midwest

  • close up of bright yellow auricula primrose
    Design

    May in Indiana

    Joseph here, sharing some things in bloom in my northern Indiana garden from the first half of May. I’m not sure what species this wallflower (Erysimum sp.) is—it came from…

  • summer perennials
    Collection

    Peak-Season Perennials for Your Region

    While we would all ideally have gardens that look at their peak in every season, the reality is often far from that ideal. Very few of us have all the…

  • summer perennials for the midwest
    Design

    Peak-Season Perennials for the Midwest

    While we would all ideally have gardens that look at their peak in every season, the reality is often far from that ideal. Very few of us have all the…

  • Design

    Bouquets from Amanda

    Amanda Benick is sharing with us today from Cincinnati (Zone 6b). Amanda says that she has been having a bad spring, with lots of up-and-down weather, going from freezing cold…

  • columnar trees
    Design

    8 Great Columnar Trees for the Midwest

    Vertical elements in the landscape become “visual beacons” and act not only as focal points but as elements of accent and contributors of scale. Narrow and columnar deciduous trees can…

  • stone garden path cutting through large plantings of white flowers
    Design

    Gardening at the 45th Parallel (Zone 4b)

    Today we’re in chilly Zone 4b, visiting Susan Warde’s Minnesota garden. Before my husband and I bought our current home in 1981, we’d pass it on neighborhood walks. Gazing at…

  • invasives in the midwest
    How-To

    Identifying and Controlling Common Invasive Plants

    As another gardening season kicks into gear, one of the more unsavory, yet necessary, tasks is scouting for problematic, common invasive plants. These undesirable plants typically infiltrate our gardens, meadows,…

  • close up of purple hyacinths
    Design

    Spring Discoveries

    Hi, this is Joseph in Indiana. I moved into my house about a year and a half ago, and the yard was a completely taken over by masses of invasive…

  • close up of yellow trout lily flowers
    Design

    Ohio Natives in Bloom

    Spring is when the native wildflowers in the woods really show off. I love this time of year, when I can go out to look for all my favorites in…

  • grassy path through garden beds in full bloom
    Design

    Kathy’s Iowa Garden, Part 2

    Today we're back in Sheldon, Iowa, visiting the beautiful garden Kathy Schreurs has created with her husband around their 130-year-old house. When we reworked a side yard this past year,…