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Most ornamental grasses thrive in full sun. But most gardens include spots the sun never finds. Must those places remain grassless? Fortunately, no!The shaded landscape can also 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 layers of pendant bamboo-like leaves. It’s happiest in shade, dappled or full. Northern growers can get away with brighter plantings,

Not every plant can look its Sunday best, covered in flowers, every day. Besides, smart gardeners know that the best time to buy is before a plant blooms, so they get to watch it come into its glory.That’s when a picture tag is at its most valuable: It tells a customer what that plant will become, right before their eyes, even if the pot in front of them isn’t loaded with color.We carry full-color, bilingual picture tags for every variety we grow. In addition to that eye-catching image, consumer

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

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

“Russian Sage” Is Neither? Nyet So Fast!We reported recently that Perovskia, a.k.a. Russian sage, is neither Russian, nor a sage. Turns out we were only half right.Horticulturist and sharp-eyed reader Mark Deacon, of Cincinnati Technical & Community College, updated us. It’s still not Russian, but it has gotten smarter.The perennial formerly known as Perovskia is native to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tibet. It’s not from Russia, with or without love. But while we weren’t watching, those never-sati