Featured Articles

  • colorful shade garden

    How to Design a Colorful Shade Garden

    After my husband and I moved into our home in 2004, I waited four years before starting a garden. The idea of creating a new design from scratch was daunting.…

  • plants for partial shade

    Colorful Plants for Partial Shade

    If you need some ideas for plants that thrive in dappled sunlight, check out these options from expert gardener Mary Gore. She has created an amazing garden in the shade…

  • Edging with downed-tree sections

    4 Tips for Early Spring Gardening

    Edging with downed-tree sections When a tree must be taken down in my neighborhood, I find a place in my garden for as many of the remnants as possible by…

  • spring garden

    A Garden That Shines in Spring

    At a Glance Size: 100 acres Location: Sergeantsville, New Jersey Zone: 6 Conditions: Full sun; well-drained, fertile soil Age of the garden: 25 years When Ruth Ann Mummey and her…

  • Stachys plant trial: which ones were best?

    Stachys Plant Trial: Which Ones Were Best?

    In a world where I could only have 10 plants in my garden—clutch your pearls, right?—lambs’ ears (Stachys byzantina and cvs., Zones 4–8) would most assuredly be one of them.…

  • Chicago Botanic Garden Trial Gardens

    Chicago Botanic Garden Trial Gardens

    For more than a decade, Richard Hawke has been writing for Fine Gardening, giving readers insight into his plant trial results. He is the plant evaluation manager at the Chicago…

  • What's wrong with my hosta?

    What’s Wrong With My Hosta?

    While hostas are generally considered to be easy-care plants, some pests, diseases, and growing conditions can cause problems. Here are a few of the most common culprits. Anthracnose What it…

  • A Low-Care Ground Cover for Sun: ‘Summer Sunshine’ Germander

    ‘Summer Sunshine’ germander (Teucrium chamaedrys ‘Summer Sunshine’) Zones: 4–9 Size: 6 to 8 inches tall and 12 inches wide Conditions: Full sun; moist, well-drained soil Native range: Europe Somehow in the larger gardening consciousness,…

  • 'Diana Clare' pulmonaria

    A Flowering Perennial for Shade: ‘Diana Clare’ Pulmonaria

    About 15 years ago, I had given up on growing pulmonarias (Pulmonaria spp. and cvs., Zones 3–8) in my Zone 7 garden. In 2005, I received a 2-inch pot of…

  • Prairie Smoke

    4 Outstanding Spring Plants for the Mountain West

    We all have certain plants that immediately come to mind when thinking of a garden in spring. For many, these are daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths skirting the trunks of flowering magnolias,…

  • 4 Outstanding Spring Plants for California

    We all have certain plants that immediately come to mind when thinking of a garden in spring. For many, these are daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths skirting the trunks of flowering magnolias,…

  • Downy Clematis

    4 Outstanding Spring Plants for the Northwest

    We all have certain plants that immediately come to mind when thinking of a garden in spring. For many, these are daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths skirting the trunks of flowering magnolias,…

  • Deadheading.

    How to Grow Lambs’ Ears and Betony

    Lambs’ ears and betonies are easy to grow in full sun to light shade in well-drained soil, but betonies like the soil consistently moist, and lambs’ ears prefer it on…

  • Expert tips for planting under trees

    Expert Tips for Planting Under Trees

    Attempting to grow plants under a tree's canopy presents certain challenges. Tree roots concentrate in the top 6 inches of the soil and can spread far beyond the leaf canopy.…

  • Outstanding Spring Plants

    Outstanding Spring Plants for Your Region

    We all have certain plants that immediately come to mind when thinking of a garden in spring. For many, these are daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths skirting the trunks of flowering magnolias,…

  • Fremont’s Leather Flower

    4 Outstanding Spring Plants for the Midwest

    We all have certain plants that immediately come to mind when thinking of a garden in spring. For many, these are daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths skirting the trunks of flowering magnolias,…

  • ‘Quasimodo’ Ozark Witch Hazel

    4 Outstanding Spring Plants for the Northeast

    We all have certain plants that immediately come to mind when thinking of a garden in spring. For many, these are daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths skirting the trunks of flowering magnolias,…

  • ‘ORANGE SHERBET’ CHINESE LYCHNIS

    4 Outstanding Spring Plants for the Southeast

    We all have certain plants that immediately come to mind when thinking of a garden in spring. For many, these are daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths skirting the trunks of flowering magnolias,…

  • ‘Scarlet Storm’ Flowering Quince

    4 Outstanding Spring Plants for the Southern Plains

    We all have certain plants that immediately come to mind when thinking of a garden in spring. For many, these are daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths skirting the trunks of flowering magnolias,…

  • FineGardening Danielle Sherry

    Annual Opinions | Letter from the Editor

    “Friends don’t let friends buy annuals.” My very first boss wore a button with that phrase to work every day. I didn’t have a “normal job” like most teenagers. I…

  • garden illustrations

    Behind the Scenes at Fine Gardening

    Here at Fine Gardening, the staff wear many hats. Our editors are photographers, script writers, test garden managers, and audiovisual engineers. Associate editor Carol Collins has one additional title as well:…

  • annuals in the garden

    Adding Annuals to Your Garden: Six Inventive Ideas

    We’ve all seen them: the giant swaths of annuals demanding our attention with their ostentatious colors—in parking lots, at park entrances, lining the walkway to every local bank. They are…

  • pruning arborvitae

    How to Prune an Arborvitae That's Too Tall or Wide

    Arborvitaes (Thuja spp. and cvs., Zones 3–11) are a familiar staple in American gardens. Cultivars of Eastern arborvitae (T. occidentalis, Zones 3–7), Oriental arborvitae (T. orientalis, Zones 6–11), and giant…

  • arborvitae with deer damage

    Avoid These Arborvitae Pruning Pitfalls

    Arborvitaes (Thuja spp. and cvs., Zones 3–11) are a familiar staple in American gardens. Cultivars of Eastern arborvitae (T. occidentalis, Zones 3–7), Oriental arborvitae (T. orientalis, Zones 6–11), and giant Western…

  • 10 Amazing Hostas

    Do you know any gardeners who have both hostas—the green one and the variegated one? Sadly, the lack of knowledge some people have about this amazing genus is shocking. No…

  • Faelan’s First Snow tomato

    Expert Picks: The Best Tomato to Add to Your Veggie Garden

    Tomatoes are a favorite crop of many home gardeners, who love the fresh flavor and variety they can achieve when they grow their own. But despite the overwhelming number of…

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