Gorgeous! This year’s new annual flowers

Annual flowers are the perfect way to add some color to your flowerpots, hanging baskets, or the edges of a perennial garden. They’re a low-commitment way to garden that’s perfect for summer gatherings. Need a beautiful addition to the garden for a party? Add a splash of color with annual flowers. Annuals also provide gardeners with a lot of scope for experimentation. After all, they’re only there for the season, then you can change them again. Here’s the list of what’s coming up for 2012. 1. Verbena: The Superbena Royale Iced Cherry Verbena is a flower variety with bounce! This … Continue reading →

Perfect Perennials: This year’s new finds

As spring creeps in here in the Pacific Northwest and hits other parts of the country with a bang, it’s time to think perennials. What will you plant in your garden this year to delight you for years to come? These top five perennials are forever favorites that come in new colors and sizes for 2012! 1. Hibiscus: The new “My Valentine” variety has less of a tendency to spread, so you can enjoy the lush hibiscus blooms without stressing over its tendency to take over your garden! The Berrylicious hibiscus is a new color variation that features a pink … Continue reading →

A Guide to Fall Mums

Mums are in bloom and will soon be available in many forms. They make great decorations for the fall. Mums are flexible in style and will loo just as good in an elegant vase and they will in a rustic bucket (although I tend to favor the later for the fall season). Shop around when looking for mums. You may find some unusual shapes or color combinations. New varieties are popping up each season, so it pays to visit a few different garden centers in your area. You may just be rewarded with a new type of mum that no … Continue reading →

Please Pick the Flowers

A couple of days ago we had our first touch of spring. The sun came out to make it warm enough to leave the heavy coats behind, and the gentle breezes just smelled so good. We decided to drop everything and spend a short bit of time walking around our favorite botanical gardens to greet the new season, or at least chase it a bit. The kids had a great time getting out in the air after being cooped so long. Just a few short weeks ago, we were experiencing heavy storms with record snow accumulation, one after the other. … Continue reading →

Three New Things to Do with Flowers

The spring and the summer are wonderful seasons for taking advantage of the bounty of beautiful flowers. Liven up your home and your mood, too, with these three new ways to incorporate flowers into your home. In the Kitchen Take advantage of edible flowers to do something unexpected that feels like luxury. Don’t worry about needing a cookbook or a complicate guide to flowers. Simply frost some cupcakes and then add delicate edible rose petals to top, arranging them in a natural flower pattern. A gumdrop can serve as the center. Sprinkle some colored sugar on top of the petals … Continue reading →

Fall Planting

Now that the temperatures are bringing crisp mornings and gentle breezes, it is time to start thinking about incorporating fall colors into your home landscaping through flowers. There are a few reasons why fall plantings of flowers are important. First off, planting tender flowers that give a lot of color and curb appeal, but will fade by winter, is the true mark of a landscaping enthusiast. Second, newly planted fall flowers will enhance and play off of your existing landscaping, as your trees begin their wonderful display of fall foliage and berries in the bushes. Third, if your yard is … Continue reading →

A Guide to Fall Mums

Mums are here. There is no other flower that really makes me think of the fall season. The colors of rusty orange, golden yellows and even green really stand out in the warm light of autumn. There are so many different types of mums. Which ones are right for your decorating? Here is a guide. When looking for mums, it is always exciting to seek out unusual ones with special shapes and colors. But if you are working with your local home improvement store or small nursery, you might be limited in your choices. There are four types of mums … Continue reading →

Choosing Flowers with the Color Wheel

Whether you are planning a window box or a garden, knowing which colors of flowers go together and what their impact will be is an important planning step. You don’t want your flowers to clash, overpower or get washed out. And different colors can convey different moods and looks. Using the color wheel, as well as your own common sense can help you create a beautiful display. Before we get into the color wheel, let’s talk about the color white. White isn’t on the color wheel, since it is a neutral color and will compliment any others. You can use … Continue reading →

Choosing Flowers for Your Window Box

A window box can add a great deal of curb appeal to your home and create a beautiful foreground when you gaze out of the window. Window boxes can really transform a plain window. In fact, that is what window boxes have been doing for centuries. Although window boxes are easy to install, you can truly make yours stand out from the crowd and the curb if you just know a few tricks. Here they are. For a window box that has dimension instead of looking flat, build the flowers up using a combination of three different heights and shapes. … Continue reading →

Dahlias

Dahlias have a special place in my heart as a flower because of the association I have with them when I was first dating my husband. He proudly showed me to the back of his property, a tiny yard that was literally a two-foot wide strip of dirt on the opposite end of the driveway the home shared with two other homes. Growing in that little spot of dirt was a single Dahlia. Even without my association, you can see that there is something nostalgic and romantic about Dahlias. They are colorful; they are flamboyant; they are heirlooms. From the … Continue reading →