7 Outstanding Plants For Early Fall Blooms
At this time of year, most blooming plants have finished their show and are just enduring the heat until the rains come. Buddleia, phygelius, fuchsia, echinacea, and cistus still offer a few blooms, thank goodness, but late summer / early fall is not when they shine. Here are 7 of…
3 Beautiful Blue Plants That Will Survive a Heat Wave
As much of the U.S. (and Europe) copes with warmer heat waves, you may be looking for plants that can thrive in hot sun. Blue plants often fit this profile since they create a waxy coating that protects them from hot sun and helps them hold water. And what’s even…
Green Scene of the Day: Contemplative Cat in a Garden
Last winter, I often felt scattered and anxious before starting my day, overwhelmed by all there was to do. I needed a way to center myself for the tasks ahead. While I’ve occasionally meditated in the afternoons to reconnect with my creative self, I tended to overlook it in the…
#12 Memories of Summer Make Winter Fade For a While
Today I hit a wall. It’s still rainy and cold in Seattle and I couldn’t deal with the gloom. Do you ever get that trapped feeling at this time of year? You feel like spring should be coming but it isn’t quite. So I started just flat out daydreaming of…
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…
The Rich Blaze of Red and Orange Heucheras
The other day, I was roaming my local nurseries and noticed some enchanting red and orange heucheras. They’re commonly called Coral Bells. Some I’ve grown and some I’ve yet to put in my garden. But I recommend growing all of these low perennials. They show off beautiful foliage, bloom in…
How I Found New Inspiration at a Familiar Nursery
Since I worked for roughly 15 years as a gardener, it's no surprise that a plant nursery figures prominently in The Forgetting Flower. Renia's uncle owns a wholesale nursery in the French countryside. I modeled his nursery, Les Racines, in part on a local nursery I've shopped at for years.…
