It's time for the June flower parade which, of course, includes our favorite daylilies. There are lots of other flowers blooming, but, in June, the daylilies always steal the show. First up are the spiders and UF (Unusual Form) daylilies There will be more UF daylilies as the season goes on. Hemerocallis 'Spider Miracle' is an older daylily, but it's having a very good year. H. 'Buddy's Wild and Wonderful,' a riff off of another daylily called 'Wild and Wonderful.' H. 'Spring Chicken' is such a soft blue pink in person. I love it. Another view of the splendid 'Spider Miracle' blooming in the lower garden. Hemerocallis 'Ninja Storm blooms in the lower garden. It is part of the June flower parade every year. H. 'Spider Miracle' and another daylily. I was deadheading, and my blue bucket got into the picture. This is the first time H. 'Buddy's Pierre' (Hall-J.,...

Let's chat about creating swathes of color. Yes, I'm spelling it in the English style as swathes because, as Anne of Green Gables says, an "e" adds just a little something. First things first, creating swathes of color isn't easy. Looking through 'Tamukeyama' Japanese maple, we can see color echoes in 'Orange Rocket' barberry, young crapemyrtle leaves, and 'Australia' cannas. Buy your plants in threes and fives So many gardeners have collections of one. One shrub here, one larkspur there, one peony here, and one rose there. The first way to create swathes of color is to buy and grow more than one plant. Three 'Royal Purple' smokebushes are the stars of this border. I cut them way down each spring to keep them full and lush. This photo is from summer 2021. If we're talking about a very special plant like 'Black Lace' elderberry, I can see buying just...

One of the easiest ways to grow tomatoes and other vegetables is in pots. There's freedom from worrying about soil conditions, watering, etc., when you grow tomatoes this way. You can grow both pole (indeterminate) and bush (determinate) tomatoes in pots. 'Missouri Love Apple' is a potato-leafed, indeterminate tomato that I grew from seed. Which containers? Because I like using large containers to grow tomatoes, I chose fabric pots, including 20-gallon Smart Pots—made in Oklahoma—and 30-gallon Grassroots pots—constructed in California. This year, I also bought Vivosun. While you only need a five-gallon bucket or pot to grow a tomato, the larger pots make sense in my garden. I plant marigolds with tomatoes because they're cheerful flowers for pollinators. I also grow peppers, pentas, and Asian eggplants in my containers. When you grow tomatoes in pots and use larger ones, you have more freedom to add flowers and herbs. These 'Durango...

I've been getting a lot of requests from my garden-coaching clients and other friends for a late-April garden update. So, I thought I would brief everyone all at once about what is going on in my garden now. Common chives getting ready to bloom. Won't the bees be happy? Also, a new red fountain. The old one broke, and it just wasn't fixable. Seeds I've sown in the potager. My first garden update is in the potager. The seeds for cool-weather vegetables, including kale, bok choy, radishes, three kinds of lettuce, and 'Sugar Ann' sweet-podded peas are up and growing. I also grew nasturtiums and calendula in the greenhouse to grow them larger to place outside. They are all now transplanted outdoors. I love the variegated foliage of 'Alaska' nasturtiums. Black-seeded Simpsom lettuce and calendula surrounded by lavender. It must be heaven. Two nasturtium plants up and halfway died. There...