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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

If there’s a sedge worth screaming about, it may just be ‘Ice Cream’.This garden confection’s winning recipe features minty green stripes alternating with creamy white stripes. Its neat, mounded, spherical habit completes the picture.But don’t keep it in a bowl. Serve it up in a decorative container, or sprinkled generously around the border. ‘Ice Cream’ stands a tidy 12” tall, and is hardy in Zones 6 – 9. And it won’t melt in sun or part shade.Order up a heaping helping of this cool Carex. No n

Geography Lessons in the GardenA good mixed perennial garden can be a trip around the world – or at least across a continent or two. Today’s tour involves a plant whose name sounds deceptively like a land it did NOT come from. Nepeta kubanica Neptune (‘Bokratune’ PP29556)Is that a funky way to spell Cuba, land of cigars and Castro? Nyet! The specific epithet refers to “big-leaf catmint’s” ancestral home on the Kuban Peninsula in Southern Russia, on the Black Sea. This particular beauty was bred

When the color experts at Pantone announced their Color of the Year for 2021, they gave us a rare double-header. Illuminating is a cheerful yellow. Ultimate Gray is exactly what it sounds like. They complement one another beautifully: Yellow for sunny optimism, gray for rock-solid reliability. We looked at yellow last time, so let’s go gray again!Obviously, gray – even Ultimate Gray -- is not sexy. Let’s call it silver. Either way, there’s a place for it in nearly every border. Colors

When the color experts at Pantone announced their Color of the Year for 2021, they gave us a rare double-header.Illuminating is a cheerful yellow. Ultimate Gray is exactly what it sounds like. They complement one another nicely: Yellow for sunny optimism, gray for rock-solid reliability. Let’s go gray first. Obviously, gray – even Ultimate Gray -- is not sexy. Call it silver if it makes you feel better. As designers know, there’s a place for it in nearly every border.Magically, colors that clash