Green Scene of the Day: Relaxing Summer Blooms
For today’s green scene of the day, I’ve chosen an image from my garden. My Crispa spiraea (Spiraea x bumalda ‘Crispa’) is an unusual spiraea because it grows these crinkly, toothy leaves, which is very unlike a spiraea. But what it shares with other spiraeas are those gorgeous summer blooms. Butterflies love their flat umbels. I also find this shrub sooo alluring. Plants Popping Through Each Other The spiraea all by itself is pretty darn cool but my peach Peruvian lilies (Alstroemeria) are pretty heavenly too. They often poke through…
The 10 Best Perennials for Sun
While creating my last A Vine of Ideas digest, I wanted to share a decent list of the best perennials to grow in sun. But the lists I found were lacking. They were too long, not broad enough in terms of zonal hardiness, included fussy or hard-to-find plants, or listed actual shrubs. So I’ve compiled my own list of what I believe are the best low-maintenance, long-blooming winners. They’re all pretty and tough and widely available. Plus, they all attract butterflies, bees, and birds! 1. Daylily Daylilies (Hemerocallis) have got…
