Category: Home & Garden

Do you feel like your home is cramped and out of space? Are you yearning for a bigger home but don’t have the means to move? Although it might seem impossible, there are plenty of creative ways to make more room in your current living situation.

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Here, we’ll show you some simple yet effective tricks that will help provide more storage and create a larger feeling in your dwelling. Keep reading to learn how to craft clever solutions that can transform any apartment or house into an oasis of organization and freedom!

Maximize underutilized spaces

Underutilized spaces can be a great opportunity to transform any home or office and make them more useful. Re-purposing these areas, such as the corner of a room or even the top of tall shelves, can help you add more structure and organization.

 

Another way to maximize these spaces is by using dividers to create separate sections for organizing different items. When used in conjunction with bins and baskets, these separations can make it easy to identify what belongs where at a glance.

 

Additionally, utilizing vertical space by installing shelving and wall cabinets helps to keep items off the floor while adding an additional layer of storage when needed. No matter how small or large an area is, taking advantage of these solutions allows users to utilize their content in practical and attractive ways.

Move big pieces of furniture (such as beds and couches) to make the room appear larger.

Moving large pieces of furniture can breathe life into a small room, making it appear much bigger than it actually is. By providing more visible space and reducing the amount of furniture crowding the area, simple furniture modifications can make a huge difference in how your room looks and feels.

 

Considering rearranging items or swapping furniture with another room could be an easy way to enhance your living space and brighten up the overall atmosphere of the room. Additionally, reconditioned vintage pieces can bring texture, character, and even warmth to an otherwise dull corner — creating a vibrant new look that will leave you feeling satisfied with your home’s transformation.

Utilize wall space

Adding art to walls is a great way to bring life to a space and make it truly yours. Whether it’s a large statement piece or a little wall hanging, it will give the room an extra level of personality.

 

Mirrors can also be used in clever ways that can vastly change the presence of any living or public space. Hang them in front of windows and lead them in different directions – this trick can help reflect lighter and help small areas appear bigger. Specialty hooks are ideal for holding heavier pieces, like tapestries and planters.

 

Vertical radiators are becoming increasingly popular as they provide not only efficient heating but also save valuable wall space. By opting for a vertical radiator, you can free up more floor and wall space, giving your room a more open and spacious feel. Plus, with modern design options available, vertical radiators can also be a stylish addition to any room.

Scale back the amount of furniture in the room.

Having a few core pieces of furniture can do wonders to enhance the look and feel of any room. By limiting the amount of furniture, a space can be opened up for other needs, such as additional storage or simply just more breathing room.

 

Just one or two pieces, especially statement pieces that don’t take up too much space, can make a huge impact on the overall visual appeal and comfort level of a room – consider adding in a piece like an armchair with an ottoman or an armless loveseat. Not only is scaling back on furniture great aesthetically, but it can help to free up finances by buying fewer items and cutting down on clutter from things you may not really need.

Invest in multi-purpose furniture.

Investing in multi-purpose furniture is a great way to make the most out of limited space. Not only can it save you money, but it can also make your home more comfortable with versatile pieces that offer multiple uses.

 

A good example would be a couch that transforms into a bed when needed. This kind of furniture is especially helpful if you live in an apartment or other small living area and need to maximize your floor plan. It also reduces clutter, as there’s no need for both a separate bed and sofa. Plus, these all-in-one pieces are often just as comfortable and stylish as their somewhat more traditional counterparts – so you don’t have to skimp on quality or aesthetics.

Hang curtains to create depth in the room and make the room look bigger.

Adding curtains to a room can instantly transform the space with the addition of dimension and texture. Hanging window curtains will create depth and make the room appear more spacious. The lush fabric draws the eye toward the ceiling, giving an impression of higher ceilings, which can be especially helpful in short or narrow rooms. I

 

Installing a curtain rod is also an easy and inexpensive way to bring instant style to your living space, allowing for customization to achieve your desired look for any room in your house. With so many beautiful designs available, it’s only a matter of discovering what you prefer – from light airy panels to thick heavy drapes – that best suits your décor and highlights the character of a room.

Our Summary

When your home feels short of space, it can be tempting to simply move to a larger property. But that generally involves lots of money, time, and stress! As we’ve shown, there are some simple ideas that can really make a huge difference to how spacious your home feels and might just make all the difference.

 

The first thing you should know about daffodils is that it’s smart to choose the ones you want while they’re still in bloom in the spring. If you miss the boat this spring, your best bet is to read carefully the descriptions in next fall’s seed and nursery catalogs.

The second thing you need to know is something about the various classes of daffodils you’ll find listed or on display. Daffodil is the English name for the narcissus. There are many flower shapes and combinations and many variations of the two main daffodil colors-white and yellow. A few new, and still expensive, introductions show light salmon-pink tints in their petals, and many have red in their cups.

Daffodil beauty cannot be gauged by price. Price is determined by the amount of stock available to satisfy the demand. Some varieties produce new bulbs more prolifically than others and so move more rapidly from collector’s items to the general catalog lists.

Each daffodil flower has a central part known as an eye, crown, or trumpet, and an outer part called the perianth, which consists of six parts. It is the variation in the proportions and colors of these principal parts that determine the classes.

Buy what you can. Order from a reputable dealer and specify late-summer delivery. Plant your bulbs as soon as received. Spring-flowering bulbs bloom so early in the season they don’t have time to develop their root structure first. In order to give the roots time to develop fully before winter, they should be planted in the early fall, preferably six weeks before freezing weather, but you can plant them safely even as late as December.

Spade the soil and thoroughly pulverize it. Lumpy soil may result in the uneven height of stems and blooms. Avoid poorly drained spots. Bulbs will rot if they are not freely drained. Mix balanced plant food thoroughly and deeply into the soil.

A spring application of balanced plant food (1 tablespoon to a gallon of water) given just as buds are forming will increase the size of the flowers. Be sure the solution is washed into the soil by a thorough watering. Leave them alone until the clumps are really crowded. Or you can lift them, every second or third year, after blooming time, divide the bulbs, and replant. Daffodil bulbs are winter hardy. You can start with just a few expensive ones; then when you dig and divide your original clumps, the small bulbs will soon grow to flowering size.

Spring flowering bulbs such as Alliums, Daffodils, Hyacinths, Scilla, and the ever-popular Tulip are available NOW. Backyardgardener provides the highest quality bulb in the world. Our vendors ship to the USA and UK, so don’t be shy if you think the Atlantic Ocean will hinder your order.

DR. JAMES NARDI says you can tell a lot about a tree by the company it keeps. From life in the soil around their roots to the action up in their canopies, trees are swarming with engagement—unseen microbes and fungi, countless insects and other arthropods, and vertebrates like birds, squirrels, and even porcupines.

Jim Nardi spoke about their diverse community of companions. He is research scientist in the School of Integrative Biology at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the author and illustrator of several previous books. His latest is “The Hidden Company That Trees Keep: Life from Treetops to Root Tips.”

Plus: Enter to win a copy of the new book by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.

Read along as you listen to the March 13, 2023 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

the company trees  keep, with dr. james nardi

 

 

Margaret Roach: Welcome, Jim. Now you don’t just know all this and write all this, but you illustrate these two books of yours?

Jim Nardi: Yes, I do.

Margaret: Oh my goodness.

Jim: I find it very soothing and relaxing, and I learn a lot from such close observation that’s required in order to draw these creatures.

Margaret: Oh, the illustrations are just, I’m so charmed, I’m just so drawn in.

Jim: Thank you.

Margaret: And it’s funny, when I was reading the book and looking at the illustrations I was thinking of another favorite author, the biologist and prolific author, Bernd Heinrich, formerly from University of Vermont.

Jim: Oh, yes. Sure.

Margaret: And because he illustrates his, too. And so I thought oh my goodness, what talent [laughter]. So anyway, we’re going to talk about these big organisms, kind of I don’t know, are they the biggest organisms in our average world over here, these trees?

Jim: Well, yes. I think the record is held by a redwood tree. They can certainly be very large, but they can also be very ancient and very small.

Margaret: Yeah. But in our average world, those of us who are gardeners listening in our backyards, I mean, they’re the biggest creatures we see day to day, they’re the giants of the landscape. So you start the book with the sentence: “You can tell a lot about a tree by the company it keeps.” And so just to get us started, the range is from what to what, we’re tiny to what?

Jim: Oh well, we can begin with the viruses and then move on. The microbes, we’re discovering a new world out there that we didn’t know existed just a few years ago, and that’s the microbial world that’s associated with each individual—with not only ourselves, but with the trees and the small companions that they keep. Even small bacteria contain viruses and smaller bacteria within them.

Margaret: That’s very small [laughter].

Jim: Indeed it is.

Margaret: And as I said in the introduction, trees companions go up to mammals and other large animals and so forth. But where I am, black bear tend to like running up a tree. If they get a sight of you they go run up a tree.

Jim: Oh, how fortunate you are to have black bears.

Margaret: Yes. My best thing was the other day I had a mink in the backyard, swimming in the water garden that was semi-frozen, but that’s a digression.

Jim: What a treat.

Margaret: Crazy. Crazy. But a lot of the companions are insect species. And so I was fascinated in the book, you talk about the diversity, the great range, and certain tree species have a lot of diverse insects that engage with them, don’t they?

Jim: Oh, indeed. We usually think of the insects that feed on trees, but there are far more insects that prey on these plant-eating insects and even far more that are parasitic on these insects. And these help maintain a balance in the life of the tree that so many of us are unaware of—the importance of these predators and parasites in maintaining a balance in the life of the tree.

Margaret: And you also write about how lately, especially, we talk about boosting our immune systems and immune diseases and immune this and that, but we animal types aren’t the only ones with immune systems by any means. So the tree has this really incredible, impressive immune system as well. Yes?

Jim: We normally think of trees as passive creatures, however, they’re quite capable of mounting a robust defense, an immune response. And by immune response, we mean the ability to distinguish self from non-self. So non-self would include everything from other insects, microbes, the bite from a porcupine. And so they’re not only able to defend themselves with their own sophisticated immune system, but they’re able to recruit animal and microbial allies to help defend them.

Margaret: And I think if you asked gardeners, well, what allies do trees have? They’d probably say, “Oh, well, I guess some animals disperse their seeds, and some pollinate them.” They’d know that maybe, but they wouldn’t know all these other really complex ally relationships.

Jim: We know that birds help maintain, help control, the populations of the leaf-eating and wood-eating insects. But there’s a whole world out there of parasitic insects. And this is, in terms of diversity, it’s probably one of the most diverse: 15 percent of all animal species are believed to be parasitic insects, and parasitic insects make up about 10 percent of the number of species of insects.

These are incredibly diverse. Some of them are very specific; they have specific hosts on the tree. And some of them are generalists. There are flies called tachinid flies that whose larvae feet on over a hundred different species of tree herbivores.

Margaret: Wow. And it’s incredibly complex. And as I said, when we began speaking, the illustrations in the book really give you a look at some of these creatures, some of which are quite small or you may never have seen. And I loved, it’s not like one organism is getting all the benefit, or the other organism is the harmful one. We can’t put those judgements. It’s a complex sort of interaction, dance, whatever. I love one illustration in the book, there’s a bird in a nest tree—so it’s taking advantage of the protection of the nest to the branch to hang his nest on and the leafy protection. But it also gets advantages from being there and also provides services to the tree. Right?

Jim: Oh, indeed. Each of these birds will feed on, in its lifetime, will feed on thousands of caterpillars plant eating insects. And so the tree never has to worry about being, usually never has to worry about being defoliated with the help of its avian as well as insect allies.

Margaret: Right. And as sort of cryptic, as hidden as many of those insects, those caterpillars and so forth try to be in the book. You say “the birds leave no leaf unturned.” They look and look, and look. Right, they hunt out their dinner.

Jim: Oh indeed. And all the crevices in the bark and yeah, they’re very thorough and on the ground beneath the tree, among the leaf litter.

Margaret: The bark is something; the bark is really special. One of the ways that sometimes in winter, for our tree ID, we can start to tell what species of tree it is. But I live in a spot where outside my window, where I sit most days and work, my little home office is this very, very old triple-trunk Thuja, very giant tree with shaggy, kind of cinnamon-colored bark.

And so all of the decades that I’ve been here, every year regularly I see a brown creeper, the bird. And you actually have a beautiful illustration of the brown creeper on some bark on the back of the book. And if not for that bark, I wouldn’t see that bird, who loves to investigate [laughter]. And they have a relationship, right? I mean…

Jim: Oh, yes. So the brown creepers climb up the trunk of trees and the nuthatches climb down the trunks of trees. You probably have nuthatches on the same tree.

Margaret: I do. And I call it the two-lane highway. Yes. Yeah. One going up, one going.

Jim: [Laughter.] Right.

Margaret: Yeah. And what are they doing? I mean, there’s birds that look, there’s also birds that stash things, cache things, in bark. But what are they doing? I mean, what’s going on there and does it serve the tree as well, or what’s going on?

Jim: Oh, they’re little insects that hide out in those crevices. And so they’re constantly finding these insects, and enriching their diets with them. The bark is alive with not only insects, but small creatures that are known as tardigrades. These can only been seen with a microscope. So it’s an alien world there, but it’s a world that can readily be seen if one… just in a simple way. You can simply take some of this bark and extract some of these living creatures and view them with a digital microscope. It’s something that could be done in classrooms, it can be done at home. So it’s a wonderful education about an alien world that most people don’t know about. [Above, microscopic creatures of the bark, lichens and mosses including nematodes (top), protozoa (bottom), rotifers (left) and tardigrades (right).]

Margaret: Right. Because there’s a lot of action going on in the bark. It’s not just this impenetrable… The lichens and the mosses, and as you say, all these small, like the tardigrades and all these tiny creatures.

Jim: Yes. Some bark is covered extensively with lichens [illustration below]. There’s certain trees that appear to be very popular with lichens, and most of their branches are almost completely covered. So that’s a world unto itself there. There’s so many different creatures that associate with the lichens.

Margaret: I think there’s three species of lichen moths here, I can’t remember, but I think there are three. And they’re the painted, and I forget what the other ones are. I never understood that, and then suddenly it was like, “Oh wait, lichen is in their name because they have this relationship with the lichen and that has a relationship with the tree,” etc., etc., etc. Or the rocks in some cases.

Now, you were talking about this a little bit before, but you also in the book liken, not L-I-C-H-E-N, but L-I-K-E-N [laughter],  sorry, I stepped right into that. You liken a tree to having its leaf nibbled to a human getting, a mosquito bite that it sets off this awareness, this and then this chemical response.

Jim: Yes.

Margaret: I know it’s very complex, but-

Jim: It is complex. But this was first reported in the journal “Science” about two years ago, and the authors compared their finding to what we observe when our skin is irritated by something like, let’s say a mosquito bite. What happens at that time is the adjacent cells release a simple chemical. It’s a derivative of the amino acid, glutamic acid. It’s glutamate. And when this is released, it excites the adjacent neurons and these release calcium. And this wave of calcium is propagated all the way to the brain to let us know that we’ve been bitten by a mosquito.

And something similar happens when an insect bites a leaf or a fungal hyphae penetrates the surface of a leaf. One of the first responses is the release of glutamate, and this triggers the release of calcium. And this is propagated throughout the cells of the plant in the way similar to the propagation of a nerve response.

And this in turn triggers a cascade of chemical reactions within the plant, ultimately resulting in the production of the master regulators of the trees’ immune response, two hormones known as salicylic acid and jasmonic acid. And these in turn, activate certain genes, defense genes.

And just one example would be a protease that damages the proteins of the intruder, whether it’s an insect or a fungus. So it’s a complex series of events in the plant as well as in our own bodies that we’re still unraveling. And we have much to learn about this. But we have bits and pieces that we understand, and we just know it’s a complex cascade.

Margaret: Yeah. You say more than 1,000 volatile compounds may be released in defense against herbivory, pathogens, even a wasp sticking its ovipositor into a tree—that may even prompt a response.

Jim: It triggers a mild immune response. And as I point out, every tree is associated with microbes. They’re referred to as endophytes because they live within the tree tissues, fungi, and bacteria. And they are comparable to the bacteria that live within our own guts, our microbiome. So we can refer to this as the tree’s microbiome.

And when these enter the tree, they trigger a slight immune response. But it’s a give and take. So the tree and the microbes come to a compromise. And what it does, it primes the immune system of the tree so that when the tree is exposed to real pathogens and noxious intruders, it can mount a strong immune response. So the endophytes, the bacteria and the fungi that live in harmony with the tree, do not help the tree when it really needs to defend itself, by priming the immune system.

Margaret: There’s so many… If you had asked me before I read your new book, “The Hidden Company That Trees Keep,” if you had said, “Well, what’s a sapsucker?” I would have said, “Oh, yellow-bellied sapsucker. The bird that drills the perfect lines or grid of holes.” But there’s tiny adelgid insects, and scale insects. And so you write about all of these, and you illustrate all these incredible interactions.

And my favorite example of leaf nibbling, if you could call it that, I always love to see the activity of a leaf-cutter bee [above, in redbud leaves]. Isn’t that just astonishing?

Jim: Oh, yes. It’s amazing. It’s a perfect little circle. It’s able to cut these perfect little circles from the edges of… The leaf-cutter bees seem to have preferences in which leaves they choose. They seem to have a particular fondness for redbud trees, and they also seem to be fond of rose leaves. They tend to avoid trees like oaks that have sturdier and thicker leaves. So I think they choose some of the tender leaves like red buds.

Margaret: So I wanted to go down the tree to the base, and trees drop their leaves, whether annually or on a less frequent cycle. And then there’s all this material beneath, and there’s this intricate network of helpers who facilitate the process of returning all that to the soil and to the tree, I suppose. And you say in the book that “recycling is a community effort.” So a couple of creatures there. Yeah, I love millipedes. I love the burying beetles. I love lots of those creatures in the soil. Tell us a little bit; let’s take a couple minutes to talk about some of those guys, the recyclers.

Jim: Sure. Well, the microbes are important here, too. Down in the leaf litter, the bacteria and fungi are chewing, are digesting leaf tissue. But some of these larger little creatures, like mites and springtails and millipedes [above] and wood lice are chewing away at the fallen leaves and fragmenting them, so that the bacteria in the fungi have a larger surface area on which their enzymes can work. And so it is a community affair. There are thousands, millions of these little critters down in the soil that are chomping away. And ultimately, they liberate the mineral nutrients like calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron from the leaves.

And they also leave behind this extremely important part of the soil known as humus. And this is the really hard to digest remains of things like the bacterial cell walls, a hard-to-digest material in plant cell walls known as lignin. And this humus has a wonderful attribute of latching onto mineral nutrients, because it has a negative charge, and it holds on to positive-charged nutrients like calcium and magnesium, and iron, and holds them into place so that they’re not leached down into the deep soil. And we often forget about the importance of these recyclers, but one of my favorite quotes comes from a book entitled, “Teaming With Microbes.”

Margaret: Oh, yes.

Jim: You probably know it.

Margaret: Jeff Lowenfels.

Jim: By Jeff Lowenfels. And yeah, it’s that “no one has ever had to fertilize an old-growth forest.” You don’t have to add fertilizer because these little decomposers and recyclers are liberating the nutrients. And then they’re also producing the humus that holds these nutrients in place, and gives the soil this wonderful spongy texture, a structure that it would not have if it weren’t for the humus. And not only are they liberating these minerals, but they’re actually mixing the mineral particles of the soil with the organic parts of the soil.

Margaret: So I have a very different relationship in recent decades than I did when I was a beginning gardener with dead and dying trees. We used to sort of erase them from the landscape: “Oh, I’ve got to get that out of here,” right down to the stump grinder or whatever. And now I really revere them, and I first make them safe and make sure that nobody’s going to get harmed. But I leave them standing as snags or wildlife trees as long as possible and so forth. And then hopefully their carcass ends up beside where they grew. And all this biomass… So let’s just talk. I suspect you revere them, too [laugh].

Jim: Oh, yes.

Margaret: Tell us a little bit about a dead tree and why that’s an important creature, too, in the whole world.

Jim: Well, it provides a welcoming habitat for so many of these important in insects. And it provides food and habitat for brown creepers that love to go navigate its bark.

And it’s adding nutrients. As it decays, it’s returning minerals that were borrowed during the tree’s lifetime to the soil so they can be used by other trees, other plants. Very important.

A person that I met a couple years ago, Nancy Lawson, who writes a column for “All Animals” magazine [published by the Humane Society of the United States] called The Humane Gardener, recently wrote a book entitled, “The Humane Gardener,” in which she points out the importance of leaving these welcoming habitats for all these creatures that we should welcome. The insects, many of them are predators and parasites which help control pests in our garden. So if you have a vegetable garden or flower garden, you want to have habitat for these other creatures as well, so that they can help control whatever plant-eating insects come to your vegetable or flower garden.

Margaret: Right. Nothing is separate. Nothing is separate from anything else.

Jim: We’re all intertwined.

Margaret: Well, Jim Nardi, the book is “The Hidden Company That Trees Keep.” And the illustrations are beyond charming and it’s just so packed with information. So thank you very much, and thanks for making time today.

(All illustrations by James Nardi from his book; used with permission.)

enter to win jim nardi’s book

I’LL BUY A COPY of “The Hidden Company That Trees Keep” by James Nardi for one lucky reader. All you have to do to enter is answer this question in the comments box below:

Is there a particular interaction between a tree in your garden and an insect, bird or other animal that you’ve noticed and want to share?

No answer, or feeling shy? Just say something like “count me in” and I will, but a reply is even better. I’ll pick a random winner after entries close at midnight Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Good luck to all.

(Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

prefer the podcast version of the show?

MY WEEKLY public-radio show, rated a “top-5 garden podcast” by “The Guardian” newspaper in the UK, began its 14th year in March 2023. It’s produced at Robin Hood Radio, the smallest NPR station in the nation. Listen locally in the Hudson Valley (NY)-Berkshires (MA)-Litchfield Hills (CT) Mondays at 8:30 AM Eastern, rerun at 8:30 Saturdays. Or play the March 13, 2023 show using the player near the top of this transcript. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

Alchemilla mollis

It’s leafy, it’s vigorous, and it’s chartreuse. Alchemilla mollis, aka lady’s mantle, aka “that dang leafy thing that grows fast,” is a familiar plant in many gardens.

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You’ve probably seen it before, whether you realized it or not, and today we’re going to cover all you need to know about this tenacious perennial to grow it at home.

Lady’s mantle is a plant requiring very little care or attention, so your notes here will be short. You have permission to doodle instead, go ahead, it’s okay. Let’s dive in, shall we?

What Is Lady’s Mantle?

Regular readers who recognize my name won’t be surprised to see that I’ve written about lady’s mantle.

I have a strong preference for tough and independent plants. It might actually be an obsession, but we’ll stick with “strong preference.”

You’ll recognize lady’s mantle by its palmate, scalloped leaves, complete with serrated edges.

It’s a simple and understated chartreuse and will develop a lovely spray of yellowish-green flowers in the late spring and early summer.

With vigorous cutbacks, it’s possible to get a second display in the fall.

Many types of Alchemilla exist and all have similar care requirements.

The focus of this article is on Alchemilla mollis, the most commonly encountered species in the garden. When people say “lady’s mantle,” they are almost always referring to A. mollis.

Cultivation and History

A. mollis is a low-growing, herbaceous perennial that can happily grow in USDA Zones 3 through 8.

Calling it “hardy” is an understatement. Gardeners possessing experience with lady’s mantle know it’s closer to super hardy, and can even be considered invasive if it’s allowed to reproduce at will.

In fact, in Oregon and Alaska, lady’s mantle is classified as an invasive species.

It’s not native to the United States. Its origins are in Turkey and the Carpathian Mountains. That’s right, lady’s mantle shares its homeland with Dracula.

In ancient times, A.mollis was used to dye wool and other fabrics green, and also as a natural remedy to deal with digestive issues.

Like many perennials, it migrated with people from its homeland and has since taken its place as a garden staple cultivated worldwide.

Propagation

A. mollis is very, very eager to establish itself. In fact, I’d say you’ll spend more effort stopping it from spreading than trying to increase and expand what you’ve got. It grows readily from seed, but slowly via rhizomes.

In other words, you’ll be scrapping baby mantles far more often than you’ll need to divide your plants.

An important note to make is that it can take as long as two years for your lady’s mantle to flower when grown from seed, so don’t be worried if yours seems slow to mature.

From Seed

Prepare to meet what I’d like to refer to as the perennial version of the radish.

Lady’s mantle is extremely reliable when grown from seed. It’s so easy to grow, you can simply spread the seeds directly in your garden beds two or three weeks before your last frost date.

They’ll pop up before you know it and take their fair stake of the garden, and you’ll have about as many plants in the bed as seeds you tossed down.

It’s far easier and more reliable to sow your seeds directly in the ground. But if for some reason you’ve got your heart set on growing lady’s mantle in a seed tray to transplant, you can do that too. 

Start your A.mollis seeds indoors eight to 10 weeks before the last frost date.

This leafy grower needs about three weeks of cold stratification in the refrigerator prior to sowing.

After they have been cold stratified, sow in a seed-starting medium under a light coating of soil – about a quarter-inch is sufficient.

Ensure they’re receiving bright, indirect light. Keep the soil evenly moist, but not waterlogged.

Once the seedlings develop a second set of true leaves, you can start graduating your babies from their sheltered home indoors to the big, wide outdoor world.

When the temperature is above freezing you can keep the seedlings outdoors in a sheltered location for an hour or two at a time – up against your home or on a covered porch, anywhere they get to experience a bit of sun, wind, and cool air.

Slowly extend the time they’re outside by an hour or two each day. After a week or so, your seedlings can stay outside in their semi-sheltered environment for good.

After the last frost date you can plant your baby lady’s mantles in the garden where you want them to grow. Give them a nice drink of water and a little dash of compost and you’ll see them taking off before you know it.

From Rhizome Divisions

Lady’s mantle is a good candidate for root division. In fact, it benefits from this type of care every three or four years.

It’s best to divide in the late summer, right before the start of fall, but you can also divide during the spring.

Dig up your established plants. Using a sharp knife or spade, chop the rhizome into two or three pieces.

The exact number of divisions you’ll get depends on the size and strength of your plant. Make sure each piece you divide has healthy leaves on it so it will survive the process.

The rhizomes should still have some roots attached as well.

Plant your soon-to-be-strong Alchemilla so the remaining roots are firmly pressed into the soil.

These kinds of plants, when divided, are extremely top heavy and will easily flop over if the roots aren’t packed firmly into the soil.

I don’t think you need to worry about supporting the plant at all. Give it a drink of water when transplanting the divisions and water them regularly for a couple of days after.

Before you know it, your lady’s mantle will be standing tall and strong.

How to Grow

Lady’s mantle demands very little. It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s nearly a weed!

Let’s look at the specifics.

Soil and Climate Needs

A. mollis is at its best when it’s getting at least six hours of sunshine every day. It benefits from shade in the hot afternoons when sunshine is at its strongest.

Lady’s mantle is excellent in woodland gardens that are soaked in sunshine until the early afternoon hours.

The farther south you are and the hotter your summers get, the more afternoon shade you want to provide.

As far as soil requirements go, this plant is adaptable.

I’ve seen it grow in rich and loamy soil so friable you’d write home about it, and also in far more compact and dry conditions.

As long as it’s receiving the right amount of sunlight and an average amount of water every week, lady’s mantle will adapt and survive.

For perfect conditions, we are looking for a soil that’s in the 5.5 to 7.5 pH range and drains quickly.

This makes Alchemilla a perfect companion for other low-maintenance favorites like hens ‘n’ chicks, heuchera, herbs like thyme and lavender, and other garden staples that favor generally poor soil conditions.

Fertilizing

Simply put, don’t fertilize your lady’s mantle.

It grows quickly, readily, and almost aggressively all on its own and doesn’t require additional fuel to do so.

But if you’re like my wife and look forward to fertilizing everything in the garden, you can provide an annual application of compost or a simple granular fertilizer.

We live in an Osmocote household so it’s pretty much the only slow-release fertilizer I use.

Osmocote Fertilizer

It’s been around forever, it’s affordable, and it works. You can find one-pound packages on Amazon.

I will also use Espoma Plant-Tone every chance I get. Why? I think it just smells good, for starters…

Espoma Plant-Tone

Find it on Amazon in two-packs of four-pound bags.

Hey, Calvin Klein, are you reading this? Give me a Plant-Tone-scented cologne and you’ve got a customer for life.

I’ve used both with Alchemilla and have had almost identical results.

Water

An average amount of water – an inch of rain a week – is all that’s required to keep your lady’s mantle happy and healthy.

It can handle drought better than other leafy plants, but like anything else that’s green and leafy, it needs a drink regularly to be happy and do its thing.

Growing Tips

• Give it full sun but provide shade at the hottest times of the day in summer.
• Many soil qualities are tolerated, but it prefers a sandy and fast-draining location.
• Don’t fertilize unless you feel utterly compelled to!

Maintenance

I’ve worked with lady’s mantle in gardens that are meticulously maintained, and in others where pruning is a four-letter word.

In my experience, A. mollis is at its best with three or four aggressive bouts of maintenance a year. Outside of these couple of tasks, you’re free!

In the Spring

Springtime cleanups are a favorite activity and it’s because of plants like A. mollis that it’s so enjoyable.

Clean up any crispy foliage and free the crown of debris, paying closest attention to anything that feels slimy and limp.

You know the feeling of that stuff. It’s like you grabbed a handful of stringy seaweed when the water’s too cold to swim in.

It conforms to your skin and you wash your hands a second time after handling it.

Dealing with this kind of plant material is why I both hate and love garden gloves.

In the Summer

It’s the first few hot days of the year. You’ve got your lemonade, or your cold-but-rapidly-warming beer, or your mojito, and you wanna do something in the garden.

Perfect, because your lady’s mantle needs to be deadheaded ASAP!

We talked before about how easy it is to grow lady’s mantle from seed, but we need to revisit that topic.

It is extremely easy for Alchemilla to grow from seed. If you’re like me and prefer to practice procrastination, Alchemilla is not for your garden.

This plant grows so quickly, readily, and aggressively from seed that it’s borderline invasive.

The best way to get ahead of this before it becomes a problem is to immediately deadhead your lady’s mantle after it finishes blooming.

Don’t even wait for the flowers to dry; as soon as they’re starting to wilt, cull them from the plant. If you let it go to seed you’re going to be scraping seedlings for the rest of the year.

You should also cut back all of the foliage after it flowers. A quick spray of new growth will pop up before you know it, and you’ll have a tidy plant for the rest of the year.

Lady’s mantle is a ridiculously hardy plant and it can handle this treatment.

In the Fall

Right before the ground starts to freeze you’re going to inspect your lady’s mantle and remove any faded or sunburnt leaves, and clean up the area around the crown.

Triple check that you’ve cut away all flower heads, and tuck your A. mollis in for a nice winter’s sleep.

By the way, tucking your plants in for the winter is a vital requirement for everything in your garden. It’s an unwritten gardener’s rule, trust me on this.

Where to Buy

Nature Hills Nursery is an excellent online resource for plants like lady’s mantle, which they have available in #1 containers. This is my go-to source for any perennials I order online.

Alchemilla Mollis

If you prefer to do your shopping in person, most garden centers will carry Alchemilla.

Managing Pests and Disease

It’s no exaggeration at all to say lady’s mantle is almost completely pest free.

Part of the reason it’s considered invasive in certain areas is due to its adamantine resistance to critters, fungi, and other types of disease.

Once in a while slugs may munch on the foliage, but that’s about it.

The only potential disease issues you might encounter are in the far southern ranges of where lady’s mantle can be considered hardy.

In warm regions with high humidity you might encounter fungal issues and the best remedy is to clean up and destroy any gross foliage.

Alchemilla responds very well to this kind of care, so don’t be shy about hacking away any unhealthy growth whenever you see it.

If you enjoy garden chores like applying pesticides and fertilizers, you could use a fungicide spray here, but it’s really unnecessary.

I have been using Captain Jack’s lately and find it at least as effective as any other copper fungicide.

Captain Jack’s Copper Fungicide

You can buy the concentrate if you have a sprayer at home, or you can grab a pre-mixed container like this one that’s available from Bonide on Amazon.

Best Uses

It’s as if A. mollis was made for a few specific uses in the landscape.

Very few plants will be as happy as lady’s mantle when planted along walkways and garden paths. The frothy foliage and flowers spill over footpaths and soften hard lines very effectively.

You could also grow lady’s mantle in containers as a filler plant.

Be prepared for it to overtake the space it grows in, though, and keep your pruners or shears at the ready to keep the beast in check.

If used in a container I’d recommend growing it with plants that are narrow and upright.

If it’s a smaller container, I’d suggest something like angelonia or cleome. If you’ve got a larger container to work with, geraniums and heuchera make an awesome match.

I’d also suggest adding something that hangs and “drips” over the container’s edges.

I’ll be a devotee of Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ until the day I die and will always recommend it in any container planting.

You could match your lady’s mantle with other great trailing plants like sweet alyssum, string of pearls, and the tried-and-true vinca vine.

You’ll be delighted to have A. mollis in any woodland setting, especially where the plant can drink up lots of morning and early afternoon sun.

It can be a single feature in any bed, or you can (mostly) let it go to fill up a larger chunk of real estate. It does well with astilbe, heuchera, yucca, delphinium, and guara in these settings, in my experience.

Quick Reference Growing Guide

Plant Type:	Herbaceous flowering perennial	Flower/Foliage Color:	Pink/emerald green
Native to:	Turkey, Carpathian Mountains	Maintenance:	Low
Hardiness (USDA Zones):	3-8	Tolerance:	Shade, drought, poor soil
Bloom Time:	Late spring-early summer	Soil Type:	Average, loose
Exposure:	Full to part sun	Soil pH:	5.5-6.5
Time to Maturity:	2 years	Soil Drainage:	Well-draining
Spacing:	12-18 inches	Attracts:	Butterflies, other pollinating insects
Planting Depth:	1/4-inch (seeds), depth of root system (transplants)	Uses:	Containers, garden beds, woodland designs
Height:	8-12 inches	Order:	Rosales
Spread:	18-24 inches	Family:	Rosaceae
Water Needs:	Moderate	Genus:	Alchemilla
Common Pests and Disease:	Pink/emerald green	Species:	Mollis

A Farewell to a Fine Lady

What an easy plant to add to your garden! It’s hardy, it’s adaptable, and it’s a looker.

As long as you keep up with deadheading the plant before it goes to seed, you’ll have a full and vibrant specimen in your garden.

Lady’s mantle may not be a native plant, but it’s a splendid addition to any garden that has space for it. 

Supposedly, the plant’s Latin name makes reference to alchemists believing drops of water that collected on the tiny hairs of Alchemilla leaves were the purest form of water attainable.

They’d use this water in their pursuits, hoping to transform lead into gold.

I can’t say if they were right or wrong. But every garden that includes lady’s mantle flaunts a few bits of gold, as far as I’m concerned.

Are you growing lady’s mantle? Let us know in the comments section below! And feel free to ask any questions that come to mind.

If you found this guide valuable (I know you did!), you might as well keep a good thing going, right? Check out some of our other flower-growing guides next:

Spider Mites are a tiny type of arachnid, members of the spider family, only about a millimeter long. These common garden pests are well-known for feeding on many types of plants.

There are several different body colors for them. And you may see them in shades of yellow, brown, red, or green with dark spots on their backs.

One of the most widespread species of spider mite is the two-spotted spider mite.

Because spider mites are so tiny, you may not realize they are present, and there’s spider mite infestation until they have begun to do damage.

These insect pests thrive in warm weather or dry conditions and dusty conditions, which helps them breed quickly. Adult spider mites are often found on the underside of leaves. This is also where female mites lay their spider mite eggs.

To catch Spider Mites before they have a chance to wreak too much havoc, look for these early warning signs of spider mite damage on both the tops, bottoms, and undersides of leaves:

• Damage to top leaves
• White or yellow spots on affected leaves
• Entire areas of a plant turn yellow or bronze
• A fine layer of webbing over your plants’ leaves and stems

Ensure not to confuse these signs for drought stress. You can use a magnifying glass to check for the presence of Spider Mites. You may also wish to place a piece of paper under the damaged foliage. Shake the plant lightly.

If there are Spider Mites on the foliage, they’ll fall onto the paper. They are so small they will just look like tiny brown specks. If you see this, you know you have Spider Mites.

Damage, But No Mites?

If you see the damage but not the pests, your Spider Mite may have moved on. In this case, prune away the damaged parts, and blast the plants with water, and your plants may recover on their own. 

However, you must remove the entire plant if it’s seriously damaged to keep the spread at bay.

If you do find Spider Mites present, getting rid of them early on is easy. Just follow these four steps:

• Prune away damaged foliage and stems and dispose of them by burning them or placing them directly into black plastic bags. Also, always seal them shut and set them out in the hot sun to be picked up by your trash service.
• Spray your plants with a garden hose or any equipment with a strong stream of water to knock the spider mite off. Be sure to spray the tops and the undersides of the leaves.
• Spray thoroughly with insecticidal soap to eliminate heavy infestations, and follow up with neem oil spray. Again, coat your plants thoroughly to make contact with all potential pests. Other effective organic controls for spider mites include rosemary oil, clove oil, garlic extract, and cinnamon oil.
• Follow up with weekly applications of neem oil spray as a preventative.

Keep Spider Mites Under Control

You are most likely to see Spider Mites and their damage during hot, dry summer weather, but they also like the hot, dry air produced by indoor heating (e.g., forced air heaters or central heat).

Remember to keep your plants well watered during hot, dry weather indoors and outdoors. Indoors, keep humidity levels high using pebble trays and humidifiers.

It’s also important to mulch around outdoor plants to help retain moisture and keep your plants hydrated.

Moreover, encourage beneficial insects and natural enemies to take up residence in your yard and garden. Lady beetles, minute pirate bugs, predatory mites, and lacewings are among the natural predators that will partner with you to help keep spider mites at bay. 

Also, avoid broad-spectrum insecticides or other chemical controls because these will kill off your beneficial bugs. Still, Spider Mites tend to adjust, adapt and come back stronger after a broad-spectrum insecticide has been used.

Finally, keeping the plants healthy is one of the most effective treatment methods to keep these spider mites at bay.

Can You Get Rid Of Spider Mites For Good?

Unfortunately, Spider Mites are all around us all of the time. Outdoors, Spider Mites may be blown into your yard by the wind. You may accidentally bring them in on a new plant or bush.

Indoors, new plants can also bring spider mite pests into your home. That’s why quarantining new outdoor and indoor plants is such a smart move. 

During the new plants’ quarantine period, treat the plant for potential pests (including Spider Mite) and closely monitor it for signs of disease.

Spider Mites are not selective eaters. They will eat just about any plant that presents itself, so you could bring in Spider Mites on a completely unrelated healthy plant and have them quickly spread to your houseplants indoors, ornamental plants, or your flower garden, veggie garden, or lawn outdoors.

Watch Out For Spider Mites!

Spider Mites can be hard to detect early on because they are so very tiny. Early detection and other effective biological controls help you eliminate the problem quickly and easily and allow you to set up measures to prevent re-infestation.

That’s why it’s really important to be vigilant for any sign of spider mite damage. If you suspect infected plants, it’s best to isolate them first.

If you can address Spider Mites before they become entrenched and their numbers get out of hand, it’s a lot easier to get rid of them or at least control the spider mite populations.

Scent is one of the most powerful senses. It can instantly remind you of a memory or a person and change your mood. Since it’s also so personal, sometimes it can be hard to find a scent you like that doesn’t tickle your nose. Here is how to make your own natural perfume, including a both romantic and fresh blend to try.

Jump ahead to…

The Dirt on Clean Beauty

Have you heard of the term clean beauty? It’s taken the beauty world by storm, promising cosmetic and skincare products free from chemicals. But what if I told you that almost anyone could call their products clean?

There are no FDA regulations for referring to your product as clean beauty. This can make reading labels tricky, as you can’t count on words like natural or clean to determine whether or not a product is free of harsh chemicals and synthetics.

I’ve always been a big fan of making my own products. When using plant-based ingredients, and even herbs I’ve grown myself, I know they are completely safe to use on my skin.

When making your own non-toxic perfume, you’ll quickly realize that natural fragrances are more complex. For instance, when you sniff jasmine, you will get many fragrance notes. But a synthetic version of jasmine fragrance would only be able to capture one aspect of the flower.

Buying natural perfumes can get pricey, as it’s difficult to get consistency when it comes to natural fragrances. BUT! I have found that creating your own essential oil all-natural perfume blends is an easy way to embrace the natural and smell good while doing it.

How to Make Perfume

This isn’t my first time making perfume here on Garden Therapy. I’ve made essential oil roller ball recipes that are great to have with you on the go. However, I also wanted to share with you my everyday blends that are of a higher concentration.

You want to consider your different fragrance notes when making a natural perfume. These are your top, middle, and base note fragrances that make up a scent and create a complex perfume.

The best way to make a non-toxic perfume with natural fragrance is by using essential oils. Essential oils are powerful plant extractions that can carry tons of scents.

The power of essential oils also means you will want to dilute them with a carrier oil, such as grapeseed or jojoba oil, or a clear alcohol like vodka or grain alcohol. Applying essential oils straight to your skin is more likely to cause irritation.

Natural Perfume Recipes

I have two custom blend to share with you all today! One I call my romantic blend is a much sweeter scent, while my fresh blend feels crisper. I like having two scents to choose from based on my mood.

You’ll notice that both recipes use similar oils. But even the slightest change in the recipe can make these two perfumes smell nothing alike. One ingredient can completely change the entire scent.

Romantic Blend

To make these natural perfume blends, I use essential oils. Below is the list of essential oils I use and how many drops are required for each fragrance note.

Top Notes

Middle Notes

• Cinnamon leaf – 3 drops
• Litsea – 3 drops
• Rose absolute – 4 drops (Note, rose absolute is very expensive, but I find it completely worth it. Consider the cost of perfume in a store!)

Base Notes

Fresh Blend

Once again, these all refer to the required drops of essential oils.

Top Notes

Middle Notes

Base Notes

How to Apply Your Perfume

Before each use, shake your bottle to ensure nothing has settled. Then, apply sparingly, starting with the inside of your wrist. When you first apply it, note how it smells.

After 30 minutes, make some more notes about the scent. Repeat again after a few hours. When I first made the recipe, I found the perfume scent quite strong. I ended up cutting the recipe in half.

These all-natural perfume recipes feel perfect to me now, but testing them on yourself will ensure that the scent is right for you too. Scent is about as personal as it gets!

Frequently Asked Questions About Making Natural Perfume

More Ways to Use Essential Oils

You can make gardening so affordable it’s better than free:

One story I forgot to mention in the video: we were totally broke one spring, so I went dumpster diving. In one grocery store dumpster I found buckets of potatoes – red, yellow and white. I took them home and dug a bed, threw them in there, covered ’em with straw, and we ended up harvesting buckets and buckets more!

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

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Chrysanthemum × koreanum (kris-AN-the-mum kor-ee-AH-num) are perennial plants that can be easily grown in the landscape, even in frigid climates. 

These members of the Asteraceae family of plants grow wild in many parts of the world, including Indo-China, Eurasia, Canada, the United States, and subArctic America.

You may hear this hardy wild or naturalized flower referred to as:

• Hardy Chrysanthemum
• Hardy Garden Mum
• Old-Fashioned Mum
• Chrysanthemum
• Heritage Mum
• Mums

Chrysanthemum is a word derived from ancient Greek. It means “gold flower.” The specific epithet, koreanum (or coreanum) means from Korea. All mums come from the composite flower family.

Some of the popular varieties of chrysanthemum include:

• ‘Allouise Pink’
• ‘Anastasia Green’
• ‘Fireglow Bronze’
• ‘Hillside Sheffield Pink’
• ‘Moonbeam’

Hardy Chrysanthemums Care

Hardy Chrysanthemums are known to be low-maintenance and hardy plants, making them an excellent choice for your garden. 

Size and Growth

Hardy Mums have a rounded growth habit. Mounds grow to be 2′ or 3′ feet tall with an equal width. 

The plants’ simple green leaves grow in an alternating arrangement. They are smooth, lobed, and slightly fragrant when crushed. 

Leaves are typically between 3” and 6” inches in length. Mature leaves found at the base of the plant are longer than newer leaves found at the top.

Related: Caring For Leucanthemum Maximum – Shasta Daisy

Flowering and Fragrance

Hardy Garden Mums’ daisy-like flowers are showy and abundant. They bloom in the late summer and fall in various colors, including white, cream, yellow, gold, pink, red, burgundy, lavender, and purple. Depending on the variety, some mums may also have yellow centers.

Plants bloom throughout the summer and into autumn. The chrysanthemum flowers are barely scented and attractive to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.

Light and Temperature

These hardy wildflowers like bright, full sun exposure. They need at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily.

All-day dappled sun is also acceptable. However, in partial shade, they tend to get leggy and unwieldy.

Heritage Mums are winter hardy in USDA hardiness zones 4a-8b.

Watering and Feeding

Once established, these wildflowers will probably do very well with only natural rainfall. In times of extreme drought, water deeply, occasionally at ground level.

Remember to give your mums an inch of water per week after they’re established.

No fertilizer is necessary. However, feeding liquid fertilizer in late spring is recommended for container-grown plants.

Moreover, keeping the soil around the plants well-mulched with an organic matter should provide ample nutrients while helping retain moisture in the soil.

Soil and Transplanting

Mums thrive in light, airy, fertile, well-draining soil rich in organic matter. However, they can tolerate a wide range of soil types.

Add compost or other organic materials to your organic soil if you want a healthy plant.

Moreover, it is best to transplant Hardy Mums in the springtime so they will have plenty of time to establish themselves before the cold months of autumn and winter.

If you must transplant them in the fall, prune off all blooms and excess foliage. This will encourage root growth. Apply a thick layer of organic mulch to protect the new roots during the cold weather.

Moreover, remember that it’s best to plant mums in a sunny spot, especially if you plan on growing them outdoors.

Grooming and Maintenance

When buds appear in the spring, prune your plants vigorously (or even mow them!) This will encourage more branching compact growth and more abundant blooms.

Pinching your mums also helps promote bushy plants, increases blooms and buds, and delays bloom time.

You can prune or mow again if your chrysanthemum plants get leggy during the summer. If you mow, set your blades high enough to leave several inches of stems. You don’t want to cut all the way down to the plant’s crown.

Moreover, you can clip faded flowers on your established mums after a killing frost.

You can also overwinter your potted plants by moving them to a sheltered location or a cold frame. Putting down a good layer of mulch will also provide extra winter protection to prevent the risks of frost.

How To Propagate Hardy Chrysanthemums

You can propagate Heritage Mums from stem cuttings in early summer or late spring.

It is also possible to propagate them through division. It’s a good idea to divide them from the parent plant once every two or three years to prevent overcrowding and dieback. Do this in the springtime.

If you want to propagate mums from seed, it’s best to collect them from the dried heads of spent chrysanthemum flowers or buy them from garden centers. However, growing mums from seed are no easy task, as germinating can take longer.

Hardy Chrysanthemums Main Pest or Diseases

For the most part, Old-Fashioned Mum is trouble-free. However, this plant may be prone to a variety of diseases, including:

• Aster yellows
• Botrytis
• Leaf spots
• Powdery mildew
• Rust
• Root Rot
• Verticillium wilt

The best way to prevent the spread of disease is to remove the diseased plants and destroy the entire plant immediately.

It’s also important to avoid water overhead because water on the leaves can cause mold and mildew problems. In addition, keep the soil moist enough but not too soggy to avoid leaf wilting.

Spraying anti-fungal sprays will also remedy this problem.

Moreover, leaf miners, spider mites, and aphids may occasionally cause some foliage damage.

Is the Chrysanthemum Considered Toxic or Poisonous to People, Kids, and Pets?

The fragrant leaves of Garden Mum contain an oil that can cause severe skin irritation. Be sure to wash up after working with or handling these plants.

Additionally, ingesting the leaves and flowers can cause gastric distress, diarrhea, vomiting, and excessive salivation. Keep kids and pets away.

Observe livestock closely if Mums are growing in your pasture. Mostly, horses and cattle do not tend to like these flowers. The blooms and leaves are unlikely to harmless discerning livestock, such as goats.

Is the plant considered invasive?

Chrysanthemum × koreanum is not invasive. There are a few look-alike imposters who are, though. Among them is Mugwort, which is sometimes called Wild Chrysanthemum. This is actually an invasive Artemisia.

Another is Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) which grows abundantly throughout the United States and is considered a noxious weed in several states.

Suggested Hardy Chrysanthemums Uses

These very easy-to-grow Mums are an excellent choice for almost any garden setting. They will produce attractive lush blooms in late summer.

They will also do well in mass plantings, small groupings, along borders, in containers, pollinator gardens, cottage gardens, rock gardens, and more.

They will also provide your mixed borders or autumn garden with a pop of color.

In addition, planting single varieties also helps provide nectar for pollinators, including bees and butterflies. They also make beautiful and long-lasting cut flowers.

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (sim-fy-oh-TRY-kum ob-long-ee-FOH-lee-um) is a wild, native member of the Asteraceae family of plants. 

This perennial wildflower is native to North America and grows in various natural settings throughout the United States and northeastern Mexico.

You may also hear this plant referred to as:

• Eastern Aromatic Aster
• Aromatic Hardy Aster
• Aromatic Aster
• Native Aster
• Wild Aster

The plant’s genus name, Symphyotrichum, is derived from the Greek words symph (coming together) and trich (hair). This is probably a reference to the plants’ slightly fluffy seeds.

The specific epithet, oblongifolium, is Greek for “oblong leaves.”

Hardy Asters Care

Size and Growth

Wild Aster has a compact, upright, mounding growth habit. Individual plants may attain a height and spread of 1′ to 3′ feet.

Its dark green foliage and stems are aromatic when crushed. The leaves are between 1″ and 3″ inches long. 

You’ll find mature longer leaves at the base of the stem, medium leaves in the middle, and shorter, new leaves at the top. 

Flowering and Fragrance

The plants’ pretty, showy, purplish-pink, daisy-like blooms with yellow centers are on display from late summer until early winter. However, the bloom time may vary depending on the variety of aster.

This slightly fragrant native wildflower is especially beneficial to a wide variety of specialized native bees. The blooms are also quite long-lasting when used as cut flowers.

Light and Temperature

Aromatic Aster flowers like full sun but will grow in partial shade. This cheery native wildflower is winter hardy in USDA hardiness zones 3a to 8b.

Related: Growing Aster Novae-Angliae

Watering and Feeding

Aromatic Hardy Aster does well when treated as the wildflower that it is. For the most part, it will thrive on natural rainfall. 

In times of extreme drought, occasional deep watering is appreciated, as they have drought tolerance once established.

Water at ground level, but avoid overhead watering. They don’t like to sit in soggy soil, so ensure there is excellent drainage.

Moreover, it’s best to maintain an inch of water per week, especially for first-year plants in the absence of rain.

A three-inch layer of organic compost will help retain moisture while providing the plants with more than enough nourishment. Take care not to let the mulch come in contact with plants’ stems, which may lead to fungal problems.

Soil and Transplanting

Aster flowers will do well in almost any rich soil. However, they thrive in fertile, well-drained, moist soil. Moreover, they prefer slightly acidic soil.

They are also not opposed to poor, rocky, sandy soil, but poorly draining soil with high clay content will cause problems with root rot, powdery mildew, and other fungal disorders.

If planting young plants or divisions, be sure to place the crown of the plant at the soil level. Newly planted Wild Aster should be deeply watered, and the soil kept slightly moist until the plants become well established.

Adding organic mulch is also recommended to supply nutrients and retain moisture. 

Grooming and Maintenance

As the season progresses, plants may tend to topple over. You may want to stake them. Alternatively, you may prune them mid-season.

Late in the autumn or early in the winter, prune the plants to the base, leaving the rosette of leaves at ground level. You can also pinch back the hardy aster’s growing tips between late spring and early summer to encourage more blooms and bushier growth.

If plants become overcrowded, divide them. 

Moreover, it’s important to stake or cage tall varieties of asters to keep them from falling over.

How To Propagate Hardy Asters

Hardy Aster seeds (achenes) have little tufts of hair and are easily blown about by the wind and will set roots in such diverse settings as dry woodlands, prairies, rocky outcrops, dry open ground, disturbed soil, slopes, loose shale, and limestone.

Mature plants also spread through underground runners.

If planting Aromatic Aster from seed, sow it right on the surface of the prepared soil and press the seeds into the soil. They need exposure to light and air to germinate.

If you encourage them to grow in a wild-scaped setting, you can lay the pruned branches with spent aster flowers on the surface of the soil where you want them to grow. You may wish to mow them using a mulching mower, but don’t cover them deeply.

If you wish to reduce an existing stand of Wild Aster, you can divide it and transplant the extras in a new setting.

Moreover, you can also propagate hardy asters via division. Just separate the pieces with your knife from the mother plant along the edge of the root ball.

Hardy Asters Main Pest or Diseases

As long as Hardy Asters are not overwatered or overcrowded and are getting plenty of sun and good air circulation, pest and disease problems are fairly non-existent.

However, too much moisture, too little drainage, or too little light will lead to fungal diseases like root rot and powdery mildew complications.

Examples of other diseases that can affect your aster varieties include:

Other common insect pests that can attack hardy asters include aphids and lace bugs.

In addition, Wild Aster is not attractive to deer and rabbits.

Is the plant considered toxic or poisonous to people, kids, and pets?

Native Asters are non-toxic.

Is the plant considered invasive?

These native plants are not aggressive and are not considered invasive.

Suggested Hardy Asters Uses

These enthusiastic wildflowers do well in mass plantings in various settings, providing pops of color in late summer and fall.

It’s also great to plant asters close to spring flowers in your garden, so their beautiful purple flowers can take over when the spring flowers fade.

They are also fairly easy to control for use with bordering walkways or providing a backdrop to a coastal, wildlife, butterfly, or pollinator garden.

In addition, perennial asters also make a good container plant in autumn gardens.

Moreover, the aster plants provide good habitats for small garden mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and other beneficial pollinators, making them a good choice for a wildlife habitat restoration project.

I have a fondness for inexpensive portable lawn chairs, the kind with aluminum frames and colorful webbing. Garza Marfa‘s Sling Armchair, at $1,500, is neither cheap nor foldable, but it shares with the classic backyard staple the same mid-century sensibility and no-nonsense stylishness.

The Sling Armchair features a waxed canvas sling seat, Texas pecan armrests, beaded lacing on the back, and a steel base, which, like many of Garza Marfa’s furniture designs, is available in a range of colors.

See also:

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We’re visiting with Kevin Kelly today.

Today I am taking you on a brief review of my garden in 2022. As I am planning for a new growing season, it was nice to look over a few photos and see what I liked and what I would like to enhance in the upcoming growing season. I am in Harrisburg, PA, Zone 6b. My home is in a residential neighborhood and sits on just under a third of an acre.

This is a view of my front yard in early August. Over the years I have scaled back much of the lawn, so it is now mainly paths and serves to rest the eye from the exuberant borders. Hydrangea paniculata White Diamonds^® (Zones 3–8) makes quite a statement.

I love this drift of Myosotis (forget-me-nots, Zones 5–9) that have seeded into this bed along the walkway leading to the front door.

March is such a wonderful time for hellebores. This one is ‘Winter Bliss’ (Helleborus × ericsmithii ‘Champion’, Zones 5–8). I grow about 20 cultivars. They look great year round and contribute to the matrix layer (which covers the ground, eliminates the need for mulch, and knits the borders together).

This is part of a crevice garden I built in the front yard in March 2022. I took this photo one month after planting. I am looking forward to seeing how it will look this spring.

Allium ‘Purple Sensation’ (Zones 3–9) blooms in late May and is a wonderful transition from the early spring bloomers and the summer perennials. This cultivar naturalizes well.

This is a photo from January looking out from where we eat our meals. The maple is Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’ (Zones 4–9).

One of my favorite combinations in July: Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium purpureum ‘Little Red’, Zones 4–8) is in the back, Hydrangea paniculata Bobo^® is to the right, and Clethra alnifolia (Zones 4–9) is to the left.

When I took this photo I was standing on my driveway looking over the border across my front yard. There is a flagstone path hidden in there.

I love this combination in the fall: Calico aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum, Zones 4–8) paired with Viburnum nudum ‘Brandywine’ (Zones 5–9).

 

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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Shopping for a new succulent to add to your collection? Or will this be the first installment with many more to come?

Aloe probably made the list of options you’re considering. Which makes sense, since these are some of the most beloved houseplants in the world.

Choosing one might seem like an easy choice at first – but it may ultimately prove to be a challenge.

I’d wager that the first member of the genus that springs to mind is the old faithful, Aloe barbadensis, also known as aloe vera.

Indeed, this toothy succulent is the most common and widely distributed amongst home gardeners the world over.

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It’s often chosen for outdoor growing in warm climates as a border or bedding plant or as part of a succulent garden, or it may be cultivated indoors, potted in containers.

If you’re only familiar with this common variety, I’m about to blow your mind.

Hold onto your hats, because there are well over 400 known species in the genus, with more still being discovered!

Some of them remain under the radar because they’re uncommon in cultivation, rare, or have very different growth habits from the typical aloe varieties, which makes them uncommon choices for the home gardeners.

Among the better-known varieties, there’s quite a selection available depending on your growing zone and space requirements.

Some plants commonly referred to as aloe have also been reclassified by botanists in recent years, and they now technically belong to different plant genera.

We’re going to take a look at 13 stunning varieties to prepare you for success as a home gardener or houseplant enthusiast.

Get ready to build a bona fide aloe obsession, just like that of some of our writers here at Gardener’s Path, because I’ve gathered a list of the most popular species and cultivars to consider.

Let’s get started!

13 Favorite Aloe Varieties

You could spend weeks reading about all of the species, cultivars, and hybrids out there today!

Our guide to the different types of aloe gives a breakdown of the various growth habits and classifications of these plants.

This roundup offers just a small sampling of the best varieties to choose for indoor or outdoor growing.

If you’re a fan of out-of-the-ordinary plants, the specimen you choose could be more interesting than the most common of the genus.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with choosing the old standby, aloe vera – and if you do decide to do that, we have a complete guide to help you grow your own aloe vera.

Aloe Vera

If you’re planning to purchase one, head on over to Fast Growing Trees where you can find plants in one-gallon containers.

Otherwise, let’s spend a little time getting better acquainted with some more distinctive choices.

1. Cape

A. ferox, also known as Cape or bitter aloe, is one of the showier options.

The blue-green leaves are arranged in a rosette pattern, and are often tinged with red or rose, with red or deep blue-green marginal teeth.

It’s also a bit toothier than other types, with small spines appearing on inner and outer leaf surfaces in younger plants. As they mature, they tend to lose some of their surface spines as they outgrow the danger of grazing near ground level.

Often confused with tree aloe species, A. ferox forms a single trunk and sports red-orange inflorescences that can reach up to two feet above the crown of foliage.

The leaves are decurrent, emerging directly from the upper portion of the trunk, with no stems or branches.

The total height at maturity for this species can measure well over 10 feet, so this is a specimen best suited for outdoor growing. Plants can be started in containers, but will likely need regular repotting until they eventually become too large for this to be convenient.

This South African native needs a warm, arid environment and full sun for best results.

USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 11 are ideal, but in the heat of summer, this species will benefit from protection to provide some shade.

2. Christmas Carol

‘Christmas Carol’ is a hybrid cultivar with dark orange or red spots and edging on its spiky, succulent leaves. When viewed from above, the plant has a star-shaped appearance.

The coloration is more pronounced when the plant is exposed to full sun. When grown outdoors in Zones 9b to 11, reddish-pink flowers may appear, though these are uncommon in plants kept indoors.

This cultivar was bred by hybridizer Kelly Griffin, using ‘Doran Black,’ described below, as one of the parent plants.

With a mature height and width of just eight to 12 inches, ‘Christmas Carol’ is ideal for growing in small spaces outdoors, or in containers either indoors or out.

‘Christmas Carol’

You can find ‘Christmas Carol’ available from Walmart in four-inch pots.

And check out our guide to learn how to grow and care for ‘Christmas Carol.’

3. Coral

A. striata, aka the coral aloe, features broad, gray-green succulent leaves with hints of red on the smooth, spineless edges.

Subtle dark green vertical stripes running along the length of the foliage provide textural interest to the fleshy leaves.

This species is more cold-tolerant than many aloe types, and can be grown outdoors in Zones 9 to 11. You may need to provide winter protection in the more northern parts of Zone 9.

At maturity, the rosettes can reach 18 to 24 inches tall and wide, and may produce offsets at the base, which can be dug up and transplanted.

When grown outdoors, mature rosettes can produce two- to three-foot tall flower stalks adorned with orangey-red blooms, providing a pop of color to the water-wise garden.

Coral

Ready to add A. striata to your landscape? Plants Express carries specimens in one- and five-gallon containers for shipping to customers in California.

4. Doran Black

One of the most popular hybrid aloe cultivars, ‘Doran Black’ exhibits short, flat, fleshy leaves of green to gray, although a pinkish tone is sometimes visible on the ends of the leaves.

The white pattern of speckles or slashes is arranged in stripe-like bands in some instances, but often appears mottled. White marginal teeth line each leaf.

The undersides of the foliage usually have a bumpy texture that adds an even more distinctive appearance to this standout specimen.

Flowers may be bright or pale pink, rose, or coral. Note that flowering is more common in specimens grown outdoors.

With an expected stature of no more than about eight inches, and a minimal spread of five to eight inches, this hybrid is perfect for container planting. It also prefers less light than some aloes and produces a rosy tone in times of drought.

If your windowsill is a place where thirsty plants often go to die, you might give this one a go!

‘Doran Black’

Want to install ‘Doran Black’ in an outdoor xeriscape, rock garden, or bed? You can do so safely in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 to 11. Otherwise, indoors it is!

You can purchase ‘Doran Black’ in a three-and-a-half-inch pot from Planet Desert via Amazon.

5. Fan

Kumara plicatilis, or the fan aloe, has been reclassified due to its very different structure from most other aloes.

The Kumara genus only includes two known species: K. picatilis and K. haemanthifolia.

I mentioned earlier that this is my absolute favorite species on our list. It’s such a peculiar, captivating addition to the landscape, sure to draw oohs and ahhs, and questions from visitors who are equally fascinated.

This species forms a smooth, gray, semi-woody trunk over time, lifting the jade-like fans of leaves up into an array that you just can’t help but notice.

The trunks tend to branch and fork over time, creating a shape akin to a naturally-occurring bonsai.

The fans can reach about 12 inches in length, and coupled with the height of the trunk, this specimen can reach six to eight feet in height at maturity.

And if that isn’t enough to turn heads, racemes of coral to orange really pop against the muted, blue-green color of the fans.

Young specimens may appear more similar to other aloes, with leaves that grow from a short stem, reaching upward in clusters.

It can take several years for a trunk to develop since this species grows slowly, but this can provide a grace period for container growing if you choose to start one of these in a pot.

Bear in mind, however, that container-grown plants will need to be transplanted after a few years to a suitable place in the landscape.

This location should be chosen carefully because this species can live for decades.

Add fan aloe to your yard or garden in Zones 9 to 11, but be sure to keep an eye out for cold snaps that dip below about 20°F, because this species is not cold tolerant.

Warm, arid regions are preferred for outdoor growing.

6. Short-Leaved

If you’re looking for a specimen that reaches 10 to 12 inches in height, and that can fill in space as a ground cover, short-leaved aloe (A. brevifolia) might do the trick.

This species has green to burgundy coloration and thick, stout, toothy leaves. Its blooms are red-orange and contrast nicely against its subtle foliage, making it attractive enough to use as a focal point. In bright sunlight, the foliage can sometimes turn a brilliant flame red.

This species sometimes forms mounds that make for a lovely presentation in a wide, shallow basin.

Pair it with other succulents, such as string of pearls or hens and chicks, for a whimsical appearance.

Dense mounds can quickly become overcrowded. Luckily, separating pups or offshoots is pretty simple – you can find instructions in our guide to separating aloe pups for propagation.

Sometimes referred to as the crocodile plant, this compact type fares best in USDA Hardiness Zones 10 and 11 as an outdoor planting.

Short-Leaved

You can find plants in two- or four-inch plastic or clay pots from the DH7 Enterprise Store via Amazon.

7. Spiral

For an intricate, seemingly mystical addition to your home or garden, spiral aloe (A. polyphylla) is a top option!

This glorious specimen features a highly symmetrical arrangement of short, triangular leaves that wind in a perfect spiral rosette form.

The deep green to blue-green tone of the foliage, sometimes tipped with rose, red, or a touch of yellow, is focal-point-worthy on its own.

Couple that with the salmon to orange inflorescences it produces and you’re sure to be mesmerized.

This South African native grows to a modest 12 inches in height at maturity, with a lovely mounding habit that spreads to 12 to 24 inches.

An accelerated growth rate is normal with this species, which often reaches its mature size at about five years of age.

But its fast growth is unfortunately no match for overcollection in the wild due to its popularity, and this species appears on the endangered species list in its native range.

Be sure to purchase from a reputable nursery and leave the remaining wild specimens to nature.

Unlike heat-loving aloes, A. polyphylla prefers the cooler temperatures in Hardiness Zones 7 to 9.

Growing in warmer regions means providing more shade and mulched soil to prevent overheating. Or, bring it indoors as a houseplant, potted in a wide, low container for stability.

8. Spotted

A. buhrii is a stemless variety also known as Elias Buhr’s aloe, so named in 1971 by botanist John Lavranos to honor the farmer who first collected a specimen from the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.

It’s a compact grower, reaching no more than about one foot tall and two or three feet wide at maturity, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in form and color.

The thick, green leaves often display burgundy, purple, or reddish tones, providing a nice pop of color along a walkway or when coupled with less vibrantly colored succulents.

In addition to the sometimes brightly toned foliage, this specimen sends up inflorescences of bright coral or orange in clusters similar in arrangement to those of sedum.

Plant this variety, which is most colorful in bright sunlight, outdoors in Zones 9 to 11, or grow it indoors in containers year-round.

This species is hardy to about 30°F for short periods of time, but if your region experiences long-term freezes in the winter, plants will either need to be protected or moved indoors.

9. Tiger

Tiger aloe, or Gonialoe variegata (formerly A. variegata), has been reclassified and is no longer a member of the Aloe genus.

Containing only three species – G. dinteri, G. sladeniana, and G. variegata – plants in the Gonialoe genus are characterized by striped or speckled foliage, with flat or V-shaped leaves typically nested one inside the other.

They produce racemes with green to pink stems and pink, coral, or orange flowers each with a bell-shaped structure.

In the case of G. variegata, or partridge aloe as it’s also sometimes called, strong, distinctive stripes of deep green and white alternate to create a pattern that bears a resemblance to tiger stripes or partridge feathers.

White margins of fine teeth line each leaf. This is a truly eye-catching houseplant.

Aside from its color and pattern, the modest size of the specimen also lends itself perfectly to indoor growing.

Top height at maturity ranges from 12 to 24 inches, but because of the slow growth rate of this species, it can take five to 10 years to reach this size.

Unlike some of the varieties on our list, this one doesn’t mind slightly lower levels of light. Outdoors, it can tolerate temperatures in Hardiness Zones 9 to 11.

Under about 40°F, it’s best to cover and protect outdoor plantings from cold damage, or move potted specimens indoors to safety.

If you’re considering this species but need more details on planting and caring for it, check out our guide to growing tiger aloe before you pick one up.

10. Tiger Tooth

Compact, cute, and sometimes brightly colored, A. juvenna, or tiger tooth aloe, is a favorite among houseplant parents.

This species sports short, white-speckled green leaves that sometimes change to a golden tone.

A rather prickly looking variety, you’ll find teeth along all margins and sometimes on the inner and outer surfaces of the short, triangular leaves – but this species is menacing in appearance alone. The spines are flexible and rarely prick the skin.

Pokes aside, mature specimens rarely reach more than about eight inches in height at maturity.

Ideal growing conditions encourage offshoots to develop, which can form a dense cluster of columnar plants over time.

This Kenyan native is best planted indoors in pots where it has room to spread, if outdoor conditions fall outside the range of Zones 9 to 11.

Try this fiber bowl planter from Terrain, with a 16-inch wide opening that will provide room for offshoots to form.

Fiber Rounded Bowl Planter

As an outdoor planting, you’ll want to keep an eye out to make sure it’s not spreading further than intended with runners and pups.

Tiger Tooth

Find tiger tooth plants available in two-, four-, or six-inch pots from Succulents Depot via Walmart.

11. Torch

The shrub-like A. arborescens makes quite an impact in the landscape!

Tufts of green, toothed leaves grow atop a branched, low-growing trunk, with red-orange racemes rising like Roman candles in the spring and summer.

Zones 9 to 11 are most appropriate for this species, which tolerates seasonal lows in the 25 to 30°F range.

In cooler zones, mulching and covering prior to the onset of chilly temperatures can help to prevent cold damage.

Small, young plants can be grown in containers until they become too large. Mature plants, however, can tower overhead at six to 10 feet in height with a similar spread.

They don’t grow fast, but this is something to bear in mind if you don’t have a place or appropriate growing conditions for them outdoors.

Torch Aloe

Residents of California can find specimens in five- and 15-gallon containers for sale at Plants Express.

12. Tree

Aloe bainesii has been reclassified as Aloidendron barberae and moved to the Aloidendron genus, also known as the tree form aloes.

Other members of the genus are commonly referred to as quiver trees. At maturity, these African natives display clusters of succulent leaves atop single or branched trunks.

As with other tree form specimens, this species is a native of Southern and Central Africa. In this region, plants experience high heat, strong sunlight, and frequent drought.

If you’re planning to bring one home, Hardiness Zones 9 to 11 are suitable for outdoor cultivation, but seasonal low temperatures in these areas can still pose an issue for immature trees.

Juveniles are not frost tolerant and protection will be necessary.

Tree aloe grows slowly, reaching 30 to 60 feet at full height. As you can imagine with a plant of this size, indoor growing would be challenging beyond the first few years of life.

If you have an outdoor location that is suitable, plants can be started in pots to be brought indoors for the winter, and transplanted into the ground before they grow to be too large to manipulate.

13. Twilight Zone

Whereas most members of the Aloe genus exhibit toothed leaf margins and may sometimes produce spines along the surface of their leaves, hybrid A. haworthioidies x Gasteria carinata ‘Twilight Zone’ exhibits a distinctive texture as well.

Instead of spines, the leaves of this Gasteraloe hybrid have what appears to be a coating of rough, white, granular bumps. Deep, emerald green coloration under the grainy white pattern adds an interesting contrast.

The thick, nearly tubular leaves grow straight and upright, reaching for the sun at a mature height of around 12 inches.

The moniker ‘Twilight Zone’ was assigned by Kelly Griffin, who develops hybrid varieties for Altman Plants.

It was selected to pay homage to the opening credits of Rod Sterling’s popular sci-fi show “The Twilight Zone,” which depicts stars in space.

If you’re in the market for a houseplant that is easy to care for, small in stature, and fun to pair with other succulents and cacti with low water needs, this may be your best bet.

Ideal outdoor growing conditions for ‘Twilight Zone’ fall within Zones 9 to 11, although exposure to temperatures under about 50°F should not be prolonged.

‘Twilight Zone’

If possible, grow this hybrid as a container plant and move it indoors when a chill touches the air.

Plants are available in four-inch pots from Hirt’s Garden via Walmart.

Aloe Affection or Addiction?

I officially let you off the hook if you’ve reached the end of this roundup with a list of must-have plants. No one could blame you.

There’s no reason to feel guilty when there are so many gorgeous species, hybrids, and cultivars available.

Personally, I would much rather have a house filled with plants, especially succulents like these stunning aloes, than almost anything else.

Do you live in a climate where outdoor growing is a possibility? Or are you going to bring one of these lovely types home to grow as a houseplant?

No matter where you plan to place yours, we’d love to see photos of it – feel free to share in the comments below! And be sure to tell us about any species or cultivars that we may have missed so other readers have even more options to consider.

If you’ve enjoyed this roundup, check out these titles next. You’ll be an aloe specialist in no time at all!

Bonnie shares her tale of Grazon damage:

I had been purchasing hay from the same seller for years. Then the manure and composted bedding from my goats, horses and cows caused the typical grazon damage. Talked with my hay guy, but it happened again even after I dug out all the bad compost in my 3 foot deep raised beds. Put in compost from the supposedly not sprayed hay and it happened again. Now, I have had to stop buying hay from this guy. I only buy hay that is has alfalfa in it or lots of clover. Love it if there are a few broadleaf weeds in there as do my goats. Heck even my rabbits manure was bad because I was feeding them the same hay. In one of my raised beds, that I didn’t dig out because it is 40 feet long 40 inches wide and 4 feet deep, I only planted brassicas for two years, I test planted some tomatoes and potatoes in it last year and it is fine. I grew corn in another possibly effected raised bed and last summer, I was happy to see that raised by infested by some broadleaf weeds. The areas around my hay feeders had become clear of broadleaf weeds, even smartweed. The weeds are coming back now. Pain in the backside.
If it hadn’t been for your articles, I would never have know what was wrong, the local Extension office told me it was drift from crops being sprayed but that didn’t explain why it kept happening every time I planted in that compost/soil. I also throw bean seeds in previously contaminated beds and if the beans grow okay, then I know the bed is okay to plant in.

It really feels like we’re living in a post-apocalyptic nightmare. It’s a combination of malevolence, Satanism, greed, and downright stupidity.

Grazon may be the worst destroyer of gardens in American history. It’s insidious, finding its way into hay, manure, compost and even potting soil mixes. The long-term damage it causes and the downstream effects are horrifying.

And I’m not surprised the local Extension wasn’t helpful. They didn’t have a clue when I called them years ago to ask about the weird symptoms I was seeing across my garden beds and perennial plantings.

They’re also paid NOT to see this sort of thing, as they are funded by the very entities that make big bucks off of poison farming.

It’s imperative that we stop trusting the mainstream sources and start building our own alternative networks. We need to produce our own chemical-free compost and encourage small farmers that refuse to give in to the evil corporatocracy.

Learn to compost everything, and be relentless about asking questions and sharing the truth.

Finally, don’t spray poison – and don’t go with girls that do.

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Prunus spp.

Ornamental cherries are celebrated with festivals and parades, gifted from one country to another, and cherished in gardens. They’re arguably the queens of the spring flowering trees.

Once you plant one in your garden, there will be no question as to why ornamental cherries are so valued.

They’re absolutely stunning. In the spring when they’re blanketed in blossoms, it’s hard to look at anything else.

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It’s true that these elegant trees have a reputation for being a little bit difficult and some of them deserve that reputation.

But newer hybrids and cultivars are hardy and healthy, and once you know how to set yourself up for success, you can lessen the chances of having a problem.

We’ll help you to become a flowering cherry master. Here’s everything we’ll talk about to get you there:

I don’t know who first looked at a cherry tree and thought to themselves that they could make those blossoms bigger and more colorful, but they were a genius.

Take out your shovels and let’s dig in.

Cultivation and History

Flowering cherries are several species from the Prunus genus, the same genus that includes edible cherries, almonds, apricots, peaches, and plums.

These species, including P. jamasakura, itosakura, nipponica, sargentii, serrulata, subirtella, and many hybrids, are mostly native to China, Korea, and Japan, or have been grown and cultivated there.

Some famous hybrids include Higans (P. x subhirtella) and Yoshito (P. x yedoensis).

The blossoms are known as sakura in Japan, and they’re the national flower of the country.

In Japan, flowering cherries have been cultivated for at least 1,200 years, since the Heian period, which ended in 1185.

Today, there are dozens and dozens of cultivars and hybrids out there famously showing off their blossoms in places like Washington DC, Tokyo, Kyoto, Amsterdam, New York, and Vancouver, BC.

These trees are closely related to the ones that produce fruit (P. avium and P. cerasus), and some of these even produce tiny, inedible fruits.

But instead of the fruit being the focus, it’s the showy flowers we bred these plants for. And boy, do they perform.

Propagation

The easiest way for the home grower to propagate ornamental cherries is from cuttings or by buying saplings.

It’s technically possible to germinate seeds, but it’s extremely difficult and hybrids won’t grow true.

I wouldn’t recommend it, especially when rooting cuttings is so much easier, and what you see is what you get with clones!

From Cuttings

During the winter when your cherry is dormant, head out and take a few cuttings. Don’t do this when it’s below freezing – wait for the day to warm up so the branches will be pliable.

You’ll need a sharp, clean pair of clippers. Look for healthy branches about as thick a pencil and take cuttings at least six inches in length with at least three nodes.

The nodes are the little lumps where the leaves emerge.

When you take each cutting, make the bottom cut at a 45-degree angle and cut the top straight.

This is an old propagating trick that helps you remember which side is up. Make the bottom cut (known as the basal cut) just underneath a node.

Put the cut ends in water or wrap them in a moist cloth until you’re ready to plant.

To get ready, fill six-inch containers with potting mix, with one container for each cutting. Poke a little hole in the center and dip the basal end of each cutting in rooting hormone.

Place a cutting into the hole you made so it sits about three inches deep in the soil.

Water the soil and keep it moist as the cuttings take root. It also helps to place tented plastic or a cloche over the cuttings to help retain heat and moisture. Place the containers in bright, indirect light.

Leave the cuttings in place until new growth starts to develop. At that point, transplant them into larger containers and harden them off for a week, so you can put them outside.

Hardening off begins by placing a plant that has been growing indoors in a protected spot outside for an hour and then bringing it back in.

On the second day, leave it outside for two hours. Keep adding an hour each day until a week has gone by, and it can withstand outdoor conditions throughout the day.

Once you’ve hardened them off, place the plants in full sun and keep the soil moist while it grows.

You can leave the plants in their containers all summer. This increases the chances that they will survive. In the fall, transplant as described below.

Transplanting Saplings

Head to any nursery in the spring, and you’re likely to find an ornamental cherry or two. Bring one home for planting in the spring or fall.

To prepare the area, dig a hole twice as deep and wide as the container that the plant is growing in. Unless your soil has a pH outside the range of 6.0 to 7.5, there’s no need to adjust the pH.

Take all that soil you dug out and mix it with equal parts well-rotted compost. Now, fill the hole in about halfway and remove the sapling from its container.

Loosen up the roots, brush away some of the old soil, and place the sapling in the hole.

Make sure it’s sitting at the same height as it was in the growing container. You don’t want the trunk to be any deeper or more shallow than it was originally.

Fill in around the roots with some of that soil and compost mixture, and water the soil well. Fill in with a bit more soil mixture if it settles a little.

How to Grow

Flowering cherries do best if you give them at least six hours of sunlight per day. If they receive less light, they’ll survive, but the floral display will be less than stellar.

Wherever you plant yours, it must have well-draining soil. These trees won’t tolerate wet roots.

At the same time, they need consistently moist soil, and the earth needs to be water-retentive with a pH of 6.0 to 7.5. If you don’t have this type of soil naturally, you have some options.

The first is to dig three feet down and wide and remove all the soil. Mix it with equal parts well-rotted compost and put the mixed soil back in the hole. Now you can plant.

The alternative is to plant in a container filled with good potting soil. Trust me, these plants are better off growing in a container than in poor draining or sandy soil.

They actually do well in containers so long as you feed them regularly. They’re even popular as bonsai specimens.

If you do go the container route, you need something large like a 25-gallon container. It also needs to be heavy enough to not tip over in the wind.

As we mentioned, you need to keep the soil moist. Ornamental cherries won’t tolerate drought. Even infrequent drought will leave them open to disease.

If you can’t guarantee regular irrigation from the environment – and most of us can’t – make sure the tree is within reach of an irrigation source.

Better yet, run drip irrigation lines to your specimen. It’s always best to water at the soil level and not on the trunk or foliage.

Ideally, the soil will never dry out below the top inch. A good wood chip mulch can help the soil retain moisture with the added bonus of suppressing weeds.

A late frost and freezing winds can damage this type of tree.

For the first issue, you can toss some frost cloth over a small specimen, though there’s not much you can do to protect a large tree from late frost. That’s just how it goes in the world of gardening.

For the latter issue, plant your flowering cherry in a protected spot so those icy winds won’t wreak havoc on your plant. Avoid planting in low-lying areas, which are also known as frost pockets – for good reason!

Fertilizing

Feeding is an important part of caring for ornamental cherries. These plants are heavy feeders and they won’t bloom well if you don’t feed them regularly.

Do it once a year in the spring after flowering with a fertilizer formulated for trees.

Or better yet, use something like Down to Earth’s Tree & Shrub mixture, which contains beneficial endomycorrhizal fungi to support healthy roots.

Down to Earth Tree & Shrub

Arbico Organics carries this product in five- and 25-pound compostable boxes.

Feed container plants more often. You can use the same fertilizer, but apply it in the early fall, as well.

Growing Tips

• Plant in full sun in a spot protected from freezing winds.
• Keep the soil moist and avoid drought.
• Fertilize once in the spring after flowering.

Pruning and Maintenance

While you don’t have to do regular pruning as you would with a fruit tree, pruning can help prevent fungal issues, and anything we can do to avoid disease is a good thing.

Prune in the late winter and take off any diseased or broken branches at the base.

Crossing or crowded branches can be removed in spring after flowering. You want a canopy that is open enough to promote good air circulation.

When the tree is young, be sure to remove any double leaders (two competing main stems) so that you have just one main stem. And if I get wind that you topped your tree you’ll hear from me!

Topping is the practice of cutting the main leader off at the top to encourage the tree to have a more spreading, weeping form. It damages and weakens trees.

If you want a weeping type, buy one, don’t try to force it.

Cultivars to Select

There are so many excellent options out there that it’s hard to narrow them down.

Look for one of the disease-resistant types if you want to avoid the heartbreak of potentially losing your flowering cherry. Fortunately, there are lots of these to choose from.

Akebono

‘Akebono’ is a large weeping cherry hybrid (P. x yedoensis) suitable for Zones 5 to 8.

Stretching up to 35 feet tall and wide with an upright growth habit and a round, symmetrical crown, it flowers in spring with white and pale pink blooms and features bright yellow foliage in the fall.

What makes it so striking is that the lightly fragranced flowers are some of the largest of any flowering cherry out there.

‘Akebono’

The good news is that this plant grows extremely fast, so you can have a full-sized specimen in no time.

The bad news is that fast growth comes at a cost. These tend only to live for about 20 years.

Do you agree that bigger is better? Then snag a three- to four-foot-tall plant in a #3 container at Nature Hills Nursery.

Autumnalis

P. subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’ aka autumn cherry puts on one heck of a show.

It’s a large tree at about 30 feet tall and wide, which gives you a whole lot of opportunity for a big display.

The double flowers are large and medium pink, and while they put on the biggest display in the spring, they put on a second, smaller show in the fall.

They also produce small black fruits that attract birds and squirrels.

‘Autumnalis’

Gardening in Zones 4b to 8b? Add twice-yearly blossoms to your garden by picking up a five- to six-foot-tall specimen at Fast Growing Trees.

Kwanzan

Hands down one of the showiest and most dramatic flowering cherries, P. serrulata ‘Kwanzan’ (sometimes labeled Kanzan) has large, bold pink double flowers that absolutely smother the branches in the spring.

It’s not just the flowers that stand out, though. The young foliage emerges in bronze before turning green and then orange-bronze in the fall, all on a compact 25-foot-tall, vase-shaped tree.

‘Kwanzan’

This tree is also extremely hardy compared to some other cultivars and thrives pretty much anywhere in Zones 4b to 9b. It’s a fast grower with a short lifespan of just 25 years.

Bring this charmer home as a five- to six-foot-tall specimen from Fast Growing Trees.

Plena Rosea

Admittedly, this is one of those fussy, disease-prone options that we warned you about, but sometimes you just gotta go with the temperamental beauty. Here’s why:

A stunning 20-foot-tall and equally wide tree with arching branches, P. subhirtella ‘Plena Rosea’ aka ‘Pendula Plena Rosea,’ blooms in spring with rose pink flowers.

‘Plena Rosea’

It looks like a beautiful fountain of double blossoms. It’s truly eye-catching and will undoubtedly be the focal point of your yard while it’s blooming.

Pick up a sapling in a four-by-four-by-six-foot container at Nature Hills Nursery. You’ll likely only have a few decades with this fast grower, but they’ll be worth it.

Okame

One of the cultivars in Washington D.C.’s famous yearly display, this hybrid of P. campanulata and P. incisais is much tougher than many of its siblings.

It can handle some clay, resists pests and diseases, and reliably produces large, vibrant blossoms, even in partial shade.

The downside is that it doesn’t do well in the cold. It can only be grown in Zones 6b to 9a. It’s also long-lived and has a beautiful upright vase-like growth habit.

‘Okame’

Create your own cherry blossom festival in your yard by buying a four- to five- or five- to six-foot-tall ‘Okame’ tree at Fast Growing Trees.

Managing Pests and Disease

Technically, flowering cherries can be impacted by anything that attacks edible cherries, which is why you should familiarize yourself with growing these plants by checking out our guide.

In reality, some of these hybrids and cultivars are resistant to problems, but they’re generally temperamental.

Herbivore feeding, fungal issues, and gummosis are the biggest challenges, but the healthier you keep them the more likely they are to resist problems.

These trees are naturally short-lived, and it’s common for them to succumb to disease after a few decades.

Herbivores

While young trees are susceptible to feeding by deer and voles, even older trees can be damaged. 

Deer

Deer will browse on the saplings, and they can even consume enough of the plant that they kill it.

If you know you have deer in your area, put a fence around your tree. Or read our guide for more tips on dealing with deer.

Voles

Voles aren’t just a threat to young trees. They’ll chew on the lower trunks of mature trees, causing girdling. This is more common in the winter.

Insects

Insects will rarely cause lasting damage to a tree unless you have a really serious infestation, and that typically occurs only if your tree is already weak and unwell.

Keep your tree happy and it’s unlikely that you’ll face these pests:

Japanese Beetle

Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) are small, metallic brown and green insects that devour all kinds of flora. They prefer plants in the rose family (Rosaceae), of which Prunus is a part.

When they find their way to your garden, they start eating. And as they do, they release pheromones, which attracts more beetles. Pretty soon, you’ll have a much bigger problem on your hands.

Look for the beetles themselves or skeletonized leaves.

They can be challenging to deal with, but our guide to managing a Japanese beetle infestation can help.

Tent Caterpillars

Tent caterpillars and webworms tend to come in waves. One year you’ll have a ton, and the next, there will be hardly any.

At any rate, they aren’t a big deal even though they look kind of gross, covering your tree in worm-filled webs. Our guide explains how to deal with these pests.

Disease

Cue the theme from Jaws – it’s time to talk disease. If you have a particularly cool, wet, humid summer, you might want to proactively treat for fungal issues.

Armillaria

A common fruit tree issue caused by Armillaria mellea, armillaria is a fungal rot that looks like white, fan-shaped patches that sit between the bark and the inner wood.

Unless you’re actively lifting up the bark to look for it, the first thing you’ll notice is your perfectly healthy tree suddenly collapsing in the summer.

You can’t cure it, so do your best to prevent armillaria by planting in a well-draining area, fertilizing appropriately, and making sure to irrigate sufficiently during periods of drought.

Cherry Leaf Spot

Cherry leaf spot is caused by the fungus Blumeriella jaapii, evidenced by purple spots all over the leaves that later turn brown.

Infected leaves eventually turn yellow, then brown, and fall off the tree.

This weakens the tree and leaves it more susceptible to drought or winter damage, as well as secondary infection. It’s a vicious cycle.

To start with, always clean up fallen leaves around your tree. This is where the fungus overwinters.

You should also spray a broad-spectrum fungicide like ZeroTol HC in the early fall.

ZeroTol HC

Arbico Organics carries this product, which can be used to treat a variety of diseases, in gallon-size containers.

Gummosis

Despite the fact that they aren’t technically fruiting trees, flowering cherries are susceptible to a common fruit tree condition known as gummosis.

If you see oozing sap on your tree, read our guide to learn about this problem and how to fix it.

Root Rot

You don’t want root rot. It’s bad news and it’s one of the more preventable problems, since it thrives in overly wet soil. It’s caused by oomycetes in the Phytophthora genus.

Above ground, it will look like your tree isn’t getting enough nutrients, and that’s because it isn’t.

This disease kills off the feeder roots, which makes it hard for the plant to take up nutrients. You’ll see weak growth, yellowing leaves, and drooping.

Dig down just a bit and you’ll see black or brown, soft roots.

A broad-spectrum fungicide like ZeroTol HC, described above, is an effective treatment, but it will only work if you catch the disease early on and remedy the waterlogged conditions that led to its onset.

Verticillium Wilt

Verticillium dahliae is a common fungus that can attack hundreds of different species, including plants in the Prunus genus.

The fungus prevents water from moving through the plant, resulting in wilting leaves, even when the soil is perfectly moist. The leaves will also turn yellow and young twigs might die off.

You can test trees for this disease through your local ag extension office, and avoid it by taking care not to over-fertilize, don’t plant with other susceptible species, and control weeds.

Sadly, there is no effective treatment.

You can prune off the most symptomatic branches, but eventually, you’ll have to remove the tree or you risk spreading the disease to other plants in your and your neighbors’ gardens.

Best Uses

If you’re looking to play around with bonsai, these trees make some of the prettiest, if somewhat fussiest, specimens.

Or you can always keep them in a larger container as a dramatic focal point in the garden or on a patio.

The larger trees, of course, need no accompaniment, but smaller trees can work as a background for plants that will pick up the color duty after the blossoms on the trees have fallen.

Think of plants like roses, crape myrtle, spirea, or butterfly bush, so long as they aren’t considered invasive in your neck of the woods.

Quick Reference Growing Guide

Plant Type:	Deciduous flowering tree	Flower/Foliage Color:	Pink, red, white/green
Native to:	China, Japan, Korea	Maintenance:	Moderate
Hardiness (USDA Zones):	4b-9	Water Needs:	Moderate to high
Bloom Time:	Early spring, some varieties again in fall	Soil Type:	Loose, rich loam
Exposure:	Full sun to partial shade	Soil pH:	6.0-7.5
Time to Maturity:	5 years	Soil Drainage:	Well-draining
Spacing:	10-20 feet	Attracts:	Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
Planting Depth:	Same depth as nursery container	Uses:	Bonsai, specimen, container
Height:	Up to 35 feet	Family:	Rosaceae
Spread:	Up to 30 feet	Subfamily:	Amygdaloideae
Growth Rate:	Fast	Genus:	Prunus
Common Pests and Diseases:	Deer, Japanese beetles, tent caterpillars, voles; Armillaria, cherry leaf spot, gummosis, root rot, verticillium wilt	Species:	Jamasakura, itosakura, nipponica, sargentii, serrulata, subirtella

Long Live the Queen of Flowering Trees

I’m going to level with you. Even if there weren’t any disease-resistant options available and every tree was guaranteed to falter after a few decades, I’d grow them anyway.

Flowering cherries are just so incredibly stunning, they’re worth it.

Lucky for us, there are healthier options to choose from and we know how to prevent most issues with proper care.

I can’t remember the last time I had to deal with diseases on my trees. I promise, it’s possible.

So, which flowering cherry are you growing? What do you love about it? Share in the comments.

That’s all there is to it. Now go forth and enjoy the show!

If you’re not ready to hang up your shovel and you’re looking for more gardening projects, you might be interested in some of our other guides to ornamental trees, including:

Lots of gardeners deal with at least one area of their property that never seems to dry out. As horticulturist Joseph Henderson explains in his article Plants for Soggy Spots, lots of plants flounder in these kinds of conditions: “Without a steady supply of air, waterlogged roots begin to gasp and eventually rot, killing the foliage above.”

Thankfully, a soggy spot doesn’t require a complete garden overhaul; it just requires the right plants that thrive in consistently wet conditions. Below, you’ll find plants for wet areas in your region. To find even more plants for wet soil, check out Joseph’s article: Plants for Soggy Spots.

 

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Many people rely on crocus, tulips and daffodil bulbs to give spring colour, but several other spring bloomers are available to grow. Most are relatively low growing and will tolerate various conditions offered to them, thereby allowing all gardeners to give them a try.

Pulmonaria – commonly called “Lungwort” and named for the spotted leaves that were thought to help cure lung diseases long ago. Many varieties are obtainable, with more being created all the time. The leaves vary; dark green with grey spots, medium green with a white edge or even an almost all silver-grey with a green edge. Flower colours also vary; pink, white, dark blue, lilac and medium blue with pink. Tolerant of shade or full sun, it thrives best in a moist condition and grows 8 inches to 14 inches tall.

Arabis – Plain green or a variegated leaf form is available to this ground-hugging plant. Commonly seen white flowers cover the foliage, but a striking bright purple is also available. This plant loves sunny, dry conditions and thrives in a rockery setting, gently flowing over the stones.

Creeping Phlox – Small lance-shaped leaves smother the stems, creating this very low-growing, creeping plant. Flowers appear within the leaves, almost stifling the foliage, in colours of purple, lilac, pink and white. This plant needs full sun to perform its best and does extremely well in a xeriscape situation. Only reaching a height of 4 inches, it slowly creeps outward every season.

Bloodroot – Bright white, single or double flowers suddenly appear with this plant. The leaves emerge from the ground wrapped singly together, only to uncurl themselves to show their softly rounded dark green foliage. The buttercup-shaped flowers appear from underneath the ground a few days later, to face their soft-to-the-touch shimmering petals upward. It grows 4 to 6 inches tall, and prefers a woodland setting, yet will tolerate other gardening situations.

Shooting Star – a native to North America, this plant may be difficult to locate for your garden. Smooth leaves form a rosette at the base, which flower stems rise up to 12 inches above. The flowers are interesting, as their petals all face backwards, leaving the staemens in full view. Blossom colours available are burgundy, pink and white, and when placed in a part-shaded location its colour stays true. This plant does not multiply readily, but will return dependably each spring to show its blossoms in May.

Pasque Flower – Fuzzy blossoms of purple, white, lilac and pink adorn themselves atop the finely cut foliage of this pretty plant. Only growing 6 to 8 inches tall, it tolerates part-shade or full-sun locations, as well as moist or dry soils. It does not expand quickly, instead staying in a neat clump and is certainly worth a spot in any garden.

Violets – What would a garden be without one form of the viola family! Tall white woodland varieties, to shorter white, yellow or purple flowered varieties can be placed anywhere throughout the garden. Thriving in shade or sun, its only need is a moist location, which can be achieved artificially with once-a-week waterings and mulch. They propogate easily; self-sowing and by underground runners, making this plant an easy keeper.

Primula – Commonly called “Primrose”, the varieties will astound you. All colours are available except blue, either single coloured or two-toned. The leaves are medium to dark green and are rough and crinkled looking. The flower petals can be piled on top of eachother just above the leaves, in loose sprays or in tight balls above the leaf rosettes. Growing from 6 inches to 12 inches tall, it thrives in any moisture-retentive location.

There are other plants available to help your gardens look great in spring, with their many blossom colours and variations of foliage. Once grown in your garden, you are sure to find many more that suit all of your gardening needs.

Spring Perennial Plant Sale

The 3rd Annual Spring Plant Sale will be held on Saturday, May 6th, 2000, 8am to 1pm at 367 Irvine Street in Elora (just north of the St. Mary’s School). These are plants grown in Jennifer’s gardens, with many different varieties of herbs, bulbs and perennials available to be purchased. These plants range from easy and moderate to grow and will thrive in shade or full sun locations. Any questions can be asked on the day as well, and signs will be posted.

Press Here!
Ground cover
Blubs
Perfect Garden
Whats in a name
Primrose
Seeds
Spring
Spring Planting
Variegated plants
Vines
Ferns
Unusual perennials
Blue Flowers
Containers
Cuttings
Glads
Herbs
Iris
Lilies
Roses
Rubeckia
Succulents
Email: Jennifer Moore

Gardening is relaxing, joyous, and fulfilling. It is also work. And some of the more desirable flowers can be quite a bit of work. Roses, for example, while stunning, tend to be divas that can take up your time and resources, all in the service of keeping pests and diseases away. While you may love the blooms, do you also love the black spot, mildew, sawfly, and winter dieback?

Is it possible to have a beautiful garden with less work? Absolutely. While there are no pest- and disease-free plants, there are plants with easy-going natures; as long as their few needs are met, they will be more than fine. Below, five flowering plants that thrive on benign neglect.

Hellebores

Hellebores (Helleborus orientalis) are a really tough plant. They bloom in February and the simple five petal rose-like blossoms stay until May. The flowers range from pinks and purples to white and deep burgundy. Their leaves are thick and glossy and can survive hot summers and cold winters. And once established, they are moderately drought resistant. Furthermore, they are deer resistant and love shade! Beyond watering it the first year and during severe droughts, you don’t need to do anything for this plant.

Joe Pye Weed

Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium spp.), a native to North America and favorite plant of many pollinators, is very easy to grow. Give it a damp location and it’s happy. But it’s still happy in drier locations in the shade. There are several varieties that differ in heights—from three to four feet to up to eight feet tall. The flowers can be white, pink, mauve, purple, or dark purple and smell amazing. Once established, all you need to do is cut back the last year’s dead stems in the spring, but only if you feel like it.

Sneezeweed

Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) is in the Aster family and has yellow, daisy-like flowers that can look a bit like coneflowers, which are also in the same family. The native likes moist rich soil but will tolerate less than ideal conditions. You can trim back the plant in early June to encourage a fuller bloom of flowers, or not. In fact, all you really need to do is divide it every four years or so.

Bottle Gentian

Bottle gentian (Gentiana spp.) is not only a low-maintenance plant with few pests or diseases, it has beautiful purple bottle-shaped flowers in which bumblebees sometimes fall asleep! Bumblebees are the only insect that are strong enough to open the flowers to get at the nectar. And after working hard to get into the flower, they sometimes take a nap and leave their little bee bottoms sticking out.

Blazing Star

Blazing star (Liatris, spp.) is another native Aster family relative with few needs. While most varieties prefer moist rich soil, the plant can be quite content in average soil. With purple flower spikes that attract butterflies and bees, the plant may only require staking if you have one of the taller varieties.

You don’t have to give up your roses. But you can make your gardening life a bit easier by putting in a few low-maintenance plants to cut back your gardening chores.

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My name is Keith Irvine. I am 70 years old, and I am guessing that I started my first garden somewhere between the ages of 6 and 10. I grew up on a farm about three hours south of where we currently live. That first garden was about an 8-foot by 8-foot plot that I put a crude fence around within my parents’ chicken range to take advantage of well-amended soil. It would have contained some basic vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, radishes, and probably a few marigolds for color.

The photos I am sending you today are from the little oasis we have created on the 40-acre property we purchased as a clean slate piece of bush in 1977, one year after our marriage. It has gone through a lot of evolution from the simple vegetable garden I started in 1978 that was quite a distance from the building site because there just happened to be a little clearing there.

We are located about halfway between Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Zone 3. Many challenges are presented by that!

The earlier years saw the vegetable garden moved to the building site once we got enough land cleared. It went through constant expansion, and soon the growth shifted more and more into flowers and accompanying hardscapes such as pergolas, arbors, and a pagoda.

I have always favored annuals because I like to be able to totally work the ground and start with a clean slate each year. However, as I am aging, perennials are finding their way into the landscape as well.

This is a relatively large landscape with many rambling forms within it. We have a Japanese garden with a backdrop of an abandoned chicken coop from our earlier years, now adorned with sprawling Virginia creepers. There is a picket-fenced English garden with paths paved in large disks of salvaged tamarack from the property, a large goldfish pond with waterfall, several rock gardens, and various-shaped flower beds.

There is a 40-foot-long by 4-foot-high lattice wall with a planter all along the top and an annual bed at the base that was built as a backdrop for our eldest daughters’ wedding in 2004.

I would have to say that the successes I am most proud of are the pond, the Japanese garden, and our latest creation—a completely made-over vegetable garden. It is 32 feet by 40 feet, fully fenced for deer proofing. I strongly resisted a fence for many years simply because most fences I’ve seen are so unsightly! But the deer became such a problem that it was either scrap the vegetable garden or put up a fence. I am a staunch supporter of Bobbex for keeping deer out of the flower beds, but you can’t use that on your food crops. So in the winter of 2019-2020 I spent hundreds of hours on Pinterest gathering ideas for deer fences and waist-high raised beds that aesthetically I could put beside my house. I am very proud of the result.

We have a greenhouse that has grown along with the garden and is now 12 feet by 28 feet. It is always bursting at the seams by planting time. I start all my own seedlings.

I have a very large collection of coleus and succulents that I keep in the basement over winter along with boxes of canna, calla, elephant’s ear, begonia roots, etc., in the cold room.

I retired in the winter of 2014. At the same time, since my wife was still working and I was going to be making frequent road trips alone to visit my aging parents, I got my first-ever cell phone. When shopping for that phone my main concern was that it have a very high-quality camera. Samsung has been very good for me. I started entering an annual photo contest on the Dave’s Garden website and have scored several wins. Some of those photos are among those I am sending you.

I have a particular passion for container gardening with both annuals (particularly coleus) and succulents. I am constantly trying new combinations and thrive on the creativity aspect. In addition to pots of all sizes, I use many other items for containers, large and small. Some of the more unique ones are antiques from my parents’ farm.

I have a blacksmith’s forge that was my great grandfathers; I stuff it with a different assortment of succulents every year. I also have a cast-iron maple-syrup cauldron that was my grandmother’s. The succulent collage in the photos is a close-up of one of the plantings in the forge.

The largest container I plant is an ox cart that I re-created with wheels from my great grandfather’s cart. 

 

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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