Ornamental grasses should be the highlight of any fall landscape. Few plants can provide so much beauty for so little effort. There are two types of ornamental grasses; warm season and cool season. Cool season grasses grow most actively in the fall and spring with flower spikes coming in late spring-early summer. Warm season grasses [...]
I enjoy the anticipation of putting a big planting of new perennials into the ground. It’s exciting to see new transplants I’ve been growing since last summer or fall, establish and mature to their full beauty. As a critical part of the perennial testing and propagation at High Country Gardens, I spend a lot of time planting [...]
Continue reading about Planting a New Stock Plant Bed in Bernalillo, NM
In the quest to make lawns more sustainable and input efficient, we need to pay attention to where a lawn makes sense in the landscape. One place a lawn most certainly doesn’t belong is in what I refer to as the “inferno strip” or “hell strip.” Share on Facebook
Continue reading about Inferno Strips; Go from useless to Wow!
Lavender is one of our greatest garden plants. It combines soothing color and fragrance with durability, structure and texture into a perfect package. Here in the cold, arid high desert of New Mexico I use it in practically every planting and grow at least 20 cultivars of cold hardy types at High Country Gardens. I [...]
It’s no secret that tomatoes are the most popular of all the vegetable crops for the home gardener. Indeed, few plants can inspire the passion and devotion lavished on the tomato. I love a good homegrown tomato as much as the next person and always try to plant a few plants in my small home [...]
This Mediterranean native bulb commonly known as Lily of the Field or Winter Daffodil provides a brief but fabulous bit of color in the fall xeriscape. The large, deep yellow, six petaled flowers appear suddenly in late September here in Santa Fe’s high elevation, short season Zone 6 climate. (They bloom later in warmer areas.) [...]
Continue reading about Fall blooming bulbs; the stunning Sternbergia lutea!
The genus Echinacea contains some of our most valuable and showy native wildflowers. There has been a tremendous amount of selection and breeding work done with the various species in the last decade resulting in an explosion of new cultivars (varieties). Some are superb but most others are highly over-rated, especially some of the orange [...]
Continue reading about Plant Profile: Echinacea ‘Rocky Top Hybrids’
Good watering techniques and proper scheduling during the summer months are extremely important for both new plantings and established landscapes. I strongly recommend getting a rain gauge. You need to know how much water is falling from the sky. A general rule of thumb; if you don’t get AT LEAST ½″ of rain, most soils [...]
I admit that I have a fascination with cold hardy succulents, ornamental grasses and other plant groups that for some gardeners, are just a bit off the beaten path. But it’s many of these same plants that are bringing a whole new look to American gardens. Share on Facebook
Continue reading about Cold Hardy Agave: Living Sculptures for your Garden
We think of cacti in small pots or dish gardens for use as house plants, but cold hardy members of this diverse family have the potential for much broader use. Share on Facebook
Continue reading about Gardening with Cold Hardy Cacti – Part I
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