Add season long interest to your garden with the 2011 Perennial Plant of the Year.

“Masses of orange yellow blooms blushed with tones of soft pink and peach” describes the blossoms of Flower Carpet Amber Rose. Breeders are looking for more ways to add this beautiful color to your landscape.

Don’t let your air conditioner break the family budget or be an eye sore in your backyard. Try one of these affordable solutions to improve the view and keep your air conditioner running smoothly.

So what do you do when those bare root perennials, shrubs, roses, or fruit plants you ordered arrive before you and your garden are ready or the weather is suitable for planting? Don’t despair you can preserve your investment with minimal effort.

Bring a bit of your garden’s beauty indoors for all to enjoy. Fresh cut flowers right from the garden make everyday a special occasion.

Extend the beauty and enjoyment of this year’s Mother’s Day bouquet. A few extra minutes spent caring for cut flowers can add days to your enjoyment.

Mother’s Day and flowers go hand-in-hand and this is especially true of the carnation.

Celebrate Mother’s Day and National Public Gardens Day with a visit to your favorite public garden or arboretum.

Mint, beebalm, and purple coneflower are garden favorites that often get out of hand. Tame these and other garden bullies with a few planting and maintenance strategies.

Reduce maintenance and improve your plants’ health by creating large planting beds around trees and shrubs.

Keep your flowers blooming longer and your garden tidier with a bit of deadheading.

Overcrowded, poor flowering and floppy perennials can be invigorated with a shovel and a bit of your time and energy.

So it seems your perennial garden is filled with more weeds than flowers. Now is a great time to reclaim your garden by getting the weeds under control.

Pluck a few flower petals and add flavor and color to your favorite salad, beverage, jam, jelly or meal.

Flopping perennials can ruin the beauty and enjoyment of your garden. Take note and prevent future problems with a bit of proactive care.

Let ‘em stand for winter - perennials that is - for a healthier more floriferous garden next year.

Bring a bit of spring indoors by forcing branches of forsythia, quince, pussy willows and other spring flowering plants into bloom.

Picture this - Your guest reaches over and plucks a sprig of mint from a planter to add to their iced tea or Mojito. Nothing beats the fresh-from-the-garden flavor or fun of ingredients right from your own garden.

Enjoy your garden’s beauty year round. Harvest and dry a few flowers to use in flower arrangements, craft project or as gifts for friends and family.

Sunflowers are a favorite for kids of all ages. Not only are they fun to grow, they’re also great to eat – that is - if you can beat the birds and squirrels to the seeds.

Looking for a last minute gift for mom? Don’t worry there is plenty of time to create the perfect gift she will enjoy all season long.

Put your creativity to work and get your favorite youngster excited about gardening.

Mums are the traditional fall flower – but don’t stop there. You can find plenty of plants to add to your landscape’s fall display.

Don’t sacrifice beauty for function when you can have both. Select long blooming shrubs that can screen bad views, create barriers and serve as the framework or a focal point in your landscape.

X may not mark the spot in the garden – but bulbs, plant markers or standing stems sure can help guide your cleanup efforts next spring.

Balloon flower, butterfly weed and swamp mallow are a few of the plants that emerge late in the spring. This makes it easy to accidently weed them out during spring clean-up.

Tired of looking at the fading foliage of early season bloomers? Mask the ugliness of these declining leaves and increase the beauty of your landscape this season.

Memorial Day is a traditional planting weekend for many of us. Whether you are just getting started, changing out your seasonal displays or finishing up, consider adding sunflowers to your landscape.

Trees, shrubs and perennials are great for container gardens. But as winter approaches we need to provide a bit of care to help them through the winter.

Whether you are sharing a piece of a favorite plant, a bit of family history, or a shared memory, pass-along plants have long been a part of the gardening tradition.

Ahhh the sweet smell of lilacs generate fond memories for many of us. Be sure to grow a few new memories in your garden this year.

Procrastination is a good thing when it comes to cleaning up your landscape in fall.

Keep your clematis down to size, looking good and flowering with proper pruning.

Tame those unruly perennials with a little early season pruning.

Beautiful reddish purple buds line the branches and trunks of the picturesque redbud tree. As the temperatures warm the buds burst into rosy pink or magenta blooms. And this is just the beginning of this tree’s beauty.

Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day like a fresh bouquet of roses. And nothing is more disappointing than when the necks of those roses wilt and ruin the display.

Your geraniums are at their peak bloom and you heard somewhere you could store them overwinter – but how?

Your mailbox and dining room table are overflowing with catalogs filled with pictures of beautiful flowers and scrumptious vegetables. With so many choices it can be a bit overwhelming – I can help.

Some of your impatiens, geraniums and other annuals overwintering indoors may be looking a bit unkempt. Break out the pruners and get busy with a little grooming.

Break out the camera, notebook or garden journal and start recording the beautiful blooms in your garden. It‘s a fun family activity that can help you increase your garden’s beauty and manage garden pests.