Tag: Month March Week 1

The 7 Best Perennials for Shade Gardens – Garden Therapy

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Many of us have at least a section of garden that is shady most of the time. Shade gardens can be bor-ring unless you spice them up with plants that have interesting colors, shapes, and textures. These hardy beauties are made for the shade. That is to say, these plants all thrive in shady spaces while adding color and interest. Pop a few of these into your shady space and it just might become your favorite part of the garden.

When planting your shade garden, be sure to include a variety of plants with different shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. Dark corners of the garden often go unnoticed, but if you intentionally fill up the space with plants that draw the eye and have visual interest, the shadiest part of your garden can become an eye-catching focal point!

Some of my very favorite gardens are shade gardens. When the summer sun gets so hot that it feels oppressive, it is a wonderful feeling to retreat to a cool, softly lit part of the garden full of lush, beautiful plants. Traditional Japanese gardens are just gorgeous, and they often incorporate shade into the design. For some serious shade garden inspiration, head over here to take a virtual tour of the Nitobe Memorial Garden at the University of British Columbia.

Here are my favorite plants to add to shady areas. If your garden is in full sun, take a look at this post on the best perennials that love the sun!

Helleborus (Hellebore)

Hellebores have beautiful, delicate, bell-shaped flowers in the late winter and early spring, but many varieties also have very pleasing decorative foliage. Enjoy their beauty in the garden or cut the flowers and float them in a dish of water for a gorgeous table centerpiece. See more about hellebore growing and care here.

Geranium macrorrhizum (Big Root Geranium)

This geranium grows in large clumps of white or light pink flowers that bloom prolifically from spring until autumn. Cut back when the blooms begin to fade and watch even more appear. It also deters deer, so it’s a great choice if you have local deer who love to munch on your precious garden plants. Makes a great groundcover.

Hosta

Hostas are known for their large, attractive leaves that come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and textures (I love the leaves so much that I captured their image in these DIY stepping stones). They produce small flowers in the summer as well but the foliage is the main event. Hostas are also edible! Learn how to cook and eat them in this article.

Lamprocapnos spectabilis (Bleeding Heart)

An old garden standby for a reason! The little chains of pink, heart-shaped flowers on this perennial are stunning in spring and early summer. The plant goes dormant after that and is not particularly interesting, but if you want spring interest in your shade garden, don’t skip this plant.

Astilbe

Astilbe have dark, dramatic foliage with jagged edges that create interest. In summertime a tower of pink-to-purple, feathery flower spikes will bloom and steal the show. A pretty way to attract beneficial pollinators to your shade garden.

Ajuga (Bugle)

Bees love the bright blue-to-purple flowers of this glossy, low-growing ground cover (see what other plants attract pollinators). Its foliage is also impressive, with dark leaves variegated with white or pink. A great filler plant!

Hakonechloa macra (Japanese Forestgrass)

This decorative grass has a gorgeous sculptural shape, and the bright greens and yellows of the variegated blades of grass bring some much needed vibrancy to a dark, shady part of the garden.

That covers shade gardens, but what about sunny gardens? Check out this post for the best sun-loving perennials.

More on Perennials here:

A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.

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Stephanie Rose

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February 27, 2026
Witch Hazel Plant: A Gorgeous Ornamental With Skin Care Properties – Garden Therapy

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Do you grow witch hazel? It is a beautiful ornamental in the home garden, and it can be harvested to make a simple, healing facial toner that reduces inflammation, acne, and fights signs of aging. In addition to that, the plant is hardy and easy to care for. Read on to find out how and why to grow this stunning, healing little tree and how to harvest and use it at home.

This post will cover…

Meet the Witch Hazel Plant!

Witch hazel has that name because it was once popularly used for water witching, or the practice of using a branch to locate water underground.

Nowadays, witch hazel plants are prized for their anti-inflammatory and skincare properties, as well as their showy wintertime blooms. A spritz of witch hazel on your skin after the shower helps tone skin and reduce redness and inflammation.

Witch hazel plants can get up to about 15 ft. at their tallest. These small trees produce beautiful, dramatic flowers in shades of yellow and red that look like starbursts. When a witch hazel flowers, it looks like a fireworks display, which is all the more stunning because it happens in winter when there is not much other colour in the garden.

You can also harvest the bark and use that to make your own distilled witch hazel water to use as a facial toner or to add to natural beauty recipes.

Witch hazel flowers look like small starbursts.

Growing a Witch Hazel Bush in the Home Garden

Witch Hazel (Hamamelis spp.) is categorized as a small tree or shrub that spans from 5-15 feet wide and up to 20-30 feet tall. There are a few common witch hazels worth noting: American witch hazel (H. virginiana), Chinese witch hazel (H. mollis), and Ozark witch hazel (H. vernalis).

H. virginiana blooms in the late fall and is listed in herbalism resources as a medicinal herb. H. vernalis blooms in January-March. H. mollis is more common in horticulture as these fragrant shrubs bloom in the late winter with larger flowers and a large variety of ornamental blooms from white to deep red.

Its base is a dense, multi-stemmed trunk that twists decoratively and creates a lovely ornamental structure. Hardy in zones 5-8, witch hazels bring gorgeous colour to the fall and winter garden. The flowers bloom can be found blooming near me (in the Pacific Northwest) in January, but you may smell the spicy, citrusy scent first! Witch hazel is easy to grow and care for if you follow these simple steps.

Witch hazel produces slightly twisted branches.

Planting Witch Hazel

Choose a sunny or partially shady location that is sheltered from wind to plant your witch hazel. This fragrant winter bloomer is ideal for planting near the front door so you can enjoy the pop of colour and the fragrance when you pass by.

You want well-draining soil that is rich in humus, so dig some organic compost into the ground before planting.

Witch hazel is fairly hardy and tolerant of most sun conditions. If you live somewhere warm, opt for partial shade.

Witch Hazel Care and Pruning

Witch hazel plants need quite a bit of moisture, especially when the plants are young and still getting established, so check the soil frequently and water as needed.

Prune all damaged and dead wood on the plant once a year and remove suckers in the fall. Witch hazels generally do not need a lot of attention when it comes to pruning, as they have a naturally neat branch structure. Just clean them up a bit as needed, and they will be fine.

Be sure to hang on to the branches you have pruned, as these are what you can use to make a wonderful natural astringent (read more at the end of this post).

For more information on pruning, check out these posts:

Witch hazels also take well to espalier training if you wish to grow them in a small space.

Save witch hazel branches to make your own astringent.

Harvesting and Drying Witch Hazel

While you may just want your witch hazel for ornamental reasons, you can also harvest the bark and use that to make a gentle astringent for skin.

To harvest the bark, clip off some of the plant’s smaller branches in the spring or fall. You can remove up to a fifth of the plant without damaging it, but don’t harvest more than that at one time.

Remove all leaves and flowers from the harvested branches and use a sharp knife to peel the bark away from the branches.

You can either use the bark right away or dry it by spreading it out in a single layer in a drying tray or shallow basket in a dry location that has good air circulation. When the bark is completely dried (it will feel crispy to the touch), store it in an airtight container for future use.

Use the bark fresh or dry it to make into an astringent later.

Witch Hazel Toner

Witch hazel toner can also help to heal bruises, cuts, scrapes, insect bites, rashes, and other skin problems and can be added to many natural beauty recipes to give them healing properties.

A spritz of witch hazel on your face when you get out of the shower acts as a natural toner. Spraying it on recently shaved skin helps to prevent ingrown hairs and bumps. Don’t even get me started about how great it feels to reduce the inflammation on rashes and sunburns!

See how to make Witch Hazel Toner & Skin Soother from Scratch.

Most witch hazel toner comes from the American witch hazel (H. virginiana) or from Ozark witch hazel (H. vernalis).

I keep a bit of witch hazel toner in a small atomizer in my bathroom medicine cabinet to spray on my face after the shower, and my legs and underarms after shaving. It has a neutral pH of 5, so it’s wonderful as a toner as well as to calm down red and inflamed skin, whether it’s from cuts, scrapes, blemishes, redness, or razor rash from shaving.

Witch hazel toner can be found online and in most natural grocery stores like Whole Foods. Just look on the shelves for a natural brand of witch hazel without alcohol and add it to your own atomizer.

I use a witch hazel formula with rose added because rose tightens up pores and gives you the appearance of a fresh English Rose, but if you have acne or skin disorders on the face, then an aloe formulation may be more helpful.

Make your own witch hazel toner using the bark from American witch hazel.

Herbal Recipes That Use Witch Hazel

A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.

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Stephanie Rose

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December 15, 2025
How to Properly Recycle Plant Pots (And Upcycle Them!) – Garden Therapy
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It’s fairly easy to recycle plant pots if your municipality is set up for it. And if not, there is still a way you can make sure that your plastic pots have a second life. Here’s everything you need to know about plant pot recycling.

Recycling has turned into quite a process. I find myself asking if things are recycled more often than not.

And with plastic being our top packaging method, we go through a lot of it. But as much as I wish we could toss everything into the recycling bin and give it a new life, that isn’t always the case.

Here’s how you can recycle plant pots and keep just a little bit more plastic out of the landfill!

Coloured plastic pots are still eligible for recycling at most facilities.

What Plastics Can You Recycle?

Containers that can be recycled will have a resin identification code on the plastic. This is depicted as a number surrounded by a triangle. This will tell you what type of plastic an item is made of.

While there are more common numbers for plastic, it doesn’t necessarily mean the item can be recycled. Typically, 1, 2, and 5 plastics are commonly recycled and allowed in most recycling programs.

Those with the number 3, 4, and 6 are somewhat specialty plastics and often need to be dropped off to be recycled as specialty facilities.

Check your plant pot to see if you can identify the number on it to help you determine if it’s recyclable or not.

These same rules apply to seedling trays and cell packs.

How to Recycle Plant Pots

Most plant pots are okay to go in the recycling, including the plastic trays used for seedlings, the plastic nursery containers and pots, and the cell packs smaller plants come in.

Like any containers in your recycling bin, the containers must be clean. Check to make sure the pots are free of soil and plant debris. Give your containers a quick rinse with your garden hose before you place them in your recycling bin.

There may also be stipulations on the size of plant pots for recycling. For instance, where I live in British Columbia, the plant pots can be no larger than 25 litres.

When in doubt, look up your municipalities local recycling regulations. They’ll tell you directly if they recycle plant pots or will list out the types of plastics they accept.

Larger pots may not be allowed in curbside recycling programs.

Where Can I Recycle My Plastic Plant Pots?

Most plastic plant pots can be placed directly in the curbside recycling program that most cities or municipalities have.

If you don’t have a curbside recycling program, you can take these containers to a local recycling depot. Most should offer a free drop-off.

My province, BC, has a great resource called Recyclepedia where it allows me to input what I’m recycling and where I am to help me find a drop off zone. Your city or municipality may have a similar resource. Just Google the recycling rules of your town or city!

If you have a large collection, many small nurseries will happily take them back and reuse them if they’re in good condition. Call your local nursery and ask if they’d accept plastic pots.

While I grow many plants from seed, I still end up with some new plastic pots every gardening season. Don’t we all!

How to Upcycle Plant Pots

While recycling is a wonderful thing, the reality is that most of our plastic doesn’t make its way to a local recycling facility. Trying to reduce plastic usage and reuse it whenever possible are always great options.

Here are some ways that I have seen plastic pots being used:
- Use them again for seed starting. The more you grow from seed, the more you need to reuse these plastic pots, and the less likely you are to buy plants in more plastic containers.
- Fill up space in patio containers or raised beds. Rather than fill the base with expensive soil, flip plastic pots upside down. This works wonderfully if it is a very deep container or you’re working with shallow-rooted plants.
- Cut off the bottom of the pot to make a watering halo.
- Use it as a water reservoir, similar to an olla (as I mention in this post).
- Use the pot as a planting guide to create a ready-made hole when repotting a new plant.
- Paint the pots or cover them in fabric to make them more decorative to use inside.
- Use larger pots with drainage holes to hold produce and rinse it with a garden hose
- Make a squirrel or rat baffle by slipping a plastic pot upside down onto the pole of a bird feeder.
- Cover a tender perennial with a large pot, filling it with dry leaves for insulation.
If you have any more clever uses for plastic pots, leave them in the comments below. Then I can add to the list for everyone to benefit from…and keep plastic out of the landfill!

More Handy FAQs to Know
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Stephanie Rose

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March 13, 2024