Best ways to use late-season salvias in your garden design

Salvias are some of the toughest plants you can grow. They tolerate clay soil, drought, high heat and humidity — and deer don’t eat them. If you’re after low-maintenance, long-blooming color, salvias are hard to beat.

Some salvias send up flower spikes above neat mounds of foliage, while others have a looser, billowy look. Their growth habits play a big role in how you use them in your garden design, so let’s take a closer look at both styles.

Plant late-season salvias in mass

Take a look at the mealycup sage (Salvia farinacea) in the photo above and see how the flowers rise so uniformly above the dense foliage. Bunching multiples of these plants together creates an attractive and well-behaved mass of color. Because mealycup sages and the long-blooming anise-scented sages are generally larger than most other bedding plants, often around 1 to 3 feet tall and wide, they’re a perfect candidate for filling large spaces. You can get more bang for your buck and cover a lot of ground by using only four or five plants.

Add salvia to garden borders

Depending on your space, they are best planted in the middle or back of the border, becoming a good backdrop for low-growing annuals. Their spikes of flowers add excitement and draw attention upward. If they’re in the middle of the border, the eyes keep moving to what’s beyond. Both mealycup and anise-scented sages (Salvia guaranitica) bloom from summer and into fall, but will look much smaller at the beginning of the season. Give them space when you plant them in spring or summer so that they don’t get cramped and crowded.

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Salvia brings long-blooming color to containers

Not only do they work well planted in numbers, but one or two plants make an impact in containers. In small pots the bright blooming spikes of a larger variety could be the thriller, or focal point. Or use their upright blooms as an exciting filler in a bigger container — angle them slightly outward when planting so the flower spikes don’t get tangled up or lost in the midst of the thriller and other filler plants. Scarlet sage (Salvia splendens) and Skyscraper salvia work really well as filler plants.

But you’ll see in the windowbox in the photo above that scarlet sage can actually take the cake in a planting by the time fall rolls around. Pinch back the coleus in summer to give the sage room to take off. Soon it will be a stunning focal point and give the windowbox a whole new appearance for the change of seasons. Keep in mind that most sages grown as annuals are only available for purchase in the spring and summer, so plan ahead if you intend to use a certain kind as an important part of your garden in the fall.

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Make a statement in the garden with late-season salvias

Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) (above) and Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) (below) are two species that put on a show for only one season: the fall. The shorter days stimulate their blooms. Because of this, they aren’t always available for purchase in colder zones with early frosts because just as their blooms are getting started, they sometimes get nipped.

But their massive size and dramatic appearance give them an irreplaceable spot in the fall garden. They grow up to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide and have loose habits with long flower spikes that are more likely to curve and dangle. Because they put on one big fantastic show, rather than blooming consistently all season, use only one to three plants and work them throughout your garden as statements.

Combine salvia with classic fall perennials

It’s not a surprise that late-blooming sages look good with other perennial fall favorites. A collection of round, compact garden mums (Chrysanthemum hybrids) planted around the base of Mexican bush sage or pineapple sage gives these salvias more form and contrasts impressively with their looseness.

Combine late-season sages with maiden grasses (Miscanthus sinensis) so flowers and seedheads mix and mingle or with feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora), whose dense foliage is a backdrop for the blooms. Arkansas amsonia (Amsonia hubrichtii) will provide pretty blue blooms in late spring while sages are still getting started, and then can play a supporting role in fall as the foliage turns an attractive yellow. Or annuals with colorful maroon or purple foliage, such as coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides), offer color in seasons before the salvias bloom.

Using native plants in your home landscape

Plants growing together in nature will establish themselves in their preferred environmental conditions. Adapting the same principle of planting in layers — using native plants appropriate for your region — can provide gardeners with a set of expectations about how plants will perform in the garden in the long-run. Kelly D. Norris is the author of the new book, New Naturalism: Designing and Planting a Resilient, Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden (Cool Springs Press).

When laying out a planting, disperse the plants in patchy colonies of multiple individual plants. Kelly Norris’ 3,200-square foot meadow in zone 5 Central Iowa is home to 140-plus different kinds of plants. He encourages planting in abundance (he planted plugs, which are less expensive and easier to plant than larger specimens). Planting in large numbers requires more resources at the outset, but it pays dividends over time as your garden becomes an interworking system of plants instead of a collection of specimens.

Sources for native plants

• Missouri Wildflowers Nursery, 573-496-3492
• The Pollen Nation
• Prairie Moon Nursery, 866-417-8156

How to create natural layers

Kelly likes to organize wild plant communities into three principal layers:

• Matrix: groundcover and understory plants used as a green mulch
• Structure: architectural woody plants and perennials
• Vignettes: plants with defined periods of seasonal interest

Sample native planting

A look at a sample 5'×5' planting scheme reveals how he combines these plants in layers. In this plan, the matrix is composed of oak sedge and little bluestem, the structure is provided by aromatic aster and the vignette plants include whorled milkweed, blazing star, penstemon, purple coneflower, Culver’s root, golden Alexander and mountain mint.

Plant list

Matrix plants

A) Oak sedgeCarex albicans (10)
B) Little bluestemSchizachyrium scoparium (5)

Structure plants

C) Aromatic asterSymphyotrichum oblongifolium ‘October Skies’ (1)

Vignette plants

D) Whorled milkweedAsclepias verticillata (14)
E) Dense blazing starLiatris spicata ‘Trailblazer’ (6)
F) Foxglove beardtonguePenstemon digitalis ‘Pochahontas’ (5)
G) Purple coneflowerEchinacea ‘Kismet Raspberry’ (3)
H) Culver's rootVeronicastrum virginicum (3)
I) Golden AlexanderZizia aurea (3)
J) Mountain mintPycnanthemum tenuifolium (2)

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Houseplant tips from a pro

It starts with the desire for a fresh look inside your home. You rearrange furniture, declutter and then you spot it: An empty space on your shelf. An idea to thrill every gardener lights your eyes — I could put a houseplant there! But how does this story end for you?

We all have places in our houses that would look better with more plants, but sometimes it’s hard to imagine how to make it work. Or maybe the plants you have tried just don’t survive. Danae Horst has experienced it all, and she’s here to help you decorate your home with houseplants using equal parts practicality and style.

After growing up with a “crazy plant lady” mom in a home where she could connect with nature indoors every day, it was discouraging to experience as an adult one wilting houseplant after another. But Danae’s journey from “black thumb” to houseplant afficionado (a road paved by classes, mentorships, vintage gardening books and lots of unfortunate plants lost to trial and error) is an encouragement that, with the right plant, place and knowledge, you probably can grow something in the space you never thought you could. Danae so passionately believes this that she founded Folia Collective plant shop in southern California and published a book, Houseplants For All, to equip others with the ability to grow vibrant houseplants, green thumb or not.

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The best light for houseplants

Danae’s first word of advice when you're ready to decorate with houseplants: Don’t forget that houseplants are alive. Unlike home decor, they have needs, and one of the most important needs is a light source. She recommends getting familiar with how much sunlight your space receives. Divide it up into zones: direct sunlight, bright, indirect light, medium light and low light. The sun room pictured here has areas of direct sunlight in front of the east-facing windows on the right and dims to medium light near the brick wall.

Houseplant light zones

• Direct sun refers to areas that actually receive the sun’s rays for at least 1 to 2 hours per day.
• Bright, indirect light is bright for 6 or more hours but doesn’t get hit with the sun’s rays for more than 1 to 2 hours per day.
• Medium light is diffused by a sheer curtain or a few feet away from a spot with direct sun.
• Low light is several feet away from a spot with direct sun.

Evaluate your space for houseplants

After identifying the available light, take note of how much space is available in each zone. Is there room on the window sill for a plant? Floor space for a large plant stand? Can one hang from the ceiling? Make a list of which size of plants will work for each light zone. (This way you can avoid purchasing a plant that’s destined for doom.)

Houseplants for different situations

To help you imagine how to incorporate houseplants into your home, Danae has shared her advice for several different tough situations, from low light to bright, with great tips for how to pack a space with plants (This sun room has little space for shelving or plant stands, but now holds over a dozen plants!). You might be surprised at what transformations can happen when you find realistic solutions to your plant decorating dreams, or as Danae says, “style with the plants in mind”. Let’s see what tricks Danae has up her sleeve with a few before-and-after transformations.

Design tips for decorating with houseplants in a sun room

A) Double up A mirror fills blank space on the wall, reflects light and gives the impression that there are more plants.
B) Be prepared to downsize When plants get too big for these shelves, take cuttings to make a smaller plant or prune back any overgrown stems.
C) Create balance Find room for a few containers of plants on a coffee table or corner of a windowseat to balance out plants that hang.
D) Dig in Danae suggests joining a Facebook group devoted to a specific plant family, such as Planet Philodendron, to find a greater variety of plants that will work for your space, especially if you’ve had success with a plant in the family already.

Bathrooms offer low light, high humidity for houseplants

With only one north-facing window, this bathroom isn’t going to receive much sunlight. Danae suggests two ways to maximize the light in the room: use sheerer window treatments or install some grow lights. You need the opaque shade to keep this bathroom private, so a grow light is the best option. Can you spot it? One of Danae’s favorites is the GrowFrame by Modern Sprout. Mounted above the window, this box has grow lights in the top, a timer and can hold three to four small containers of vining plants, which creep out of the frame for some living art. The vines resemble a botanical valance, don’t you think?

Place plants as close to the window as possible. On top of the cabinet is a bird’s nest fern and a prayer plant, which both thrive in a humid bathroom. Two different humidity-loving calatheas nestle onto the windowsill (because the shade is rarely lifted, they won’t be in the way.)

Perfect Plants for Bathrooms

A) Prayer plantMaranta leuconeura
Bright to medium light; without added humidity, brown edges appear on the leaves
B) Bird’s nest fernAsplenium nidus
Bright to medium light; grows well in normal humidity but best with added humidity
C) CalatheaCalathea spp. and hybrids
Bright to medium light; without added humidity, brown edges appear on the leaves

Use houseplants to decorate a north-facing nook

Because privacy isn’t an issue, a sheer curtain in place of the blinds or shade lets more light through this north-facing window. Now you can incorporate some medium-light plants, such as Chinese evergreen and all-green pothos. A hanging pottery planter and wall-mounted pots take advantage of the available light. A slim shelf or plant stand that directly aligns with the window sill would create room for a grouping of plants without stealing a lot of floor space. Or, as in this case, a small pot sits on the sill and a shorter shelf holds medium-sized plants. Snake plant and ZZ plant are the most tolerant of dim light, but that doesn’t mean you’re limited: You can see here that four different varieties of snake plant in shades of deep green, yellow and cream and in vastly different shapes add loads of interest.

Low-light-loving plants

A) PothosEpipremnum aureum
Bright to medium light; trailing habit works well in a plant hanger
B) Chinese evergreenAglaonema spp. and hybrids
Bright to medium light
C) Snake plantSansevieria species
Any light except direct sun; leaves can be wide, narrow. short, tall, plain or variegated, and habits range from cylindrical to broad.
D) ZZ plantZamioculcas zamiifolia
Any light except direct sun

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Summon the desert with a west-facing window

A west-facing window that receives direct, hot afternoon light is actually problematic for many houseplants, whose leaves will scorch in the sun. So when decorating with houseplants, Danae recommends starting with plants that naturally thrive in desert conditions. This window is the spot for you to finally grow popular cacti and succulents with success. A deep, wide shelf a third of the way up the window makes a sturdy spot for a collection of plants. And this window features one of Danae’s favorite hanging succulents, string of dolphins, which is named because each small, succulent leaf curves like a diving dolphin and even has small “fins.”

Plants for west-facing windows

A) String of dolphinsSenecio peregrinus
Some direct light to bright indirect light; let soil dry between waterings and only water once a month during the dormant summer months
B) String of bananasSenecio radicans
Some direct light to bright indirect light; let soil dry between waterings and only water once a month during the dormant summer months
C) Narrow-leaf chalksticksSenecio cylindricus
Some direct light to bright indirect light; let soil dry between waterings
D) Ladyfinger cactusMammillaria elongata
Direct sun; let soil dry completely between waterings and only water a few times throughout the winter dormant months
E) FlapjackKalanchoe thyrsiflora
Some direct light to bright indirect light; let soil dry between waterings and only water once a month during the summer dormant months
F) AloeAloe vera
Bright indirect light; thoroughly soak soil with water in a container with good drainage and let dry completely

Designing a flower arrangement

Dahlias are late-season showoffs in the garden and the backbone of gorgeous fall bouquets. That’s why I was so happy to visit with Michael Russo. He’s been a floral designer and organic cut flower grower specializing in dahlias for more than 15 years and has some great tips for working these divas of the garden (and lots of other late-season beauties) into your vases. You can watch him create a striking arrangement that features dahlias in the video above and see the complete list of plants and learn some of his flowering arranging secrets below.

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Create a dramatic flower arrangement

It’s important to consider the vase or container as you choose flowers for your fall flower arrangement. Michael will often start with the vessel and then choose the flower colors and shapes he feels suit it best. He thought dignified deep burgundy ‘Jowey Mirella’ and ‘Karma Chocolate’ dahlias fit the classic style stone urn above perfectly. Here's the complete plant list for this fall flower arrangement:

Plant list

A) NinebarkPhysocarpus opulifolius
B) Red leaf hibiscusHibiscus acetosella ‘Mahogany Splendor’
C) OkraAbelmoschus esculentus ‘Red Burgundy’
D) PerillaPerilla frutescens
E) DahliaDahlia ‘Jowey Mirella’
F) DahliaDahlia ‘Contrast’
G) ZinniaZinnia ‘Queen Red Lime’
H) HydrangeaHydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’
I) SunflowerHelianthus annuus
J) AmaranthAmaranthus cruentus ‘Hot Biscuits’
K) DahliaDahlia ‘Karma Chocolate’
L) Southern magnoliaMagnolia grandiflora
M) Purple fountain grassPennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’
N) TomatilloPhysalis philadelphica
O) HopsHumulus lupulus
P) Love in a puffCardiospermum halicacabum

Support your arrangement

A traditional frog, a device used to help arrange flowers, helps keeps the flowers in place. Or you can make your own from chicken wire by bending it into a shape that fits the container’s interior space.

Choose a color scheme

Complementary colors, such as the red-purple and green-yellow in this tall urn, create drama. The strong contrast between colors across from each other on the color wheel is sure to turn heads.

Michael also often uses an analogous color scheme (colors that are next to each other on the color wheel) because it’s so versatile. It has a harmonious feel that works well for almost any style, whether it’s casual or sophisticated.

Use unexpected plants

Don’t forget edibles! Upright okra, draping hops and tomatillo provide interesting shapes and texture to this arrangement.

Add a unique look to your fall flower arrangement by pinching the petals off of sunflowers and rubbing off any stigmas — the immature seeds make a beautiful and long-lasting addition to bouquets.

Balance the design

Asymmetrical designs aren’t equally balanced — one side is usually larger or visually heavier than the other. Designs like this are dynamic and make a great focal point that adds drama wherever you place it. Let vines and long slender blooms, such as purple fountain grass and amaranth, drape over one side to balance out the taller stems opposite. As a rule of thumb the arrangement should be 2 to 3 times the height and width of the container.

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How to cut dahlias for bouquets

• The best time to cut dahlias is in the morning before 10 a.m. so plants are well hydrated. Watering the night before can help if rain has been scarce.
• When you’re cutting long stems for arrangements, cut above a pair of leaf nodes that haven’t had the blooms pinched and the dahlia will rebloom.
• Check the back of the bloom when you’re cutting. If it’s starting to curve, it’s too old and won’t last long in the vase.
• Look for dahlias with a flat back to get the most life — usually 5 to 7 days. Put the cut stems in a bucket of water right away to help keep them fresh.
• Dahlias won’t open any further after being cut so choose blooms in a variety of stages to showcase their different shapes.
• If you’re planning to cut a bloom, you can prevent thrips or other insects from damaging it before you cut by placing a fine mesh bag (like the ones that mail-order bulbs come in) loosely over the bud before it opens and tying the bag around the stem. These bags are fine enough to keep insects out and still allow sunlight in.

If you made a list of everything you love about gardening, what would be at the top?

As gardens are awakening for the growing season ahead, I can’t help but keep a mental running list of my favorite qualities every time I step into my own garden: the smell of thawed earth, the lush young grass, the resilience of sprouting plants in the face of temperamental weather (spring means 80 degrees F one week, freezing and snow the next in an Iowan garden, by the way.) But above all, my list-topping favorite quality is the story each garden tells.

Let’s swap gardening stories!

From the soil to the seed to the sights and smells, there’s so much life and loveliness to appreciate in just one garden. So I want to invite my fellow gardeners — novice or experienced, green thumb or black — to come along with me and experience my lovely little garden for yourself.

To you give you some context, here’s a little run-down of who I am: I’ve got gardening in my bones. Going to grandma’s house meant following her around my family’s garden center and landscape business, leaving toys in trugs of soil and tricking koi fish into nibbling on my finger. Family vacations with landscape designer parents meant many stops to scope out a garden center or admire a garden.

I got to spend a lot of time working in a greenhouse deadheading thousands (upon thousands upon thousands) of annual geraniums and in many stunning lakeside gardens installing breathtaking landscapes. It was a good way to grow up, and it inevitably lead me to find my way into the garden industry as an adult. After college I worked as a recreational therapist and horticultural therapist, helping older adults and people with disabilities garden. And now I’m here at Garden Gate magazine, growing alongside you as a gardener and sharing all that I learn along the way.

A little vintage urban garden

We bought our home in the city in the dead of winter 2019 without the slightest idea of which plants — if any — might be nestled in sleep beneath the snow. But stone edging faintly outlined beds and borders, giving me just enough reason to hope for some plants to pop up in spring. So, all last year I practiced restraint and just let the garden grow to see what would happen. (Very convenient as we welcomed our second child midsummer and, yes, my hands felt a bit full.) My evening strolls around our yard were a lot like slowly progressing through the chapters of a novel.

Chapter one: There are plants! Lots of flowering perennials!
Chapter two: This is a pollinator’s paradise!
Chapter three: OK, things have gotten out of hand.
Chapter four: This garden takes on a new beauty in fall. It was thoughtfully designed.

Many important parts of the story are left blank (Like who gardened here? How long ago was this designed and installed? Where did the plants come from? ), but my interested is piqued and I can’t get enough.  

My garden goals

You know how renovating old homes is really popular these days? I feel tasked with a similar opportunity to restore this garden back to its former beauty, and at the same time infuse it with as much personality and function as I can. The garden is an important space for me and my family, and I want us to be able to retreat to a place that feels like ours while still honoring its history.

What kind of goals do you have for your garden?

If you want to share, post a photo on social media that sums up your garden well and include one of your garden goals in the post. Tag it with #MyGardenGoalGGMag so we can all see!

Gardening is a slow and steady process that requires care and skill. So I can’t expect instant results. But I’m not going to sleep on the chance to fill our space with things that bring me joy, to stir up a fascination for the outdoors in my kids and very literally sow some seeds that can be reaped in years to come.

It might be scrappy, folks. But in the spirit of 1930, which is when our home was built, I’m ready to get to work, make use of what is available to me and fight to find the beauty in this very odd time in history. (I’m talking about you, COVID-19.)

What’s your garden’s story?

Please join me. If you’re an aspiring gardener who needs to know where to begin, watch me start and take notes. If you’ve been gardening for much longer than I have, I welcome you to follow along and find inspiration — and go ahead and “tsk-tsk-tsk” at my inevitable foibles. But I think all gardeners have something to share with each other, and I’m quite eager to share with you!

Scroll below through some iPhone photos from last year and catch a glimpse of my garden. Check back in the coming weeks for a look into what’s currently growing, the projects I’m working on (with step-by-step information!) and for all sorts of tips about growing vibrant plants, taking care of soil, watering, weeding, pest management and — well — who knows what else! It’s a real garden after all, and thus, in the way gardens go, I’m sure many surprises await.

Some sweet discoveries from my first year in the garden

Incoporate goldenrod in your garden design

If there’s one quintessential perennial for fall color, it’s goldenrod. What other plant can create such exuberant masses of golden yellow blooms to echo the changing fall foliage? From sun to shade and wet to dry soil, there’s one to suit most garden conditions.

3 Tips for using goldenrod in the garden

1. Goldenrod makes itself right at home in large borders, managed meadows and naturalized areas.
2. This is a perennial that tends to look better in mass plantings, so plant at least three of whichever type you choose. Some have feathery plume-shaped flowers; others are spiky or flat-topped like yarrow.
3. Pay close attention to the mature height when you’re shopping for goldenrod since they can range from 1 to 6 feet tall.

Now let’s see how you can incorporate this glitzy gold perennial into your garden!

Use shorter goldenrod to fill the front of the border

Topping out at 3 feet, shorter goldenrods look best when you plant them near the front to middle of the border. One of my favorites is ‘Golden Fleece’. Its bright yellow sprays of flowers remind me of party streamers when they burst into bloom on arching stems. Its heart-shaped, semi-evergreen leaves form a low mound so until it blooms, the foliage acts like a short ground cover.

Plants that combine well with shorter goldenrods

• ‘Golden Fleece’ is especially showy when you pair it with blue- or purple-flowered perennials like the Russian sage in the photo above. Imagine how that energetic pop of yellow would look against the dramatic violet blue backdrop of monkshood or ‘Purple Dome’ New England asters in fall.
• Native grasses like prairie dropseed and little bluestem also make good planting partners since they all peak at the same time of year.
• Many of the shorter goldenrods prefer dry to average soils and full sun. A few more well-behaved varieties for those conditions include ‘Wichita Mountains’, a heat- and drought-tolerant variety, ‘Golden Baby’ (also known as ‘Goldkind’) and showy goldenrod, a spreading ground cover.

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Use goldenrod to grow a gorgeous meadow

Some of the most incredible naturalized plantings you’ll find exist in the muddy swales of sunny meadows. Many of the taller native species are very flexible about where they’ll grow, tolerating almost any soil type from wet clay to dry sand. But keep in mind they also tend to be faster spreading than some of the shorter cultivars, so they’ll need plenty of room to make an impact. Stiff goldenrod above is one that spreads readily by underground rhizomes and by seed. Rather than having feathery plumes like many species, it produces huge, flat-topped panicles up to a foot across. They make an ideal landing pad for monarch butterflies who tend to prefer this species, and songbirds who use this plant as an important late-season food source.

Tall, moisture-loving native perennials to partner with goldenrod

Plant the plants below with goldenrod to create a moist meadow that comes alive in festive hues of gold, red and purple from late summer into fall. Then, leave their ornamental seed heads standing through winter to provide food for birds and something pretty to look at when the garden is blanketed in snow.

• Ironweed
• Cardinal flower
• Joe-Pye weed

Brighten up a shade garden with goldenrod

A few species of goldenrod are native to woodlands, so they grow better with protection from the hot sun. Blue-stemmed goldenrod in the photo above is beautiful in mass plantings. It has a unique shape in that most of its stems grow horizontally, forming a low, broad mound in the landscape. Blue-stemmed goldenrod will reseed where it’s growing happily. Luminous shades of yellow are important to include in shade garden designs — yellow acts like a light bulb in dark spaces.

Other bright plants to include in the shade garden

When designing a shade border, I always make sure to include something yellow or chartreuse at least every 10 feet and repeat it down the line to unify the planting. These companions also brighten up the space:

• Lavender-blue hardy ageratum
• White-flowered wood aster

How to buy the right bulb for your garden

Whatever bulb you plan to grow, Judy suggests buying them as you do onions — make sure they’re heavy and firm with no mushy or brown spots. See our tips for making sure you buy the best bulbs.

Also, do a little checking on the native environment of the bulbs you like to get an idea of which growing conditions work best for them. Then choose the ones that most closely match the conditions in your yard. Did you know that tulips are native to mountains of Central Asia in places that have quick drainage and dry summers? It’s no wonder most thrive in rock gardens.

Let’s take a look at some common garden challenges you may face and the bulbs you can count on to spruce things up.

The right bulbs for hot and dry spots

Do you have a place that’s hard to water or doesn’t get a lot of rain? Or maybe it’s next to a sidewalk with plenty of reflected heat like the one in the photo above. Tulips planted in fall for spring bloom are your color-packed solution. Add some drought-tolerant perennials or shrubs to keep things interesting the rest of the year.

In summer, when the bulbs are dormant, tulips like to be dry. So if you’re watering your lawn or some nearby annuals a lot, that probably isn’t the right spot.

Choosing the right tulip group makes a difference, too. You may get 3 to 4 years from some of the hybrids, but others are more likely to return for many years. Judy’s had great luck with species tulips, such as the short ‘Tangerine Beauty’ above — they come back every year and even spread quickly into larger colonies. Most work well near the front of the border or in a rock garden.

Species tulips for hot, dry spots

• Crocus tulipTulipa humilis
  Blooms Pale pink to magenta flowers in early spring Light Full sun Size 4 to 6 in. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8
  

• Greigii tulipTulipa greigii
  Blooms Flowers in yellow, red, pink, orange or bicolors in early spring Light Full sun to part shade Size 6 to 20 in. tall, 6 to 9 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8
  

• Vvedensky’s tulipTulipa vvedenskyi ‘Tangerine Beauty’
  Blooms Red flowers with yellow streaks in late spring Light Full sun Size 6 to 12 in. tall, 3 to 6 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8
  

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Bulbs that brighten up shade

There are a lot of bulbs that grow happily in shade. Most bloom early, like the snowdrops above, soaking up all the sun before the tree canopy fills in. By that time the bulbs have gone dormant, patiently waiting for their chance to bloom again next spring. With small flowers like these, you’ll need to plant a lot of them so they’re easy to see.

Bulb planting tip

Use Judy’s rule of thumb for planting to get the best effect with any size bulb:

• Plant small bulbs in groups of 25 or more
• Plant medium-sized ones, such as tulips, in groups of 10 or more
• Plant large bulbs, such as alliums, in groups of three to five to make a statement

Shade-tolerant bulbs

• Common snowdropGalanthus nivalis
  Blooms White flowers in late winter to early spring Light Full sun to part shade Size 4 to 6 in. tall, 2 to 3 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9
  

• Misczento squillScilla mischtschenkoana
  Blooms Pale blue flowers in early spring; up to 3 weeks earlier than other scilla species Light Full sun to part shade Size 4 to 6 in. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8
  

• Tommies crocusCrocus tommasinianus
  Blooms Pale to dark purple in spring Light Full sun to part shade Size 3 to 4 in. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8
  

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Bulbs that play well in crowded borders

To grow bulbs in a mixed border, you need ones that don’t mind the extra watering the other plants require to get through summer. Fill the gap between spring and summer blooms with alliums, such as ‘Pinball Wizard’ above. Lower growing neighbors will provide a connection between the tall flower and the garden below.

Planting tip

Position any companions just in front instead of directly on top of the bulb. That way the other plant won’t overshadow the bulb’s foliage, hindering the photosynthesis that ensures flowers next year.

Easy-care bulbs

• AlliumAllium ’Pinball Wizard’
  Blooms Purple flowers in summer Light Full sun Size 18 to 24 in. tall, 15 to 18 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8
  

• Triplet lilyTriteleia laxa ’Rudy’
  Blooms White flowers with blue stripes in early spring Light Full sun to part shade Size 13 to 18 in. tall, 6 to 9 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9
  

• Turk’s-cap lilyLilium superbum
  Blooms Orange with maroon speckles in summer Light Full sun to part shade Size 48 to 72 in. tall, 6 to 12 in. wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9

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Bulbs that add surprising color in fall

There’s more to fall bulbs than dahlias. Wouldn’t the dainty large autumn crocus be a nice surprise peeping up through long-lasting ground covers, such as lamb’s ear?

Large autumn crocus foliage comes up in spring then goes dormant; the flower stems, above, pop up in fall. Grape hyacinth does the opposite — the flowers show up in spring, and the leaves in fall. Use this characteristic to your advantage to mark spots where you’ve planted other bulbs, such as daffodils, so you don’t dig up or damage established plantings when the plants are dormant.

Fall-blooming bulbs

• Autumn crocusColchicum autumnale
  Blooms Pink or white flowers in fall Light Full sun to part shade 3 to 6 in. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
  

• CyclamenCyclamen hederifolium
  Blooms Pink or white flowers in late summer to fall Light Part shade Size 4 to 6 in. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8
  

• Large autumn crocusCrocus speciosus
  Blooms Purple flowers in fall Light Full sun Size 3 to 6 in. tall and wide Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9

Japanese maples are beautiful in every season

Just what makes Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) so versatile in the landscape? They grow in many different forms — weeping, rounded, mounding or upright — so you can choose the right plant for any situation in your garden.

Japanese maples are multiseason marvels. Choose the right variety, and beautiful, delicate foliage will emerge in spring, show off in summer and transform to flaming colors in fall. But that’s not all! In winter, many varieties have a unique architectural form that’s a great addition to a garden. Some even have colorful bark. Like many Japanese maples, ‘Red Filigree Lace’ above keeps its deep purple-red color all summer and turns bright crimson in fall. Others turn orange or gold-yellow. This graceful beauty fits well into any style garden, and Japanese maples are wonderful companions to azaleas, hydrangeas and shade-loving perennials. Many of these trees grow slowly and top out at 10 to 15 feet tall, so they fit into beds, borders, foundation areas and even containers.

Look ahead for a few perfect places to showcase these stunning trees.

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Japanese maples are great for a front entry

Because they don’t have deep roots that grow into the foundation, Japanese maples are a great fit for front entries. Many of these trees grow slowly and stay more the size of a large shrub, so they won’t quickly outgrow their space. Even so, if you start with a small specimen, be sure to give it a wide enough space when planting to accommodate the tree’s mature size.

The entryway planting in the photo above uses contrast to draw visitors toward the front door. The red Japanese maple foliage stands out against the lighter colored brick, highlighting the form of the trees. If you have a darker home, you could choose one of the varieties with light green foliage to achieve a similar eye-catching effect.

Rounded shapes of Japanese maples add balance next to the hard lines of the house. Planting them next to this structure also protects these cold-sensitive trees from drying winter winds.

Pair Japanese maples with ornaments

Japanese maples are so varied in size, habit and leaf color, they can really fit in almost anywhere. In an open spot in the yard, like above, balance is established by combining a delicate dwarf Japanese maple with a small statue. This creates a pretty focal point in this Asian-inspired garden.

A pairing like this will have more multiseason appeal when you prune to emphasize an architectural branching structure.

Combine Japanese maples with other plants

Japanese maples combine well with other plants and each other, too. The large, bold foliage of hostas (Hosta spp. and hybrids) and grassy leaves of hakonechloa (Hakonechloa macra) provide nice contrast for Japanese maples in the partly shaded garden above.

Let weeping varieties, like ‘Waterfall’ and ‘Crimson Queen’, cascade over a stream bank or even a retaining wall, and add height with upright types, such as ‘Bloodgood’.

The bright red foliage of ‘Bloodgood’ at the end of a winding creek or a path draws the eye up, opening the view to more of the garden.

Check Out More Plant Combos for Your Garden

Japanese maples are low-maintenance container plants

Have a corner of the patio that could really use some drama? Let a container-planted Japanese maple be the solution! It’s one tree that will thrive in a pot.

For the best results, try a dwarf cultivar that’s slow growing and only reaches 6 to 8 feet tall. Plan to prune more frequently than you typically would if it were planted in the ground, and it’s likely you’ll need to repot into a larger container every couple of years. Or, to keep it in the same pot, shear off some of the roots and refresh the potting mix once every few years. ‘Sangokaku’ in the photo has brilliant coral bark that intensifies to deep red in winter, adding to its multiseason appeal — perfect if you live in a mild climate and can enjoy it year round.

See More Container Garden Ideas

Container tips

• To keep the tree healthy without promoting too much growth, use potting mix that doesn’t have fertilizer mixed in and apply a dose of water-soluble fertilizer once in spring. Make sure the soil stays evenly moist but not soggy.
• Move the pot indoors once the foliage drops in fall, if you live in zone 6 or colder. Inside an attached garage, porch or basement is fine because the tree doesn’t need light when it’s dormant.

Vine-covered arbors are beautiful, but large, woody vines, like wisteria, can crush a small arbor in a few years. Meet morning glory vine and four other vines that can quickly decorate your arbor with lush foliage and incredible blooms.

Clematis (Clematis spp. and hybrids)

Clematis likes its “head in the sun, feet in the shade,” as the old saying goes. So plant it in full sun, and place a 2-in.-thick layer of mulch over the roots to keep them cool. ‘Comtesse de Bouchaud’ is shown in the photo above.

Type Perennial Blooms Flowers in white, yellow, pink, red, blue or purple in spring, summer or fall Light Full sun to part shade Size 1 to 30 ft. tall Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9

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Hyacinth bean (Lablab purpureus)

This vine stretches up so quickly you can almost see it growing! Sow one or two seeds on each side of your arbor and watch it go.

Type Tender perennial (usually grown as an annual) Blooms Purple or white flowers in mid- to late summer; magenta stems and pods Light Full sun Size 10 to 20 ft. tall Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 10 to 11

Moonflower (Ipomoea alba)

On cloudy mornings you might get a few extra hours from flowers before they droop, but normally moonflower blooms last just one night.

Type Tender perennial (usually grown as an annual) Blooms Fragrant white flowers open at night from midsummer to frost Light Full sun to part shade Size 10 to 15 ft. tall Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 10 to 12

Morning glory (Ipomoea spp.)

Plant these seeds after danger of frost is past directly in the garden. Morning glories reseed readily — pull unwanted seedlings before they start to twine around other plants.

Type Tender perennial (usually grown as an annual) Blooms White, pink, red, blue or purple flowers from midsummer to frost Light Full sun Size 6 to 10 ft. tall Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 10 to 12

Mandevilla (Mandevilla x amabilis)

A vine that won’t outgrow its space or strangle nearby plants, mandevilla can be treated like an annual. Start with a large plant each spring, and help it climb with a loose ladder of monofilament line.

Type Tropical vine Blooms Pink, red or white blooms from late spring to fall Light Full sun to part shade Size 3 to 20 ft. tall, spreading Hardiness Cold hardy in USDA zones 9 to 11

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Add conifers to your garden

Conifers — plants with seed-bearing cones — are versatile and attractive additions to the landscape. Many popular selections are cold-hardy to USDA zone 4, providing evergreen color and structure long after seasonal flowers fade and deciduous plants lose their leaves.

Most conifers need minimal maintenance. An occasional trim to shape the plant and remove dead or storm-damaged branches, done with hand pruners or a bypass lopper, will be all that is necessary. Conifers can have sharp needles, so wear leather gloves, even the kind with gauntlets to protect your forearms, when you work with these kinds of plants. Sticky sap can accumulate on tools and your skin when you cut conifers. Use alcohol, baby wipes, or a special hand cleaner to remove it easily.

Meet a conifer collector

Harrison Tuttle started collecting conifers when he moved into his home on a half-acre property in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2005. Today he has a collection of more than 500 conifers (from 16 genuses), including cedars, cypresses, firs, junipers, larches, hemlock, pines, redwoods, spruces and yews.

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[Conifer Q&A](https://www.gardengatemagazine.com/articles/flowers-plants/plant-guide/conifer-q-and-a/ "Conifer Q&A")

Designing with conifers

You may not be ready to take the plunge with conifers, but you'll be amazed at how just a few scattered throughout your garden can boost its year-round appeal. Take a private tour of Harrison’s conifer garden in North Carolina, and discover 7 great ways to use conifers in any garden.

Create privacy with conifers

Evergreen trees and shrubs make great outdoor privacy screens all year round. Use them to block the sights and sounds of a busy street. This front-yard planting includes Japanese maple (Acer japonicum), golden black spruce (Picea mariana ‘Golden’), Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora ‘Golden Ghost’) and Norway spruce (Picea abies ‘Pruhoniceana’).

Visual excitement with foliage color

For a dynamic look, contrast different shapes and colors. This street-side planting includes weeping white spruce (Picea glauca ‘Pendula’), tiger tail spruce (Picea polita), Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Crimson Princess’), weeping Nootka cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Glauca Pendula’) and silver ray Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis ‘Silver Ray’).

Get multiseason interest with conifers

Conifers provide visually interesting textures, colors and even movement, in all seasons. Use conifers to make winter a season of natural beauty. This border planting includes dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides ‘Ogon’), Mexican orange (Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’), Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Emperor 1’), blue atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica ‘Horstmann’), oriental spruce (Picea orientalis ‘Skylands’) and Colorado spruce (Picea pungens ‘Shilo Weeping’).

Create emphasis

Use upright forms of conifers like this silvery blue variegated Korean pine as an impressive landscape backdrop, in this case for the dahlia blossoms. This vignette includes dwarf golden mugo pine (Pinus mugo ‘Zundert’), Coreopsis tinctoria, Norway spruce (Picea abies ‘Pruhoniciana’), Korean pine (Pinus koreana ‘Silver Ray’), Japanese maple (Acer japonicum ‘Green Cascade’) and the dahlias.

Turn up the curb appeal with conifers

Evergreens can provide curb appeal that doesn't come and go with the seasons in mixed plantings like this impressive streetside display that includes Norway spruce (Picea abies ‘Pruhoniciana’), weeping white spruce (Picea glauca ‘Pendula’), Norway spruce (Picea abies ‘Frohburg’), Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa), barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Concorde’).

Combine foliage colors for effect

When choosing plants to combine with conifers, remember to think about the colors and how they will play off each other. Green conifers like this Eastern hemlock complement light-colored flowers and plants like this eye-catching variegated dogwood (Cornus kousa ‘Wolf Eyes’), combined with Aucuba japonica ‘Limbata’, Heuchera ‘Paris’ and the Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis).

Build architectural interest with conifers

Conifers are ideal for adding an architectural element to beds and borders by combining those with distinctly different habits, like this weeping white spruce (Picea glauca ‘Pendula’), standing proud in front of a dwarf flowering plum (Prunus cerasifera ‘Purple Pony’) and a pair of Japanese maples (Acer palmatum ‘Beni-Shichihenge’ and A. palmatum ‘Orange Dream’).