Featured Articles

  • fungi in a lawn

    Fungi Are a Sign of Soil Health

    A great indicator of soil and plant health is the appearance of fungi in a lawn. The fruiting bodies of an important underground community, they often appear in the fall…

  • new burnets

    These New Burnets Deserve Your Attention

    These burnets are new on the scene, but they're already showing promise. ‘Blackthorn’ burnet Robust ‘Blackthorn’ burnet (S. ‘Blackthorn’) was one of the largest of all the burnets after just…

  • Matrix-Style Garden

    Plants for a Matrix-Style Garden

    When you garden with a matrix-style design, different plants can play different roles in the landscape. Here are some ideas to get your designs going. Planting plan details   Matrix…

  • layered-style garden

    Plants for a Layered-Style Garden

    As you design with a layered approach, it helps to have a sense of what your options are. Here are some examples of the types of plants that can create…

  • experts on naturalistic gardens

    Thomas Rainer and Piet Oudolf on Naturalistic Gardens

    Once we understand some of the concepts of naturalistic design, questions of a more practical nature tend to pop up. We reached out to landscape architect Thomas Rainer and garden…

  • Oriental burnet

    Burnets Are Tough and Beautiful Plants

    I have no recollection of burnets—native or cultivated—before my back-to-back encounters with great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis) in the South Korean countryside and on the grassy steppes of Siberia. The sight…

  • growing burnets

    Get to Know Burnets

    Burnets are easy to grow, have great textural foliage, stay mostly disease-free, and put on a supremely unique bloom show from summer into fall, when much of the garden looks…

  • fg 201 cover

    Birds in the Garden | Letter from the Editor

    A few months ago a bird got stuck in my hair. This did not happen while I was out in the garden. But it almost certainly had something to do…

  • propping shed door open

    Gardening Advice for Summer

    Winning tip: Keep those doors open My work-shed doors are spring loaded to help keep them closed. The problem was keeping them open when I was moving a mower or…

  • A Compact Toad Lily for Late-Summer Blooms

    Toad lily (Tricyrtis spp. and cvs., Zones 5–8) is an Asian perennial often found growing in dappled, open glades, woodland trail edges, partially shaded slopes, or, in some cases, enjoying…

  • Zimbelstern sneezeweed

    Wrap Up Summer With the Bright Blooms of 'Zimbelstern' Sneezeweed

    Sneezeweeds won’t make you sneeze, but they will make you smile. Their cheery blooms come along to make you happy right when summer is starting to wear you down. One…

  • Tweezers for Delicate Work in the Garden

    Tweezers for Delicate Work in the Garden

    Planting and pruning small, fragile items can be difficult. I cannot count the times I’ve cleared all the foliage from a string of pearls (Senecio rowleyanus, Zones 9–12) just by…

  • Nejiri Gama Hand Hoe

    Remove Shallow Weeds Quickly With This Hand Hoe

    I’ve worked with other professional gardeners for over twenty-five years, and a tool that continues to be a popular part of our weeding arsenal is the Nejiri Gama hand hoe.…

  • ARS SE45 Floral Shears

    Harvest Cut Flowers With These Floral Shears

    Anyone with a cutting garden needs a good pair of pruners. These 7-inch floral shears are perfect for when you need something a little smaller and less bulky than Felco…

  • how to grow figs

    How to Grow Figs, Even in Colder Climates

    Figs intrigue many gardeners. The breadth of interest struck me when I donated a spindly little dormant fig plant for a raffle and the winner told me she had received…

  • gardening with challenging conditions

    Dynamic Garden Design Despite Challenging Conditions

    “When the going gets tough, the tough get gardening” could describe John Markowski and his garden in Kingwood, New Jersey, where he has powered through suboptimal conditions to establish a…

  • Pacific Wax Myrtle

    Plants for Birds in the Northwest

    As William Cullina mentions in his article on plants for birds, the sad reality is songbirds are disappearing: “Habitat loss, pesticides, and the accompanying decline of insect populations have contributed…

  • Bitter cherry

    Plants for Birds in the Mountain West

    As William Cullina mentions in his article on plants for birds, the sad reality is songbirds are disappearing: “Habitat loss, pesticides, and the accompanying decline of insect populations have contributed…

  • Plants for Birds in the Southwest

    As William Cullina mentions in his article on plants for birds, the sad reality is songbirds are disappearing: “Habitat loss, pesticides, and the accompanying decline of insect populations have contributed…

  • Little Bluestem 

    Plants for Birds in the Southern Plains

    As William Cullina mentions in his article on plants for birds, the sad reality is songbirds are disappearing: “Habitat loss, pesticides, and the accompanying decline of insect populations have contributed…

  • Winter King Green Hawthorn

    Plants for Birds in the Midwest

    As William Cullina mentions in his article on plants for birds, the sad reality is songbirds are disappearing: "Habitat loss, pesticides, and the accompanying decline of insect populations have contributed…

  • Hardy Sinningia

    Plants for Birds in the Southeast

    As William Cullina mentions in his article on plants for birds, the sad reality is songbirds are disappearing: "Habitat loss, pesticides, and the accompanying decline of insect populations have contributed…

  • Highbush Blueberry

    Plants for Birds in the Northeast

    As William Cullina mentions in his article on plants for birds, the sad reality is songbirds are disappearing: "Habitat loss, pesticides, and the accompanying decline of insect populations have contributed…

  • plants for birds

    Plants for the Birds in Your Region

    As William Cullina mentions in his article on plants for birds, the sad reality is that songbirds are disappearing: "Habitat loss, pesticides, and the accompanying decline of insect populations have…

  • Petite Houseplants for Any Home

    Petite Houseplants for Any Home

    Admitting you are addicted to collecting houseplants is the first step. The second step? Finding more space for new plants! Plants that stay small are the perfect solution for indoor…

  • fig varieties to grow

    Want to Grow Figs? Try One of These Varieties

    There’s a fig for every taste. Some are more berrylike; some are more datelike. The color of the skin ranges from very dark purple or brown to very light green,…

  • fig plant wrapped up for winter

    Overwintering In-Ground Figs in Colder Climates

    The most important rule when growing figs in cold areas is to be creative. For example, I once met a Zone 5 grower who made a “figatorium,” a greenhouse with…

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