Plants & Flowers

Looking for a beautiful bouquet of flowers without spending a lot of money on fresh cut flowers? A cutting garden is a budget-friendly option because it's in an easily accessible spot at home where you can snip to your heart's content. Think of the whole garden as an atmospheric flower garden that looks just as good outside as it does inside. It's such a joy to see flowers blooming in the garden that it's often hard to cut them down to bring them indoors. That's the beauty of a designated cutting garden. Find a secluded, sunny spot in your garden that guests won't notice and fill it with plants meant for cutting. Then treat your cutting garden as your own private source of flowers for bouquets that beautify your indoor spaces. Think you're out of room for a new garden, even if it's tucked away? How about setting aside a few rows in your vegetable garden for flowers. It's a win-win situation. You get flowers to cut and the flowers attract more pollinators to your vegetables. Let's get started.

Wildflowers are truly wonderful materials for the gardener, especially the mixtures that can be grown from seed. They are usually labeled by climate or geographical area and contain between 6 and 12 different kinds of flowers. Many such mixtures are available from catalogs and garden centers. Discover how to grow wildflowers from seeds in this short guide.

Succulents and cacti are very popular plants in gardens all over the world, in part because they can survive in so many different climates. They're beautiful to look and nearly indestructible. Hacking your own homemade soil for these uniquely beautiful plants is easy to do if you follow the formula below; it may be used for indoor or outdoor containers or in planting beds. No matter what kind of cactus or succulent you're growing, the rules are pretty similar among the different species. Here are the general rules for growing top-quality succulents.

There are over 500 different species in the Viola genus, including annuals, perennials, and even some subshrubs. Many self-seed and give you years of enjoyment. Violas are edible flowers and make unexpected garnishes and salad ingredients. They can also be candied for a frosty effect or to decorate cakes or other sweets. Violas tend to have small flowers and tolerate heat, with a long blooming season from early summer to early fall. Pansies have larger, more intensely colored flowers and are most commonly used as winter bedding. However, there is such a wide selection of violas that you can find a plant to suit any garden situation, from hanging baskets to patio containers to woodland borders.
These cheerful, edible, cool-season flowers are easy to grow and a delight in the garden. Discover everything you need to know about growing bright, cheery violas, in this brief practical guide.

There is a wide variety in the genus Geranium, but most of the commonly grown species are low-growing, dense, carpet-like plants with flower stalks that poke and weave through neighboring plants. The flowers float on top of the plant in shades of white, pink, magenta, purple and blue. The flowers are small - about an inch - and cupped, which attracts many butterflies and bees. Hardy geraniums can be used in a variety of ways in the landscape, depending on the variety. Some varieties make good bedding plants, others are ideal for woodland gardens and semi-shaded locations, while still others make excellent ground covers or rock garden plants. A few hardy geraniums bloom only once, usually early in the season, but most begin blooming in mid-summer and bloom again sporadically throughout the growing season. Newer varieties, such as 'Rozanne', flower throughout the summer. Discover some handy tips on how to grow this beautiful flower in your garden.

Basil plants are one of the most popular herbs to grow and also one of the easiest. Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) is a member of the mint family. It is closely identified with Italian cooking, although it is originally from India. The extremely aromatic leaves also have a delightful variety of flavors, from the slightly lemony-mint of sweet basil to cinnamon and licorice. Leaf colors span from rich green to deep purple, with smooth or crinkled leaves. A little care is needed to enjoy the aromatic delights of home-grown basil. Discover the ultimate guide to take care for your basil plant.

Bees are necessary in gardens. They pollinate and bring life, playing an important role in growing all sorts of crops.
Sadly, bees are under threat around the world. So it’s down to us avid gardeners to help them out. There are ways in which we can prepare our gardens to attract bees, encouraging them to pollinate all the year round.
Attract honeybees into your yard by planting a bee friendly garden. And here are the top tips to provide bee friendly habitat and bee-friendly plants to grow.

If you’re looking for a garden flower with show appeal, hydrangea flowers are truly stunning. Large globes of flowers cover this shrub in summer and spring. Their flowers now come in a wide array of colors, including bright blue, deep red, and pale green. Some hydrangeas have large, round flower clusters while others have smaller, flatter, and more delicate flowers. Although their appearance may seem high maintenance, with the right conditions and care, hydrangeas are actually fairly easy to grow. So grab your garden gloves, because today’s simple growing hydrangeas guide will have you ready to plant in no time. Following just a few simple growing tips for hydrangea will produce healthy plants with fluffy colorful blooms year after year.

Pruning is about more than just looks. Proper pruning improves the health of your rose bush, prevents disease, and encourages better flowering. There are different pruning strategies for different times of the year, but overall the goal is always the same: to keep the bush vigorous and open, allowing better air circulation through the center of the plant. Discover the basic rules of rose pruning to have a wonderful rose garden!

Lupines are traditional, timeless classics that have been a firm favorite among gardeners for over a long time. If you are searching for a plant that adds structure and color, and doesn’t look out of place whatever your style of garden, then look no further than the lupine. Their colorful spires of flowers are at their best in the beginning of summer, when many other plants are still in leaf, and their peppery scent will attract many bees. Discover how to grow these striking, stately plants.

Add tons of color to your spring garden with osteospermum - magnificent flowers that are just as remarkable. Occasionally called cape daisy, osteospermum develops quantities of daisy-like flowers in a wide variety of colors including pink, purple, and white. Both single and double-flowered varieties of this sun-loving annual are also available. Osteospermum loves cool weather and will bloom its head off until hot summer weather brings the show to an end. These irrepressibly cheerful blooms come in a range of colors that brighten borders, beds and patio pots. They’re pretty good at providing weed-suppressing ground cover, too. Discover how to beautiful varieties of osteospermum in your garden!

Spring is the perfect time to prepare citrus plants for marvelous growth. Citrus plants require lots of nutrients to develop their beautiful fruit. They do great with regular feeding right throughout the year, but there are some spring tips for the best results. Citrus including lemons, limes and various oranges, are popular indoor plants but need good regular care to thrive. So for everyone who owns one of these rewarding tender fruit trees, here’s a timely guide on citrus care for late spring.

Perfect for a pergola – or even for a pot – wisteria may have lofty ambitions, but there are ways to tame all but the most vigorous of cultivars. With its’ pastel shades and delicious scent, wisteria is undoubtedly romantic. In late spring and early summer the sight of walls draped in the pendulous blooms of this vigorous, twining climber is pure poetry. Discover basic wisteria planting and care recommendations in today’s guide.

No matter how small your garden, there's always room for hanging baskets. Hanging plants add long-lasting color, height and interest to patios, doorways and balconies. There are many styles of hanging basket to choose from. Use a lightweight, peat-free potting compost and mix in slow-release fertilizer granules and water-retaining gel, before planting. Plant it up with a mixture of upright and trailing plants, in complementary colors, for a complete, coordinated look. Choosing which pre-planted hanging basket plants to display is really down to personal choice of color, variety and trailing habit, do you want long trailing stems full of blooms that can grow down 60cm or more, or would you prefer a ball of color hanging outside your front door. Use any of these 11 best hanging plants to add color and interest to any porch, deck, balcony, or sunroom.