Garden Experiments
For the love of gardening and wildlife habitat
You can find the perfect plant for a shady garden if you have part-shade or full-shade spots in your garden. Shade-tolerant plants can have flowers, colorful leaves, great patterns, or a combination. Choose between perennial plants and annuals for shade gardens.
If you've got soil that stays wet most of the time, then spotted jewelweed is the plant for you. It's native to most of the lower 48 states and prefers shade to part-shade - even better! In its native habitat, you'll find it alongside roads in ditches that stay wet most of the time, alongside a river or stream, in wetlands or boggy places, and …
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Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) is a favorite of native plant gardeners for many reasons. If you're looking for a shrub that is hardy, produces beautiful flowers, can grow in the shade, and has lovely fall colors, look no further. Here are just a few of the reasons why I love this shrub: #1 The large white flowers (in the …
Continue Reading about 3 Top Reasons to Love the Oakleaf Hydrangea Shrub
My office has two windows, but they are high up on the wall and don’t allow for direct sunlight. Which, if you’re working on the computer, is a good thing, but if you want to have plants indoors, it can limit your choices. After a few trials (and errors), here are some of the plants I recommend for low light conditions (and low maintenance) in …
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If you've got shade but still want color, here is an example of how to add color to your shade gardens in containers. Read this earlier post for suggestions of plants with colorful leaves or flowers that can be used in shade gardens. Container 1: Coleus, ferns, heuchera, and impatiens This pot contains coleus, heuchera, ferns, and …
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The little purple-blue flowers of common blue violet are blooming all over my grass under the trees, where it stays moist for long periods of time. I always try to mow around them as much as I can so that I can enjoy the wildflowers. They bloom in early spring into early summer, from April to June and sometimes July. Common Blue Violet Plant …
Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) has bright red flowers. The flowers of this native shrub are a favorite of hummingbirds and butterflies in early spring. In the southeast, it blooms in late March and early April, and you can hear the hummingbirds buzzing around the blooms. The red buckeye always catches my eye when it is blooming. These tall …
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