I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately on planting bare root fruit trees. We have a lot of them in stock at the shop right now and I’m helping lots of people plant their food forests and orchards.
We’ve planted a lot of bare root fruit trees over the years, including almost our entire apple orchard and a chunk of our Grocery Row Gardens and food forest.
This plum came from a tree we bought at Atmore Farm & Garden before we ended up buying the entire store.
Since I’ve been getting a lot of questions, Rachel and I filmed a video today explaining the “how and why” of planting bare root fruit trees:
It’s a great way to establish an orchard or food forest. If you’re local, stop on by the shop and pick some up. It’s really hard to beat the price, plus I’ll help you pick out the best trees for your homestead.
And if you’re not local, definitely hunt down some bare root trees. They transplant wonderfully and give you a head start on spring.
These fast-growing plants are well suited to Mountain West gardens, where quick coverage and adaptability matter. Thriving in sun to part shade, they’re dependable background plants for filling gaps and building a strong garden framework. Our expert chose each plant for regional performance.
Conditions: Full sun; sandy to rocky, well-drained soil
Native range: Western United States, primarily the Southern Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountain penstemon is a native perennial that is both beautiful and water-wise, offering stunning color without demanding constant attention. Its dense spikes of tubular royal blue to purple flowers rise above a low mat of evergreen foliage for several weeks from late spring into early summer, which provides a fantastic beacon for hummingbirds and native bees.
This plant is a workhorse, naturally adapted to the challenging conditions of our region. It is also very hardy; it tolerates full sun and drought once established, and will continue to look amazing even when summer weather is hot and dry. As one of the easiest penstemons to grow, it is an excellent choice for low-water landscapes.
Western white clematis
Photo by millettephotomedia.com
Name: Clematis ligusticifolia
Zones: 4b–8
Size: 10 to 30 feet tall and 3 to 10 feet wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, rich soil
Native range: Western United States
This vigorous and reliable native vine provides lush coverage that is beautiful and exceptionally tough. Its semi-woody stems will rapidly weave their way up arbors, fences, trellises, or through existing shrubbery to create a dense green screen.
Flowering season begins in midsummer, when the vine becomes blanketed in massive clusters of fragrant creamy white or pale pink flowers. The small blossoms appear in such profusion that they often cover the foliage, providing a long-lasting display that continues through the end of summer. Even as the flowers fade, the plant maintains its appeal well into fall and winter with fluffy, silvery white seed heads that inspired one of the plant’s common names, old man’s beard.
‘Panchito’ manzanita
Photo courtesy of Plant Select
Name: Arctostaphylos × coloradensis ‘Panchito’
Zones: 4b–8
Size: 18 to 30 inches tall and 36 to 60 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; sandy to rocky, well-drained soil
Native range: Naturally occurring Colorado hybrid
For reliable year-round interest, this low-maintenance native broadleaf evergreen is perfect. Prized for its low, spreading habit and its ability to hold the dark green foliage through winter, it produces a generous cover of tiny, urn-shaped, rose-pink flowers in early spring, followed by small red berries in fall. Even its smooth reddish brown bark is ornamental.
‘Panchito’ is one of the easiest manzanitas to grow. An extremely hardy selection from a naturally occurring hybrid, it is well adapted to survive high-altitude conditions, heavy snow, and periods of drought once established, and will even thrive in the dry shade underneath large, established conifers.
Photo by Teri/Adobe Stock
Name: Aquilegia caerulea
Zones: 3–10
Size: 12 to 30 inches tall and 12 to 24 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; rich, moist, well-drained to rocky soil
Native range: Western United States within the Southern Rocky Mountains
This robust and lovely native perennial combines the speedy establishment of an annual with the reliability of a hardy wildflower. It is custom-built for high-altitude Western gardens, easy to grow, and readily available in nurseries. Once established, it can tolerate full sun and even drought. Its intricate spurred blossoms emerge from late spring to early summer. They are favored by hummingbirds and typically a gorgeous bicolor combination of sky blue and white. Although a single plant may live only three to five years, prodigious self-seeding means the next generation is always ready to fill the space, resulting in an effective, long-lasting display.
Regional expert: Colin Velazquez Lee is the curator of plant collections at the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in Vail, Colorado.
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Discover fast-growing plants for the Southeast, selected by regional expert Jay Sifford. From juniper to tiarella, these versatile plants thrive in shady spots and help fill garden gaps quickly, making them dependable background players for Southeast landscapes.
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; average, well-drained soil
Native range: Japan and Sakhalin Island, Russia
I’ve had a love affair with this juniper since I first saw it 20 years ago. What’s not to love? ‘All Gold’ isn’t as prickly as many junipers. It sports chartreuse foliage with reddish stems, and it is one of the few junipers that performs well in light shade. Some afternoon shade may be appropriate in the Deep South, but give it full sun in cooler climates for brighter chartreuse foliage. In partial shade, it will produce Granny Smith apple–colored growth. During winter, the foliage bronzes a bit, providing seasonal interest.
Give this plant well-drained conditions; soggy soil is its nemesis. In late autumn, clear any fallen leaves trapped inside the branches to prevent decaying organic matter from causing dieback over winter.
Conditions: Partial to full shade; medium to wet soil
Native range: Eastern Asia, Europe, and northern and eastern North America
I’m known at local nurseries as Mr. Fern, so saying that this is arguably my favorite fern speaks volumes. Its spectacular vegetative fronds emerge in early spring as a harbinger of warmer weather. They resemble ostrich plumes, hence the name. The fronds, called “fiddleheads” when young, are often sautéed with butter as a culinary delight, but I cannot bear to cut them for consumption.
In mid- to late spring, the broad plumes unfurl from the center of the plant and persist through winter. I’ve grown this plant in both wet and average to dry soil. In the latter scenario, it grew only 1 foot tall and wide. In wet to soggy soil it will tolerate a little sun and will quickly realize its full potential to spread over a sizeable area.
‘Running Tapestry’ tiarella
Photo courtesy of millettephotomedia.com
Name: Tiarella cordifolia ‘Running Tapestry’
Zones: 4–8
Size: 10 to 12 inches tall and 12 to 18 inches wide
Conditions: Partial to full shade; consistently moist soil
Native range: Eastern North America
This variety of a North American native is exceptional in every way. It sports lovely heart-shaped foliage with dark purple veining. In spring, it sends up inflorescences covered in small star-shaped white flowers. While the straight species can be slow to fill in, ‘Running Tapestry’ puts out stolons that quickly but politely colonize. It looks particularly good when planted on a moist, shady slope where the stolons can work their way over boulders, like tiny mountain climbers. Related to heucheras (Heuchera spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9), which can be deer candy, tiarellas seem to be fairly deer- and rabbit-resistant. They are generally evergreen, although the foliage may bronze a bit in cold weather.
‘Streib’s Findling’ cotoneaster
Photo by Jennifer Benner
Name: Cotoneaster dammeri ‘Streib’s Findling’
Zones: 6–8
Size: ½ foot tall and 8 feet wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; average, well-drained soil
Native range: Central and southern China
I’ve always had a dislike for cotoneasters, except for this one, which you’ll find in my garden. It’s a workhorse of a ground cover that hugs the earth and climbs over rock masses, keeping the lowest of profiles. Its habit is tight, with roundish evergreen foliage. Small white flowers emerge in spring, followed by red berries, which the birds seem to enjoy, in late fall and winter.
‘Streib’s Findling’ is considered deer- and rabbit-resistant. It is great on a slope and versatile enough to be sought after by bonsai enthusiasts. When using it as a ground cover, space plants 4 feet apart, and watch them fill in within a couple of years.
Regional expert: Jay Sifford is an award-winning garden designer residing in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Discover top fast-growing perennials and shrubs for Midwest gardens, with reliable picks for both sun and shade. Perfect for filling gaps and building structure quickly, these versatile background plants are smart, hardworking choices—each selected by our expert to thrive in your region.
Size: 6 to 12 inches tall and 12 to 24 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moderately fertile, average, well-drained soil
Native range: Hybrid
This low-growing perennial geranium forms a short, rounded semi-evergreen mat of foliage, unlike most geraniums, which sprawl. Adorned with five-petaled flowers that begin as dark red buds and open to lilac-pink, it blooms profusely from late spring to midsummer. The leaves are fragrant, taking on the color of crimson in fall as temperatures begin to drop.
These characteristics make it a choice selection for ground cover plantings, underplantings, or edging. ‘Karmina’ requires only a light shearing to clean up its surface after a flush of blooms. Resistant to both diseases and pests, this perennial is one to try.
Conditions: Full sun to full shade; medium to dry, well-drained soil
Native range: Hybrid of North American species
One of the few shrubs with foliage that emerges orange in spring, turns green, and then burns an even brighter orange in fall, this hybrid of native Diervilla species is truly unique. Kodiak® Orange is a sturdy shrub that makes a more sustainable alternative to burning bush (Euonymus alatus*, Zones 4–8).
Thriving in sun or shade, it does well in most soils and is resistant to deer and drought tolerant. In summer, its yellow flowers will attract a variety of pollinators. Loose in habit, it works well in mass plantings, along the foundation of a building, or as an accent in a mixed border. I find it to be the most attractive and versatile of all the diervilla cultivars available today.
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; light, dry to medium, well-drained soil
Native range: Hybrid
The gray-green foliage of this compact variety of catmint is not only attractive but quite fragrant when crushed. A member of the mint family, it will bloom reliably from May through September. Shearing off the spent blooms increases the emergence of new flowers.
This hardy perennial is covered in short, deep violet-blue flower spikes that attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Resistant to deer, it is a wonderful addition to the front of a landscape bed or the edge of a pathway. It’s also adaptable to growing in containers and looks best along the rim, where it can cascade and soften the edge.
‘Autumn Amber’ three-leaf sumac
Photo courtesy of Plant Select
Name: Rhus trilobata ‘Autumn Amber’
Zones: 4–8
Size: 10 to 14 inches tall and 72 to 96 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to full shade; average to dry, well-drained soil
Native range: Western North America
A ground-hugging selection of the native three-leaf sumac, this shrub is the perfect plant to fill large areas you wish to spend little time managing. Native bees are drawn to the small yellow flowers in spring. Late-season berries then feed birds and small mammals, with the low branches providing habitat. Fall leaf color varies with the temperature, ranging from yellow, orange, and red. The dense branching structure of this low-spreading woody suppresses weeds as well or better than a layer of mulch. Snip the branches with pruners to control size when necessary. ‘Gro-Low’ fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica ‘Gro-Low’, Zones 3–9) may be the better-known relative, but ‘Autumn Amber’ is the superior plant. It will grow happily in well-drained sandy, loamy, or clay soil.
Regional expert: Marti Neely, FAPLD, owns and operates Marti Neely Design and Associates in Omaha, Nebraska.
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IT WAS 1 DEGREE Fahrenheit outside when I looked at my electronic weather station readout the other morning, a perfect time for some winter-defying tactics like talking tomatoes.
Organic seed farmer and breeder Don Tipping of Siskiyou Seeds in Oregon joined me for a colorful, warming conversation, because after trialing 55 tomato varieties last season, Don has some goodies to recommend—and some advice on growing your best tomatoes ever, including ones that actually store well long after harvest. Yes, storage tomatoes (like the ones hanging above).
Don Tipping founded Siskiyou Seeds, a family-run farm-based organic seed company, in 1997. Siskiyou is a farm with a view situated at 2,000 feet of elevation in the Siskiyou Mountains of Southwest Oregon, and features something like a thousand varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers in its impressive collection.
Read along as you listen to the Jan. 26, 2026 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 (and browse my archive of podcasts here).
Margaret Roach: Hi, Don, how are you? I bet it’s not 1 degree there.
Don Tipping: No. Good morning. We have a typical high-pressure system in January of warm, sunny days. It’s been getting in the upper 50s and a little frosty at night.
Margaret: You’re trying to make me jealous, are you? Oh my goodness. Anyway, I think the last time we chatted, it was about another sort of summery, hot-colored passion of yours: zinnias. So today’s topic is kind of like that, tomatoes, and you did trials last summer at the farm of 55 varieties, as I mentioned in the introduction, that I had read about, and I kept meaning to get in touch with you. And so here we are. What was the goal of the trials? Why did you do that? [Below, Don’s ‘Firestarter’ zinnia.]
Don: Well, basically every year on the farm, I try and pick a few species that I’m going to really dive deep into and learn more about because I think there’s always new varieties that we haven’t grown, or people have enthusiasm for new crops.
So this year it was tomatoes, because I have a friend and colleague who’s been doing some tomato breeding. And recently I stumbled across the whole subcategory of storage tomatoes. So I was wanting to grow a whole bunch next to one another and learn more data, because I find being a farm-based seed company, the more research and development work I can do is really valuable, because oftentimes when I’m doing catalog writing, I’ll go to many other seed companies’ websites and I’ll notice that many of them use the same exact word-for-word description, which means they don’t really know. They’re just copy and pasting. But I would be able to speak from my own personal experience.
Margaret: Right. And speaking of that, that boilerplate copy-paste kind of thing, genetically speaking or whatever, I always say—and again, as a layperson—I always say a ‘Brandywine’ isn’t a ‘Brandywine’ isn’t a ‘Brandywine.’ Meaning the genetics of the seed in the ‘Brandywine’ packets that I could order from those 20 different seed catalogs that have the copy and paste of its same definition, it’s not the same unless it came from the same source of seed. So there’s so much potential variability, so much genetic potential expression and adaptability, all these adaptations that can happen. I mean, it’s so exciting—and that’s the miracle of seed. So I don’t want that cut-and-paste thing. I want your firsthand one, and I want them to get my firsthand one, right?
Don: Yeah. Well, a little figure I like to bring up from India from the work of Vandana Shiva is she talks about before the Green Revolution, there were over 30,000 varieties of rice there. And if you were able to look at them all growing, many of them probably look really similar, but seeds do have memory. And if you keep growing them season after season in the same place under the same growing conditions, they’ll do better every year, a little bit better in that area. Whereas most seed companies are just buying from the international wholesale market and it’s not possible to have that level of specialization. And this is what globalization has brought the world is-
Margaret: Right. So it’s availability to all, but it’s availability from the same source, which is one strain, so to speak, one set of genetics that’s adapted to those commercial fields in who knows where, and it’s usually a place that’s nothing like my garden. And the techniques used, it’s probably not…a lot of times it’s not organically managed, all these kinds of things.
Don: Yeah. Well, and you brought up ‘Brandywine,’ that’s one of the … Well, actually two of the varieties that we trialed was our strain of ‘Brandywine’ that we’ve been growing and saving seed of for years. And then one from my friend, Steve Peters at Seed Revolution Now, that he calls ‘California Brandywine,’ because they’ve been tweaking it and selecting for production on the Central Coast of California. So technically the same thing, but one has learned to adapt to a coastal California climate, whereas I’m in the mountains of Oregon.
Margaret: Yeah. And again, it’s just infinitely exciting the potential for these living creatures to express themselves in these intimately distinctive ways, I think. So that’s what I love about seed—I mean, one of the many things. So you had curiosity, you had curiosity about varieties you didn’t know. You had curiosity about comparing his ‘Brandywine’ to your ‘Brandywine,’ those kinds of things, and about the storage tomatoes.
So what in the world is a storage tomato? I mean, that just cracked me up when I saw that in here. I mean, I sort of had heard of it, but I didn’t really know. And do you actually have tomatoes in storage in January right now?
Don: Yeah. Well, to where the story begins, at least for me, is years ago, there was a tomato variety called ‘Longkeeper,’ and it’s still out there. And it’s a round red, nothing special, like two to two and a quarter inch diameter red slicer without exceptional flavor. But if you pick it slightly under ripe, not green, but let’s say orange, it’ll for a long time, but it’s not really exciting. And what really grabbed me with the Italian and Spanish and Catalan storage tomatoes was I was really introduced to it through Lane Selman, who founded the Culinary Breeding Network and has done a lot to champion the unsung heroes of the vegetable world stuff. [Above, Lane with some storage varieties.]
So I actually first saw it in pictures, and she had an artist do some pen and ink work of these clusters of tomatoes. So it looks like maybe a hundred cherry tomato-size things all clustered together like a bunch of grapes hanging up. And then finally at one of these events, they had a table with the Dryland Farming Collaborative that sprouted out of Oregon State University of two varieties. One was a red variety called ‘Annarita’ [below; photo from Dryland Collaborative], and another was a yellow one called ‘Pienollo Giallo,’ which is basically yellow tomato [above]. And so I actually bought a couple baskets of each of those, and you can do seed saving just because tomatoes generally don’t cross from those.
And then I also got some from a colleague who has a seed company in Spain, but they’re actually in the Catalan region, so they see themselves distinct. So I have, I think, five varieties from there. And so we grew them all this year and I actually grew them last year, but I didn’t manage to do a storage trial.
So at home, I have bunches of them hanging in my kitchen and they’re storing pretty well. I’m learning when you have to pick them. If you pick them totally ripe, some of them will rot and they definitely, the ripe ones in my kitchen became fruit-fly magnets. So I learned that’s not the way to do it. You actually want to keep them more in a root cellar, a cooler or a garage or some backroom that you’re not heating in your house.
Margaret: Wow. I mean, it’s pretty exciting because we, gardeners, everyone has grown a tomato probably who’s gardened. So we think we know it all about, oh, there’s cherry tomatoes, there’s beefsteak tomatoes, there’s this, there’s that, there’s paste tomatoes, whatever, but this is something that’s kind of different. And if handled correctly, if timed right and managed correctly and put in the right place, it could mean the flavor of fresh tomato into a time of year when we don’t have it. And that’s pretty exciting stuff for cooking, I think especially.
Don: Yeah, exactly. Because anyone who’s gardening, we have huge abundance in August, September and-
Margaret: Oh boy, do we? Yeah.
Don: But eventually we get tired of it, but this time of year, having fresh tomatoes is really great. And I think the care of it, I’ve really enjoyed that part because you clip little the tresses of tomatoes and then you use twine or string or something to tie them in bunches. To me, I love the look of a gardener’s kitchen where there’s baskets of dried herbs and all the things that you’re storing, onions and garlic or braids of onions and garlic. And this just adds to that aesthetic. And then when you’re cooking, it’s right there in front of your face. You’re like, “Oh, I’ll add some fresh tomatoes to this. ” Whereas that’s a very different relationship than a can or a jar on a shelf and a pantry, which is still food, but it’s not as … The tactile nature of it is something that is really …
Margaret: Yeah, it’s like a living pantry. I mean, yeah, it’s beautiful.
So there was something else that caught my attention … And I want to talk about some of your favorites and some of the sort of winners and so forth, but there was something else besides the storage tomato mentions in your report that I read of the trials. There was mention of … There was ‘Sungold,’ but it wasn’t just ‘Sungold,’ which of course is this fabulously popular yellow cherry that has this great flavor, but it was ‘California Sungold.’ And there was mention of dehybridizing, the process of dehybridizing. And I wondered if you could tell us a little bit, like an anecdote about what is ‘California Sungold’ and what does dehybridizing mean? What was that in the trials?
Don: I think first just a very broad brushstroke definition of what a commercial F1 hybrid is, is usually the progeny of two inbred lines. So the breeder or the company maintaining it has these two different varieties, we’ll call them variety A and variety B, and they look pretty much the same. But then when they cross them, you get what’s called heterosis, and this is what hybrid vigor is. And then that’s the F1, which stands for first filial generation. So every time they produce seed, they have to do that cross. So they’re actually maintaining three different seed lines. My friend Andrew Still, who I believe you’ve had on your-
Margaret: Oh, of course. …
Don: From Adaptive Seeds, he recently was on a podcast and he was theorizing that ‘Sungold’ has been one of these ones that for a lot of us, we haven’t been able to dehybridize. I know in my efforts when I just saved seed from ‘Sungold,’ the resulting variety was never as productive or as flavorful. So he was thinking that maybe it has more than two parent lines, maybe it’s multiples. And so the level of genetic disintegration, this is why generally people don’t save seed from hybrids. You get what’s called genetic disintegration by about the third or fourth generation.
Margaret: So what we say in very simple terms, it “doesn’t come true.” The seed of a hybrid doesn’t come true; it doesn’t look like the parent plant the next time around.
Don: Yeah. One of my mentors, Dr. Alan Kapuler, went by the name Mushroom.
Margaret: Yes.
Don: You can never technically dehybridize something because you can’t remove the cross, but you can stabilize a hybrid. So he did this with ‘Early Girl,’ which is a very popular hybrid market slicer tomato. And out of that, a beefsteak, a ‘Roma’ and a cherry came out of it. So in its progeny, it had all of those back in its ancestral lines. This is the proverbial black sheep kind of thing.
So with ‘Sungold,’ we’ve had a variety that I just called ‘Wali’s Gold’ after my eldest son years ago. He wouldn’t eat normal tomatoes, but he’d eat ‘Sungold,’ so we saved seed from it. But it’s never been that great of a variety, to be honest. So then I have another one called ‘Numex Sundog’ that’s from a grower in New Mexico, hence the name Numex. And then the ‘Cal Gold,’ which I got from Steve Peters and his colleague Kanti, who’d been in the commercial tomato breeding world for a long time, that one in our trials had the flavor of the ‘Sungold’ hybrid and the productivity.
So that’s going to be the one that we’re … I’m dropping the other two, and this is the value of hybrids. Because why have three different varieties that are all fairly similar if one is superior, and you don’t know if something is superior until you grow it and you have to grow more than one plant because maybe that one plant was on where an inordinate amount of compost went down or something like that.
So we were growing at least 15 plants of each of these varieties. So this 55-variety trial was a quarter-acre of tomatoes. It was quite a … As I was transplanting that out and having to make all the labels and maps, I’m like, “What did I get into?” But we really like that variety. So ‘Cal Sungold,’ [below] it’s going to be our new …
Margaret: That’s great. Right. And so that’s a little bit of a story of this dehybridizing idea, the idea that you can now save seed from … I mean, you’re a seed company, so there’s that. And yeah, it’s very interesting to me to see that. So just let’s shout out a couple of, maybe some old standbys that were proved to be winners again in the trials and a few, maybe a couple of other new names that you want to alert us to besides the storage one and so forth that you’ve told us about. Any other that you wouldn’t be without?
Don: So anytime you do a trial, you need something to establish your baseline, something you’re actually familiar with. So for myself, one of my favorite slicers for many years has been ‘Cherokee Purple.’ If I could only grow one slicer tomato for the rest of my life, I’d be totally fine with that. It’s not the earliest one.
So I grew that and a few other just varieties that I already knew that I liked them. Another one was a Greek heirloom called ‘Thessaloniki’ that’s just a good baseline for a red slicer with flavor. And then we had a couple yellow ones, because they’re a different category. So I had ‘Yellow Brandywine,’ and ‘Valencia’ as an heirloom type and more just a yellow orange slicer. So that I could compare a new variety that I’d never seen before if it isn’t as productive as those as early or later or also the flavor, which is highly subjective.
And thankfully I was able to participate in a couple public events to do tomato tasting. So even though I grew 55 varieties, once I was into the harvest, some of the clear winners began to emerge. So I went to an event called Tomato Fest up in Portland, where there were about 800 people. They closed down a city block and we all had booths and there were all kind of activities and tattoos, like those temporary tattoos for kids and artwork about tomatoes.
So I had my favorite two-dozen varieties that I’d cut up and had with toothpicks for people to sample, and then a scoring chart. So it was interesting to see what people liked and it was pretty consistent.
So a number of the ones … So there’s appearance. If something is very engaging with appearance, I think we’re going to want to like the flavor of it more. And so it’d be interesting to repeat some of this as a blind taste test, because if something’s really amazing, striped, marblelized, all kind of unique colors, we’re going to want to like how it tastes. So that’s from my observations.
And then I did it at a few farmer’s markets as well. So from that, some of the clear winners were from my friend and colleague who has her own little seed operation, mainly focusing on tomatoes and peppers, called Carmel Bella Farm. Her name is Lisa Troutner. And a lot of these have really unique names like ‘Gunmetal Gray’ or ‘Dragon’s Eye’ or ‘Lithium Sunset’ or ‘Rebel Starfighter.’ So she’s doing some breeding.
These are not all varieties she’s bred. She carries some material from Brad Gates, who he’s gotten a lot of attention for his ‘Brad’s Atomic Grape’ tomato, which is one of my favorites as well. But a lot of the ‘Lithium Sunset’ was just a clear winner in our taste test. And that one, it’s kind of like a reddish, orange, yellow, very distinct striped, not like faint stripes, but really just bold stripes and marbleized on the inside.
And a bit of that flattened pleated shape that I’ve seen from heirloom varieties from the Oaxaca, Mexico, area. We have a variety called ‘Oaxacan Pink,’ and there’s a few other ones, ‘Tlacolula Pink’ and ‘Tlacolula Gold.’
Once you’ve grown enough varieties, you can see like, “Oh, this is a variety from Eastern Europe,” or “This one’s from Mexico.”
Margaret: Oh, exactly. Because again, genetics, right? People, animals, if you know plants, whatever, you can see lineage, you can see a lineage in them once you’re familiar.
Don: Precisely. So I have a lot of Eastern European descent, so I’ve sought out varieties from Hungary, Poland, Rome. And I’ve realized after growing enough of those that they don’t like squishy tomatoes. They like firm, as firm as a ‘Roma,’ but bigger.
Margaret: I see.
Don: So these are just preferences. It’s not to say one’s better than the other, but I think having a seed company, there is something to … We eat not just for our tongue, we also eat for our eyes and our nose. So some of these varieties that are really striking, those are intriguing to me. Obviously having a seed company where we’re using the website and that kind of thing, it is helpful because we have one variety that we trialed called ‘Uluru Ochre,’ which is a weird name, but that was really high in the taste test. But in terms of appearance, it wasn’t that striking. It was kind of orange with some gray striping. So whereas ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Pink,’ just the name alone, people are going to want it.
And it is beautiful and it does have a really good flavor. So it’s interesting. There’s the trifecta of appearance, the name, and then the flavor. And I think only later do people experience gardeners ask, well, how is its disease resistance, or how early is it? Or how vigorous is it?
Margaret: Right. So speaking of the sort of cultural stuff, because I don’t want to run out of time, I want to get some advice. You’ve grown a lot of tomatoes, not just last year, but over time. Are you a six-week seedling or an eight-week seedling person? And do you bury them deep and do you pinch them, or prune them? Do you know what I mean? Do you have any? What are Don Tipping’s top tomato tips? Do you have advice that you want to tell people?
Don: I have a little rule. I don’t start tomatoes too early inside because I think they get stunted if you grow huge seedlings and you’re waiting for the weather to warm up.
Margaret: Yes, I agree.
Don: I think this applies to all plants. They want to sprout and grow at a steady trajectory throughout their lifecycle. You don’t want to start your tomatoes super-early in February and then have to keep them under lights or something because it’s too nasty outside to put them in the ground. So we usually start them all on heat mats, which helps because they’re a heat-loving crop. So that really improves your germination is to use bottom heat.
And then we’re transplanting them out in the field about 18 inches apart in a single row. We’re usually trellising using the Florida weave. We use a lot of compost, incorporated into the soil to make sure they have what they need. If you struggle with blossom and rot, oftentimes that’s a calcium deficiency.
So using some type of mineral amendment that gives you calcium will help with that.
And then there’s a whole debate. Do you prune your tomatoes? Do you train them to a central leader? I just think that depends on how much space you have. If you’re limited from space, then baby them and give them everything they need for the optimal results. But I tend to have a more Darwinian approach. You just need to be able to survive here because my end goal is the seed. So I don’t necessarily need big, juicy tomatoes that are babied with a lot of water and stuff. But I do think they’re a heavy feeder. So like all the other summer vegetables, you just think if they’re growing a lot of foliage and fruit, the soil needs to be able to show up for them and the sunlight. Don’t grow your tomatoes behind tall sweet corn or sunflowers where they’re going to not get all the sun that they need.
Margaret: And do you plant them deep when we do transplant the seedlings because they do have that potential to make roots off the main stem?
Don: Yeah, we use these pots and they’re about two and a quarter inches square, but really tall. So sometimes it’s hard to dig a hole that deep. So we actually will plant the root wad 90 degrees because the plant’s fine, and then mound soil up around the stem.
Margaret: I used to do that too, plant it all sideways. Exactly.
Don: Yeah. The tops on pretty much all plants are heliotropic. They’re going to grow towards the light. And so even though they might look a little sad when you first plant them-
And another thing we have to watch out for in this, I don’t know if this is a West Coast thing only, is flea beetles love the solanaceous crops. We transplant and then all of a sudden it’s really hot. The flea beetles can be really damaging. So we might even spray, it’s a liquid slurry of kaolin clay. And so then it’s kind of a white clay. Yes, just the flea beetles don’t like that. So that’s one little trick we’ll do, or we might do a foliar spray of fish emulsion and kelp just to help get them growing early. So those are a couple of our tricks.
Margaret: Great. Well, I’m so glad we talked about tomatoes, especially again since it was 1 degree this morning when I woke up. And Don, I’m just going to say you’re just a natural-born teacher, and there’s so much good information. I’ll give links and so forth on your website and you do on-farm training and all kinds of other teaching. And it’s just, I always learn from you and I’m so appreciative. And the Siskiyou offerings are just incredible so I’m excited to turn people onto some more of them. And it’s been fun to talk to you again. Thank you so much for making time today.
Don: Yeah, you’re welcome. Thank you.
more from don tipping
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MY WEEKLY public-radio show, rated a “top-5 garden podcast” by “The Guardian” newspaper in the UK, began its 16th year in March 2025. 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 Jan. 26, 2026 show using the player near the top of this transcript. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify (and browse my archive of podcasts here).
Gardening ten years ago is not the same as gardening today. With temperatures changing and drastic weather conditions becoming increasingly frequent, gardeners can no longer rely on old averages and practices. Understanding how local climate works now, not ten years ago, may be the key to a successful garden amongst changing times.
A few months ago when I was hosting The Regenerative Garden Book Club, I couldn’t stop coughing. My apartment felt as though it were getting smoky. I almost feared that a fire was happening downstairs!
It turns out that my tenant in the unit below me was cooking a really hot pepper. The smell wafted up and it got so bad that I have to open all my windows and turn on my air purifiers to get rid of the smell.
This past summer, we had a very intense heatwave. I’m talking more than 40 degrees Celcius in June. For Vancouver, this is practically unheard of. And since peppers get hotter with more intense heat while growing, the resulting warm weather meant that the local peppers were quite the doozy.
Funny enough, my solution was air purifiers, another result of my local weather. Wildfire season is now an annual thing here in BC, which means at some point in the summer we can expect Vancouver to be blanketed in smoke. Like how some consider air conditioning a must, air purifiers have become essential for me in my home. Without it, it becomes difficult to breathe amongst the smoke.
Without a doubt, the weather is changing and it’s affecting us every day, be it as big as a wildfire or as small as hotter peppers.
This post will cover…
Understanding Microclimates in Gardening
As gardeners, we are constantly looking at weather patterns. When will the ground thaw and allow us to plant our seedlings? At what time of day is the sun the hottest so we can offer shade protection for our plants? When will the first freeze come and officially end the gardening season?
To understand the weather, we typically would look at the thirty-year historical average of data. Before, this could give us some fairly accurate data. But now, the weather is too rapidly changing for us to rely on this information.
The weather has never been more different than it is today.
Instead, we all must come to understand our individual microclimates and work within them. Even in established zones, things can vary greatly.
For instance, in the Greater Vancouver Area, our mountains are always rainier. But when you get to the coast, it’s very sunny along the water. Go a further half an hour away and there’s even more sun.
Everybody has a unique microclimate to deal with in their own garden.
Regenerative Gardening Climate Practices
When it comes to climate, there’s quite a bit to sit and think on. To begin, we need to see where we’re at, where we’re going, and then identify where we need to make the changes.
For me, the effort that goes into making a regenerative garden initially pays off as it is less work for me to manage. A big part of that is understanding how to work with the natural cycles, the land around you, and letting the ecosystem regenerate itself.
Tracking and harnessing climate doesn’t have to fall on meteorologists. And it doesn’t have to be difficult either. You can use the climate’s natural energy combined with smart design systems that work for, not against you, in your microclimate.
In cold regions, you can capture heat with thermal masses or greenhouses. In warm regions, you can cool plants with shade and water. And if set your systems up right, your garden will take it from there!
Umbrella greenhouse
Climate-Friendly Garden Projects
When it comes to exploring the power of climate in the garden, there are many projects and designs you can implement into the garden. Here are a few.
Greenhouses: a greenhouse can help to extend the season in colder climate. They capture and store heat and light while also protecting plants from wildlife. They don’t have to be big either. A simple clear umbrella over a planter does the trick.
Thermal mass: structures can actually capture, hold, and radiate heat to warm plants and soil around it. With the right materials, you can harness the power of the sun for your plants.
Herb spirals: not only do they add additional space to your garden, but they allow you to use materials to help hold heat and place plants in varying levels of sunlight.
Windbreaks: while I love a cool summer breeze, you can have too much of a good thing sometimes. Windbreaks create protection from strong winds for more delicate plants.
Reforestation: many of us live in communities that once use to house many more trees. Not only are they beautiful, but trees help to cool streets with their shade and feed the soil. Making an effort to replant trees in neighbourhoods is a must.
Herb spiral
Frequently Asked Questions About Climate in Gardening
Why Does Climate Matter in Gardening?
Understanding climate allows you to grow healthier and more resilient plants for your area. Some plants can be costly and you want to make sure they’re going to survive in your climate.
Climate includes rain/snowfall, heat, wind, and humidity. All of these play a factor in your unique climate conditions and each plant will have different ideal conditions.
What’s the Best Climate for Gardening?
Just about any climate can grow all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and plants. Lower zones are cold-hardy and can withstand colder temperatures. Some plants even need the cold in order to germinate or grow in the spring. Plants with higher zones are more likely to handle the heat.
Zones 9-11 are fairly tropical, while zones 3-7 can survive some cold conditions but won’t handle prolonged cold, and anything below 3 is very cold tolerant.
Why Do Climate Zones Matter?
Understanding your climate zone can help you identify what kind of plants will grow best in your garden. A zone will have similar weather conditions, humidity, and precipitation levels.
If a plant says it grows well in your zone, it works well with your rainfall amount, sunlight levels, wind, humidity, heat, cold, and other climate conditions. For a successful garden, you want to try and grow plants that work in your zone.
Our Next Steps
All of these projects can be found in my upcoming book, The Regenerative Garden. Beyond climate, I explore over 80 concepts and projects that can be applied in the home garden to make it more sustainable, self-reliant, and biodiverse.
Regenerative gardening is one sure way we can make an impact on our local communities. And when everyone starts to care about these practices, it makes an impact globally.
We can work with these changing cycles in our climate and speak loudly. Let everyone know that this is a planet we care about and want to keep caring out.
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
With two facilities in Massachusetts—Garden in the Woods and Nasami Farm—Native Plant Trust focuses on species endemic to the Northeast, with priority given to rare species. The bank currently stores more than 10 million seeds. “Our native plants often have complex dormancy mechanisms. We may not know how to germinate all of them, so the first step is to collect seeds,” says Johnson. “The second step is to figure out how to germinate them. Lastly, and perhaps the most important, is to make sure these populations are secure in the wild so we don’t need the seed banks down the road.” Last year, Native Plant Trust worked with a sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis) population in Vermont. This native lupine is a host plant for the endangered Karner blue butterfly. After noticing that the population in this area in Vermont was in decline, they were able to repopulate it from seed stored at Native Plant Trust decades earlier. They’ll return next year to see what the success rate is. “The genetics should just knit back together as if it was just a banner year for the plants to be producing babies,” says Johnson.
Grow native plants. “Habitat loss and habitat fragmentation is the number one threat to native plants,” says Johnson. “When you grow native plants in your yard, you’re providing habitat and that habitat can become suitable for rare plants.” Furthermore, “native landscapes sequester more carbon and benefit insects, birds, and other wildlife,” says Havens. “Plus, they avoid contributing to the problem of invasive species, which is one of the largest threats to native plant ecosystems in our region.” And please be sure to avoid all pesticides, even organic ones, which the kill bees, butterflies, and other insects that most native plants depend upon to survive.
Enjoy nature responsibly and use iNaturalist. Botanists benefit from community science apps like iNaturalist. Birker notes that she and her colleagues might notice someone posting photos on the app of plants they are targeting for seed collection in bloom. They’ll know that they’ll have to get out there soon to collect. That said, while you’re out in nature, it’s crucial to stay on paths to avoid trampling on plants to snap a photo and never, ever collect from the wild. Leave that to the professionals.
Give back to your local native seed bank. It’s a race against the clock. Help these important institutions financially, sign up to volunteer where you can get trained to help out on projects like seed cleaning, and make your support for native plants known. It’s especially important today, when the current administration is reducing funding and protections for national parks and preserves and conservation. “Talk to your local politicians and voice your concern,” recommends Birker. “And support local nonprofits and organizations doing this work.”
I’ve said it several times already this season, but it’s worth repeating: Winter is a wonderful time for reflection. We’ve focused mainly on revisiting last year’s landscape, but this reflection can go further and deeper. Today’s garden rewind is doing a little bit of both. Nancy Sarpola has shared her gorgeous space in Corvallis, Oregon, several times in the past (Nancy’s Oregon Garden in Fall, Nancy’s Hillside Garden in Oregon, Springtime Flowers in Nancy’s Garden, Scenes of October and November in Nancy’s Garden, and more), and today she’s back with some spectacular photos that span the seasons and decades. She has beautiful photos of 2025 garden highlights as well as a couple of shots that show much earlier days in the garden. Our landscapes are ever-evolving, and Nancy demonstrates how we can appreciate and celebrate all of their iterations.
We have been gardening on a steep ¼-acre lot in Corvallis, Oregon (Zone 8), for over 40 years. Originally, we just grew vegetables and a few annuals while raising kids and dogs. We had an aboveground pool (now a seating area), a basketball hoop, and a kid’s fort (now a patio at the top of the hill). When the last child moved out over 20 years ago, we began putting in more ornamentals. About 5 to 10 years after that, I sent the first of several batches of photos to the Fine Gardening Photo of the Day blog.
Here are some shots from 2025 as well as two showing the backyard just a few years after we moved in. The two pine trees are the only plants remaining and are now about 40 feet tall. You can see their trunks in the fifth photo I have included of the woodland path in late September, featuring rosy ‘Mr Goodbud’ sedum(Sedum ‘Mr. Goodbud’, Zones 3–9)and honey bush(Melianthus major, Zones 7–9)on the left. The garden is never the same two years in a row, though the basic outline is pretty well established.
Early days in Nancy’s garden: A mix of shrubs and small trees were certainly better than nothing, but it’s a world away from the lush designs Nancy was able to craft as time went on.
This photo shows the vegetable garden and our son working on installing the aboveground pool, which later became a seating area on our back patio.
This photo from May of 2025 features purple alliums and pink ‘Miss Chambers’ saxifraga(Saxifraga × urbium ‘Miss Chambers’, Zones 6–9)in the foreground. Yellow foliage contrasts include hostas and Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra, Zones 5–9). I love how richly colored purple flowers contrast with chartreuse foliage.
The next photo is from October and features ‘Bedhead’ dahlia(Dahlia ‘Bed Head’, Zones 9–11 or as an annual)in front of ‘Peaches and Dreams’ dahlia(Dahlia ‘Peaches’, Zones 9–11 or as an annual).
I mentioned the fifth photo above as it includes the trunks of the pine trees that were here when we bought the house.
This photo shows a rock staircase that we built 10 or so years ago, when we were younger! At the top are a trellis, a bench, and Sally Holmes and Eden roses(Rosa ‘Sally Holmes’ and R. ‘Meiviolin’, Zones 5–9). On the left at the bottom are lavender thalictrums, purple alliums, and the golden spring foliage of ‘Gold Heart’ bleeding heart(Lamprocapnos spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’, Zones 3–9).
This is a tiny trillium relative native to the Siskiyou Mountains in Southern Oregon. It’s called brook wakerobin(Pseudotrillium rivale, Zones 6–8).
A vignette consisting of a calluna with golden foliage, ‘Medusa’ rhododendron(Rhododendron ‘Medusa’, Zones 7–9),and the dark foliage of ‘Britt Marie Crawford’ ligularia(Ligularia ‘Britt Marie Crawford’, Zones 4–8)
Purple ‘Venosa violacea’ clematis(Clematis viticella ‘Venosa Violacea’, Zones 4–10)surrounded by yellow flowering meadow rue(Thalictrum flavum, Zones 5–8)and with orange glory vine(Eccremocarpus scaber, Zones 8–10)scrambling up into it
This is one of my favorite hellebores, in case you need a little early-flowering eye candy to get you through to spring!
The kids may all be grown up, but we still have a dog. Here is Lizzy as a pup, enjoying hosta shade.
Thank you so much for this update, Nancy, as well as the amazing photos of early days in your garden. As you mentioned, gardens are ever-changing creations, and it’s amazing to see the many forms your space has taken.
Do you have photos of early days in your garden? Whether you’ve been tending and transforming your landscape for decades or just started your gardening journey a few years ago, we would love to see how yours has evolved. Follow the NEW directions below to submit your photos to Garden Photo of the Day!
We want to see YOUR garden!
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!
You can also 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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If you’re looking for versatile, fast-growing plants that can help fill the gaps in your garden, these dependable background performers are a smart choice. Selected by our Pacific Northwest regional expert, most of these plants thrive in full sun to partial shade. Explore the picks below—you may find one that fits the bill for your garden.
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, well-drained soil
Native range: Hybrid
I love the texture that grasses and grasslike plants lend to the garden, and one of the best is ‘Fine China’ sedge. This stunner was introduced by renowned plantsman Dan Hinkley. It sports dark green, fine blades that create a mound of arching evergreen foliage and looks good in all seasons, staying relatively neat and tidy year-round.
This sedge doesn’t need to be cut back, and though it will sometimes throw out a few inflorescences, don’t worry—it doesn’t reseed readily. With deep, rich soil and consistent moisture it can take full sun. Otherwise, partial shade is the ideal place to site ‘Fine China’. Use it as a filler, as a spiller over a wall, or in a sweep with other grassy plants for the greatest impact.
‘Ann Folkard’ geranium
Photo courtesy of Susan Calhoun
Name: Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’
Zones: 5–9
Size: 8 to 12 inches tall and up to 42 inches wide
Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, well-drained soil
Native range: Hybrid
Hardy geraniums are a staple of perennial gardens, and the cultivar ‘Ann Folkard’ is perfectly happy in a traditional border. But it also loves to hang out among shrubs, where it easily rambles into the branches of sturdy neighbors, giving the illusion that the scaffolding plant is the one putting on a bloom show. The bright lobed leaves and magenta flowers add interest to spots where there would normally be none.
Think of ‘Ann Folkard’ as a clematis (Clematis spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9), just on a smaller scale. Never aggressive, it is a welcome filler in the spaces between nearly any group of plants. Although drought tolerant, like most geraniums, it looks better with some regular moisture.
Conditions: Partial to full shade; moist, well-drained soil
Native range: Eastern Europe and northwest Asia
Brunneras are fantastic plants for filling in garden gaps because of their ground-covering habit. Most species look especially gorgeous when planted en masse. ‘Diane’s Gold’ takes those great traits and brings it up a notch. The mostly evergreen foliage is a luminous yellow, contrasting wonderfully with tiny blue flowers that are held above the leaves in spring. The glow of the foliage enhances nearly any shady place.
This plant is lovely by itself but is also very dramatic in multiples. When you add deer resistance, drought tolerance, easy care, and exceptional hardiness, this perennial is hard to beat.
‘Eastern Star’ wood aster
Photo by Danielle Sherry
Name: Eurybia divaricata ‘Eastern Star’
Zones: 3–8
Size: 1 to 1½ feet tall and wide
Conditions: Partial to full shade; well-drained soil
Native range: Eastern United States
‘Eastern Star’ is an amazing aster that does not behave like its cousins. While most asters are known to be stiff, upright in habit, and fast spreading, ‘Eastern Star’ wood aster stays where it is put and has a soft texture that adds movement to beds and borders. It continues to bloom all fall without deadheading too.
The dark green, heart-shaped foliage and black stems set off the white clusters of flowers beautifully. It easily and quickly fills in the gaps in woodland gardens, or anywhere shady that needs some autumnal color. As a bonus, deer don’t like it, so you sure will.
Regional expert: Susan Calhoun is the owner and principal designer of Plantswoman Design in Bainbridge, Washington. She is also a regional reporter for Fine Gardening.
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You’ll find plenty of varieties of Sempervivum to fit your style and taste, as long as your style and taste favors rosettes with thick leaves covered with tiny white hairs.
That means they all look more or less the same with a few differences between from one to the next. That’s also called a bad joke.
We’ll take a gander at some of the more familiar varieties, and I’ll keep (most of) the inane commentary to myself.
S. arachnoideum, commonly called cobweb or spiderweb hens and chicks, is unique for its fine, silvery-white hairs that cover the leaves, creating a web-like appearance.
These webs help to protect the plant from excessive sunlight, trap moisture to reduce water loss, and provide natural insulation.
The plant forms tight evergreen rosettes of pointed leaves with green or reddish coloration, growing up to three inches tall and 12 inches wide.
In pleasing shades of green with purple-tipped rosettes measuring about five inches in diameter, ‘Royanum’ is a common find in the garden center because it’s got that iconic hens and chicks look.
Just as easy to grow as other varieties, the two-tone leaves here make it an easy fit among plants of a variety of other colors.
Maintenance
You don’t need to worry about maintenance here. Caring for your hens and chicks in the long term is about as easy as it gets.
You can weed around the rosettes if you’ve got an obnoxious or aggressive weed creeping in, but you can also leave those couple of sprigs of grass and purslane that are growing in the area if they don’t bother you.
Trust me, they aren’t bothering the plant.
A Note on Flowering
As monocarpic succulents, hens and chicks can produce a lovely flower, but this is also a signal that your plant is finishing its life cycle and about to die.
It’s okay, because the flower produces seeds, and it has surely produced plenty of chicks in its lifetime to carry on the cycle.
Enjoy the flower as a final show of gratitude from your hen and get ready for a new rosette to take its place in the garden.
You can choose whether to remove the fading rosette or simply leave it in place.
Although it’s possible to grow hens and chicks from seed, it’s incredibly impractical compared to simply collecting a few chicks from a producing hen to propagate.
From Offsets
You’ve got a few options here:
Let your mother “hen” Sempervivum produce tiny babies on its own, and let those babies spread around your garden as they like.
Separated from the mother, they will naturally root in cracks in or spaces between stones, but the chicks are just as happy to grow anywhere you’ve got space for them.
Your other option is to snip a few “chicks” free when they’ve formed roots and place them precisely where you want more to grow.
The safest way to ensure both chick and hen survive is to wait for the runner, or stolon, that attaches them to dry completely and become brittle to the touch before separating the two.
Each runner will produce some tiny leaves that it holds onto while the hen is still supporting the chick. Wait to move the chicks until the leaves die and the runner grows dry, thin, and brittle.
It doesn’t get much easier than that!
Transplanting
You’ll find plenty of Sempervivum options from your local nursery, most of them sold in familiar one-gallon plastic pots. When you take these plants out of their pots, do not be alarmed when most of the soil crumbles!
Hens and chicks don’t have very vigorous root systems.
Dig a shallow hole using your preferred digging tool and nestle the plant inside.
Lightly backfill the hole and give it a good drink of water. Voila, instant gratification.
Pests and Disease
You will be delighted to discover your hens and chicks don’t really face any common pest or disease issues, unless they’re experiencing conditions radically different from what they desire.
As such, Sempervivumis very resistant to insect problems, though in the wrong conditions it might grow stressed and become host to a swarm.
I’ve never experienced an aphid or mealybug infestation on hens and chicks growing in the garden, but it’s happened with every plant I’ve tried growing indoors.
To save money on construction costs, build a patio in sections. If you need to have soil compacted to create a solid base for a patio, plan ahead by leveling the entire area. Then build the patio in stages, as your budget allows for expansion. In the meantime, you can cover the unused area with mulch.
“The first thing you do in a small garden project is to take inventory to do an analysis, so you can make decisions about the things that are existing and are good,” says landscape architect David Godshall of Terremoto, who elected to salvage an existing concrete patio as part of a garden rehab (shown above) in Los Angeles.
Mixing materials—such as redwood decking and poured concrete—can add interest and texture to a patio (while saving money).
9. Create a focal point with inexpensive furnishings.
Above: Ikea chairs flank a ceramic stool-turned-side table. Photograph by Matthew Williams.
Instead of expensive outdoor furniture, you can hang a hammock to create a focal point for the patio. Create a seating arrangement with flea market finds or outdoor furniture from Ikea—versatile pieces can do double duty indoors in the off season.
1o. Define a patio’s perimeter with potted plants.
Building a fence or wall around a patio is an expensive undertaking. A budget-friendly alternative to create privacy is to group together a few tall potted plants.
See more ideas:
N.B.: This post was first published January 2019; it has been updated with new photos, prices, and links.
I’m guilty of never taking enough photos. I’ll be an hour or more into a project before I think, “Oh, I should have taken a ‘before’ photo!” Seeing the finished product is always exciting, but it’s even more impressive and enriching when you can document and share the process. Thankfully, Lisa Bilich in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (Zone 5b) doesn’t share in my failings and has snapped many photos as her front yard went from scorched lawn to lush and inviting gardens. Today she is showcasing the beautiful stepping stone path that began this transformation and helped shape her design.
We moved into our current house almost 25 years ago. The yard was boring and mostly grass (first picture). Our soil is sandy and very free draining. I love to garden and mostly work with ornamental plants. Our front garden is southern exposure, and very hot and dry. Every summer the lawn turned brown by the first of July and was very ugly. I did bring a few treasured plants from Oregon when we moved to Idaho. I planted them, but it was so barren and the plants were so small, I convinced my husband to cover the grass with cardboard and mulch in the fall of 2004. It was not a hard sell as he hated mowing the lawn. We had a locust tree with a ash tree growing out of it. We removed it and replaced it with a tricolor beech tree(Fagus sylvatica ‘Tricolor’, Zones 4–7). Over the years it has moved from hot and sunny to shade/partial shade on the south side and full sun on the east side of the house. We are slowly improving the soil organically. It is still a work in progress but I so enjoy working in the garden. Thank you for letting me show off our project and highlight my garden.
South side with a small tricolor beechand still lawn.
Looking west, very few plants are planted at this point.
Eastside of the garden, looking into our back yard at beginning of the project.
South side of the garden, the tricolor beech with fall color. One of my favorite trees.
The garden has filled in nicely, this is the south side and shows the pergola my husband build.
Eastside of the garden, a ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple(Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, Zones 5–8)and a weeping juniper tree(Juniperus scopulorum ‘Tolleson’s Weeping’, Zones 3–9)is prominent.
Thank you so much for sharing the creation of this gorgeous garden with us, Lisa! A blank slate is full of planting possibilities, and you’ve absolutely made the most of this space. I hope we are treated to more photos of your designs in the future.
Did you complete any major garden projects last year? Even if your new plantings have a while to go before they’re filled in and flourishing, we would love to see your before and after photos. Follow the NEW directions below to submit your photos to Garden Photo of the Day!
We want to see YOUR garden!
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!
You can also 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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If you’ve ever found yourself wandering through the world of flowers and wondering just how many flowers beginning with F there really are, you’re in good company. From cottage gardens to formal borders, ponds to rock gardens, there’s a list of the most amazing flowers hiding behind that single letter F.
List of flowers that start with F
In this article, you’ll find a carefully curated list of flowers starting with F, each with its common name, Latin name, a short overview, and what the flower symbolises.
Fairy Duster (Calliandra eriophylla)
A shrub with pink, powder-puff flowers that open in from late winter. Loves full sun.
Symbolism: Playfulness and joy.
Fairy Lantern (Calochortus albus)
A truly enchanting flower, fairy lanterns have nodding, delicate flowers with soft, lantern-like shapes. Native to woodland edges, they prefer well-drained soil and dappled light.
Symbolism: Hope and quiet protection.
Fairy Primrose (Primula malacoides)
Part of the primrose family, fairy primroses are delicate, early spring bloomers with pale oval-shaped leaves and soft pastel tones. They thrive in partial shade and moist but well-drained soil.
Symbolism: Youth, renewal, and gentle love.
Fairy Slipper Orchid (Calypso bulbosa)
A rare woodland orchid with delicate flowers. A real treasure.
Symbolism: Mystery and rarity.
False Bird of Paradise (Heliconia)
Often mistaken for its larger cousin, this tropical plant has bold colour and architectural form.
Symbolism: Freedom and individuality.
False Castor Oil Plant (Fatsia japonica)
Technically more foliage than flower, but creamy white blooms also appear in late summer.
Symbolism: Shelter and abundance.
False Indigo (Baptisia australis)
A hardy perennial plantwith tall stems, oval leaves, and striking blue-purple spikes. Brilliant for cottage gardens and loved by pollinators.
Symbolism: Strength and resilience.
False Monkeyflower (Mimetanthe pills)
Cheerful, bell-shaped flowers in various shades, often found near water.
Symbolism: Creativity and confidence.
False Spirea (Sorbaria Sorbifolia)
A shade-loving perennial flowering plant with fluffy plumes in pinks, reds, and whites. Gorgeous in damp borders.
A favourite in modern and traditional gardens alike, feather reed grass forms neat clumps with upright tall spikes and soft, feathery flower heads. Excellent for formal borders and year-round structure.
Symbolism: Balance and harmony.
Felicia (Felicia amelloides)
Often called the blue daisy, Felicia is a cheerful, sun-loving plant with bright blue petals and golden centres. It’s perfect for pots and edging and flowers generously through the warmer months.
A graceful ornamental tree with finely cut leaves; tiny flowers appear in spring.
Symbolism: Wisdom and endurance.
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)
A traditional cottage garden favourite, producing masses of small daisy-like flowers with bright centres and fresh green foliage. An easy-going perennial plant that flowers from early summer into late summer.
Symbolism: Healing and resilience.
Firethorn (Pyracantha)
Firethorn is a tough, evergreen shrub with small white spring flowers followed by vivid red, orange, or yellow berries. Frequently used as a hedge or wall plant, it’s both decorative and practical.
Symbolism: Protection and abundance.
Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)
A dramatic wildflower with tall stems and vibrant pink blooms that appear in succession up the spike. It’s often one of the first plants to grow after disturbance, making it both beautiful and symbolic.
Symbolism: Renewal and perseverance.
Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella)
A sun-loving member of the daisy family, blooming from early to late summer.
Symbolism: Cheerfulness and endurance.
Flame Lily (Gloriosa superba)
With strikingflowers in fiery red and yellow, this climber is native to Eastern Asia and parts of the Middle East.
Symbolism: Glory and passion.
Flamingo Flower (Anthurium andraeanum)
Glossy heart-shaped leaves and bold showy flowers make this a favourite houseplant with a long vase life.
Symbolism: Hospitality and happiness.
Flannel Flower (Actinotus helianthi)
This unusual Australian beauty has soft, silvery, hairy stalks and daisy-like flowers. It’s often grown for ornamental purposes.
Symbolism: Protection and calm.
Flax (Linum usitatissimum)
A graceful herbaceous plant with fine stems, narrow leaves, and airy blue flowers that dance in the breeze. A wonderful choice for informal borders and wild-style planting, flowering in late spring and early summer.
Symbolism: Purity and clarity.
Floss Flower (Ageratum)
A compact plant with fluffy, pom-pom style blooms in blue, pink, or white. Ideal for borders and containers.
Symbolism: Patience and trust.
Flowering Quince (Chaenomeles)
A hardy shrub with early blooms on bare branches from late winter.
Symbolism: Hope and perseverance.
Forget-Me-Not (Myosotis)
Sweet blue daisy-style blooms that pop up in early spring.
Symbolism: Remembrance and true love.
Fountain Grass (Pennisetum)
An ornamental grass rather than a traditional bloom, but its fluffy plumes are brilliant for adding movement and visual appeal in the garden.
Symbolism: Flow and continuity.
Frangipani (Plumeria)
This tropical beauty boasts intensely fragrant flowers with waxy petals in white, pink, and yellow. While not hardy outdoors in the UK, it makes a stunning conservatory or houseplant.
Symbolism: New beginnings and devotion.
Freesia (Freesia refracta)
One of the most loved fragrant flowers, perfect for cutting. Blooms in various colours.
Symbolism: Friendship and trust.
French Marigold (Tagetes patula)
A classic annual flower with vibrant colours ranging from yellow to deep red. A popular choice for pest control and edging.
Symbolism: Passion and creativity.
Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris)
Instantly recognisable for its chequered petals, these nodding bell-shaped flowers look wonderful in naturalised grass or wildflower meadows. A spring treasure.
Symbolism: Protection and fascination.
Fuchsia (Fuchsia)
Elegant, bell-shaped flowers dangle from hairy stalks, often in rich pinks, purples, and white flowers. Many are perennial flowering plants and cope well with partial shade.
Symbolism: Confiding love and grace.
What are your favourite flowers that start with f?
As you can see, flowers that begin with F offer a staggering variety – from perennial plants and annual flowers to shrubs, small trees, and even aquatic plants. Whether you’re planting for scent, colour, or symbolism, there’s an F-flower for every garden style and growing season.
Next time you spot a floral beauty beginning with the letter F, you’ll know exactly where it fits in!
Create your own custom garden journal, adding your own personal touch using found materials. By putting creativity and intention into your garden journal, you’ll find yourself more enthusiastic and more inclined to fill its pages.
Journaling has become part of my morning routine as a way to start the morning off intentionally.
I know I’m not the first person to rave about journaling. In fact, I’m hopping onto the bandwagon rather late. I transcribe manifestations, gratitude, and ideas all into the journal. Then at night, I review them rather than scrolling on my phone.
For me, journaling isn’t a New Year’s goal or a way to practice creative thinking. It’s my way to slow down, which feels like a rebellion in this day and age.
This practice also applies to the garden. Creating a garden journal is a beautiful way to add intention to your garden. It’s a place to gather knowledge, but also musings and feelings that come from the garden.
This project is an excerpt from The Wild & Free Garden, my new book about creating a garden using found materials and free resources. It’s a book that will inspire you to grow a deeper connection to your garden, your community, and yourself. The book releases February 24, 2026, and is available for pre-order now!
The Neuroscience Behind Garden Journaling
Have you noticed that when you first discover something, you suddenly see it everywhere? Like when you spot a new-to-you plant at the garden centre, and the next day you realize it’s growing in all your neighbours’ gardens.
That’s your reticular activating system (RAS) at work, the network of neurons in our brainstem that acts as a gatekeeper for your awareness. It helps us notice what matters based on our beliefs, thoughts, and experiences.
You can train your RAS through activities like journaling. When you write down your goals, intentions, and garden design ideas, you’re giving your brain clear instructions on what to prioritize. Journaling strengthens this effect by filling your RAS with information about what deserves attention.
When we combine this with gardening, there’s an additional benefit from the therapeutic act itself. Gardening helps us focus on the present and notice signs of growth and progress. We pay attention to what’s resilient and renewing, which rewires our thought patterns to help us see what’s becoming rather than what’s missing.
Garden journaling doesn’t just help us find what we’re looking for; it also helps reset our intentions and reconnect us with nature.
Create a Wild and Free Garden Journal
My mother’s garden journal, which I discovered after she passed away, was a modest spiral-bound school notebook. As I thumbed through the pages, I saw her garden come together with interesting magazine and newspaper clippings pasted alongside her notes. It was beautiful; a keepsake of her garden that was well-organized and deeply personal, yet it didn’t cost a penny to create.
Create your own garden journal with a found notebook and some decorative pressed flowers or images to make it your own. The act of creating a garden journal allows us to create a place for planning. The act of personalizing it, just as my mother did with her pasted articles, fosters value and attachment to the planning process and the record-keeping.
Dedicate as much time to the project as you like, but the more personal it is, the more you will treasure it for years to come.
Materials
Make It!
You probably have a notebook in your home or office that could serve as a garden journal. Often, we have books where we’ve jotted down a few notes or started a journal but never completed it; simply removing those pages can give us a fresh start. Or perhaps you have been given a promotional notebook from a business or event. If you don’t have something that can be repurposed, many other people do, so look for them at Little Free Libraries, paper and book recycling depots, second-hand stores, and free groups.
Once you have your notebook, take some time to personalize it. Decoupaging the cover with pressed flowers brings us into our creativity and attaches a value to the notebook that no money could buy. This decoupage project could also be done with printed photos, images from seed catalogues, or old gardening books. The instructions are the same whether you use flowers or paper.
Arrange pressed flowers or other decorative elements on a sheet of paper to map out the final design. When you’re happy with the arrangement, add another sheet of paper on top and flip the flowers so they are upside down. This will help to preserve the layers of the design while you apply the underside to the cover first.
Allow to dry, then apply two to three thin layers of the adhesive over your decorated cover, allowing each layer to dry completely before applying the next.
Create sections for different garden areas or seasons, or just begin filling the pages with notes. It will come together as you work through your garden. Add plant lists, interesting articles, seed packets, and growing tips with lots of room for notes, sketches, and pressed plants.
Expert Tip: Add the date at the top of each page you write and leave room for notes in the following years on those same pages. This way, you can see how your garden grows not just over the season, but over the years.
Fill Your Journal!
For inspiration on what to fill your gardening journal with, check out these posts. Better yet, order your copy of The Wild & Free Garden!
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
“Regenerative agriculture offers a promising pathway for conserving endangered and at-risk species by restoring ecological processes that begin beneath our feet and extend upward to create thriving habitats.
The foundation of this approach lies in soil ecology. Conventional farming practices often degrade soil through repeated tillage, heavy chemical use, and bare ground between crops. These actions diminish organic matter, disrupt microbial communities, and reduce the activity of earthworms, fungi, and bacteria essential to nutrient cycling and soil structure.
The foundation of this approach lies in soil ecology. Conventional farming practices often degrade soil through repeated tillage, heavy chemical use, and bare ground between crops. These actions diminish organic matter, disrupt microbial communities, and reduce the activity of earthworms, fungi, and bacteria essential to nutrient cycling and soil structure.
Regenerative methods can reverse this decline. By minimizing or eliminating tillage, maintaining continuous living cover through cover crops, and incorporating diverse plant species, farmers rebuild soil organic matter and foster abundant biological life underground. Healthy, biologically active soils become more resilient, better able to store water, resist erosion, and support plant growth with fewer external inputs.
This revitalized soil ecology sets the stage for broader ecological benefits. As soil health improves, farms can sustain more diverse and productive plant communities. Cover crops, perennial pastures, and polycultures provide nectar, pollen, and habitat for pollinators and other insects. These insect populations serve as critical food sources for birds, small mammals, and amphibians while also contributing to natural pest control.
For species facing population declines, such as the monarch butterfly, these changes are meaningful. Monarchs depend on milkweed as the sole host plant for their caterpillars and on a variety of flowering plants for adult nectar. Regenerative systems that integrate milkweed and diverse blooming species directly address habitat loss—one of the primary drivers of the species’ decline.
On farms that integrate livestock, rotational grazing and managed forestry further enhances habitat quality. By moving animals frequently and allowing adequate rest periods, pastures develop varied heights and densities of vegetation. This structural diversity creates nesting sites, foraging areas, and protective cover for grassland-dependent birds, small mammals, and other wildlife that have suffered from the simplification of modern agricultural landscapes.”
Most homeowners rarely think about their septic system until it demands attention. Unlike visible fixtures such as taps or appliances, septic systems operate quietly below ground, doing their job without daily interaction. This invisibility often creates a false sense of security, one that can quickly disappear when a problem surfaces unexpectedly.
What makes septic issues especially frustrating is their timing. Failures tend to occur during storms, family visits, freezing weather, or periods of heavy household activity. While it may feel like bad luck, there are practical reasons these systems tend to break down when disruption is already high.
Septic systems work continuously without pause
A septic system never truly “rests.” Every use of water in the home contributes to the workload, from morning showers to evening dishwashing. Over months and years, this constant use places strain on components that are designed to last but not indefinitely.
Because the system functions underground, changes in performance often go unnoticed. Reduced efficiency, minor blockages, or early drainage issues may develop slowly, without triggering immediate concern. By the time a failure becomes obvious, the underlying problem has usually been building for quite some time.
Stress peaks during high-activity periods
One common factor behind poorly timed septic problems is increased water demand. Holidays, guests, or busy weekends typically lead to heavier-than-normal water usage. Multiple people using bathrooms, running laundry, and preparing meals can overwhelm a system that usually operates within predictable limits.
When wastewater enters the tank faster than it can be processed, pressure builds throughout the system. This can lead to backups, slow drainage, or overflow, often during moments when you least want to deal with plumbing issues.
Environmental conditions add hidden pressure
The weather has a major influence on how septic systems perform, even when the system itself hasn’t changed.
Excess rainfall can saturate the soil surrounding the drain field, limiting its ability to absorb wastewater.
Rapid snowmelt increases groundwater levels, creating similar absorption problems.
Freezing temperatures can restrict flow, slow biological processes inside the tank, and place stress on pipes.
Dry conditions may cause soil movement, which can shift or strain underground components.
These environmental factors often act as the final trigger for systems that are already under stress, turning manageable issues into urgent ones.
Ageing infrastructure raises the risk of sudden failure
Many septic systems were installed decades ago, using materials that naturally deteriorate over time. Even with routine care, tanks, pipes, and fittings are affected by soil movement, moisture, and repeated use.
Older systems may continue to function adequately until they encounter an external stressor, such as increased usage or severe weather. At that point, weakened components can fail abruptly, creating the impression that the problem appeared without warning.
Early signs are easy to overlook
Septic systems rarely fail without offering subtle hints first. You might notice:
Drains taking longer than usual to clear
Occasional gurgling noises
Faint odours near plumbing fixtures
Slightly damp areas outdoors
Because these symptoms may appear intermittently, they’re often dismissed as temporary inconveniences. Unfortunately, ignoring these early indicators allows conditions to worsen until a serious disruption occurs.
Emergencies escalate faster than expected
Once a septic issue reaches a tipping point, it can escalate rapidly. Wastewater backups create sanitation concerns, unpleasant odours, and potential damage to flooring and walls. In these situations, continuing normal water use can make matters significantly worse.
When conditions reach this stage, there’s often no option but to pause daily routines and prioritise having an emergency septic professional handle the issue before health risks and repair costs increase further.
Why the timing feels especially unfair
Septic failures interfere with essential household functions, such as cleaning, bathing, cooking, and waste disposal. When these systems stop working, everyday life becomes difficult almost immediately.
The disruption feels magnified when problems arise:
Late at night or on weekends
During extreme weather
While hosting visitors
At already stressful moments
Because septic systems are largely invisible, many homeowners are caught off guard when issues finally surface, making the timing feel particularly cruel.
Reducing the risk of sudden disruption
While no septic system is immune to failure, you can reduce the chances of an unexpected emergency by taking proactive steps. These include:
Scheduling periodic inspections
Monitoring water usage during busy periods
Addressing minor issues promptly
Avoiding materials that strain the system
Understanding how the weather affects drainage
Preventive attention doesn’t eliminate risk, but it significantly lowers the likelihood of a sudden breakdown at an inconvenient time.
A system worth paying attention to
Septic system problems rarely happen overnight. Most problems develop gradually, influenced by usage patterns, environmental conditions, and system age. When multiple stress factors align, failure becomes far more likely and often poorly timed.
By paying closer attention to early warning signs and understanding why problems tend to surface when they do, you can reduce disruption and protect both your property and your peace of mind.
If the phrase “houseplant stylist” leaves you scratching your head, one look at The Haus Plant’s Instagram account (@thehausplant) will help you understand what Rob Moffitt does. Based in Los Angeles, Moffitt transforms unusual plants into something more like sculpture–and it is a skill that all houseplant lovers can cultivate. “Plants can just get thrown in a corner as a space filler, but I really like to view plants as a piece of art or an object that can stand alone and complement a space,” says Moffitt.
A former nurse, Moffitt began selling houseplants at Los Angeles farmer’s markets during the pandemic. From the beginning, customers were drawn to the unique ways he potted and styled plants. As his side hustle grew, Moffitt decided to give up his work as a nurse and focus on his budding business, which he christened The Haus Plant.
Today, Moffitt has a studio on 3rd Street in Los Angeles, with plans to expand into a larger space next door in 2026. The studio space, which is open for visits by appointment, takes Moffitt’s botanical aesthetic and turns it into a whole immersive, biophilic world. Moffitt has also delved deep into rare and unusual plants as his business has grown.
The Haus Plant has also expanded beyond selling individual plants. Moffitt now offers whole-house consultations for houseplant styling and ongoing maintenance care for its larger clients. The studio even rents out its houseplants to real estate professionals for staging their listings. With the forthcoming larger space, Moffitt is adding a photography studio, a kitchen, a space for private events, and a two-story art gallery. Moffit has also just launched an online store that sells vintage and artisan pots and vessels. “I started this because I wanted a hobby on my days off from the hospital,” Moffitt says. “Now we have a team of 15. It’s really grown far beyond anything I ever could have imagined.”
Gardenista recently spoke with Moffitt about his plant styling. He shared tips for how to elevate even the most humble houseplants to something more akin to art. Here’s how:
Photography by Henry Crouch, courtesy of The Haus Plant, unless otherwise noted.
Know your growing conditions.
Above: Ficus planted over a rock in an antique wooden mortar.
Moffitt says the hardest part of his job is setting realistic expectations for clients about what kind of plants they can grow in their conditions. Make an honest assessment of how much light you have before thinking about what plants might work. “Figuring out what’s realistic in the space is really important because at the end of the day, you want a happy plant,” he says.
Winter can feel its heaviest as January begins to winds down. The excitement of the new year has settled and spring still feels painfully far away. If you’re not starting seeds or playing with houseplants, it can be hard to stay connected to your gardening practice. This can be especially true if your garden is completely buried in snow, like Susan Warde in St. Paul, Minnesota (Zone 4b – 5a). Susan is a frequent contributor to the blog, and has shared many gorgeous garden highlights over the years (Last Year’s Gardening Season at the 45th Parallel, Color Coordinating in Susan’s Front Garden, Season’s End in Susan’s Garden, The Summer That Was at the 45th Parallel, Gardening Side by Side, and more). Although her glorious designs are interrupted by harsh Minnesota winters, there is still an immense amount of color to enjoy from the first spring blooms to the last fall foliage.
It’s 5°F and we’re buried in snow. It’s not too soon to look ahead but the garden in 2026 seems impossibly far away, so here are some photos of the 2025 season.
April 23: The scilla are starting to fade but tarda tulips(Tulipa tarda, Zones 3–8), small but mighty, brighten the garden.
May 14: These ‘Josee’ lilacs (Syringa ‘Josee’, Zones 5–8)are in their full glory in the spring, but for the first time this year there was significant reblooming in late summer.
May 14: Jack-in-the-pulpits(Arisaema triphyllum, Zones 3–9)don’t make much of an impact, but I love this photo of a pair conversing, the left one whispering in the other’s ear.
June 6: The climbing rose is ‘William Baffin’(Rosa ‘William Baffin’, Zones 3–9). It flowers heavily in June, but this past year it had a handful of blossoms in bloom all season long. The bright pink peonies are ‘Kansas’(Paeonia lactiflora ‘Kansas’, Zones 4–8), the white ones are ‘Honey Gold’(P. lactiflora ‘Honey Gold’, Zones 3–8). A few purple irises are also visible in this photo.
July 1: Side garden, looking towards the back. ‘Vision in Red’ astilbe(Astilbe chinensis ‘Vision in Red’, Zones 3–8), ‘Happy Returns’ daylilies(Hemerocallis ‘Happy Returns’, Zones 3–9), and‘Annabelle’ hydrangeas(Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, Zones 3–9)in the background.
July 8: ‘Erin Lea’ daylilies(Hemerocallis ‘Erin Lea’, Zones 3–9), with ‘Vision in Red’ astilbes in the background. I have 10 varieties of daylilies, which flower over a long period of time. I deadhead daily, and this year I counted the spent blooms as I picked them off (weird, I know): 1,420!
August 21: Although the August garden is always colorful, it begins to look a bit tired, especially since I don’t grow any annuals. Here are the usual suspects: rudbeckia, echinacea, phlox, ‘Autumn Joy’ sedum(Hylotelephium spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’, Zones 3–10)is just starting to show a slight blush.
September 14: I’ve tried for years to grow something on the front arbor. A ‘Blue Moon’ wisteria(Wisteria macrostachya ‘Blue Moon’, Zones 4–9)went rampant: it needed a haircut every two weeks, and there wasn’t enough sun for it to produce many flower clusters. Hardy kiwi(Actinidia arguta, Zones 3–8) also proved too aggressive, and the various clematis I tried were gangly and feeble. In 2024 I acquired a small pot of ‘Anita’ clematis(Clematis ‘Anita’, Zones 3–9); it grew enough to not look pathetic. This year it was covered with tiny blooms. Unfortunately they only lasted a week and produced no seedbeds, but even so I was delighted that there was finally greenery covering the arbor.
October 10: The “garage garden” with a glimpse of the back yard (where one can just make out yet another ‘Emperor 1’ Japanese maple(Acer palmatum ‘Wolff’, Zones 5–8)that I’m trying—my very last one, I swear). The pink blooms in the front are Little Quick Fire® hydrangea(Hydrangea paniculata ‘SMHPLQF’, Zones 3–9).
November 5: End of the season; the birdbath tops have already been flipped for winter. The small maple on the left is Ice Dragon® Japanese maple(Acer x pseudosieboldianum ‘IsliD’, Zones 4–7). This and the larger one by the house—’North Wind’(A. x pseudosieboldianum ‘IslNW’, Zones 4–7)—are Korean-Japanese maple hybrids, dependably hardy in my zone. The bright yellow leaves in the upper right is a climbing hydrangea(Hydrangea petiolaris, Zones 4–8).
Thank you so much for sharing these gorgeous 2025 garden highlights with us, Susan! It’s always a pleasure to see the updates you have make and the plants you have added to your lively landscape.
How was your 2025 growing season? From bright spring bulbs to blazing fall foliage, we would love to see the garden scenes that made your heart scream last year. Follow the NEW directions below to submit your photos to Garden Photo of the Day!
We want to see YOUR garden!
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!
You can also 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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The Crevice Garden: How to make the perfect home for plants from rocky places
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A crevice garden replicates the environmental conditions of mountain tops, deserts, coastlines, and other exposed or rocky places on earth. These striking garden features provide perfect conditions for the plants native to these far-off places, bringing the cultivation of these precious gems within everybody’s reach.
Corona® Multi-Purpose Metal Mini Garden Shovel
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