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Perennial Flower Garden Blog



I have had a love affair with perennial flowers for many years and this is the place where I share my latest articles, perennial flower gardening tips, pictures and what I'm doing in my perennial gardens.  And yes, I have more than one perennial garden because one simply won't hold all the plants I want to grow.  :-)  The fun thing in all this is that my garden is brand-new and I'm building it from scratch.  Here's what I'm up to.

If you have a question, you can ask it here.

New subscriptions to the newsletter can be signed up on the left nav bar.  And the links section lists my other sites too - just in case you're looking for other gardening information.

In answer to the question, "What have you done for me lately?" :-)   Here it is.

All the new articles fit to print.



Mar 17, 2010, to cut back or not

my christmas rose is just beginning to have new flower growth.but above it is 18ins.of last years green leaves.is it better to leave them on the plant

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Mar 15, 2010, Dead Centers on Shasta Daisies

Hi I planted 4 shasta daisies last year and on all of the the centers are dead and they have quite alot that has spread out of each of them. Are all of

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Mar 15, 2010, Forced to move peonies in the spring.

Doug, I have recently sold my home very unexpectantly and am planning on taking my peonies with me as many of them were shared from my mother. These

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Mar 11, 2010, Hummingbird Gardens

Please understand that this is not an exhaustive list of plants for hummingbird gardens but just the most common plants.</b>

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Mar 11, 2010, timing of spring pruning

I have daylillies,black-eyed susans,peonies and zebra grass. Should they all be cut down in the Spring ? I live in N.E. Pa. and we still have snow on the

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Mar 8, 2010, Leaves and Mulch

I am about to put down some new bark mulch. I left leaves from the trees on the beds throughout the winter. Can I simply place the new bark mulch over

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Mar 3, 2010, old clematis gone!

My grandmother gave me a clematis vine 30 years ago. For years, it came up and bloomed reliably. Then I started pruning it in winter. Last year, I cut

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Feb 26, 2010, Perennial Seeds

Perennial seeds generally require different germinating conditions from annual seeds. to begin......

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Feb 26, 2010, Lotus

I've been day-dreaming again about my lotus plants and water gardens. And in those reveries, I was remembering the wonderful blossoms on my lotus plants. I planted three varieties last spring and watched in amazement as they developed and produced a simply stunning show of leaves and blooms.

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Feb 26, 2010, Favorite Perennial Flower

My favorite perennial flower is this particular varoegated daylily. I have no idea what the name is as I received it from a friend many years ago. It has wonderfully variegated leaves and this delightful orange flower.

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Feb 26, 2010, Myths of Ground Covers

The first thing you have to understand aboutground covers is that they aren't always what they're advertised.

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Feb 26, 2010, Growing Catnip

Catnip is one plant I have added to the garden in recent years. Before you turn your nose up at this herb, you have to understand the flower breeders have been working their magic and this is now an excellent garden perennial.

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Feb 26, 2010, evergreen ground covers

Evergreen ground covers are one of the most sought-after lists of plants - particularly for shade areas..

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Feb 26, 2010, Bog Gardens

Bog Gardens; because most perennial gardeners don't have bog gardens, there is an entire class of plants that they ignore. ..

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Feb 26, 2010, Aconitum or Monkshood

I have an Aconitum or monkshood which is planted in the sun but it doesn't bloom until late fall. Thefore it is almost to late to enjoy the blooms. Hope you can help.

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Feb 26, 2010, full sun perennials

The backbone of the traditional perennial border is made up of full sunperennials. They spring from the ground to give us the textures andshapes (not to mention the colours and fragrances) that make ourgardens and dreams reality.

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Feb 26, 2010, Ajuga or Bugleweed

Ajuga is one of the most common of perennial ground covers and with good reason.It is hardy – surviving nicely in USDA 3 to 9

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Feb 26, 2010, Agastache

In looking at my seedling trays in late March, I see the Golden Agastache has popped up. This is much to my surprise I note as I’ve never grown this plant before and I wasn’t sure how it would grow. To be sure, I’ve grown the old-fashioned lovely Agastache (pronounced Aga – sta – cheee)

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Feb 26, 2010, Seeds that require Stratification

I am new to wintersowing, do you have a list of seeds that require a cold period to germinate? Doug says he doesn't maintain a list of perennials that

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Feb 16, 2010, Lavender seed light levels

Do they need sunlight starting out when you plant the seeds inside? Doug says that no seed requires growing light-conditions when germinating. But by

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Feb 12, 2010, i live in zone 9,will hollyhocks grow here?

I live in zone 9, will hollyhocks grow here? I don't see them in garden centers. Doug says the high heat is going to beat them up really badly. So seed

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Feb 9, 2010, Hollyhocks

I really like hollyhocks and this past week, I was out in the old herb garden this week wandering around trying to decide what to do with the fence around this part of the garden (it needs rebuilding) and was struck by all the old stems that were still sticking straight up in defiance of winter winds and temperatures

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Feb 4, 2010, Cutting back nepeta "walker's low"

I assume I can cut this plant back hard in early spring or even now...is this true? this will be my first season seeing it come up in my garden and I'm

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Feb 4, 2010, Garden Ponds and Plants

Garden ponds and the perennials that surround them are one of my favourite gardening areas. I confess to having too many garden ponds but admit to wanting several more to complement various parts of my garden ambitions

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Feb 4, 2010, rock gardens

Some gardeners consider growing rock gardens or alpine gardens to be the ultimate form of gardening (rock gardens and alpine gardens are terms used interchangeably). I have always enjoyed this kind of horticulture although it takes more weeding than most other forms. (I'm not a fan of weeding)

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Feb 4, 2010, plant propagation

How to instructions for plant propagation in the perennial flower garden by garden author Doug Green

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Feb 4, 2010, Types of Blue Flowers

One of the challenges of the summer garden is trying to find different types of blue flowers. Blue tones are cool tones...

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Feb 4, 2010, Black Eyed Susan

Black eyed Susan information and questions & answers from award winning garden author Doug Green

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Feb 4, 2010, lavender

Secrets of growing lavender by garden writer Doug Green

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Feb 4, 2010, perennial hibiscus

Over the years, I’ve grown quite a few perennialHibiscus plants in my garden.  They're easily grown if yougive them the conditions they want.

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Feb 4, 2010, Ask A Gardening Question

Ask A Gardening Question; I get a ton of questions and there's only one of me (and a bunch of you) :-) So - here's the deal.

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Feb 4, 2010, ornamental grass

I confess that I have been very slow to adoptornamental grass in my gardens. Perhaps it is because one of the firstplants a friend suggested was

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Feb 4, 2010, perennial designs

Perennial designs - or more appropriatelydesigning perennialgardens - are easily learned. To be sure, there is an art to designinga great garden but there are also a few simple rules that, if followed,will give you an instantly better looking garden..

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Feb 4, 2010, herb gardening

Basic tips in herb gardening in the perennialgarden by garden author Doug Green

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Feb 4, 2010, flower gardening

Flower gardening techniques for perennial gardensneed not be fancy nor difficult to learn. For me, it hasalways been a balancing act between having lots of flowers in thegarden to enjoy yet still provide enough flowers for cutting forbouguets.

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Feb 4, 2010, perennial ground covers

Perennial ground covers are plants that are reliably perennial – they live from year to year and grow quite quickly to cover the ground. Here's a list.

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Feb 4, 2010, Shade Garden

There are some tricks for growing a great shade garden that are important if you are determined to succeed. The first tip is to understand that while some plants survive in dry shade, few if any plants really thrive in these conditions.

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Feb 4, 2010, woody thyme and weak chives

My thyme is forever woody is there something I can do to prevent this? Maybe not enough N? Chives never stand up stiffly. Too much water? Thanks Doug

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Feb 3, 2010, My French Lavender is dying.

Hi. I bought this lavender and grow it in 2 big pots a month ago. It grow pretty good but then all of the sudden one of the lavender is dying while the

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Feb 3, 2010, When to plant lavender

When should I plant lavender in zone 6? Doug says plant it in early spring when the frost comes out of the ground. But... If the plant is from a nursery

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Feb 2, 2010, Summer Flowers

Summer flowers are the backbone of the perennial flower garden. This list is not all-inclusive but it sums up the commonly available...

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Feb 2, 2010, Helenium

tips for growing Helenium or sneezeweed successfully

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Feb 2, 2010, Nepeta or Perennial Catnip

Growing Nepeta, or perennial catnip, is easy perennial gardening and here's what you need to know. Full sun to part shade is best...

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Feb 2, 2010, Foxglove

Foxglove is an easy and wonderful plant for the shade garden. Here's how to grow it successfully

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Feb 2, 2010, Shade Loving Perennials

There are enough shade loving perennials to grow that even the most avid of gardeners will never be able to collect them all.

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Feb 2, 2010, Babys Breath

Here's how to grow babys breath from garden author Doug Green

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Feb 2, 2010, Growing Astilbe

Tricks and varieties for growing astilbe in the shade garden

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Feb 2, 2010, Cut Back Perennials

You cut back some perennials that bloom in very early spring immediately after they bloom.

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Feb 2, 2010, Growing Peonies

How to grow peonies from garden author Doug Green.

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Feb 2, 2010, Growing Hosta

I personally love shady Hosta gardens and as our Ohio Buckeye Chestnut trees mature, the shade is becoming more and more complete in the front shade garden.

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