Steven Biggs has an obsession for Brugmansias – woody tropicals with hanging flowers. Here’s his tips for displaying, growing and overwintering brugmansia.
Plants
A passion for lavender
The dreamy scent of lavender is a long-standing favourite, but our appreciation of its culinary potential is still growing.
Fall-blooming colchicums
One of the loveliest fall bloomers are Colchicum. Colchicums also make ideal container plants. How to grow, and common misconceptions about colchicums.
Baptisias take centre stage
There’s nothing false about the rising popularity of baptisias. They deserve all their new-found attention.
Growing oxalis indoors and out
Oxalis are grown for their shamrock-shaped foliage and dainty little tubular flowers that fold up on cloudy days and at night. Easy to grow indoors or out.
Starting tuberous begonias
Begonias can flower continuously from June until frost, have blooms lasting over a week, are super easy to grow and come in just about every colour.
More picks for favourite plants
Our roundup of favourite plants comes from freelance writer Lorraine Flanigan who asked gardeners to pick just one plant. More that didn’t fit in magazine.
Plant picks: New for 2015
More plant picks for 2015 from nurseries, plant breeders and wholesalers, and seed companies.
Perennials that bloom the first year from seed
Sowing seed indoors during deepest winter can prompt some perennials into blooming in their first season. How to grow perennials that bloom the first year from seed.
Secrets to growing a stephanotis vine
![Stephanotis plants can be coaxed to rebloom. (Photo by Forest & Kim Starr [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons)](https://media.gardenmaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/23182420/1024px-Starr_080530-4657_Marsdenia_floribunda-600x450-100x100.jpg)
A pot of white stephanotis vine (Madagascar jasmine) with clusters of deeply perfumed flowers can become a lovely vine grown in a container.
In praise of Verbena bonariensis
Christopher Lloyd planted Verbena bonariensis, commonly called tall verbena, at Great Dixter in England, and now Jodi DeLong enjoys it in Nova Scotia.
Bedding plants catch the eye
Many new bedding plants are being introduced. Here’s what caught my eye at the 35th Canadian Greenhouse Conference.
‘Honorine Jobert’ is a lovely late Japanese anemone
The sparkling white ‘Honorine Jobert’ Japanese anemone begins flowering about the middle of September, and is a Judith Adam favourite. Its tall stature gives it architectural presence.
The thrill of finding a new-to-me plant — Anemonopsis
Anemonopsis macrophylla is a native of Japan, a member of the buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family, and related to hellebores, anemones, ranunculus and trollius.
Hummingbirds love the nectar from turtlehead
Pink turtlehead, sometimes called twisted shell flower, are showy plants that provide nectar loved by hummingbirds. They prefer nectar over sugar water.
Mildew-resistant lilacs
Dealing with powdery mildew on lilacs can require replacing them with mildew-resistant cultivars. Mildew spores are active in late summer.
The scents of it all
When Jodi DeLong walks in her garden, she breathes in the scents – layers of fragrance from petite sprigs of lavender to huge blooms of angels’ trumpet.
Time for more Martagon lilies
The flowers resemble butterflies in flight, says Judith Adam about Martagon lilies. Their appeal includes tall skinny stems and speckled petals.
‘Blue Paradise’ summer phlox
The ‘Blue Paradise’ summer phlox (Phlox paniculata ‘Blue Paradise’) is lavishly blooming in Judith’s sunny front bed. It’s a cultivar bred for mildew resistance.
For the love of monarchs
Jodi DeLong plants rosy milkweed (Asclepias incarnate) and several of its relatives to support monarch butterflies. Monarchs are pollinating insects.