Railing Planters...TOO COOL!

New planting toys!!!  I love this planters!  Cool colors AND more places to put flowers!!!  Again the perfect thing for those of you with limited space in apartments, condos etc!  Also perfect for people like me who can never have enough flowers everywhere!  Game on...hurry warmer weather...these are going along the fence filled with Verbena!

Praying Hands Hosta...The MUST HAVE Hosta!!!

I am generally not a hosta freak BUT I do like this hosta a lot!  It has some great potential for giving height in containers!  This is definitely a MUST HAVE for those who collect hostas!  Amazing! Perhaps we should call this the un-hosta, as Hosta 'Praying Hands' is the most un-hosta looking hosta to ever hit the market. Each small, 18" wide clump is composed of strangely folded, dark green crinkled leaves, each with a narrow, creamy yellow border. Indeed, a clump resembles a multitude of hands folded in prayer. Due to First Amendment concerns, it cannot be planted near courthouses in Alabama or near any Federal government building. The upright clumps are topped with 18" spikes of light lavender flowers..a hummingbird treat in late summer. This sets a new standard for "unique" in the hosta world.   Gotta have it!  Ordering 2 trays of liners to get growing!

2011 Perennial Plant of the Year

Amsonia hubrichtii grows 36 inches tall and 36 inches wide in a mounded form. This hardy perennial grows in hardiness zones 4 through 9 and is a versatile North American native.


Amsonia offers a variety of features throughout the seasons. From late spring to early summer, two- to three-inch wide clusters of small, light blue, star-shaped flowers are borne above the ferny foliage. The alternate-arranged leaves are bright green in spring and summer, but turn a bright yellow-golden color in fall.

• Light – Plants thrive in full sun to partial shade
• Soil – This plant performs best in average, moist well-drained soil but tolerates less moisture. Once established, it can tolerate drier conditions.
• Uses – This perennial for the seasons is an asset in borders, native gardens, cottage gardens, or open woodland areas. It is best when massed. Arkansas blue star is attractive when mixed with ornamental grasses and plants that have attractive seed heads.
• Unique Qualities – Light blue flowers in spring are followed by marvelous foliage in summer. Golden-yellow fall color is second to none among herbaceous perennials.
• Hardiness – USDA Zones 4 to 9

I do not have this in my garden but I have a dozen on order to put a couple in my gardens and share!  I am anxious to watch this perform through the growing season and to see the fall coloration.

Veggie Wall

There are many creative ways to achieve a vertical garden.  This style of vegetable garden has found its own niche as many people crave the garden fresh veggies but have limited space.  This unique garden opens up all kinds of ideas and new uses for materials as well as a chance to repurpose materials you have.  I will be using this in my garden this year along my fence for all kinds of fresh salad greens.  Not only to conserve space but to keep the bunnies from eating my fresh crops!  Put on your thinking caps and incorporate this in your garden for more space and also creative ideas to recycle materials.  I have some extra gutter material that I am going to attach to the inside of our fence and plant with greens and herbs.

Creeping Jenny...Great For Beds and Even Better For Containers

Creeping Jenny is a perennial ground cover that I love to use in landscape beds and also in containers!  Its bright color and vibrant yellow flowers are awesome and its trailing habit is perfect for containers!

Creeping Jenny is a  low-growing, rampant, evergreen groundcover with rounded, brillant green foliage. In summer, it produces many cup-shaped, bright yellow flowers.Noteworthy characteristics: This cultivar can withstand damper soils than many other types of ground covers and can tolerate limited foot traffic.Care: Grow in a moist, but well-drained soil, rich in organic matter. Soil should not dry out in summer. Full sun or partial shade, but color is best in full sun.
I have used this in many of my own containers and it will come back in the new season...no replanting!  These can be easily split and moved around the garden as well.  You will see this a lot in many custom container plantings...but I think many people do not realize that this will come back!  This should be relatively easy to get at a good garden center and very easy to get from your local landscaper.

Salad Garden Is "IN"

Planting a salad garden is one of the biggest trends for the upcoming summer garden!  Fresh greens and garden fresh salad are HOT commodities and more people will be planting all sorts of greens!  Greens are easy to grow and can be grown in all sorts of containers for those with limited space.  Don't be afraid to experiment with containers.  Almost anything can work!  You can also grow indoors year round with little garden stations like the Aero Grow.  Really neat!  There is a link to the Aero Grow on my side bar that will give you a coupon code...They are really pretty amazing!  You can have fresh greens and fresh herbs all of the time! 

Why Aerate Your Lawn?

The "hole" truth about aerating your lawn

Aerating your lawn is a great way to reduce thatch, loosen up compacted soils and make it easier for water and nutrients to reach the roots of your turf.
Even with the best care available, lawns can thin out and lose color due to excessive thatch buildup, too much foot traffic or pet traffic through specific areas that create hard or compacted soils, or periods of high temperature, high humidity, or drought. Aerifying and overseeding is recognized by turf experts such as golf course superintendents as the best treatment to control thatch, helps reduce those compacted areas, fills in bare spots and revitalize growth.

Aeration/Seeding—
the two step process guaranteed to improve your lawn

An aeration treatment removes small cores of soil and thatch to allow air, moisture and nutrients to penetrate down to the root zone. The cores brought to the surface contain microorganisms, which help the breakdown of the woody thatch tissue layer just below the lawn's crown. As the thatch layer is broken down, it is converted into organic matter that will then combine with existing soil particles.
Also, as the cores begin to breakdown over a period of several weeks, the holes gradually fill in with a mixture of organic matter and soil, and the filled hole allows roots of existing grass plants to spread out and grow deeper, creating a healthier, thicker lawn.

Ideal time for Aeration

Because the aeration process is stressful on lawns, it should only be done during periods just before active growth is expected. For cool season grasses, those typically found in the northern half of the country, this would be in early spring or early fall, the 2 times of the year when cool season grasses really grow. During the hot summer months, cool season grasses really slow down in the growing department and this is not a good time to be aerating. If you're planning on aerating in the spring and you plan on using a crabgrass control product, you'll want to aerate before the pre-emergent application is made, which is as a rule around the time when forsythias first start blooming.

Time to start thinking of SPRING!