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What gives a grower the blues? Small plants and disappointed customers.Forget what the song says. There IS a cure: Plant this fall instead of waiting until spring. It’s not just for trees!It’s a simple equation: Build a firm foundation under that crown. When your plants go into winter with a bulked-up root mass, they’ll do three things quicker in spring: Fill out, look gorgeous – and sell.The principle applies to many genera, but we particularly recommend it for these three:AquilegiaThis early r

What gives a grower the blues? Small plants and disappointed customers.Forget what the song says. There IS a cure: Plant this fall instead of waiting until spring. It’s not just for trees!It’s a simple equation: Build a firm foundation under that crown. When your plants go into winter with a bulked-up root mass, they’ll do three things quicker in spring: Fill out, look gorgeous – and sell. The principle applies to many genera, but we particularly recommend it for these four grass families; 

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.We hear you: It’s hard to even imagine spring, let alone plan for it, while the dog days are still raging, hot and humid. But this really is the time to do just that.A crop of Phlox subulata planted in late summer / early fall has oceans of time to fill its containers with vigorous roots. Sooner t

Here’s a warm-season grass to heat up interest in your selection. Native to the American prairie, Sorghastrum makes itself at home in any sunny border. Golden Sunset™ forms neat clumps of wide, olive-green blades with a graceful upright/arching habit. Full, rich golden plumes rise to an impressive, but not overwhelming, height.Developed at the world-famous Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, where the winters are long and hard – so you know it’ll handle your conditions. Hardy in USDA Zones 3 –

Andropogon gerardii, the North American native grass known as “big bluestem” is about as tough a plant as you can grow. But there’s a lot more to its story.For centuries, this genus dominated the tallgrass prairie. It’s been largely replaced there by other grasses like Zeamays and Triticumaestivum, a.k.a. corn and wheat.Andropogon has found new homes. A go-to plant for reclaiming damaged soils, it helps keep out exotic invasives. But thanks to modern breeding and selection, it’s increasingly wel