Well, the season is getting pretty late now, but there are a few late bloomers hanging on, hoping for warm Indian summer days! Here are some of the things we’re still enjoying in our yard: The ‘Pink Simplicity’ roses have done better this year, with more regular watering and fertilizer. I finally trimmed them back […]

Last winter, I traded seeds with a guy from New York on Gardenweb.com’s perennial forum. He had seeds for these wonderful Hibiscus moscheutos ‘Blue River’ and I had to give them a try. I don’t usually go for large, gaudy flowers, but these were just too cool to pass up. I had about a dozen […]

Check out these babies — three really big bowls like this, filled with Jonathan apples. I like these apples a lot; they taste more like green apples than red ones and they ripen a lot earlier than my Granny Smith apples. I believe we harvested these last Thursday, September 6th. That was even a little […]

I just learned something new this week. It turns out petunias aren’t true annuals — they’re really tender perennials that die when they freeze. So, I can overwinter them in the basement and plant them out again next spring. And they grow well from cuttings. So, I plan to make some cuttings from my pink […]

I’ve had some success with cutting-grown Missouri Evening Primroses (Oenothera missouriensis, also called Ozark Sundrops). I made some cuttings last summer and planted the new clones out this spring. These do not seem to be invasive like their Mexican cousins, so I’m liking them a lot. Here’s an example of the annual Geraniums I planted […]

I really enjoy my Hibiscus shrubs. These go by several names, including Hibiscus syriacus, Rose of Sharon, or Hibiscus Rose. I have three single-flowered ones and five double-flowered. They all start flowering some time in June, I think, and they keep going quite well through September. The photo at left is from last year in […]