Garden Gate

Do you create garden resolutions every year? Maybe they’re hopes and dreams. Or maybe they’re more specific, such as a plan to install a patio. I have ideas for creating steps and plantings on my backyard slope where not much grass grows. I’d also li

Oh, the busy gardener: always trying to find where you left your hand trowel. Joy used to mark her tools with bright-colored tape, but she still had a hard time locating them after she set them down. Looking for something that would be a bit easier t

Turn any spot in your yard into a getaway with this stylish freestanding screen made of dimensional lumber and lath. A sturdy base makes this screen easy to use on a deck or patio and even in the garden (check page 40 to see it in use). Or forgo the

Now there’s a bicolor bloom available in this great line of double flowering cosmos. Sturdy stems keep flowers upright where you can enjoy them. Annual Blooms: Pink and white double flowers from spring to fall Light: Full sun Size: 24 to 36 in. tal

Cold-hardy Velvet Viking has beautiful dissected foliage. Provide consistent water through the growing season to keep plants growing strong. Tree Blooms: Inconspicuous flowers in spring, red dissected foliage Light: Full sun to part shade Size: 2 t

Here’s a reliably double coneflower that won’t start sending up single blooms later in the season as some varieties do. That sunshine yellow color is super easy to work in to any color palette. Perennial Blooms: Soft yellow blooms in summer Light:

If there’s an annual I can’t resist buying each year, it’s zonal geranium (Pelargonium spp. and hybrids). The flowers keep coming all season and the colors are fantastic! Of course there’s the classic red bloom but you’ll also find pink, white, laven

Spiky two-tone flowers are sure to draw attention in the border. Where it’s not cold-hardy, grow it in pots and overwinter plants indoors. Be patient — pineapple lily is slow to emerge in spring. Bulb Blooms: Cream flowers age to rosy purple in lat

Herbs look good, smell good and are good for you. So why wouldn’t you want to keep them close at hand to enjoy at your convenience? You don’t need a large garden to have access to fresh herbs; simply plant them in containers for a fragrant—and functi

Beginner gardener or seasoned, you know that there’s always more to learn. You’ve experienced the frustration of trying something new and the reward of getting it to grow. Jules Ivarie began gardening under the sunny skies of Australia. But she wound

Creating privacy for your yard can be just as much about establishing a beautiful view as it is about blocking an unpleasant one. Constructing privacy panels (project instructions on page 6) is step one. Step two is to surround panels with a bounty o

The height of glory for this planting is actually in late spring when almost everything will be in bloom. But after the bulbs fade, a new round of flowers are ready to take over. The daylilies fill in and cover up the waning foliage of the tulips, an

Updating the look of your patio doesn’t have to mean a complete remodeling job. Take the patio in the small before photo. It has good bones—the bricks are still in good shape, there are some wooden screens for privacy and the outdoor furniture is sol

Who wouldn’t want a plant that glows in the dark? Well, it doesn’t actually emit bioluminescent light, but ‘Gold Heart’ bleeding heart does illuminate the shadiest of woodlands with its shockingly radiant foliage. Ever since it was first made availab