How to chase the winter blues out of your garden

It is all too often the case that landscape and garden designers, out of a zealousness for flowers, overlook the beauty that can be carried through winter by selecting certain shrubs and perennials with long lasting pizazz.

Here are some of my favorites.

Colored-twig dogwoods (Cornus sericea) are also a fantastic choice for winter color. When they lose their leaves, they reveal bright red, yellow, or orange stems that show off well against a backdrop of dormant grasses or evergreen shrubs. And the display's not limited to outdoors, either, since the cut stems last a long time in a vase or a holiday wreath. Colored-twig dogwoods grow in full sun to part shade and reach about 4-10' tall and wide, depending on the variety.

Ornamental grasses are a great additions to a winter garden, and not only the evergreen varieties. Many grasses go dormant gracefully, leaving a fluffy mass of brown strands that look surprisingly at home among winter annuals and other color. Evergreen grasses include sedges like Carex 'Toffee Twist', variegated sweet flag (Acorus gramineus 'Variegata'), and silver spear (Astelia chathamica 'Silver Spear'), while fountain grass (Pennisetum) and dwarf varieties of maiden grass (Miscanthus) make a great show in dormancy.

Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster apiculata and 'Hessii') is a must if you have walls or walkways it can crawl upon.  The berries over the winter months add a little holiday spirit.

I find that homeowners are reluctant when we want to leave Annabelle Hydrangea up over the winter, but it looks so much better than an empty bed.  And the older the species, the more blooms and stalks, the better the winter show.

Top 10 Plants You Can't Kill

As gardeners, we're constantly faced with challenges: plants that won't bloom, flowers that die from a late frost, droughts that wipe out entire beds.

Gardening definitely has its fair share of difficulties, so every once in a while it's nice to have plants that require little maintenance. Even better-grow plants you can't kill!
Sure, spraying these all-stars with weed killer would probably lead to their demise. But for the most part, these are hardy, maintenance-free picks that work well in any North American backyard.

So are you ready to turn your black thumb into a green thumb? Get planting with these top picks.

Coneflower

(Echinacea, Zones 3 to 9)
Coneflowers have become a garden staple for their easygoing nature. Growing 2 to 5 feet high and 2 feet wide, they are the perfect companion plant in just about any garden. They require well-drained soil but will thrive in full sun as well as partial shade. Known for attracting birds, bees and butterflies, coneflowers also make lovely cut blooms.

Why I love it: The coneflower is the low-maintenance star of nature-friendly gardens. It comes in many colors, and it's easy to find one you will love.

Colors: purple, pink, crimson, white, yellow, orange and even green.

Cosmos

(Cosmos bipinnatus)
If big, beautiful flowers are one of your top requirements, cosmos is perfect for you. Though it's an annual, it often reseeds on its own. Blooming summer to frost and growing up to 6 feet high, this backyard favorite deserves a regular spot in your sunny garden.

Why I love it: It's easy to grow from seed. So for a couple of bucks, you'll have a gorgeous show in a single season.

Daylily

(Hemerocallis, Zones 3 to 10)
An excellent choice for a classic garden, daylilies can tolerate flooding, drought and salt and are often used for erosion control on steep hillsides. The pretty blooms come in every shade except blue and pure white; their distinctive trumpets may be triangular, circular, double, spidery or star-shaped. Daylilies grow 10 inches to 4 feet high and 1-1/2 to 4 feet wide and do best in full sun to partial shade.

Why I love it: Some cultivars attract hummingbirds and butterflies. A plant that is best divided every three to five years, the daylily is perfect to share with friends.

Hens and Chicks

(Sempervivum tectorum, Zones 3 to 8)
The only way to kill this succulent is by being too kind with overwatering. This perennial is perfect for rock gardens. It grows 3 to 6 inches tall and up to 20 inches wide and blooms in summer. For best results, plant in well-drained soil that gets full sun to light shade.

Why I love it: This low grower also works wonders in containers. Since it doesn't have a deep root system, you can plant it somewhere fun.

Yarrow

(Achillea, Zones 3 to 9)
These easy-care, long-lasting flowers come into their own once summer is on its way. They grow 6 inches to 4 feet tall and 18 to 24 inches wide, in yellow, white, red and pink. Well-suited to most growing conditions, yarrows provide a long season of bloom. They're a good cutting flower, too. Avoid seedy varieties that may require a bit of weeding to keep contained.

Why I love it: This plant is heat- and drought-tolerant and can survive on benign neglect.

Hosta

(Hosta, Zones 3 to 8)
Easy-to-grow hosta is a must for shade gardens. The beautiful foliage comes in a wealth of colors, textures, sizes and shapes, growing 4 inches to 3 feet high and 6 inches to 6 feet wide. In summer, hosta blooms in purple, white or lavender. Divide in spring or late summer to early fall. Hostas like moist ground, but be careful not to overwater.

Why I love it: The ultimate low-care shade plant, hosta comes in endless varieties and colors. It also can be easily divided-perfect for the budget-minded.

Sedum

(Sedum species, Zones 3 to 10)
Take a close look and you'll see this plant's star-shaped blooms, similar to a pentas. With yellow, orange, red, pink or white flowers, it grows from 2 inches up to 2 feet high and wide. You can grow some species as ground cover, while others make good border plants.

Why I love it: Hello, butterflies! If you want flying flowers in your yard, this plant is a slam dunk.

Zinnia

(Zinnia)
With new heat-, drought- and disease-resistant plants on the market, there's never been a better time to grow zinnias. This annual grows up to 3 feet high, with blooms that last until the first frost. For the newest varieties from seed, check your local nursery or favorite garden catalog.

Why I love it: You'll save tons of money growing these from seed. Start seeds indoors, or sow outdoors about 1/4 inch deep after the threat of frost has passed.

Petunia

(Petunia x hybrida)
Petunias have been around for decades, but the newer varieties have advanced in leaps and bounds. Days of deadheading and disease-prone plants are long gone. Nowadays, these beauties flourish in both full sun and partial shade without a lot of extra work. And you can find them in almost every color imaginable.

Why I love it: Even if you forget to water for a few days-it happens to everyone-these plants keep going.

Yucca

(Yucca filamentosa, Zones 4 to 11)
There's a good reason so many Southern gardeners use this as a backyard centerpiece. It's about as drought-tolerant as they come-and on top of that, it boasts beautiful white flowers amid its spiky leaves.

Why I love it: Both flowers and foliage come with this beauty. For a unique variety, look for the variegata cultivar. Its blue-green leaves with white edges are stunning.

Fun interesting tips for homeowners

1. To remove the salt deposits that form on clay pots, combine equal parts white vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle. Apply the mixture to the pot and scrub with a plastic brush. Let the pot dry before you plant anything in it.

2. To prevent accumulating dirt under your fingernails while you work in the garden, draw your fingernails across a bar of soap and you'll effectively seal the undersides of your nails so dirt can't collect beneath them. Then, after you've finished in the garden, use a nailbrush to remove the soap and your nails will be clean.

3. To prevent the line on your string trimmer from jamming or breaking, treat with a spray vegetable oil before installing it in the trimmer.

4. Turn a long-handled tool into a measuring stick! Lay a long-handled garden tool on the ground, and next to it place a tape measure. Using a permanent marker, write inch and foot marks on the handle. When you need to space plants a certain distance apart (from just an inch to several feet) you'll already have a measuring device in your hand.

5. To have garden twine handy when you need it, just stick a ball of twine in a small clay pot, pull the end of the twine through the drainage hole, and set the pot upside down in the garden. Do that, and you'll never go looking for twine again.

6. Little clay pots make great cloches for protecting young plants from sudden, overnight frosts and freezes.

7. To turn a clay pot into a hose guide, just stab a roughly one-foot length of steel reinforcing bar into the ground at the corner of a bed and slip two clay pots over it: one facing down, the other facing up. The guides will prevent damage to your plants as you drag the hose along the bed.

8. To create perfectly natural markers, write the names of plants (using a permanent marker) on the flat faces of stones of various sizes and place them at or near the base of your plants.

9. Got aphids? You can control them with a strong blast of water from the hose or with insecticidal soap. But here's another suggestion, one that's a lot more fun; get some tape! Wrap a wide strip of tape around your hand, sticky side out, and pat the leaves of plants infested with aphids. Concentrate on the undersides of leaves, because that's where the little buggers like to hide.

10. The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don't pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you'll be amazed at how the plants respond to the "vegetable soup."

 11. Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify the soil of acid-loving plants such as azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, gardenias and even blueberries. A light sprinkling of about one-quarter of an inch applied once a month will keep the pH of the soil on the acidic side.

12. Use chamomile tea to control damping-off fungus, which often attacks young seedlings quite suddenly. Just add a touch of tea to the soil around the base of seedlings once a week or use it as a foliar spray.

13. If you need an instant table for cocktails, look no farther than your collection of clay pots and saucers. Just flip a good-sized pot over, and top it off with a large saucer.

 14. The quickest way in the world to dry herbs: just lay a sheet of newspaper on the seat of your car, arrange the herbs in a single layer, then roll up the windows and close the doors. Crazy sounding, but it works!

When to plant, really.

You know every spring I hear myself telling my customers, "I've never seen so much rain!" or "they are predicting snow" or pick a springtime woe for your landscape and we've had it.

This year I can honestly say that we have never experienced a spring like this one.  Some major stand out moments:

- I have tulips in raised beds that did not bloom because the temperature of the soil did not fall below the recommended 62 degrees F for a long period of time.

- We began mowing grass, because it needed it, 4-5 weeks early.

- I have seen grub activity (or animals feeding on grubs) as early as the first week in April.

- Our wholesale nursery started releasing material as ready to plant in March, which is 3 weeks early.

Because this winter and spring has been so unpredictable, I offer a cautionary word to those who are thinking about planting annuals, herbs and vegetables sooner than later.  Normally our last day of frost does not go past May 15th.  I would stick to that date.  With conditions precarious at best, it seems best to wait.

If you are excited and anxious what you can do instead is try starting seeds inside.  It can be done in something as inexpensive as an egg carton!  You can start some vegetables as well as some annuals, and this activity is great for teaching children about biology on a small accessible level.  Just remember to wait until after May 15th to bring them outside.

My favorites to start from seed:

Vegetables
Zucchini
Squash
Cucumbers
All herbs

Annual flowers
Zinnia
Alyssum
Cosmos
Marigolds

Check out this great article on growing annuals from seeds:
http://www.gardeners.com/Growing-Annual-Flowers-from-Seed/5663,default,pg.html 

My 3 favorite shrubs

They say that a parent has no favorites when it comes to their children, and really when you are a landscape designer, horticulturist or gardener your plants are kind of like your kids. 

You patiently nurture them to help them reach their own pinnacle of performance and potential.  Like parenting, sometimes the road is challenging and frustrating, but ultimately all of the effort is worth it when you achieve your end result.

The difference is though...you can choose your plants. 

I have three shrubs that I adore, covet and try to use whenever I have the application.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Tardiva'
There are a lot of great paniculata varieties, but I'll stick with this avid performer that does well in both full sun and light shade.  It has very showy white flowers that turn pinkish in August.  Its structure is upright which makes it perfect for hedges or as a structure piece in a perennial garden.  My experience is that it is much more drought tolerant than its arborescens and macrophylla cousins.  Plus you can use the flowers in arrangements, fresh or dried.

Rhus 'Gro-Low'
A lot less sexy than Tardiva, Gro-Low Sumac is my go to plant when you are looking to create a fluffy pillow of green in hard to grow areas.  It is extremely drought and salt tolerant.  But utility isn't its only attribute.  As most Sumac its fall display of red is spectacular and not to be missed.

Viburnum prunifolium

I have a long list of viburnums that are battling to be in my top three list, doublefile, koreanspice, judd, but there is something so elegant about the vase-like structured blackhaw viburnum.  They provide this great filtered quality.  And the flowers are almost a layered look.  We used them as screening in our yard underneath a Honeylocust and we have not pruned them in 4 years because we love their natural form, they are perfection.