Sometime ago I put up the graphic posted below, about how I came to be a garden communicator. Although I've always loved plants and gardens, it wasn't my intention of being a professional in that area until we moved to Cape Cod in 1993. It...
Name: Eryngium x zabelii ‘Big Blue’ aka big blue sea holly Type of Plant: A striking perennial for full sun and well-drained soil. Hardy in Zones 5 to 9. Why I Love/Hate this plant Big blue sea holly is an upright variety of a perennial plant with...
Name: Oriental bittersweet – aka Celastrus orbiculatus aka Chinese bittersweet or round-leaf bittersweet Type of Plant: A vine that has round or oval leaves and orange roots. This plant was brought to this country in the 1800’s as an ornamental vine because it has pretty orange...
Name: Callicarpa Purple Pearls® aka Callicarpa x 'NCCX1' USPP 26,000 aka purple pearls beautyberry. Type of Plant: This is a beautyberry that is a deciduous shrub. It grows four to five feet tall and wide, and does the best in full sun. Hardy in zones 5-8. Why I Love/Hate this plant:...
Name: Buxus sempervirens 'Variegata' aka variegated boxwood. Type of Plant: A slow growing evergreen shrub that does well in full sun to part shade. Hardy in Zones 5 to 9. Why I Love/Hate this plant: Any plant that has variegated foliage adds excitement to the landscape,...
Name: Justicia carnea aka Brazilian plume flower. Type of Plant: This is a shrub in tropical climates but an annual container plant for those who garden in the northeast. Why I Love/Hate this plant: This plant grows about two feet tall in a container and...
I know that this is hard for many people. The annuals you've planted early in the summer are finally starting to put out their first flowers, and some gardener like me tells you to cut those off immediately. "What?" you think...
Every week on GardenLine on WXTK I start the show off with "I Love This Plant/I Hate This Plant." One look at the titles of most of these blog posts will show you that the plants I love far outnumber the ones I hate. Frankly,...
Name: Juniperus procumbens nana aka green mound juniper Type of Plant: A ground cover juniper…truthfully, the only one I commonly recommend. Hardy zone 4 to 9. Why I Love/Hate this plant: In general, junipers are really great plants that are misused and abused by people who...
Name: Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ aka yellow Hakon grass, aka yellow Japanese forest grass. Type of Plant Low, graceful clumping grass that likes part-shade and adds color and texture to the garden from spring until hard frost. Growing a foot and a half tall...
