Fine Gardening – Issue 209

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Watch Out for New Garden Pests Heading This Way

Recall for a moment the sense of excitement you feel while strolling through your garden on a summer morning. You take in the colors, the scents, the daily changes as…
This Underutilized Dwarf Conifer Is a Great Boxwood Substitute

Japanese cedar is an extremely beautiful, variable, and overlooked conifer that offers much appeal in the landscape. Not an actual cedar at all, Japanese cedar is in the genus Cryptomeria,…
A Silk Tassel Bush With Superb Winter Blooms

Garrya is a genus of just eight species of evergreen shrubs to small trees confined to western North America and northern Mexico. Of these eight species, only two or three,…
A Zinnia That Wins Awards and Turns Heads

If this zinnia were on a dating app, it would be a solid swipe right. ‘Queeny Lime Orange’—which opens in warm shades of lime, yellow, peach, salmon, and orange—is like…
Columnar Conifers for Focal Points, Screening, and Tight Spaces

In elementary school I was told that it was poor form to use more than one exclamation point at the end of a sentence. However, when I design gardens, I’m…
How to Stake and Train a Conifer

While many conifers are able to grow without any staking or training at all, newly planted trees may require it in order to establish well. Additionally, staking and training can…
Caring for Your Moth Orchid

What do I do after it’s done blooming? This is the million-dollar question for many people. Follow these steps to keep your plant happy after bloom. 1. Cut off that…
Finding Inspiration in Unexpected Places | Letter from the Editor

One of the worst parts of being a garden editor/photographer is visiting gorgeous spaces around North America and not being able to share the experience in real time with anyone…
Traditional vs. Stylized Meadow Gardens

Many positive things can be said for planting a meadow garden. These naturalistic designs tend to be a bit wilder thanks to the use of native wildflowers and ornamental grasses,…
Garden Tasks for Late Winter or Early Spring

After the darkest days of winter have passed, most gardeners are looking for any excuse to get outside and start working. When spring fever strikes, here are some constructive ways…
3 Less-Common Grafting Methods

While cleft grafting and side veneer grafting are two of the most commonly used methods in commercial plant production, there are many other forms of grafting that may be used…
Plant Grafting 101

Nearly every gardener has purchased a plant that was propagated through grafting. Grafting has been used by plant growers for thousands of years, and many of the most popular shrubs…
Tour a Garden That Perfectly Balances Hardscape and Plants

Margherita Fabrizio and her husband, Andy Jordan, live in a beautiful historic 1918 home in the heart of downtown Ithaca, New York. When they purchased their property in 2009, they…
Keep Moth Orchids Happy and They’ll Bloom Year After Year

For many people, picking up a potted moth orchid (Phalaenopsis spp. and cvs., Zones 10–12) is like buying cut flowers; they don’t care for the plant once it stops blooming.…
Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring

After the bright lights of the holiday season have been turned off, the dark days of winter seem to drag on forever. Gardeners begin to look through the catalogs, dreaming…
Late-Winter and Early-Spring Bloomers for the Southwest

In Jason Reeves' article Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring, he discusses how plants that bloom during the coldest time of the year, often go underappreciated: "Some…
Late-Winter and Early-Spring Bloomers for the Southern Plains

In Jason Reeves' article Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring, he discusses how plants that bloom during the coldest time of the year, often go underappreciated: "Some…
Late-Winter and Early-Spring Bloomers for the Northern Plains

In Jason Reeves' article Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring, he discusses how plants that bloom during the coldest time of the year, often go underappreciated: "Some…
Late-Winter and Early-Spring Bloomers for the Midwest

In Jason Reeves' article Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring, he discusses how plants that bloom during the coldest time of the year, often go underappreciated: "Some…
Late-Winter and Early-Spring Bloomers for the Southeast

In Jason Reeves' article Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring, he discusses how plants that bloom during the coldest time of the year, often go underappreciated: "Some…
Late-Winter and Early-Spring Bloomers for the Northwest

In Jason Reeves' article Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring, he discusses how plants that bloom during the coldest time of the year, often go underappreciated: "Some…
Late-Winter and Early-Spring Bloomers for the Northeast

In Jason Reeves' article Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring, he discusses how plants that bloom during the coldest time of the year, often go underappreciated: "Some…
Solutions for Common Gardening Mistakes

We all make mistakes, but most of us would prefer not to learn every gardening lesson the hard way. To help us avoid at least a few future blunders, we…
Mirroring Goodness in a Forest Garden

For many of us, there’s a certain amount of gardening that feels a bit like a battle against impending chaos. Gardeners Tim Boland and Laura Coit, however, seemed to embrace…
Planting Plan for a Stylized Meadow

In the article Designing a Stylized Meadow (Fine Gardening #209), garden designer Jay Sifford takes readers through the steps he used to turn a sloped front yard into a lush,…
How to Design a Stylized Meadow Garden

We gardeners, whether we are professional designers or novice plantspersons, can find inspiration in the most unlikely of places. Such was the case when I sat down with a bottle…
A Step-by-Step Guide to Two Grafting Techniques

Cleft and side veneer are two frequently used grafting methods in horticulture. Each has its pros and cons. Some species have also shown to do better with one method over…
A Terraced, Urban Garden That Balances Hardscape and Softscape

Plants emerging in the earliest days of spring never cease to amaze me, even though I’ve been gardening for 40 years. In Zone 5 in central New York State, spring…
Late-Winter and Early-Spring Bloomers for Your Region

In Jason Reeves's article Plants That Bloom in Late Winter or Early Spring, he discusses how plants that bloom during the coldest time of the year often go underappreciated: "Some…
3 Splurge Gifts for Your Favorite Gardener

Keep your equipment handy in this luxurious tool bag Nick Pence is a horticulturist and leatherworker who has designed a beautiful and functional collection of leather sheaths, holsters, and bags…
Gardening Tips for Protecting Flowers, Controlling Bindweed, and More

They’re bloomin’ in the rain – Winning Tip My ‘Apricot’ chrysanthemums look gorgeous until the first rainfall when their beautiful flowers droop and decline. To prevent that, I clipped an…
Tips for Solving Garden Problems

We all make mistakes, but most of us would prefer not to learn every gardening lesson the hard way. When five gardening professionals shared some garden mistakes they've made or…