A favorite activity of mine is walking around the landscape on a summer morning and finding flowers and foliage to use as cut flowers. My garden is in northern Wisconsin, where the climate is cold, and deer are plentiful. These conditions make it difficult to grow many flowers. However, I can still find fun bouquets from plants like bleeding hearts, alliums, and even ferns. As gardeners, we have access to various types of plants with beautiful flowers and foliage. What Are Cutting Gardens? Cutting gardens are spaces dedicated to growing plants for floral decorations. These plants can include annuals, perennials, […]
Category: Shrubs
Spring Gardening: March Garden Checklist Zones 3-6
March is a tough month for gardeners. Signs of spring are showing, with birds returning and bulbs emerging. Unfortunately, winter still appears and keeps us from getting carried away with planting. Regardless of the weather, there’s a variety of gardening tasks you can accomplish this month. Houseplants Pest Control At this point, your houseplants are used to being inside, but you should watch them for signs of insect pests. If your houseplants are becoming leggy, consider moving them to a sunnier part of your house or purchasing a grow light. Keeping your plants healthy will reduce pest and disease problems. […]
5 Must-Have Flowering Shrubs For Spring
It’s hard to believe, but spring is on the horizon. Soon the landscape will burst into growth, and the birds will return, allowing us to say goodbye to a long winter. One way to enhance your landscape is by adding spring color. Flowering shrubs offer many benefits to the landscape, including the year-round structure and a pop of color in spring. The benefits of flowering shrubs are endless. Each shrub has unique characteristics that provide value to you and your property. Today, we’ll be highlighting shrubs that flower in spring. Azaleas A favorite sight in late spring is the pop […]
Creating Winter Interest In Your Landscapes
Winter can be dreary but also beautiful. In the Midwest, we enjoy the snow that blankets our gardens, creating a peaceful scene for us to enjoy. However, our long winters often have us looking for additional beauty in our landscape. You can use a variety of trees, shrubs, and perennials to add interest to the garden using features that include peeling bark, seedheads, or colorful stems. One example is the River Birch (Betula nigra). My parents have this tree in their yard, and it always stands out when I visit them. The peeling bark is also multicolored, adding to its […]
Bareroot vs Potted Plants: What Is The Difference?
Bareroot or Potted Plants? That Is The Question. Just like Hamlet, who asks himself the simple question, “To be or not to be?”, we sometimes let our minds delve way too deeply into basic questions and we can slip into a sort of contemplative paralysis. Instead of allowing ourselves to be immobilized by such a simple choice, all home gardeners should rejoice at the sheer number of selections and wide availability of plants at our fingertips. A never-ending variety of edible and ornamental shrubs and trees have never been so available to us, thanks to the connectiveness of the internet. […]
Pruning Shrubs In Winter
The weather outside may be cold, but there is something that can be done in the garden this time of year. Winter is an ideal time to prune your shrubs, for several reasons. The lack of foliage on the shrubs allows you to view their structure, giving you an idea of how much pruning is needed. Pruning shrubs during dormancy is less stressful for the plant, compared to pruning during the growing season. Pruning in late winter allows the wounds left by the pruning cuts to heal quicker, reducing potential disease or insect problems down the road. Why Prune Shrubs? […]
7 Flowering Shrubs Perfect For Your 2022 Garden
As we begin planning our spring gardens, many think about all the beautiful flowers they want to grow. However, did you know shrubs are the foundation of many landscapes? Shrubs do not have to be boring. Jung Seed has seven new shrubs that have real flower power! Coral Miracle™ Rose This rose has a vibrant coral color looks amazing in the landscape. The rounded bushes have dark green, disease-resistant foliage that allows the 3 1/2 inch double blooms to really shine. Self-cleaning plants bloom all summer long, requiring very little maintenance growing to a size of 3 to 4 feet. […]
Hydrangeas: Pruning For Blooms
Hydrangeas have been a gardener’s delight for centuries. Their big colorful bracts of blooms offer us a sweet nostalgic path right to our grandmother’s front door. Some come from the Americas but most hail from Asia. Despite their gentle appearance Hydrangeas are quite tough, resilient, and tolerant of many different growing situations. How To Prune A Hydrangea Proper pruning is the key to successful blooms and to prune properly, you must first know what type of Hydrangea you are growing. Quick Guide to Hydrangea Varieties Old Wood Blooming Hydrangea Bigleaf, Oakleaf, or Mountain Hydrangeas bloom in early to mid-summer, and […]