Saponaria Ocymoides or Rock Soapwort
Soapwort is a full sun perennial and is one of the easiest plants to grow. Plant them in the alkaline rich soils of western gardens and once they are established they will grow well for years with little...
Snowdrop Anemone: Anemone Sylvestris
The Snowdrop Anemone is another Powerful Perennial every gardener should know well. Affectionately called snowdrop or windflower ( the Greek meaning of the word “anemos” means “daughter of the wind”). this delicate blossom is at its best when a...
Pulsatilla: Pasque Flower
Pulsatilla is famous for blooming at Easter time and was given the common name of Pasque Flower for “pasque” means Passover in the Christian religion. Pulsatilla is affectionately called windflower for the Greek meaning of the word...
Rock Cress – Aubrieta: No One Can Spell it But Anyone Can Grow It
The rich purple of Rock Cress with its tiny four-petaled flowers bloom in such a tight mass of dazzling color any spring garden would lack luster without this stunning perennial. Often known by its common name, Aubrieta, this...
Spring Fever – A Gardener’s Chronic “Illness”
Spring Fever: Hit by spring’s fever pitch? Turn off the technology switch! Many gardeners suffer from a chronic disease called Spring Fever that occurs when the direct rays of the sun cross the equator into the Northern Hemisphere....
Daffodils – Narcissus: Trumpeting the Arrival of Spring
Daffodils in bloom announce the official start of spring and perhaps this is the reason they are so well known and adored. Their prominent centers are shaped just like a trumpet placed there to herald the return of...
Salvia – Constant Color for the Novice Gardener
Salvia or Sage is a very important plant for western gardens because of it unfussiness about growing in hot, dry desert-like conditions. It thrives in colder, more Northern gardens and is even salt tolerant. It starts blooming in...
Helleborus – Lenton Rose
Image above courtesy Walters Gardens Springtime in the Mountains? One day it snows, then rains and suddenly the sun is shining and outside temperatures are a balmy fifty-degrees. Then the process repeats itself! What is a gardener to...
Cold-Hardy Perennials: Preventing Frost Damage
Preventing Frost Damage in Springtime Spring in the western Rocky Mountains has nothing to do with a calendar but is dictated by the weather. Just when gardeners and plants are suckered by warmer weather, Jack Frost pays us a...
Lungwort – Pulmonaria: Ethereal Color for the Perennial Shade Garden
Lungwort (Pulmonaria) image courtesy Walters Gardens Pulmonaria is a very desirable perennial for shady low-light gardens not only for its original flowers but for its matchless foliage. The perennial’s early spring buds are one color and when they...