Name:  Agastache Acapulco Orange aka orange hummingbird mint Type of Plant:  Perennial to tender-perennial for full sun and containers. Hardy in zones 6-10 (maybe colder – let me know if you’ve grown this in a cold zone 5, OK?) Why I love this: There are so many...

As I looked through my garden photos recently I came across this shot taken at the Berkshire Botanical Garden. It got me thinking about placing plants next to hard surfaces. When we design gardens we consider the textures and colors of foliage, the height of the...

Name: Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) Type of Plant:  Small tree (10 to 20 feet tall, usually shorter in sandy or poor soil, taller in rich loam) for full sun or part shade. Hardy in zones 5 through 9 and native to Eastern North America. Why I love this: I...

Name:  Zinnias Grown from Renee’s Garden Seeds Type of Plant:  Annuals for sunny gardens Why I love this: Do you want a flower that you’ll never see in the florist section of the supermarket? Do you want a flower that can only be locally grown? You need to grow...

Recently I had the great pleasure of speaking at Nunan's Florist and Greenhouses in Georgetown, MA. Here's a taste of what I saw.        

You know it's true. I had some fun with Photoshop and created a Twigabet bumper sticker.

Name:  Cornus kousa ‘Satomi’  aka pink kousa dogwood Type of Plant:  relatively small tree (12 to 20 feet tall and wide) for full sun or part sun. Hardy in zones 5~8. Why I love this:  Kousa dogwoods start off as an upright, vase shaped tree and later they mature into...

They look like hieroglyphics, code, or fossils. They resemble plants or fallen twigs. I love this!

Name:  Coreopsis ‘Star Cluster’ Type of Plant:  A perennial for full sun - hardy zones 5 to 9 and some claim colder. Why I love this: This perennial is long-flowering, bushy and the definition of lovely. It grows two feet tall in my garden and is absolutely covered...