Here are some of the most common questions I get asked about freezing tomatillos. If you can’t find your answer here, add it in the comments section below.

How long can I keep tomatillos in the freezer?

You can keep tomatillos in the freezer for about 6 months, as long as you store them properly. But they could last longer, especially if you use a food vacuum sealer.

Can you roast tomatillos and then freeze them?

Yes, you can roast tomatillos and then freeze them, it works very well. Just be sure to allow them to cool completely before filling your baggie or container.

Can you freeze tomatillos to make salsa later?

Yes, you can freeze tomatillos to make salsa later, or any other recipe you’d like. You could cut them into slices, small pieces, or puree them ahead of time so it’s even quicker to whip up a batch of your favorite salsa.

What do I do with frozen tomatillos?

You can do almost anything with frozen tomatillos that you can with fresh. They’re great for making salsas or salsa verde, sauces, casseroles, soups, or any of your favorite recipes.

If you’d like to learn how to make the most of your space and get as much homegrown food as possible, then my Vertical Vegetables book is perfect! It will teach you all you need to know, has tons of gorgeous photos, and includes 23 DIY projects you can build for your own garden. Order your copy today!

Learn more about my Vertical Vegetables book here.

More About Food Preservation

Share your tips for freezing tomatillos in the comments section below.

Step By Step Instructions

Pests don’t usually target healthy plants, but if they do, they rarely do enough damage to cause a serious problem.

Instead, pests tend to look for weakened plants, maybe one that is over- or under-watered, or one that was broken in an ice storm. Maybe your camellia has some underlying disease you haven’t diagnosed.

So, if you’re seeing evidence of pests, we need to be sure that not only are we addressing the pest issue, but giving the camellia a good once-over as well to make sure it’s otherwise as healthy as possible.

With all that out of the way, let’s get into the nitty-gritty details. Here are the common camellia pests we’ll be going over:

We’re going to start with one of the most common garden pests out there and one that most of us have probably encountered before at some point. Ready?

1. Aphids

Ah, aphids. Are there any plants that they won’t make a meal out of?

Black citrus (Toxoptera citricida), green peach (Myzus persicae), and melon aphids (Aphis gossypii) are the most common species found on camellias, but you might see other species as well.

Fortunately identifying the specific species doesn’t matter, and you can treat them all the same.

The vast majority of the time, aphids aren’t anything to worry much about.

For one brief moment, I once thought that I had a serious aphid infestation when I came outside one day and noticed several leaves on my camellia covered in a black coating.

I thought for sure it was sooty mold, which is a sure sign you have a pest problem on your hands. Sooty mold is attracted to the sticky, sweet honeydew that aphids excrete as they feed.

As it turns out, the water gutter above the shrub had cracked, and dirty water had been leaking onto some of the leaves for months. Not mold after all!

Let that be a lesson for you: if there is something funky happening to your camellia, don’t immediately assume it’s pests! As I said, camellias are marvelously untroubled by pests most of the time.

Nonetheless, aphids are common garden pests, though they’ll usually visit other plants before they bother with camellias. In general, they stick with young specimens and new growth, causing yellowing leaves and shoots.

Aphids are present in most gardens, and they won’t become a problem until their numbers explode or if your camellia is already stressed.

If you worry that your young plant might be under attack or your garden is out of whack, visit our guide to combating aphids for some advice on how to deal with the situation.

2. Beetles

If you see beetles on your camellia bush and notice some notching on the leaves, it’s possible that black vine weevils (Otiorhynchus sulcatus), cambium curculios (Conotrachelus anaglypticus), cranberry rootworm beetles (Rhabdopterus picipes), Fuller rose beetles (Naupactus godmani), oval leaf beetles (Rhabdopterus deceptor and R. praetextus), or strawberry root weevils (Brachyrhinus ovatus) are paying your plant a visit.

Black vine weevils wait until nighttime to strike. That’s when these half-inch-long black beetles come out and chow down on the foliage, leaving notches in the margins.

It’s kind of ugly, but it’s hardly the end of the world if you see this type of damage.

What could be the end of the world, at least for your camellia, is the damage caused by the weevil larvae.

The adults lay eggs in the soil, and when the larvae emerge, they feed on the roots and basal crown. This can stunt or even kill a plant.

The other beetles on this list mostly stick with eating the foliage and don’t cause major damage like black vine weevils can.

You can usually safely ignore them or handpick them (wear gloves!) to keep the situation under control.

4. Mites

There are two types of mites that feed on camellias: gall (Cosetacus camelliae) and spider mites. They’re closely related but cause different types of damage.

Gall mites are not the same as leaf gall, a disease caused by the fungus Exobasidium camelliae.

Gall mites, often called bud mites, are microscopic eriophyid mites that feed on developing buds.

As a result, the infested camellia buds might turn brown or die, or the flowers might show bullnosing, which means infested buds might be slow to form and open.

These mites are hard to identify, but if you suspect your plants have them, read our guide to find out what to do about a gall mite problem.

As for spider mites, these are those common, eight-legged, tiny little tick relatives that spin webs all over many of the plants that we grow in our gardens.

The red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae), which is indeed red, is by far the most common.

These insects like dry conditions and are usually found during the heat of summer, especially in dry, hot areas.

You’ll probably find a few of them on your camellia throughout the growing season.

It’s when they become too numerous that you’ll start to see symptoms like yellowing, drying leaves, and dying shoots.

If you see symptoms you look closely at your plant, you might see the webbing here and there.

Don’t worry if you can’t see the mites themselves, they’re pretty small.

You might find our tips on dealing with spider mites useful.

Sometimes, it’s as simple as blasting them off with a stream of water from the hose every week. But if that doesn’t work, we have plenty of other ideas.

5. Scale

There are many types of scale insects that think a camellia bush is the bee’s knees.

There are armored scales like greedy (Hemiberlesia rapax), oleander (Aspidiotus nerii), and oyster shell (Lepidosaphes ulmi), and there are soft species like black (Saissetia oleae), brown (Coccus hesperidum), and green shield (Pulvinaria psidii).

There are even cottony camellia scale (P. floccifera) and camellia scale (L. camelliae), insects that have evolved specifically to feed on camellias.

All of these look slightly different and have slightly different breeding habits, but it doesn’t really matter which one is your unwelcome visitor. You can treat them all the same.

But first, you need to know whether what you’re seeing is truly scale or some funky, bumpy disease or growth.

Scale insects like to cluster on the undersides of leaves and along the stems. They are oval-shaped or round and relatively flat. Some have a cotton-like waxy coating, and others have a plain waxy coating.

Oyster shell scale looks like a bunch of teeny oysters have taken up residence on your plant.

This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, nature-based gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.  

With all the recent storms and severe weather happening across the country, many of us are besieged with debris from trees and shrubs. Instead of hauling it to the landfill, where it will just add to methane pollution, make something beautiful and beneficial out of it. In fact, keeping garden debris, or biomass (organic matter like branches, stems, and leaves), on your property is one of the principles of nature-based gardening we introduced in last month’s column with Perfect Earth Project. Brush piles offer protection to birds, like wrens, thrushes, and warblers, and other wildlife, like amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals. Leaf litter becomes homes for insects. And when biomass decomposes, it feeds your soil—for free!

There are artful ways to display biomass in your garden. Perfect Earth Project founder Edwina von Gal constructs striking sculptures out of debris gathered from her yard on Eastern Long Island. She’s woven branches through tree trunks, built walls out of logs, and knitted sticks together to create large nests. “Tailor the style of your habitat pile to the style of your garden,” she says. If your garden is tightly managed, create something more deliberate, recommends von Gal. On the other hand, if you have a meadow or loosely planted beds, like von Gal has in her garden, you can be freer in your construction.

Von gal is inspired by natural materials sculptors like Andy Goldsworthy and Maren Hassinger (see her inspiring exhibit at LongHouse Reserve, made from branches gathered on the property) who create art from nature. “Think of every fallen branch you find or invasive shrub you cut down, as a new opportunity,” says von Gal. “Be creative and have fun.”

Below, some examples of how Edwina transforms yard waste into artful critter shelter.

Photography by Melissa Ozawa.

See also:

(Visited 3 times, 3 visits today)

If you’re looking for easy seeds to grow with children, it’s hard to beat growing sunflowers in pots. If you’re not gardening with children, sunflowers are still fantastic plants to grow, and they make wonderful cut sunflowers too.

This step-by-step guide shows you how to grow sunflowers in pots and get the best results. It covers which seeds to choose, tips on planting sunflower seeds, and advice on caring for sunflowers. I’ve also included some fun sunflower themed activities for kids to try.

Make sure you take a look at my 100 quotes about sunflowers and 70 sunflower puns for lots of floral inspiration too.

Growing sunflowers in pots from seed

As well as producing seriously impressive blooms, growing sunflowers from seed is a perfect gardening project for kids.

Sunflower seeds are a decent size, so they’re easy for little hands to deal with, and sunflower plants are pretty low maintenance to grow. And if you’re looking for drought tolerant plants, sunflowers are a good option.

Can you plant sunflowers in the garden?

Planting sunflowers in the garden is also brilliant for local wildlife; the flowers are great for bees and other beneficial insects, and birds love to eat the seeds.

Can you grow sunflowers in a pot?

People often ask “Do sunflowers grow well in pots?”. The answer to this question is yes, sunflowers make great container plants.

Sunflowers (also known by their Latin name Helianthus Annuus) will be perfectly happy growing in a pot. You do need to provide them with a container that’s the right size for the plant. Some taller varieties of sunflower grow much bigger than others, so check the height information on your packet of seeds.

To give you a rough idea on size of the pot, we use pots with approximately 15-20cm diameter to grow our biggest sunflowers, and pots with approximately 10-15cm diameter to grow our smaller varieties.

You can always re-pot your annual sunflowers into a larger pot if they look like they’ve grown too big for the original pot, so don’t worry too much about getting it right.

When to plant sunflower seeds

The best time to plant a sunflower seed is early spring. In the UK this is April and May. At this time of year the risk of frost is lower, and there’s still plenty of time for the plants to grow and flower before temperatures drop again in autumn.

If you’re growing sunflowers in pots, you can plant the seeds earlier than April, and give the pots some protection from the cold. A greenhouse, cold frame, or simply a windowsill indoors are all ideal.

When is the latest you can plant sunflowers?

If you’ve left it a bit late to plant your sunflower seeds, don’t panic. Sunflowers will still grow if you plant the seeds in early summer, and bloom right up until the first frost. You will just need to wait a bit longer for those amazing flowers.

When do sunflowers bloom?

Sunflowers usually bloom in summer and early autumn. The peak flowering time is around midsummer. These timings are dependent upon when you plant your sunflower seeds, and the weather conditions where you live.

How to grow sunflowers in pots

If you’re new to growing sunflowers in pots outdoors, here’s what you need to know to make it a success.

The best sunflower seeds for planting

First of all, you need your seeds.  There are so many different types of sunflowers to choose from, and a real range of colours, heights, flower size and texture. All this choice means it’s easy to find one that suits your space, colour scheme and garden style.

If you’re keen on big, tall sunflowers, *Mongolian Giant, Mammoth and *Russian Giant can all reach over 3m tall.

When it comes to colour, you’re not limited to yellow. *Velvet Queen, Red Giant and Prado Red are all exotic red shades.

Prado Yellow, *Choco Sun and *Hallo are all good for bold yellows.

There are also some lovely white varieties of sunflowers with chocolate brown centres – try *Italian White, Moonlight or Moonwalker.

A simpler approach, which works well with kids, is to head down to the garden centre or go online, and let them have fun choosing whichever packet of seeds they like best.

My kids always want to grow a giant sunflower variety, so we usually end up choosing one of those. We also love growing a dwarf variety of sunflower called *Teddy Bear (pictured above), which is very compact and has wonderfully soft, fluffy flower heads which are low enough for children to touch.

Once you’ve got your sunflower seeds, you’ll need some basic equipment to plant them. Here’s a handy list.

How to plant sunflower seeds in a pot

Planting sunflower seeds in pots is really quick and easy.

Start off by filling your plant pots with compost, until they’re about two thirds full.

Use your finger to poke a little hole into the middle of the compost.

Next, pop a few seeds into your palm, and drop one into each hole.

It really doesn’t matter if you end up putting more than one seed in each pot; in fact, you can show kids the difference this has on the size of the plant later.

Top up each pot with compost, and label it.  My kids always want to know which seed they planted, so we put their names on the back of the labels as well.

Now it’s time to give your pots a good drink.

How long does it take for sunflowers to grow?

Your sunflower seeds should germinate and start to grow within 1-2 weeks.

The amount of time it takes for your sunflowers to grow will depend on the time of year, the weather, and the variety you choose. Warmer temperatures and longer days will make them grow faster.

The back of the seed packet will show you how soon after planting you can expect your sunflowers to bloom. If you’re in a rush, choose a fast-growing variety.

We planted these seeds in mid-April, and kept the pots indoors for the first couple of weeks. Here’s how our sunflowers looked about four weeks after planting:

Can you see how the plants in the pots that had more than one seed are smaller?  This is a lovely visual way to explain to children how the amount of soil and nutrients affects the way plants grow.

You can of course split up the crowded plants and pot them into individual pots if they’re struggling.

How do you care for sunflowers in pots?

Wondering how to take care of sunflowers in pots? There are only a couple of things you need to pay attention to.

If there’s still a chance of overnight frost outdoors, you need to give your sunflower pots some protection, so that the seeds germinate and grow well. A sunny spot on a windowsill is perfect; you can also put them in a greenhouse or cold frame.

Move your container-grown sunflowers outdoors after the last frost, when the risk of cold damage has gone.

If you’re growing sunflowers in a pot in late spring, it’s usually fine to leave them outside.

If you’ve got your sunflower seedlings on a windowsill, you may need to turn the pots around every now and then, to stop the seedlings leaning towards the light.

How much water do sunflowers need?

Sunflowers need regular watering to keep them healthy. They put on lots of growth in a short time, and plenty of water is a key element to supporting this (along with enough sunlight and good quality, well draining soil).

How often to water sunflowers in pots

If you’re not sure how often to water sunflowers, the best approach is to check the compost in your sunflower pots regularly. If the surface of the soil feels dry, it’s time to water your plants – and kids love this job! You’re aiming to keep the compost moist, not really soggy; sunflowers enjoy good drainage.

It’s also a good idea to water your sunflower plants more in the early stages of growth, to help them produce strong stems.

Try to water your sunflower plants in the early morning. This will limit the amount of water lost to evaporation, and also help to avoid diseases such as powdery mildew and root rot.

How much sun do sunflowers need?

Sunflowers love full sun. Your plants will thrive in a sheltered spot that receives at least six hours of direct sunlight per day.

All that sunlight means your pots can dry out pretty quickly, so you may need to water your sunflower plants pretty regularly.

What to feed sunflowers in pots

Sunflowers are hungry plants; you might have heard them referred to as heavy feeders. If you’re growing them in pots they can quickly exhaust the nutrients in the soil. Using good quality compost and re-potting your plants into bigger pots of rich soil as they grow is the best way to provide them with the nutrients they need.

General purpose compost is fine for potted sunflowers, but if you’d like to garden more sustainably you can easily make your own organic matter using a compost tumbler or bin.

You can also feed your sunflower plants with a *general purpose plant food or tomato feed to encourage strong growth. The bottle or packet will have instructions on how often to do this.

How tall do sunflowers grow?

The height of your sunflowers is determined by the variety you grow.

You can expect standard sunflower varieties to grow 6-10 feet tall, while giant sunflowers (often called mammoth sunflowers) can reach up to 20 feet tall. Dwarf varieties will be much smaller at around 2-3 feet tall.

Check the seed packet for height details before making your choice.

Providing support for sunflowers in pots

As your sunflowers grow, you will probably need to support these tall plants with canes or bamboo stakes. Strong winds can damage or even snap the stems.

Push the cane into the compost, and use a small length of string to tie the stem to the cane. Don’t tie your string too tight, because the main stem will get thicker as the plant grows.

As I mentioned earlier, you can transfer your young plants to bigger pots as they grow. Here’s how to do it:

• Choose a suitably sized pot and add some compost to the bottom.
• Take your plant out of it’s old pot and pop it into the new one. Fill up any gaps around the sides and top with more potting mix.
• Finish off by watering your plant.

How long do sunflowers bloom?

Most varieties of sunflower bloom for a period of 8-12 weeks. This makes them a great plant choice for adding colour and impact to your garden throughout the summer months and early autumn.

You can extend the blooming time of your beautiful sunflowers by planting a few seeds every couple of weeks. This will result in plants that are at their flowering peak for a longer period.

Should you deadhead sunflowers?

As a general rule, sunflowers don’t produce more flowers as a result of deadheading. Having said that, it’s fine to remove the dead flowers if you’d like to tidy up the plant.

The flower heads will be full of seeds, so you can harvest these for planting next year, or leave them in the garden for local wildlife to enjoy.

How to plant sunflowers in pots with other plants

If you’re growing dwarf sunflowers, you can also use a plant alongside other bedding plants to create a lovely mixed display. Sunflowers make a perfect star of the show here.

Fun activities to do with your sunflowers

So you’ve grown a bumper crop of sunflowers with the kids, now it’s time for some cool activities!

You can start off with some fun sunflower facts:

• Most sunflowers originate from the Americas.
• A sunflower is an annual plant. This means the plant grows, flowers, and dies in one growing season.
• Sunflowers get their name from their behaviour. The flowers actually track the daily movement of the sun.
• Sunflowers aren’t just garden plants. They are also grown as a valuable crop plant, with the edible seeds used to produce sunflower oil, or harvested for the food and wild bird industry.
• Not all sunflowers are big and tall. Many varieties are compact and ideal for smaller gardens and containers.
• Sunflowers come in more colours than yellow. You can grow them in shades of orange, pink, red and even white.

Once your sunflowers bloom, you can have fun observing all the pollinating insects that pay a visit. You could keep an insect diary, draw pictures of your sunflower visitors, or make a bar chart from your observations.

When the sunflower heads start to turn brown, you can cut them off and let them dry out, then put the seed heads out in the garden for the birds to eat. Birds adore sunflower seeds, so you’re bound to get lots of interest.

We’ve also got a great little book called *I Can Grow A Sunflower which takes younger children through the process of growing a sunflower from seed in a lovely visual way.

This video also covers the life cycle of a sunflower nicely for kids:

And of course, you can’t grow sunflowers without having a height competition.  My kids love doing this every year, and it’s perfect for sneaking a bit of maths into the project.  We always make a chart which takes pride of place on the fridge and is eagerly updated. The prospect of winning tends to make them look after their plants very diligently!

More nature fun for kids

Growing sunflowers from seeds is just one of the fun nature projects in my new book, *A Year of Nature Craft and Play.

There’s a nature play activity for every week of the year and it includes fun crafts, gardening, games, art and science experiments – perfect for inspiring kids to get creative with nature and explore the amazing natural world.

You can also find lots more brilliant nature activities in the sister book *A Year of Nature Walks & Games.

More fun kids gardening ideas

If you’d like some more inspiration for fun things to do in the garden with the kids, you might like to take a look at these other posts.

10 brilliant garden projects to do with children

50 fun ways to get kids gardening

60 fun garden activities to do with kids

Easy grow your own for kids: growing microgreens

The best seeds to grow with kids

How to make gardening fun for children

Low maintenance plants for container gardening

And if you’d like some inspiration on fun outdoor activities for kids, download my free printable bucket lists for spring, summer, autumn and winter.

More gardening inspiration

For lots of ideas on garden projects and plants to grow, check out these posts:

Garden jobs for each month

Planting calendar for flowers, bulbs, fruit & vegetables

Quick and easy vegetables to grow

Easy flowers to grow from seed

How to grow a windowsill herb garden

Houseplant care tips

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This is a very good interview over at A Way to Garden. Michael’s approach is very similar to mine (except I greatly dislike yoga):

Michael: So a food forest [above, a young section of Michael’s] is not growing food in the forest. It’s growing food like the forest. When you take a very healthy ecosystem forest, you see a lot going on. You see overstory trees, mid-story, understory trees. You see vines running up through it all. You see herbaceous ground-level layers running, and it’s all working together. It’s all pumping and working symbiotically.

So when we take that observation, we see that pattern, and when we come to plant something on our landscape out in the open lawn, you want to plant a fruit tree, instead of sticking that fruit tree sort of out there in the middle of the sea of grass at the whims of weed whackers, what you’re doing is you’re creating a group for it, what we call a guild in permaculture. Typically these are perennial companion plants that support that main fruit producer. So we’re not necessarily going to stack that upper, mid-story and understory, but we’re going to take the concept of putting plants together to support each other.

And in that case, we often will put in something that fixes nitrogen, something in the legume family, something like the, was it the wild Baptisia, with beautiful blue flowers, and there’s all these other benefits as well. But fixing nitrogen through the roots to the plants around it is like planting your fertility in one go.

Then you’re also thinking about, O.K., well, let’s draw in beneficial insects. So let’s put something like yarrow in there, which has this great architecture, great habitat for all kinds of beneficial insects.

And then you’re also going to want something that’s like a mulch plant, something I love to use, like comfrey, which is also medicinal. So multipurpose plants, but also things that I can chop and drop for mulch or that can die on their own and pulse that soil level and feed that tree long-term. And then you might have something like Echinacea, a little gas station for the pollinators to land on.

Margaret: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Michael: Yeah. And augment that pollination. So you’re creating diversity. A guild is not just the plants, it’s the life that it attracts as well. So it’s going to affect ecology balance. And really what you’re doing is taking yourself off the hook for having to really care for that tree because you’ve done a little bit of design upfront by putting plants together, they help serve each other’s needs, and that gives you more time to do yoga, swing in the hammock, play with your kids.

Margaret: Wait for the harvest [laughter].

Michael: Wait for the harvest, or go do more of these. And I call these fruit patches. Of course, they could be a nut patch, it could be a bush fruit, but it’s a very simple concept. So it takes that larger idea of a food forest, and brings it down to something that could be eight, 10 feet in diameter only. And you can fit-

Margaret: Like at the canopy of the tree, so to speak, and underneath it like that, with that size?

Michael: Right.

Margaret: Not of the whole yard. It doesn’t have to be the whole yard. It could be this one area.

Michael: Right. And then if you did have more space, and you wanted to have less lawn, you could start spacing these patches out 12, 15, 20 feet apart and have your other fruit trees in those spaces. And then over time, if you want, you could kind of keep doing what I call sheet mulching, which is like lasagna gardening. It’s like laying down cardboard and newspaper and straw and wood chips and mulch, whatever sort of material that you have, organic material around you, floating around us. Put that down. And that helps extend those patches, so that over time your lawn disappears and you’ve got this cornucopia of plants. And when I do something like that, I’ll often put in sort of running plants that will help sort of cover that space and not have to maintain it.

(You can read the entire post here – it’s inspiring.) 

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Joan Galloway is sharing the most recent phase of her gardening life with us today.

I gardened for 30 years in British Columbia’s Pacific Northwest region near Vancouver. It is Zone 7b with rich acidic soil, lots of rain, and a huge variety of plants to choose from that will thrive. When we retired five years ago, we fulfilled a lifelong dream and bought a 2-acre piece of property and built a house on beautiful Sheridan Lake in the Cariboo area of north-central BC. It’s about 300 miles northeast of Vancouver and is at 3600 feet in elevation. It’s rolling country of grasslands, many lakes, an amazing population of wildflowers, and forests of quaking aspen, spruce, lodgepole pine, and Douglas fir. Gardening here is a totally different experience. It’s Zone 3b (winter temperatures to –40F); the soil is heavy, alkaline clay that bakes to cement in the hot dry summers; wildfires are a threat; and it is populated by voracious deer that have never read the lists of deer-resistant plants.

Needless to say, I have had to learn a totally different way of gardening. I have learned that some natives and the old tried-and-true varieties of garden plants fare the best. Fancy hybrids often struggle and eventually give up the ghost. Some natives become aggressive thugs when planted in amended soil with added moisture. Many supposedly hardy deciduous shrubs die to the ground every winter and then straggle back to only about 8 inches of pathetic life the following summer. Lilacs, supposedly toxic to deer, have been eaten down to sticks and are now protected by wire mesh. Peonies, featured on every list of deer-resistant plants, have had every flower bud bitten off in spring; by July all the leaves are gone, leaving only a few ragged stems. I finally took them out. I’ve learned that while many deer-resistant plants taste bad and so are left alone, their flower buds are still tasty and get delicately nipped off just as they are ready to open. I’ve also learned that fawns will try anything at least once.

Nevertheless, plants that do like the conditions here grow vigorously in the long hours of summer daylight, and my garden is slowly taking shape. Plants that thrive get divided and spread around to replace the casualties. I like lots of color and interesting color combinations. I love trying new or unusual plants. I try to have something blooming throughout the season, from spring bulbs that bloom before the snow is totally gone in late April to late summer flowers like asters, rudbeckia, and ornamental grasses that bloom until the snow flies again in October.

This bed borders the driveway. The golden elderberry (Sambucus racemosa ‘Lemony Lace’, Zones 3–7) has grown vigorously and stands out like a beacon against the dark background of spruce and Douglas fir. The Monarda ‘Gardenview Scarlet’ (Zones 4–9), beloved by hummingbirds, is mildew free in this dry, breezy climate, and its strong-smelling foliage keeps the deer away. Also seen are Achillea ‘Paprika’ (Zones 3–8), Potentilla ‘Lemon Meringue’ (Zones 2–6), emerging Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ (Zones 3–9), the foliage of Siberian iris (Iris siberica, Zones 3–8), and a dwarf mugo pine (Pinus mugo, Zones 2–7).

Also in that bed, Berberis thunbergii ‘Sunsation’ (Zones 4–8) echoes the elderberry. Seen with them is Asclepius tuberosa (Zones 5–9), Echinops ‘Veitch’s Blue’ (Zones 3–8), some fall asters, and one of this year’s newly planted experiments—Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Dark Mystery’ (Zones 5–9).

In front of the house to the west, this bed slopes down from the deck to the lawn and waterfront beyond. Rozanne geranium (Geranium ‘Gerwat’, Zones 5–8) thrives here, as well as Achillea ‘New Vintage Red’ (Zones 3–8), Spiraea ‘Goldmound’ (Zones 3–8), Solidago canadensis (Zones 3–8, a noninvasive native), Kalimeris incisa ‘Alba’ (Zones 5–9), and the ferny foliage of Pulsatilla vulgaris (Zones 4–8).

To the east in front, the Rozanne geranium and Solidago are repeated. Potentilla fruticosa ‘Pink Beauty’ blooms all summer and is accompanied by Sidalcea ‘Candy Girl’ (Zones 4–7), ‘Gold Cone’ juniper (Juniperus communis ‘Gold Cone’, Zones 2–6), Coreopsis ‘Zagreb’ (Zones 3–9), and Allium senescens (Zones 3–8). The wire mesh is protecting a newly planted dwarf blueberry, Vaccinium myrtillus ‘Top Hat’ (Zones 3–7).

Echinops ‘Veitch’s Blue’ stands out against the Rudbeckia and the softer yellow of Potentilla ‘Lemon Meringue’.

A combination of Berberis thunbergii ‘Rose Glow’, Achillea ‘Paprika’, Helenium ‘Sahin’s Early Flowerer’ (Zones 3–8), and Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum × superbum, Zones 5–9) is backed by the foliage of Salix lantana ‘Stuartii’ (Zones 3–5), Centaurea montana (Zones 3–8, so far well-behaved), Amsonia hubrichtii (Zones 5–8), a purple-flowered Veronicastrum virginicum (Zones 3–8), and Calamagrostis × acutiflora ‘El Dorado’ (Zones 3–9).

Despite its rather delicate-appearing lacy foliage, Coreopsis ‘Zagreb’ has never been munched, and it seems much hardier than ‘Moonbeam’. It is seen here with Perovskia ‘Little Spire’ (Zones 4–9), fading Shasta daisies, and ‘Pink Beauty’ again.

More bee balm stands in front of a weeping caragana (Caragana arborescens ‘Pendula’, Zones 2–7), with lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis, Zones 3–8) and Berberis thunbergii ‘Rose Glow’.

The flowers of Potentilla ‘Pink Beauty’

Potentilla ‘Lemon Meringue’ has lovely double flowers that are a much softer shade than that of most of the more strident yellow potentillas. Potentillas are much maligned as “gas station shrubs” at the coast, but they look lovely in the cariboo landscape, are carefree, and are completely deer-proof.

Hoary skullcap (Scutellaria incana, Zones 4–9) is a tough prairie native that has a long season of bloom, and the deer have never touched it.

Picea pungens ‘St. Mary’s Broom’ (Zones 2–7) is an adorable little puffball of a conifer that was propagated from a witch’s broom on a Colorado blue spruce.

Larix leptolepsis ‘Haverbeck’ (Zones 4–7) is a dwarf Japanese larch that will grow into a mound only 1 meter tall in 10 years and displays the same beautiful gold fall foliage of all deciduous larches.

Deer find most annuals and vegetables irresistible, so my only annuals are these Calibrachoa in hanging baskets that are too high for deer to reach. I plant my veggies in raised Vegepods on my deck, which have mesh covers that can be lowered to keep garden raiders out at night. 

 

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Fuchsia magellanica

There is something so beautifully ephemeral about fuchsias.

You don’t get the chance to know and understand them as intimately as you would a plant that you care for year after year, such as a rose. They are here and then gone in just a few months.

That is, unless you grow hardy fuchsias.

Sure, those tender fuchsias that you can buy at the home supply store are gorgeous, but most of us end up tossing these perennials out at the end of the growing season.

They can’t survive even a hint of frost, so it’s tough to keep them around for the long haul in most climates.

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Hardy fuchsias, however, can live in places that see temperatures ranging down to -5°F. That means you can enjoy the uniquely ravishing blossoms that these lovelies offer up for more than just one year.

These plants have different growing requirements than their tender siblings, and this guide aims to help you make them thrive as the showy perennial shrubs they were meant to be.

Here’s what we’ll discuss to make that happen:

If you’re ready to start the beginning of your beautiful friendship with hardy fuchsias, then let’s dig in.

What Are Hardy Fuchsias?

Before we jump into the growing tips and recommendations, we should be clear about what sets the hardy ones apart from “tender” fuchsias.

Most people think of fuchsias as tropical or semi-tropical plants. While it’s true that most species grow natively near the equator, many grow at extremely high elevations in that area. F. dependens, for instance, grows at up to 10,900 feet above sea level in Ecuador.

That means these plants are able to withstand much cooler temperatures than many gardeners realize.

Hardy fuchsias have woody stems and usually, though not always, have more of a bush-type growth habit rather than the vining habit you commonly see in hanging types.

They also tend to grow larger and, as their common name suggests, they can handle colder weather.

As for those hanging fuchsias you can buy at practically every home supply store in the spring? They’re almost always a tender hybrid or species, though I can’t tell you how often I have seen them labeled as hardy.

Just look at the tag. Is the plant labeled as Fuchsia hybrida? In that case, it’s probably a tender hybrid. You can be sure by checking the recommended USDA Hardiness Zone range.

The reason there’s some label confusion here is that the term “hardy” isn’t officially defined according to any particular governing body that deals with plant descriptors.

Usually, any variety of  F. magellanica is called “hardy.” When people talk about hardy fuchsias, this is what they’re most often referring to – and in the case of this species, that descriptor is true.

Growers group fuchsia into three categories: tender, half-hardy, and hardy.

Tender plants can survive as perennials in Zones 10 and 11, half-hardy plants will thrive year-round in Zones 9 and 10 (and even in Zone 11 with some protection from the afternoon heat), and hardy species can grow outdoors in areas as cold as Zone 6 with some winter protection.

By the way, if you purchased a fuchsia that isn’t hardy in your region and you want to keep it around, you can grow these plants indoors during the winter.

In fact, you can grow them indoors year-round as houseplants, if you want. We have a guide that helps explain how to do it.

Cultivation and History

Most hardy fuchsias are hybrids bred from F. magellanica, which is native to Argentina and Chile.

You’ll also see hybrids of F. arborescens, F. bacillaris, F. cylindracea, F. ravenii, F. thymifolia and F. encliandra. Collectively, these species are all referred to as Encliandra types, even though only one is technically named encliandra. These are usually hardy or sometimes half hardy.

Hybrids of F. microphylla and F. obconica, meanwhile, can be half-hardy or hardy as well.

Be sure to check the tag to make sure the plant you choose can handle temperatures down to 32°F if you’re looking for one that won’t die if freezing weather is in the forecast.

Propagation

Hardy fuchsias aren’t typically grown from seed, since most of these are hybrids. That’s okay, they’re incredibly easy to grow from cuttings. You can take either soft or hardwood cuttings.

By the way, if you decide you want to try growing from seed, it can be done.

Just keep in mind that the resulting plant might not grow true, meaning it won’t have the same exact qualities as the parent plant. But you can still grow interesting plants this way.

We have an entire guide aimed at helping you to harvest and save fuchsia seeds if you’re interested.

From Hardwood Cuttings

Hardwood cuttings should be taken in the fall. One of the nice things about this method is that you get to wait until all of the leaves have already fallen off the plant – one less step you have to worry about!

Take a foot-long cutting of hardwood and slice the bottom at a 45-degree angle.

Dip the end in a rooting hormone powder or gel and place it in a four-inch round or square container filled with a seed-starting mix. Water so the medium feels like a well wrung-out sponge.

Put the pot in a spot indoors where it receives six hours or so of indirect sunlight, not direct sunlight.

Keep the soil moist. If you live in a dry climate, or if your home’s winter air is dry thanks to forced-air heating, you can mist the cutting every day or so with a spray bottle.

Leave it in place until the spring, when you should start to see leaf buds forming. Once the soil is workable outside, you can transplant your rooted cutting to the outdoors. Just be sure to harden it off first.

If you’ve never hardened transplants off before, the process is simple. Your goal is to give the plant gradual exposure to the outside world so it isn’t shocked by the transition.

On the first day, put it outside in a sheltered spot for about an hour. On day two, add an hour. Keep adding an hour a day until the plant can stay outside for eight hours.

From Softwood Cuttings

Softwood cuttings should be taken in the spring when new growth has formed foliage, but before the flower buds open. Look for fresh, green growth at the end of a section of hardwood.

Cut off about six inches at a 45-degree angle and remove all but the top two leaves.

From there, follow the same steps described above for potting hardwood cuttings, but instead of spraying the cutting to provide extra moisture, cover it with a plastic bag if you live in a dry climate.

Prop the plastic up with chopsticks or pencils to hold the bag away from the cutting.

Keep an eye on the cutting. If it starts to look wilted despite having plenty of water, or if you see mold forming, remove the bag.

Transplant once new leaves have formed, but again, be sure to harden it off first before putting the transplant outside.

You might want to wait until the fall if the weather is particularly warm when the leaves have formed. Anything above 85°F is probably too hot for new transplants.

From Seedlings/Transplanting

When you plant your new fuchsia, it should be placed four to six inches deeper than it was growing in its container, but be sure to avoid putting more than half of the plant below the soil level.

You do this to protect the roots and crown, which helps your new plant not only to survive colder temperatures, but warmer ones as well. Fuchsias don’t like hot roots any more than they like freezing ones.

You’ll initially lose some of the height of your plant, but this will pay off in the long run when your fuchsia grows healthier and bigger than it would have if you didn’t give it the right start.

How to Grow

Hardy fuchsias growing in the ground are different from tender ones, and they have different requirements.

It surprises many gardeners to learn that they need partial or even full sun, not shade.

Of course, if you live in an area that gets extremely hot during the summer, you’ll want to plant them somewhere that they will be shaded from the heat of the afternoon.

Ideally, you’ll choose a location that receives sun all morning long with some afternoon shade, and then a little additional sun in the evening. Avoid areas with reflected sun – it’s just too intense for these lovely bloomers.

In more temperate areas like the Pacific Northwest or coastal northern California, full sun is ideal.

Fuchsias growing in containers should be planted with a bit more shade, since they tend to dry out more quickly than those planted in the ground, and the roots heat up faster.

Speaking of water, this is where you need to be diligent. Moisture is more important than sun exposure for the success of your plant.

Hardy fuchsias can usually handle receiving a bit less water than their tender cousins, but they still need moist soil.

The soil should stay moist at all times, though you can let the top inch dry out if your plant doesn’t show any signs of drought stress such as wilting, or leaf edges that are turning yellow or brown.

If you find your plant is wilting, it’s probably not getting enough water.

Feel the soil. If it feels dry, add water. If it’s moist, your hardy fuchsia is probably getting too much sun. You’ll need to move it, or provide it with shade if you’re having a rare heatwave.

Moisture is one of the reasons that people tend to plant fuchsias in heavier shade than they need. It’s a lot easier to keep a plant moist when the sun isn’t beating down on it all day.

While they can make lovely container plants, unless you’re growing one that is hardy to at least one USDA Hardiness Zone below where you live, they need to be grown in the ground.

That means if your plant is hardy to Zone 6 and you live in Zone 7, you can grow your fuchsia in a container.

You’ll want to provide it with some protection, either by covering it in pine boughs or moving it into a garage or shed for the winter.

If you move them, make sure to give your plants some water now and then. You can allow the top two inches of soil to dry out before you add more water.

If you plant a hardy fuchsia that only grows down to your zone (a plant that is hardy down to Zone 7 grown in a Zone 7 garden, for instance) in a container, you will have to treat it as an annual or bring it inside.

It will likely die over the winter if left outdoors.

That’s because these plants need a large, healthy root system to help them survive the cold. Plants with a healthy root system can actually die completely back to the ground during a harsh winter and they will return in the spring.

Growing Tips

• Plant in full sun to partial shade.
• Soil needs to remain consistently moist.
• Use caution when planting hardy fuchsias in containers.

Pruning and Maintenance

Pruning is an excellent way to improve your hardy fuchsia’s appearance.

You don’t need to prune yours necessarily, but as with most plants, a little pruning will keep them looking tidy and can help to discourage diseases.

Pruning not only improves the plant’s shape and health, but it encourages more blossoms as well.

While some plants produce blooms on last year’s wood, fuchsias produce blooms on the current year’s new growth. When you prune a woody perennial, this causes the plant to form new branches with new growth.

If you cut your plant back in the early spring before it emerges from dormancy, you’ll create lots of new growth, and more flowers as well.

There’s no hard or fast rule when it comes to pruning, but you should aim to remove any dead or diseased wood, and give the plant some shape. Thin out any dense areas in the center of the bush to discourage disease.

I’ve seen some gardeners use hedge trimmers to give their plant a uniform shape. I prefer to break out the secateurs and be a bit more judicious about my trimming.

Don’t trim your plant back more than a third at a time or you could risk shocking it. That said, this is one of those plants that I’ve trimmed back dramatically and it didn’t have any noticeable effect in my experience.

Prune back up to a third of the plant in the spring before any of the leaf buds have opened, or in the fall after the foliage has all fallen off the bush. You can remove any dead or diseased branches throughout the year.

Find detailed fuchsia pruning information here.

Every six weeks throughout the spring and summer, give the plant an inch of well-rotted compost around the base, away from the stems. This acts as both mulch and fertilizer. If the mulch builds up too much, just remove the old stuff when you add new.

In the first year or two, you might want to provide some winter protection in the form of mulch. Three inches of pine boughs, straw, or leaves should do it. Remove the mulch when the last projected frost date has passed.

Cultivars to Select

It’s hard to believe how many hybrids and cultivars of fuchsias that there are out there. It would be a hard task to describe all of the wonderful options that breeders have created.

Instead, we’ll give you a few of the stand-out options that are more common to find at nurseries, but be sure to keep your eye out for the newer and less common fuchsias, as well.

Alice Hoffman

‘Alice Hoffman’ is a hybrid that grows in Zones 7 to 10 and is perfect for those small areas or containers because it tops out at two feet tall and wide.

It blooms with bright pink and white flowers from early summer to frost.

Aurea

 ‘Aurea’ hybrid has vibrant green leaves with gold margins.

The single blooms are bright red, bringing vibrant contrast to the leaves. It grows to about three feet tall and five feet wide, and thrives in Zones 7 through 10.

Charming

‘Charming’ truly is as such, with its large, three-inch-long blossoms in vibrant red and purple.

This cultivar is hardy down to Zone 7 with some winter protection.

Encliandra

Encliandra fuchsias are dwarf-sized plants. The largest ones grow three feet tall and wide, but many of them stay closer to a foot tall and wide.

These do best in partial shade, but if you live in a cool enough area, you can put them in full sun where they’ll stay compact. Plus, in full sun, they’ll be absolutely blanketed in flowers. These lend themselves well to topiary and bonsai.

These can vary in terms of what Zone they’ll survive in, but most are hardy to Zone 7 or 8.

Hardy Fuchsia

F. magellanica var. gracilis, usually just called “hardy fuchsia,” is one of the most cold-tolerant fuchsias, thriving as a perennial all the way down to Zone 6.

With pink and violet single blooms, each flower is long and thin, with an extremely long sepal and calyx.

Plants top out at about 11 feet tall and six feet wide.

Hawkshead

F. magellanica ‘Hawkshead’ stands out with its petite, tubular, pure white flowers, a color that is extremely rare among fuchsias. When in full bloom, it looks like it’s covered in large icicles.

Hardy to Zone 7, it grows to about three feet tall and wide with a bush-like growth habit.

Tricolor

‘Tricolor’ is an F. magellanica cultivar that has beautiful variegated cream and green leaves that start out maroon when young, but it’s the flowers that really make a statement.

The sepals are white with bright green tips, and the petals underneath are neon orange.

This bush grows to about five feet tall and three feet wide. It blooms all summer and is hardy down to Zone 7.

Versicolor

This F. magellanica var. gracilis cultivar has pink, red, and purple multicolored flowers, and gray-green leaves that have a hint of pink when they’re young.

Three feet tall and wide at maturity, this bush will try its hardest to go back to its F. gracilis roots, which means you’ll see sports forming with bright green leaves.

Cut them off when you see them, or the entire plant will eventually revert to this form.

This one is a bit more tender, only to Zone 8.

Managing Pests and Disease

Unfortunately, the term “hardy” doesn’t refer in this case to hardy fuchsia’s ability to withstand pests or diseases.

Though generally unbothered by insect infestations and infections overall, these plants are every bit as susceptible to the same issues that other species face.

For a full rundown, read up on these in our general guide to growing fuchsias.

Aphids are common insects that will feed on hardy fuchsia, but it’s rare that they cause enough of a problem to kill a plant. Read more about managing them in the garden in our guide.

Gall mites can be controlled through pruning and with applications of insecticidal soap.

Whiteflies, which are more common with indoor plants, can be killed with a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water.

As for diseases, botrytis blight can result in aborted flower buds, but you can avoid it by watering at the base of plants instead of overhead, and pruning to improve air circulation.

Damping off is a common issue that kills seeds, seedlings, or young cuttings. Learn more about it in our guide.

Rust spreads easily and causes brown spots on the foliage and can cause bud drop. It can be controlled using a copper fungicide.

Best Uses

Hardy fuchsias are ideal for containers, as specimens in the garden, trained as a topiary, or as bonsai.

You can find weeping and crawling forms, so they can be used in hanging containers or as groundcovers, though these are often hard to find.

Hardy fuchsias also have particularly tasty berries and flowers if you’re hoping to nibble on your plant.

Quick Reference Growing Guide

Plant Type:	Herbaceous perennial flower	Flower / Foliage Color:	Orange, pink, purple, red, white/green, cream, yellow
Native to:	Central America, New Zealand, South America	Maintenance:	Moderate
Hardiness (USDA Zone):	6-10	Tolerance:	Shade, moisture
Bloom Time:	Spring-fall	Soil Type:	Loamy
Exposure:	Full shade-full sun	Soil pH:	6.0-7.0
Time to Maturity:	Up to 7 years	Soil Drainage:	Well-draining
Spacing:	24 inches, depending on variety	Companion Planting:	Cosmos, hostas, hellebores, rhododendrons
Planting Depth:	At least 4 inches deeper than the container	Avoid Planting With:	Alliums, cereals
Height:	Up to 12 feet	Best Uses:	Container; specimen; hanging plant; edible berries, flowers, leaves
Spread:	Up to 6 feet	Family:	Onagraceae
Water Needs:	High	Genus:	Fuchsia
Common Pests and Disease:	Deer; aphids, leafhoppers; aster yellows, fusarium wilt, powdery mildew	Species:	Magellanica and hybrids of other species

Hardy Fuchsias Are Sturdy Survivors

I won’t lie, when I first started growing fuchsias, I thought the tender beauties were my only option. I assumed they were all tropical annuals that could never survive the harsh winters in my Zone 6 garden.

But boy was I wrong! Once I found out there were hardy fuchsias that could survive some seriously cold weather, I never looked back. They became an important part of my perennial garden.

I’m hoping our guide helped you discover the resilience of this showy bloomer. If so, I’d love to see pictures of your plants. Come back and show us how they’re doing in the comments below.

Additionally, if you have fallen in love with fuchsias as I have, we have many more guides to help you on your growing journey, including:

They work their way quite easily up walls. Virginia creeper, firethorn, and others such as ivies are good examples of this type.

Tendrils are threadlike, twist around objects in proximity, and include clematis, passionflower, and sweet pea.

Creeping varieties use their long stems to sprawl over objects but require tying or weaving to keep them in place. Climbing roses are the most common examples of this growth habit.

Where to Buy

You’ll find a wide variety of flowering vines available. Here are three to whet your appetite:

Boulevard Tranquilité Clematis

Sun-loving Boulevard® Tranquilité™ clematis, Clematis ‘Evipo 111,’ displays icy cool blooms consisting of a double row of crisp, white sepals, a hint of lavender, and ruffled margins.

Boulevard® Tranquilité™ Clematis

Plants are perennial and suited to Zones 4 to 9. They have a bushy growth habit perfect for small-space gardening. Mature dimensions are four to five feet long with a spread of three feet.

Boulevard® Tranquilité™ clematis is available from Nature Hills Nursery.

Learn more about growing clematis in our guide.

Party Dress Morning Glory

Early-blooming annual ‘Party Dress’ morning glory, Ipomoea purpurea ‘Party Dress,’ is a prolific bloomer in full sun placements.

Its velvety magenta blooms measure two to three inches across. Snowy-white throats increase the visual appeal, adding depth and contrast.

‘Party Dress’ Morning Glory

Expect a length of six to seven feet and a spread of six feet.

‘Party Dress’ morning glory seeds are available from Burpee.

See our guide to growing morning glories for more information.

Royal Navy Sweet Pea

Annual ‘Royal Navy’ sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus ‘Royal Navy,’ boasts fragrant, deep purple to navy blue blossoms, depending on the available soil nutrients.

‘Royal Navy’ Sweet Pea

Expect a length of six to seven feet with straight stems suited to cutting for bouquets. Sweet peas prefer some afternoon shade in the warmest zones.

‘Royal Navy’ sweet pea seeds are available from Eden Brothers.

Our guide to growing sweet peas has more information.

Structural Support

Most species and cultivars require structural support to accommodate their trailing tendencies.

For optimal health and appearance, provide a wall, trellis, string grid, pole, pergola, or arbor for them to climb.

Heavier varieties with woody stems, like grape, wisteria, trumpet, and Dutchman’s pipe, require sturdy armatures, such as an iron arbor, to withstand their weight.

Here are two decorative structural pieces you may like:

Constructed of black powder-coated steel, two Abellas Bauzo Steel Gothic Trellises are included in this set, each measuring 48.25 by 12 inches.

Abellas Bauzo Steel Gothic Trellis (Set of 2)

Freestanding trellises like this are perfect for keeping vines off buildings.

The set is available from Wayfair.

Next, the Allistir Wood Outdoor Planter Box with Trellis is perfect for small spaces and plants that need to be moved out of the sun on hot afternoons.

Made of weather- and UV-resistant, carbonized, solid wood, this product offers a trellis and planter in one.

Four caster wheels provide the added convenience of rolling the planter as desired.

Allistir Wood Outdoor Planter Box with Trellis

Overall dimensions are 45.3 by 25.2 by 1.3 inches. The trellis has a weight capacity of 50 pounds, and the planter can hold 110 pounds.

The Allistir Wood Outdoor Planter Box with Trellis is available from Wayfair.

Let the nature of the plants you consider guide your choices.

Creeping varieties require securing with bits of twine or pantyhose to keep them traveling in the desired directions.

You can also use garden ties such as these:

One-Wrap Garden Ties

With Velcro’s One-Wrap Garden Ties, you cut the desired lengths, attach climbing stems to their support structures, and direct them as desired.

The soft, flexible green Velcro is easy to cut, blends well with flora, adheres firmly, and removes easily for reuse.

One-Wrap Garden Ties are available from Velcro via Amazon.

In addition to attaching stems with ties, you can hand-weave some sturdier ones in and out of openings, like those in lattice and chain links, directing them as desired.

Hugely useful, yuccas have been utilized in a myriad of ways across their range.

In some areas, the sharp leaves of these plants were used for piercing and hanging meat. Certain members of the genus were widely valued by native people for their use as a natural soap.

This same soapy quality made a decoction of the plant’s leaves a favorite of native peoples for treating poison ivy, burns, and other skin ailments.

Most yuccas also have edible, sweet-smelling flowers.

The key to growing yucca starts with wise site selection. A happy homemaker on sunny, nutrient-poor, freely-draining soils, yucca wants to grow where many plants don’t.

Beyond that, there’s a smorgasbord of options, so long as you’re within your chosen species’ range of USDA Hardiness Zones.

For further instructions on raising your own yucca at home, read our guide.

Interested in adding this stalwart to your beds? Or identifying some of the best and most beautiful varieties out in the wild?

Read on for a roundup of 28 of the best species for plant lovers within this large, remarkable genus of long-lived plants.

1. Adam’s Needle

Native to the southeastern United States, Adam’s needle (Yucca filamentosa) is frequently found outside of its range due to its popularity as a hardy ornamental.

4. Banana

So named for the green fruits which look vaguely like miniature bananas, Y. baccata is great for soapmaking.

The stiff, spiky leaves were also used by native peoples to make rope and baskets.

The fruit is slightly sweet, and borne on a tall stalk. Growing three feet tall and up to four feet wide, banana yucca is hardy in USDA Zones 4 to 9.

Although this species prefers poor, sandy soils, it will tolerate most types of freely draining soil.

Sporting the same tall flowering spikes as the rest of the members of this genus, beargrass is a sensible choice for tricky, nutrient-poor soils in dry environments.

This species does not do well with a lot of rainfall or humidity.

7. Blue

One look at blue yucca (Y. rigida) and it’s easy to see the species’ resemblance to the closely related and equally spiky members of the Agave subfamily.

Growing up to 12 feet in height and about four feet wide, this succulent comes from the deserts of north central Mexico.

Small for a tree but still surly, Y. rigida bristles with erect, blue-gray, sharp-tipped, and slender leaves.

As the species ages, dead leaves lie down on its trunk forming a thick, textured skirt. In late spring, a tall, broad, flowering spike erupts from the middle of its leaves.

Hardy in Zones 7 to 11, the distinctly blue-gray leaves of this handsome succulent will add texture and structure to the garden if you can provide it with the dry, rocky, freely-draining substrate it needs to thrive.

8. Buckley’s

Buckley’s yucca (Y. constricta) makes its home among the dry hills of Texas.

Another colonial, clump-forming variety, this species also eventually grows a short woody trunk to support its rosettes of long, narrow, blue-green leaves.

Y. constricta sometimes inhabits dry woodlands and is tolerant of partly shady conditions.

Growing up to five feet tall, this spring-bloomer produces dense clusters of creamy bell-shaped flowers, beloved by hummingbirds and of course, yucca moths.

Preferring freely draining soils, this species will tolerate clay, loam, and sandy substrates, as long as rainfall is moderate. It prefers slightly alkaline soils and can be found growing on limestone outcrops in the wild.

Buckley’s yucca is hardy in Zones 8 to 11.

9. Cape Region

Currently listed on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature or IUCN’s “red list,” Y. capensis is extremely vulnerable due to its reduced natural range, and habitat destruction. Its native range covers Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Popular as an ornamental, the foliage has also historically been cut and used as forage for cattle.

Cape Region yucca grows up to 15 feet in height, occasionally branching out at the base, and forms large, dense panicles of flowers.

Requiring dry soils and very little water, this species is hardy in USDA Zones 9 to 11.

10. Carrii

A newly discovered species of yucca, this newest member of the genus doesn’t yet have a commonly accepted name.

Discovered along the gulf of Texas, Y. carrii forms colonies of several plants in small clusters.

Interestingly, this new species grows next to brackish or salt water, making it one of the most moisture-tolerant species known.

There’s a whole world of diversity still undiscovered out there, and the yuccas are no exception!

11. Coahuila

Also known as Coahuila soapwort, this species (Y. coahuilensis) touts high levels of the sudsy toxins known as saponins. When its roots are mashed it makes a fantastic, soapy lather.

Listed as “vulnerable” by the IUCN, Y. coahuilensis has a relatively limited native range, occurring in the grasslands of Texas and northern Coahuila, Mexico.

With a flowering spike up to eight feet tall, Coahuila soapwort sports the same rosette of sword-shaped, sharp leaves as many of its relatives.

Lover of dry, nutrient poor soils, this species thrives on minimal rainfall and is hardy in USDA Zones 8 to 10.

12. Creeping Dwarf

Classified as endangered by the IUCN, this short-statured species is exceedingly rare. Still, if you’re up for a challenge, you can find commercially grown seeds online.

Hailing from a small area of Mexico deep in the Chihuahuan Desert, creeping dwarf yucca (Y. endlichiana) stands only three feet tall, with its flowering spike tucked safely into long and spiky foliage.

Blue-green in coloration, Y. endlichiana prefers sandy, rocky soils and is hardy in USDA Zones 8 to 11.

Looking reminiscent of a Sarlaac monster (Star Wars, anyone?) this species is sure to be a unique addition to the garden.

13. Dwarf

Littlest of the bunch, dwarf yucca (Y. harrimanae) grows no larger than one foot tall by one foot wide.

This tough succulent is no less hardy than its larger counterparts, however, and is a good choice for container gardening, or smaller rock gardens.

Hardy in Zones 5 to 9, Y. harrimanae comes equipped with very sharp spines at the ends of its leaves and has dense filaments, or wiry hairs, on its leaf margins.

Fortunately, this yucca-in-miniature still produces the same prolific display of white flowers in spring.

For best results, plant Y. harrimanae in nutrient poor, sandy soils.

14. Giant Spanish Dagger

Endemic to Texas and northern Mexico, this desert dweller is widely cultivated in arid places across the west.

Growing up to 20 feet in height, giant Spanish dagger (Y. carnerosana) is hardy in USDA Zones 8 to 11, requiring maximal sunlight and heat, and minimal rainfall.

This species’ flowering spike emerges right at the top of its rosette, giving it a comical hat of creamy white blossoms perched atop a bulky trunk.

Exceptionally durable and forgiving, this unique succulent is actually quite easy to grow.

15. Giant White

Hardy in USDA Zones 5 to 10, giant white (Y. faxoniana) is another trunk-forming, striking standout within the genus.

Although it closely resembles beaked yucca, its leaves are a little longer, growing up to four feet, and a little wider.

It has the same habit of making wonderful, spherical rosettes, like a bristling pin cushion.

This species prefers the same general conditions as the rest of its kin and thrives in sandy, freely draining soils in full sun.

Like many of the other tree-like types, the spent leaves of Y. faxoniana form a beautiful shaggy skirt up and down the trunk.

16. Joshua Tree

Icon of the Mojave Desert and the American Southwest, Joshua tree (Y. brevifolia) is the largest of all yucca species.

Growing up to 30 feet in height, the Joshua tree is the darling of the national park named in its honor.

Once this tall succulent reaches about 10 feet in height it spreads out, making a crown of vegetation with pom-pom-like rosettes adorning each branch.

Y. brevifolia needs the same nutrient poor, sandy, freely-draining soils present in its native desert home in order to thrive.

It can be grown in rock gardens or xeriscapes but it’s important to make sure specimens or seed for sale were not pilfered from the wild.

Like other yuccas, Joshua tree is susceptible to root rot in humid climates, or places with high rainfall. This species can tolerate low nighttime temperatures, however, and is hardy in USDA Zones 6 to 8.

Read our guide for more info on growing and caring for Joshua trees.

17. Mojave

Mojave yucca (Y. schidigera) is so named as the bulk of this succulent’s population occurs in, you guessed it, the Mojave Desert.

Long-lived and slow growing, this species can reach heights of 20 feet, producing new trunks as it ages. Some Mojave yuccas have been estimated to be 200 years old!

Like many species in the genus Y. schidigera often produces rhizomatous sprouts, creating clusters, or colonies, of new plants.

This species favors hot and dry climates. The hotter, the better! In fact, Y. schidigera is considered fire tolerant and resprouts following lower intensity burns.

This species is hardy in USDA Zones 9 and 10 but does not tolerate ample rainfall or humidity.

18. Narrowleaf

Native to the rocky hills and pinyon forests of the Colorado Plateau, narrowleaf yucca thrives in rocky, freely-draining soils, with lots of sunshine.

Hardy in Zones 6 to 9, Y. angustissima grows approximately 18 inches tall and about two feet wide. Although it is shorter statured, the flowering spike of this species towers above its diminutive rosette at a whopping six to seven feet tall.

Clusters of Y. angustissima rosettes typically form large colonies thanks to plentiful rhizomes beneath the ground.

19. Navajo

This smaller-sized yucca (Y. baileyi) is so named due to its abundance on the tribal lands of the Navajo (Dine) people.

Pounded down to make soap and shredded for its useful fibers, this species has long been culturally significant to the Navajo.

Capable of forming quite dense, compact colonies, Navajo yucca only grows to approximately 18 inches in height, and about as wide. It is hardy in USDA Zones 8 to 11.

Wild populations of Y. baileyi are reportedly stable. Growing this plant at home requires emulating the conditions it receives in its natural habitat.

This species likes freely-draining sandy soils, full sun, and minimal rainfall.

20. Our Lord’s Candle

A truly striking representative of the genus, our Lord’s candle (Y. whipplei) is brilliant and statuesque when its six- to 10-foot-tall flowering spike is on full display.

The native people inhabiting the plant’s range across southern California and Baja California in Mexico used this species to make soap and baskets. The stems can be roasted and eaten, too. 

Although our Lord’s candle is utilized in horticulture, it is purportedly difficult to grow outside of its native region, likely due to its extreme sensitivity to overwatering.

This species is hardy in USDA Zones 7 to 9.

21. Pale Leaf

This Texas native grows to two feet high and almost three feet wide.

As its common name suggests, its narrow, slender leaves are paler than those of most other yuccas, and come in a shade of grayish-green.

Hardy in Zones 6 to 10, pale leaf yucca (Y. pallida) prefers sandy, freely draining soils and tolerates drought and high temperatures.

Although this species does have spines on its leaf tips, its leaves are flexible, making it a friendlier plant to have in a garden setting.

22. Palm

Reminiscent of its cousin, the Joshua tree, palm yucca (Y. decipiens) is another tall, branching, tree-like member of the genus, growing to 20 feet in height.

Inhabiting dry montane habitat from Northern Mexico north to Colorado, this species is hardy in Zones 8 to 11.

Not commonly seen in cultivation, Y. decipiens has the same requirements as its desert-dwelling relatives but is not quite as striking.

23. Plains

Native to the grasslands and deserts of the American Southwest, plains yucca or soapweed (Y. glauca) is culturally important to an array of native peoples.

The fibers from its leaves were used for basket making, and a mashed preparation of its roots was used as soap.

Y. glauca grows to about four feet tall and about two feet wide. Its scientific name is a nod to its leaves which can be waxy, and pale green in coloration.

Hardy in USDA Zones 4 to 10, this species is capable of growing across a wide range of climatic zones, given adequately draining soils.

24. Soaptree

One of the most attractive, fine-leaved yuccas, soaptree yucca (Y. elata) has a tall, shaggy trunk with a dense rosette of leaves perched on top.

The flowering spike erupts from the center of the rosette, ascending to a lofty 18 feet.

Utilized for the sudsy lather its mashed roots make, this species is easily grown in freely draining, dry soils like the rest of its brethren.

Hailing from Arizona, Texas, and Mexico, Y. elata is hardy in Zones 6 to 11.

25. Spanish Dagger

Here, thank goodness, is an example of a humidity-tolerant yucca. Eastern gardeners, rejoice!

Bearing all the hallmarks of its genus, the Spanish dagger (Y. gloriosa) has a handsome rosette of pointed, strap-shaped leaves, and a striking spike of creamy white bell-shaped flowers come late spring.

Growing up to 16 feet in height, this species will eventually, very slowly, grow a short trunk and can develop lateral branches at ground level.

A popular variety, Y. gloriosa var. recurvifolia has recurved, or backward bending, leaves. This variety’s abundant, drooping, leathery leaves have given it the common name “weeping” or “curved” yucca.

Hardy in Zones 7 to 11, Spanish dagger can also tolerate frost.

Although highly drought tolerant and happier in arid soils like the rest of its genus, this species can tolerate more regular rainfall so long as drainage is adequate.

26. Spineless

Finally, a yucca you can hug! Spineless yucca (Y. elephantipes, syn. Y. gigantea) is as friendly as its common name suggests, boasting smooth, un-spiny, shiny leaves atop a short trunk.

Though Y. elephantipes rarely flowers in a pot, it’s easy to care for and performs as a houseplant in all other ways.

So if you don’t have the freely draining soils and mild temperatures this species requires as an outdoor specimen, grow it indoors!

Make sure to use very low nutrient soils high in perlite or other additives that aid drainage and place it in full sun.

Y. elephantipes is hardy in Zones 9 to 10 and can reach 15 feet tall and over 25 feet wide, if it is given the space to branch laterally.

In its native Mexico it has been known to grow 30 feet tall and is considered one of the tallest members of its genus.

27. Thompson’s

Similar to beaked yucca but a little bit smaller, Thompson’s yucca (Y. thompsoniana) reaches heights of about 12 feet and can spread six feet wide.

A trunk-forming type, this species produces a flower spike at the center of its rosettes in late spring, and blooms in early summer.

Native to the rocky hills, slopes, and plains of Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico, Y. thompsoniana is found on limestone outcroppings and in rocky, freely draining soils where it receives plenty of sunlight.

Hardy in Zones 7 to 11, this species can tolerate frost, but will be much more vigorous in warmer, arid conditions.

28. Twisted

Twisted yucca (Y. rupicola) gets its name from its wavy, narrow, olive-green leaves which twist as they age.

Endemic to southern Texas and northeastern Mexico, this small yucca grows two feet tall and two feet wide.

Once its flower spike emerges in late spring, this otherwise petite member of the genus adds another three feet of height.

Inhabiting rocky places with dry, nutrient-poor soils, this plant’s specific epithet means rock-dweller, or cliff-dweller.

Y. rupicola does not produce a trunk, but forms small colonies from underground rhizomes. Hardy in Zones 6 to 10, it’s an excellent choice for rock gardens in areas with minimal rainfall.