by Rochelle Greayer    Texture features large in this loosely planted arrangement that I am dubbing ‘Feathery Fall Fireworks’. Once again, I hope this inspires you beyond the typical container garden planting of mums for this fall season. My personal preference for container gardens is for plants that aren’t quite so dense and allow for a little bit of movement. I started with the cuphea Vermillionaire™ – this tough as nails plant was still alive, blooming, and quite pretty despite the last many

by Rochelle Greayer  Pictured above: ‘Sweet Summer Love' Clematis and 'Diamond Ball' Clematis   As you have probably noticed, I work with Proven Winners to test out their plants and then help you (through this website) learn more about them. Every spring this means that boxes of new plants arrive for me to plant in my garden, experiment with, generally get inspired by and ultimately write about.   This year I requested some clematis because Joanne Neale’s fantastic article about easy care

by Rochelle Greayer  Cute summer towns are a haven for houses with adorable little gardens.  They are always tidy and like a properly dressed lady (whose handbag always coordinates with her shoes), the plants often coordinate with the house.   I’m not exactly this type of gardener (or dresser for that matter) – I tend to either a) be too frazzled to try (and instead, I am drawn to the fashion standby of black – yes even my house is black), or b) I try to make some other bigger experiment with my

by Rochelle Greayer  I am in the final stages of getting another issue of PITH + VIGOR out the door (it is in the  process of being stuffed into boxes and envelopes right now!) and now that I feel like I can,  I’ve been taking frequent gardening breaks.  It feels really good to slow down a little bit. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of plants and I am grateful for this extended spring to have  some time to get them all planted.   This year, I’ve put together a scheme for my strawberry tower

by Rochelle GreayerIt goes with the territory that get to try out lots of new plants. Most are nice – but if they can’t pass muster then they don’t stand a chance of getting a write up here.Definition of Passing Muster:They have to survive and thrive without any special care, which might not even include regular watering.I’m tough to please when it comes to low maintenance but still looking nice and thriving.This fall (2016), follows an unseasonably hot and dry summer. Lots of plants struggled

by Jenny Peterson I come from a family of gardeners. I’m a garden designer, and I write and speak about gardens as well. So it might seem natural that after I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012, I reached for my garden to help me through it.Except, in the beginning, I didn’t. I was so shocked at how my surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation impacted me with nerve damage, lymphedema, and the mood roller coaster that at first, I was kind of frozen and stayed inside. But little by little, I

by Jane Beggs-Joles  (left to right: Little Henry® Itea, Kodiak® Diervilla)Is there anything nicer on a warm summer day than a spot under a shade tree? Maybe a spot under ashade tree with a good book and a cold beverage. But welcome as it is in the heat of the summer, shadecan be a challenge for gardeners.The secret is to embrace the shady areas in your landscapes. Stop trying to wish sun loving plants intogrowing in shade; there are plenty of shade tolerant plants that will thrive in these

It’s late July and officially ‘late season’ for plant buying. (Don’t worry! – you get another chance for regular season planting in the early fall). In many parts of the country, this is a good time to find sales on perennials – particularly on those that have already peaked (i.e. bloomed) earlier in the season. Garden center and nursery visits are one of the best things about being a garden designer. I’ve often thought I could make a whole business just leading clients around a well stocked

I generally feel like I can’t do much of anything about of a whole host of things that concern me (Guns, Breixit, Trump, Global Warming…I’d rather not go on…).  But small measures add up and usually lead to big change – the garden quickly reminds me of that. I have a large garden and 11 years ago I arrived to a couple of nice patches where soil had obviously been imported and dug in deeply. But otherwise it was mostly a discouragingly rocky, acidic, dry hilltop. History tells me that this whole