Garden Experiments
For the love of gardening and wildlife habitat
Bright, colorful flowers are a must for every garden. They can add color to container gardens, shade and full sun gardens, and mixed in with shrubs and trees. Find the perfect flowering plants for your garden's light, soil, moisture, and other conditions. Using a mixture of annuals and perennials helps keep your garden full of flowers throughout the seasons.
Fall in the southeast still tends toward the warmer temps, which means that bees and butterflies are still hanging around. The scorching heat and sun of the late summer has often killed off many of the most prolific flowering plants, meaning there are less flowers for the pollinators to feed on. Adding a few fall-flowering plants can provide a …
Continue Reading about Fall Asters: Purple Blooms for Bees, Butterflies, & Beauty
I'm not cheap, I'm frugal. When it comes to my garden, that means I often repurpose plants from one planting or flower bed into another one. There's nothing wrong with that, right? In this case, I repurposed a croton from a container garden that had long outgrown its original pot and mixed it in with some heliconias that I purchased on sale with …
It's nearly the fall season and that means mums (better known as chrysanthemums) will be available for your fall decor very soon. I used to avoid planting mums. I thought they were boring and too ubiquitous in fall. However, I have discovered a couple of mums with a unique appearance and some new colors and now I appreciate the simple mum. …
I took this photo on a hot, steamy late August day on the banks of the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, Mississippi. The name of this plant just makes me smile. Fog fruit - I can just picture the fog rolling in from the river and resting around this little plant. Plant Names The scientific name of this plant is Phyla lanceolata. Common names …
Creating a Scent Garden for your Backyard The smell of a southern magnolia flower always stops me in my tracks. My neighbor has one and when it is blooming, I always spend a few extra moments in front of his yard enjoying the smell. It’s so lemony fresh -- it reminds me of childhood days spent outdoors climbing trees. Most of us select …
Continue Reading about Top 20 Fragrant Flowers and Plants for Your Garden
I love this plant. Nothing says 'good morning to you' like a bright orange flower. But it's not just me! The hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies have all cast their votes too. This afternoon, I saw a ruby-throated hummingbird feeding on one of the flowers. Tithonia is excellent for attracting and feeding pollinators. Mix it in with a few …
Continue Reading about How to Grow Mexican Sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia)
