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Hakonechloa macraMost ornamental grasses thrive in full sun. But most gardens have areas the sun just can’t find. Must those places remain grassless? Fortunately, no!The shaded landscape can also employ and enjoy the graceful form and movement that only grasses bring. The go-to genus: Hakonechloa, Japanese forest grass.This sinuous beauty grows as water flows, welling up and cascading down in supple layers of pendant, bamboo-like leaves. It’s happiest in shade, dappled or full. Northern growers

Known variously as creeping phlox or moss phlox, early flowering Phlox subulata is a familiar friend, a welcome harbinger of spring. Its cheerful five-petaled blooms blanket slopes and spill over walls.A crop of Phlox subulata planted in early fall has oceans of time to fill its containers with vigorous roots. Sooner than you think, cold nights and short days will shut down vegetative growth. That tough evergreen foliage will hunker down and wait patiently. Sleep tight! Come spring, this fa

If there’s a garden grass that your average gardener knows by name, it’s ‘Karl Foerster’. This eponymous creation of the legendary plantsman was the first ornamental grass named Perennial Plant of the Year.Naturally, we know (and grow) lots more, but this is the one to know if you know only one. It’s famous worldwide for its beauty, adaptability and ease of culture.Prolific breeder and author Karl Foerster (1874-1970) introduced over 600 plants and wrote two dozen books. His breeding motto was “

Back in 1997, Emerald Coast Growers was just six years old. Bill Clinton was in the White House. A new Honda Civic cost $10,000. The Marlins beat the Indians in the World Series, and the Packers whupped the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI.But the big news that year? The Perennial Plant Association chose Salvia May Night as its Perennial Plant of the Year. All other phenomena were just fighting for silver.May Night is a classic best-seller thanks to its long-lasting violet-purple flower spikes in lat

It’s the Most Wonderful Thyme of the Year to lose your Summerthyme Blues.In our last episode, we looked at Thymus praecox ‘Highland Cream’ and Thymus vulgaris ‘Hi Ho Silver’. Well, the Thymes, They Are A-Changin’!Rounding out the trio, please give a warm welcome to The Thyme of the Season:Thymus praecox ‘Coccineus’ This dense evergreen groundcover has a pleasing cascading habit. Magenta-pink flowers bloom in summer over deep-green, fragrant foliage. Bonus: It’s deer resistant!Heig