by Keri Byrum | Jul 28, 2015 | Plant Spotlight |
New Guinea impatiens are the hottest option for color in the garden and there is no shortage of new varieties hitting the market. I am going to ramble for a little bit on the reasons we need New Guinea impatiens (aka New Guineas) and then you can see some of these new and beautiful varieties available. Why New Guinea Impatiens? It wasn’t too long ago that impatiens were a gardener’s go-to plant for color in the shade. So what has changed? A disease called Impatiens Downy Mildew came into the picture. Downy mildew affects all hybrids and varieties of Impatiens walleriana (garden impatiens), also called busy Lizzie. The pathogen that causes downy mildew is a type of water mold and more closely related to algae than to fungi. … Read Full Post
by Keri Byrum | Jul 22, 2015 | Plant Spotlight |
There is something about chartreuse plants that makes them electric and at the same time a great companion for almost any color. Whether in sun or shade, chartreuse stands out. What is chartreuse? noun: char·treuse \shär-ˈtrüz, -ˈtrüs\ Definition of CHARTREUSE: a variable color averaging a brilliant yellow green Ooh, a brilliant yellow green. Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? This color is one that I am attracted to every time I see it. Especially in the shade, chartreuse plants just seem to glow. Look at how a chartreuse plant stands out compared to standard plants in the photo below. After seeing some friends at a nursery the other day and learning about the color palette they are developing for their garden I started to think about the colors that I would choose if I had a color palette.… Read Full Post
by Keri Byrum | Jul 15, 2015 | DIY Garden Projects, Small Spaces |
Do you have any of those projects you’ve been wanting to do for years but just haven’t gotten around to completing? Recently our Mexican beach pebbles project finally moved out of this category and into the ‘Finished’ column. Its about time! After three years of wanting to get this done, it took seeing this landscape at the Orange County Convention Center a few weeks ago to finally give us that push to complete this project. This photo shows the area where the Mexican beach pebbles were used to create a lovely flowing pathway of separation between the mondo grass and the turf. Our small lawn space has been struggling for about a year. You can see here the remains of the zoysia grass that we installed a few years ago.… Read Full Post
by Keri Byrum | Jul 11, 2015 | Around Our Yard |
My hibiscus is covered in mealybugs. Gross. While writing an email at my desk last night I pulled open the window shade to look out and watch the rain fall. I clearly don’t do this very often because to my dismay my little hibiscus just outside the window was nothing more than a few sticks dripping with mealybugs. I put my forehead against the glass to make sure I was seeing correctly. Its true, my hibiscus is covered in mealybugs. The rain continued throughout the night so it wasn’t until today that I was able to get outside and examine for myself. SO GROSS. Mealybugs on hibiscus are common, but this outbreak was not. Apparently it has been much longer than I thought since I looked at this hidden little corner of our yard.… Read Full Post
by Keri Byrum | Jul 8, 2015 | DIY Garden Projects |
I was fortunate to spend the last week attending the American Public Garden Association (APGA) conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota and getting to visit beautiful gardens with fantastic colleagues. What more can a person ask for? While we were visiting the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (more on that to come!) we made a stop by their lovely gift shop. You don’t go to a garden with my friend Grace without visiting the gift shop! While we were there I picked up one of these Easy Arrangers and just today had my first opportunity to put it to use. If you aren’t going to Minneapolis anytime soon I did see that there are a lot of these available on Amazon too! I couldn’t find a mason jar or vase handy so I just used one of our plain drinking glasses.… Read Full Post
