Try Some White

White in the garden catches your eye!

Purples, pinks, yellows and reds in the Spring garden evoke the feeling of freshness and new life this time of the year, but the color guaranteed to catch your eye every time is white. We need to use white more often.
Mother Nature does in the natural environment. Look around in the early spring and you see white glaring at you from the dogwoods, berry vines, pear trees, and more. White reflects the light and makes it perfect for landscape use. The forest is no longer dull, but dancing with brightness- so can your landscape!
Those of us that live in an area that is condusive to azaleas enjoy a special treat. The Southern Indica types like Formosa, Judge Solomon and George Lindley Taber are some of the most popular, but notice a garden late in the afternoon. Those azalea flowers start to fade or drop out of sight but one Southern Indica, the G.G. Gerbing, is still glistening. This is one of the best old-time white azaleas around.
Varieties like Hershey Red or Hino Crimson look spectacular, but add some Delaware Valley White and the garden becomes complete.
The wisteria with it’s fragrant bluish-purple flowers hanging down like grape clusters are beautiful. Add the often overlooked and underused white wisteria- voila, you have a fantastic display. A white wisteria draping a fence or an arbor is a sight to behold.
White generates a feeling of cleanliness and purity. White blooms will lighten up shady areas, bringing brightness to an otherwise overlooked area. They can be used to frame other colors to bring them out. Placed in strategic positions also gives the impression of “that gardener knows what he/she is doing”! Another great feeling- pride in your handy work.
How about your flower garden? Try some white there also. Whites are available not only in dogwoods, azaleas and wisteria but also in old-fashioned Deutzia, the Tazetta class of narcissus and spiraea.
Please don’t overlook the beauty of white roses. They come in varieties of climbers, shrub, and bushy types which open up a multitude of different uses. Consider an arbor covered with white climbing roses to frame an entryway or a special plant you take pride in. Or, once again, to make other colors stand out.
White bedding plants make their contribution as well. Filtered-light areas can be made to stand out when white is incorporated into the planting scheme. Some of the best are impatiens and begonias. These can be combined with other pastels to really liven up those areas and to give them definition.
Trim your areas out in white. White caladiums make an ideal choice for trim. White Christmas, White Queen and Candidum are some of the best. I must admit those white strapped-leaf types are also very showy and usually have more leaves per plant than the fancy-leafed varieties.
So, enough said, don't overlook white bloomers in your landscape plan this year.

To your gardening enjoyment,

Poppy a/k/a Marvin

Add Color to Your Landscape

It is the cold winter season when most landscape plants are dormant, leaving a drab and uneventful group of shrubs. I recently passed a home that had a great landscape layout of curves, different elevations, garden art, etc. The only problem was that everything in it was the same color- deep green! We don’t have snow down here to color it all white.

This is a good time to evaluate your landscape. A sprinkling of color throughout the landscape can bring an otherwise dull garden alive- even in the winter. I know what you are thinking. “I’m not about to freeze my ---- off in the cold taking care of flowers”. Some of us would but, hey, we are the exception.

There are many evergreen shrubs that can add vibrant color to your landscape. Try adding some reds, bright greens, variegated- the list is almost endless.

For some red, you may want to try an all time favorite of mine, the nandina domestica. It is also known as “heavenly bamboo”. The nandina has small green leaves with touches of red during the summer. When winter arrives, the leaves become almost solid red and the plant produces bright red berries. Overall, the nandina provides great color and definition to the landscape.

Hello World

Hello World!

This is my first post to My-Garden-World Blog.
It is my goal to create a blog site that will be a first resource for gardeners. This blog will offer gardeners opportunity to discuss their passion and find solutions to their problems. Every effort will be made by My-Garden-World Blog to establish a community that will foster advancing gardening knowledge in a friendly and helpful environment to the benefit of each and every member.

Any comments or suggestions you may have in helping to reach this goal will be greatly appreciated.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Marvin a/k/a Poppy