2015 Perennial Plant of the Year: Biokovo Geranium

BIOKOVA GERANIUM flowers closeup.jpg beechwoodlandscapecom   The Perennial Plant Association (PPA), annually names an outstanding plant its “Perennial of the Year.”  The 2015 selection is an easy-to-grow hardy geranium groundcover (spreading) perennial, Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’, which is a cultivar that is native to the Biokovo Mountains in Croatia.  It is said to be hardy in zones 4-8.  It begins blooming in late spring, lasting through summer, with tiny white-petaled flowers, tinged ...

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2014 Perennial Plant of the Year: Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’ (Switchgrass)

Panicum Northwind summer foliage

Each year, the Perennial Plant Association (PPA) names an outstanding plant its “Perennial of the Year.”  The selection for 2014 is Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’,  an ornamental grass that was a runner-up in 2012.  This is one of the first PPA winners in recent history that I have not personally grown and used in landscapes, so I ...

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Outstanding Fall Foliage

Paperbark MapleThe rich, earthy hues of fall provide a nice transition from the light, lively rainbow of pastels that marks summertime and the imminent (ominous) cold — maybe wet and windy — gray winter.  As the outside temperatures begin to drop, the deep yellows, russets, reds and maroons of the changing leaves provide warmth and brightness to this fleeting season.  Before the leaves are all gone, take note ...

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Snow in May? No, Just White Flowering Plants

DSC02668   May of 2013 brought some very strange weather — sometimes temperatures fluctuating by 30 or 40  degrees within 24 hour periods.  Heat in the morning; air conditioning in the afternoon.  New plants in bloom each day, and the sometimes frigid nighttime temperatures,  made one think of snow.  Pictured here are some trees and shrubs covered with white blooms this May that are reminiscent of snow gracing ...

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Design Consideration – Year-Round Interest

This time of year when we are, quite frankly, tired of a somewhat barren landscape, it is the opportune time to consider adding some plants that perform admirably throughout the year.  The best are those that exhibit desirable features that differ with the changing seasons.  Clearly, evergreens provide year-round interest, and your landscape should include many of them, interspersed with your deciduous plantings that shed ...

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