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Blooming new plants for the landscape

Check out the new lineup of flowering shrubs debuting in garden centers and nurseries this year, including reblooming hydrangeas and weigelas and a native wisteria.Continue reading

Skinny plants for narrow spaces

Most yards have at least a few tight areas between buildings, sidewalks and houses. For narrow-space gardening, here's a selection of skinny plants for skinny spaces.Continue reading

How to use color in the garden

Preen gives you a wide variety of ideas to put together a color palette for your garden. Learn and apply these tips and let your garden’s true colors show.Continue reading

Freshen up the garden with fragrant plants

New plant varieties are usually bred for longer bloom time, new colors, compact size, pest and disease resistance, or improved cold hardiness. These are attractive qualities many gardeners gravitate toward during plant selection. An often overlooked trait, however, is fragrance.Continue reading

Right plant, right place

Many plants have preferences about where they make their home. Before you venture to the garden center, weigh your ideas against the space you expect to plant in. The successful plant will suit the environment your home and landscape offer.Continue reading

New 2011 shrubs boast blooms, pest resistance

One way to cut work in the garden is to plant low-maintenance, pest-resistant shrubs that need little to no pruning. Three excellent new flowering shrubs are debuting in spring 2011 that fill all three of those bills. Check out these at the garden center.Continue reading

Autumn's berried treasures

Plants with colorful fall fruits are often underused. Fall-fruiting plants offer more than just color, though.Continue reading

Landscaping for wildlife

Ready to walk on the wild side in your garden? All you need are plants that provide food and shelter and a source of water. Continue reading

Perennials perform in winter, too

As long as your perennials have not been bothered by insect or disease infestation, many of them can stay upright through the winter to serve as a food source for birds. Others hold their own to provide winter interest. Continue reading

Cold tolerant annuals carry color into fall

You don't have to give up color in the landscape just because the temperatures start to drop. Here are three annuals that are tolerant of cooler weather and will keep going into winter. Continue reading

Small, tough shrubs perfect for containers or landscapes

Shrubs add size and mass to the container collection and, in large pots, will likely survive two or three years in cold climates. Continue reading

Plant annuals for easy summer color

Annuals are about the least expensive way to try something new in the summer garden. Many annuals are easy to grow from seed, or for instant good looks you can buy transplants at garden centers. Continue reading

Tough plants for rock gardens

Rock gardens and other landscape spots with shallow, sandy or fast-draining soil need plants that can tolerate those challenging conditions. Continue reading

Broaden your plant and seed selections with online, mail-order retailers

Many gardeners look for plants that are rare, hard to find or more unusual than average garden-center fare. This is where online and mail-order catalog retailers come in. And early spring is the time to order. Here are some tips. Continue reading

Three plants that can take the heat without a lot of water

Hot, dry summers can be hard on plants. Be a water-wise gardener with these three heat-tolerant plants. Continue reading

Three no fail annuals to take the heat

As temperatures rise, some plants flag, requiring more water to keep blooming or they go dormant. Not so with three sun-loving annuals that take the heat and keep on blooming all summer long long with very little work. Continue reading

Evergreen perennials — color all year long

Most of us think of evergreens as trees and shrubs, but there also are evergreen perennials to brighten the winter landscape. Continue reading