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.

Nov 20, 2009, Carnations

Carnations are the plants of the gods. You see, the Greek word Di means 'of Zeus or Jove' and anthus means 'flower'...

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Nov 20, 2009, Coreopsis

While we will talk about Coreopsis, we have to start somewhere else. Lewis Carroll, in his famous book Through the Looking Glass...

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Nov 20, 2009, perennial hibiscus

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

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Nov 16, 2009, When do you remove dead mums

when do you take dead mums out of the ground? Doug says if you like the look of dead mums in your garden, I guess you can leave them there for as

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Nov 13, 2009, Pruning Black Eyes Susans before blooming

I have planted black eyed susans and day lilies interspersed together in my garden. The black eyed susans are overtaking and growing much higher than

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Nov 9, 2009, How To Identify Biennials and Perennials

I've just moved into a house that had beautiful and plentiful black eyed susan's. I'm reading that these are biennials or short lived perennials.

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Nov 5, 2009, cuttings and rooting perennial hibiscus

My outdoor cat, broke off some branches of a hibiscus that was given as a present. I started the cuttings in my bathroom with a 15 watt plant light,

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Nov 4, 2009, 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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Nov 4, 2009, niche gardens

When we talk about niche gardens, there are asmany options as there are gardeners. And let us be honest here, some ofthese garden design options

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Nov 2, 2009, Non Blooming Lavendar

1st I bought 36 plants thru the mail, they all died. So then I bought 2 plants at my local nursery. They looked AWESOME in the summer. Full sun all

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Oct 30, 2009, pruning perennial hibiscus

Hello, I would like to know if I can cut back my perennial hibiscus in the fall. The stems are very thick and they seem to be woody, I was wondering

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Oct 30, 2009, Perennials that grow well in pots

I live in an apartment in Villa Park Illinois and I love Perennials can you please give me a list of Perennials that I can grow in pots on the patio

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Oct 22, 2009, butterfly bush not growing well

I have a blutterfly bush that is not doing well at all. We live in York, SC. Can I cut the bush back, in the fall, in the hopes more nutrients go to

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Oct 22, 2009, Dividing Black Eyed Susans

How and when is the best way and time to divide Black Eyed Susans? Doug says he likes to dig and divide his mature clumps in the early spring. They

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Oct 16, 2009, Ornamental Grasses for Minneapoils, MN

Good morning, We are attempting to add green to our courtyards at our loft complex in Minneapolis, MN. The couryards receive partial sunlight, and

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Oct 16, 2009, Cutting Back Ornamental Grass

I live in Gatinea Quebec Canada. What winter month am I supposed to cut foliage back to the ground? It is a perennial and purchased at Loblaws. We

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Oct 13, 2009, when to transplant coreopsis

should I transplant coreopsis and rudbeckia from pots to ground in the fall or spring? In NC you can transplant either in spring or fall and should

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Oct 13, 2009, survival of hardy mums

my mums did not come back this year, planted in the ground or in the pot. After growing season should mums

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Oct 9, 2009, How do you remove Jacob's Ladder

I planted this spreading plant in the garden several years ago and am now trying to remove it but it is so pervasive. Any suggestions you have would

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Oct 9, 2009, reblooming hardy mums quickly

how do I force my mum plants to rebloom quickly? I've already cut them back and used miracle-gro I NEED them to look fantastic again by this Sunday

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Oct 5, 2009, Bright colored daylilies

I can't choose one. I stumbled on to daylilies and I cannot seem to get enough of them. I have tried (but I have not succeeded) to have as little lawn

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Oct 5, 2009, End of Season

Do I cut the Blackeyed Susan back for winter or let is die completely and pull out of the ground? Doug says that if this is a perennial plant - cut

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Oct 5, 2009, overwintering lavendar in the house

I have two large lavendar plants in pots that I would love to overwinter in the house, is this possible and can you tell me the best way to care for

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Sep 19, 2009, when is best time to transplant

When is the best time to transplant - fall or spring? Doug says the best time to transplant is in the early spring - the earlier the better assuming

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Sep 14, 2009, problem with lime coneflower

My lime and peach colored coneflowers have NO petals!. . . just heads. The purple coneflowers are fine. Why? Doug says that it sounds like aster

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Sep 10, 2009, Growing French Lavender indoors.

Can you grow French Lavendar successfully in a pot indoors ? I live in Quebec and I am wondering if it will be too cold to leave it in the garden over

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Sep 8, 2009, New Perennials Dying

I live in Western Saskatchewan and planted new perennials this spring. The one flower bed faces south and the other is on the west this all near the

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Sep 8, 2009, Pinch back mums one more time?

I've pinched back my mums a few times this year, but still they are very large and I am afraid they will flop over when they bloom. There are a few

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Sep 8, 2009, trimming after blooming

When may I cut off the bloomed flower and stem? Doug says you prune off spent flowers and their stems when the flower start to fade. We call this

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Sep 8, 2009, lavender dying

We planted lavendar a few months ago and it is now dying out. It is planted in clay soil but we added alot of bags of soil to it and tilled it in.

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Sep 3, 2009, 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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Aug 31, 2009, Ground cover with blue/purple spikes in May

My gardnere just destroyed a bed full of ground cover we have had for 18 years. It is hardy with dark green leaves close to the ground and in May it

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Aug 31, 2009, Blackeyed Susan yellow pastel

I am assuming that this is a variety of blackeyed susan. I saw this growing in Maine and took a photo for identification. It has a yellow center,

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Aug 31, 2009, Lavender

Read & learn from all your posts. I have a lavender that had done well for 3 years. It had many blooms this year. However, the center is now dead. Is

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Aug 24, 2009, Russian Sage overgrown

I cut my Russian Sage back every year and it gets overgrown to the point that the purple flower stems are laying on the ground. Any suggestions?

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Aug 24, 2009, foxgloves stopped blooming

My foxgloves were beautifully bloomed when I planted them about a month ago and now they have all brown buds on them and no flowers. What went wrong?

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Aug 24, 2009, perennial hibiscus summer pruning?

My perennial hibiscus is beautiful with lots of 10 inch blooms. However, it is in the front of our house and grows 7-8 feet tall with a weed-like look

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