- Not only are watermelons (Citrullus lanatus) delicious, they are one of the largest edible fruits grown in the U.S. It’s also one of the most useful fruits as every part is edible: the flesh can be eaten as is, the rind can be pickled and the seed can be roasted or ground into other ingredients.
- Heucheras (commonly called Coral Bells) are all-American. Literally. Different species hail from the islands off the California coast to the highest mountains in the Rockies to the Gulf of Mexico. With this diverse range of habitat, these plants are able to find a niche in everyone's garden. Breeders in America and Europe have taken a well-aimed swipe of a paintbrush between these species, and have assembled a plethora of plants with amazing flower and foliage forms that didn’t exist a scant ten years ago. Not only are these plants aesthetically pleasing, but they have become stronger, fuller, and more disease resistant. With few pests, great adaptability to containers and a seemingly unending number of forms, Heuchera should be in everyone's garden!
- For decades, zinnias have been the flowering annual of choice for spreading glorious colors throughout the garden as well as for cutting to bring indoors. But it wasn't always so. When the Spanish first saw zinnia species in Mexico, they thought the flower was so unattractive they named it mal de ojos, or "sickness of the eye!" Years of breeding have brought striking new colors, shapes, sizes, and growing habits to the humble zinnia. No present day gardener would ever describe this versatile bloomer as anything less than eye catching.
- Marigolds, native to the New World and sacred flower of the Aztecs, journeyed across the Atlantic Ocean twice to travel 3,000 miles north of their center of origin. This lengthy serpentine journey is a testimony to the rugged durability of marigolds.
- Their names are sometimes unfamiliar and their tastes exotic. Leafy greens are popular everywhere from gourmet restaurants, farmers' markets and supermarket produce sections to backyard gardens.
- The eggplant has been celebrated as an aphrodisiac and feared as the cause of insanity. Today it is appreciated for both its inspiring beauty and delightful flavor.
- Cabbage and kale are among the hardiest and most nutritious vegetables a home gardener can grow with ease. Both are handsome in the garden, with colors ranging from pale green through dark battleship blue, to deep reddish purple.
- Celosias are one of the most eye-catching annuals to grow in the garden.
- According to Webster's Dictionary, melons are "the large round fruit of various plants of the gourd family, with sweet pulpy flesh and many seeds (honeydew, cantaloupe, muskmelon)."
- For centuries, Dianthus has been one of the most sought after plants for the garden.
- Young snap beans to eat fresh from the garden. Colorful green, purple and yellow beans. Bush beans that grow on compact stems and pole beans that clamber up tepees and trellises.
- Clear flower colors and glossy green leaves make Vinca indispensable for season-long interest in the garden and in containers. Add practically no maintenance to these drought tolerant plants and you have a winning combination.
- Can you imagine a garden without basil? Impossible!
- Sweet Corn is an indisputable native of the Americas and has been consumed for 7,000 years.
- The National Garden Bureau celebrates the Asian culture and the contributions to North American gardens and ethnic cuisine.
- Should we call them geraniums or pelargoniums? By any name, they are definitely as sweet.
- Whether edging a flower bed, covering a bare area like a ground cover, spilling out of a container or trailing from a hanging basket--petunias help keep the gardening season at its most colorful from late spring to fall.
2013: Year of the Watermelon
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2012: Year of the Heuchera
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2011: Year of the Zinnia
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2010: Year of the Marigolds
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2009: Year of the Greens
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2008: Year of the Eggplant
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2007: Year of the Cabbage and Kale
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2006: Year of the Celosia
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2005: Year of the Melon
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2004: Year of the Dianthus
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2003: Year of the Bean
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2002: Year of the Vinca
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2001: Year of the Basil
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2000: Year of the Sweet Corn
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1999: Year of the Asian Vegetable
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1998: Year of the Geranium
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1997: Year of the Petunia
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Creating a Low-Maintenance Garden
Creating a Low-Maintenance Garden
Creating a Low-Maintenance Garden
Creating a Low-Maintenance Garden
If you're like many gardeners, you get overly zealous in the spring, creating larger flower beds, carefully edging existing beds, meticulously spreading mulch where needed, trimming the grasses, tending to newly sprouted perennials, etc. Then by mid to late summer, you realize your energy isn't quite the same and there are certain areas of your garden that, well, just don't look as tidy as you'd like. (At least in my case that's true!) Surely there are some ways to create the garden of your dreams that does not take as much time and effort...right?
Maybe there are. We asked our Facebook fans for some of their favorite tips then rounded them up in this list of 10 Tips for Creating a Low-Maintenance Garden.
Pick the Right Plants
1. First off, let's make certain you have selected the right plants for your area. The more you try to test the boundaries of garden zones and climates, the more difficult of a time you'll have in getting your plants to thrive. We've heard of zone 5 gardeners who can successfully overwinter perennials meant for zone 7 but be forewarned, they probably have to take extra precautions (read: extra work!) to help them survive.
2. If using perennials, choose plants that are slower growing so there is less of a need for dividing or thinning them. Your local garden center can help you make those choices.
3. When planting annuals, choose varieties that don't require a lot of dead-heading to stay tidy and clean. True of both annuals and perennials, the closer you space them, the more they'll starve out the weeds from growing and requires you to use less need mulch.
4. You might want to consider natives, which by their very name defines that they are hardy in your area and have already adapted to your climatic conditions.
5. Make good choices for companion plantings; for example, I interplant my hostas with spring bulbs so I get tulips and daffodils blooming before the hostas get very tall. Then, as the foliage of the bulbs begins to die back, the hosta leaves will grow up and over the yellowing foliage. No need to trim!
Try Containers
6. A well-planted mixed container is not only attractive, and easy to plant, but can require less maintenance since fewer weeds grow in fresh potting mix, especially if the plants are packed tightly in the container and drown out the weeds. Container gardens can certainly reward you with season-long color and about the only maintenance is watering.
7. Creating raised beds can reduce maintenance for a number of reasons but my favorite is because soil won't get as compacted so there is less need for tilling or digging when you're ready to plant.
Define Your [Relaxed] Style
8. If "relaxed style" gives you the chills, maybe it's because you prefer more formal, French-style gardens. And that's great but is certainly more labor-intensive to keep prim and proper. A cottage style garden of wildflowers or sweeping mixed borders with casual shapes and flowing lines tolerates a lot less pruning and fussing. If you have a lot of shade, try to mimic a naturalized woodland and let nature takes its course.
Use the Right Tools
9. I am so guilty of NOT taking this advice. Just like in the kitchen, I forget that a dull knife is not only dangerous, but it makes your work much more difficult than it should be. A sharp spade cuts deeper and cleaner. The right watering wand is easier to use and can reach where you need it to with little effort. So use the right tool for the job.
10. Will your budget allow for installation of sprinklers or drip irrigation? For me, watering all summer is my number one time-consumer and although it's an enjoyable task, I would feel less tied to the hose if I had some automated waterers installed.
Those are our ten tips--do you have others? Please share them on our Facebook page by clicking here or simply hit "reply" and share them via email.
Let's Go Garden!
The use of this information is unrestricted but please credit the National Garden Bureau as the source.
Founded in 1920, the National Garden Bureau is a non-profit organization whose mission is to disseminate basic instructions for backyard gardeners that will inspire them to spend more time gardening.
‘Jade Princess’ has intense lime green leaves in a controlled and mounded shape. Can be used in the landscape and is beautiful in a mixed container. It is a “must have” for gardeners looking for plants in the popular chartreuse color group. Mature plant height is 24 to 30 inches with a spread of 18 to 24 inches. This full sun annual will produce long brown/bronze 8 to 10 inch showy spikes 12 weeks from sowing seed.
A dwarf determinate multi branching tomato suitable for use on a windowsill or in a patio container. ‘Sweet ‘n’ Neat’ produces masses of sweet fruit through the season. The tasty round shaped cherry red fruits weigh less than an ounce. The one inch size is just right for popping in your mouth. Staking is required for the vines reaching 12 to 14 inches. Harvest about 60 days.
A true little gem-type for spring, summer, and fall planting. It has dark red leaves with a bright green heart. It is very uniform with good bolt tolerance. Resistant to DM races 1, 4-6, 13, 15, and 17. Also available pelleted seeds.
Just as the name implies, large cherry sized and colored fruit cascade from this variety forming a waterfall of fruit. Well matched in habit to our Rambling series of tomatoes, ‘Cherry Falls’ produces sweet 1 ½ to 1 ¾ of fruit. Well suited for baskets, window boxes and mixed combination pots. 'Cherry Falls’ ripens in 68-72 days.
'Whispers Star Rose' explodes with color! Plants are covered in bright pink, star-patterned blooms all season long. Whispers Star Rose' has a strong trailing habit that's perfect for hanging baskets and combination planters. Plants deliver exceptional cold and frost tolerance!
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