blue hosta in garden bed

Hostas – a perennial workhorse

Landscaping, Plants, Shade GardeningLeave a comment

Hostas are one of my favorite plants. A plain, common hosta can look stunning when it is planted among the right plants and an expensive, showy hosta can look disappointing when it clashes with its neighbors. The key to getting the most from your hostas is using the concepts of balance and accent as you weave them into your garden design. Balancing the colors and sizes of your hostas will help them work with the rest of your design. Accenting them with the appropriate companion plants will help them get the attention they deserve.

Dicentra Bleeding Heart

Dicentra Bleeding Hearts

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One look at this plant and it’s easy to see where the old-fashioned Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) got its name. The pillow-like flower is heart shaped with a single dangling pendulous drop. Bleeding Hearts are shade loving woodland plants that bloom in the cool of spring. Although they stay in bloom for several weeks, the plants may disappear for the rest of the summer, if planted in too much sun or heat.

an almost PERFECT old-fashioned plant

Plants, Shade GardeningLeave a comment

I know a bleeding-heart plant that has thrived for sixty years if not more, and has never missed a spring without rising and spreading itself into a glossy bush, with many small red hearts dangling. Don’t you think that deserves a little thought? The woman who planted it has been gone for a long time, and everyone who saw it in that time has also died or moved away and so, like so many stories, this one can’t get finished properly. Most things that are important

bergen-county-tulips

Bergen County Bulb Care

Landscaping, Plants, Shade GardeningLeave a comment

Bergen County in the springtime – Bulbs of every color are blooming all over. If only they would last longer, these “heralds of the growing season”. The main requirement for bulb flowers after they have bloomed is to keep their leaves so that the plant can put its energy back into its bulb for next spring’s blooming. The leaves give an energy charge to the bulb through photosynthesis and for this they need to keep their leaves! This energy or food is stored in the white fleshy part of the bulb for use next spring.