With today’s rain and lack of sun, I found myself in desperate need of a plant pick me up. What better way to bring the tropics into your life than a tropical plant like the hibiscus. And the variety we’ve chose as this week’s Plant of the Week is the Luna Pink Swirl Hardy Hibiscus.
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If you haven’t added Weigela to your landscape, we have to wonder ‘Why Not?’ One of our favorites is Minuet Weigela. Both the foliage and flowers will add a lovely splash of color to your spring garden. The incredible display of rosy-pink blooms against a backdrop of purple-tinged foliage mixes fantastically in a shrub border, but it also works well anywhere else as a colorful garden accent.
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This week I chose a fairly new specimen called VIBE Ignition Purple Sage. My first reason for selecting this plant is my passion for purple flowers. Especially deep purple flowers! I particularly love that it’s heat and drought tolerant because we do live on the East Coast.
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This week we’ve chosen the Regal Empress Clematis. Every mailbox, every fence post, every porch rail deserves a splash of color and drama.This prolific, compact climber offers large, double flowers in shades of pink, continually producing over a long season.
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This week we’re celebrating the Dream Catcher Flowering Cherry. This tree is categorized by its Large, single, clear pink flowers that cover its upright branches that expose dark green foliage. Fall brings orange-red to purple foliage color.
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Since this is our FIRST “Plant of the Week” post, I selected an early spring bloomer to get you into gardening mode. The Show Off Forsythia is a new compact selection that gives a stunning display compared to some of the older forsythia varieties. Its early spring blooms fill its branches with bright yellow color in early spring It has lovely dark green foliage that provides visual interest all season long. Planted as a short hedge, in mixed borders or even as a foundation plant, it produces blooms that work well as a cut flower. It’s also a very easy plant to propagate. Use stem cuttings from your shrub to create more forsythia plants. … Moisten a paper towel with water and wrap it around the cut ends of the stems. Place the cuttings in a dark plastic bag until you can transfer cuttings to the rooting medium, preferably within 24 hours. An alternative propagation method can be accomplished by bending a branch down from an existing bush, covering the first 6 inches of the branch with soil and mulch, and using a brick or rock to weigh it down. The branch will root next to its mother plant and can be transplanted later. Forsythia will be a welcome addition to your landscape when you see it’s early yellow blooms showing up on a cold, early spring day.
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When someone walks or drives past your home, does its exterior make them pause and want to visit or does it make them gasp and want to keep on going? Stand in the street in front of your house. If it wasn’t your home, how would you feel about walking up to the front door? Perhaps it’s time to make some changes to your landscape. There are numerous ways to make your home more inviting. How can you improve your front yard? Does it involve your door? Your porch? The overall landscape? With a little thought, your home can invite people to stop in, with or without the welcome sign.
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Staring out the window at a plain, boring patio? Unsure where to begin? Not even sure what look you’re going after? It’s easy to feel overwhelmed during the decision process. If you’re not careful, you’ll just toss the thought away, and end up spending another summer failing to utilize what could be the best “room” of your home. Plants. Furniture. Art. Color. Seclusion. Shade. Sun. Water. Sounds. Sights. Smells. Flavors. All words that should be part of your patio vocabulary. Consider all the senses when preparing your patio for the outdoor season.
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One of the my favorite things every year is finding out what new varieties of plants will be showing up at my favorite nurseries. Of course, I have those favorites that I return to again and again, but being the first in the neighborhood to display a new annual or perennial always brings me a bit of joy. I’ve already discovered a few new plants this year that will certainly find a spot in my garden.
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Neighbors on top of you? An adjacent eyesore? The buzz of a busy street? Yes, these are the things that can keep you out of your yard, and out of what could be your own retreat and possibly the best part of your home. There are many ways to create that private space, to camouflage ugly and to bring more welcome sounds to your yard. The first step is to determine the main problem, the second is to come up with a plan, and then you need to implement the plan. There are several ways to add privacy to your landscape.
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