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Katie and the Giant Cabbage The idea for Katie’s Krops began with a 9 year old girl and a 40 pound cabbage. In 2008 Katie brought home a tiny cabbage seedling home from school as part of the Bonnie Plants 3rd Grade Cabbage Program. She tended to her cabbage and cared for it until it grew to an amazing 40 pounds.  Knowing her cabbage was special she donated to a soup kitchen where it helped to feed over 275 people. Moved by the experience of seeing how many people could benefit from the donation of fresh produce to soup kitchens, Katie decided to start vegetable gardens and donate the harvest to help feed people in need. Everyday Health has a new TV series that profiles ordinary people who overcome extraordinary obstacles and who are helping others lead healthier, happier lives. Episode 5 airs  this Saturday, October 1  on local ABC stations, and features Katie Stagliano, an inspirational 13-year-old girl who founded Katie’s Krops, a movement designed to gets kids to gro...

Cottage garden rock path. Salvias, ageratum, perennial heliotrope, stachys, gaillardia, zinnias. Perhaps summer should be siesta time for blooms? The best cottage garden color this year has been spring and now early fall. Maybe that's going to be my focus for blooms in the future. Summer has been too hot for two years now. Cooler temperatures and rain have brought color back to the garden. The stellar performers are in the salvia family. Blue, white, red, purple and pink perennial salvias are packed with blooms. The hummingbirds are still here and grateful for the trumpets of salvia blooms. The Knock Out® Roses have made a come back after the Japanese Beetle damage in June and July. I hate the beetle season and every time I see the stripped foliage of the roses I think I'll rip them out. Then, the roses bounce back and bloom and I keep them another year. It has taken a few years for my sedum to mature without breaking over. A thick planting works best for sturdy stems. My favor...

White butterfly ginger. September 2011 Huge blossoms of white butterfly ginger, hedychium coronarium , fill the air with fragrance each September. My gardenia 'August Beauty' and my osmanthus fragrans are also in bloom and highly fragrant. It's tough competition among the white bloomers ! For zones 8a-11, I have a mass planting of ginger against the east side of my house. The ginger was a passalong plant from a friend, just after we finished building this house on Labor Day 2005. In spring, I divide the ginger into eight inch sections to transplant around the garden. Because of being up against the house, the ginger likes to lean out toward the sun. This spring, I decided to cut it back after it was just over one foot high. This worked well, so I won't hesitate to reduce the height using this method for 2012. Uncut, the ginger easily grows to six feet in height. The ginger likes moist soil and it is situated beneath one of our outdoor faucets where it catches whatever...

Yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' If there was ever a perennial that mimics a sunburst, it has to be yucca filamentosa 'Color Guard' when backlight by the rays of the morning sun. Planted at the top of my south-facing garden, the yucca glows when the sun rises and shines through. The wispy hairs add to the unusual beauty of a plant whose sharp points must be carefully handled with gloves. I fell in love with this yucca when I was looking for a companion for coreopsis 'Redshift'. The yellow in the yucca blades echo the coreopsis blooms. Other companions include the yellow and green variegated osmanthus 'Goshiki', lantana 'Athens Rose' and three agastache 'Salmon & Pink'. Just before a rain, and when temperatures are between 70-90° is my favorite time to plant during the summer. I've had no problems planting or transplanting xeric or drought resistant plants in August through September as long as they are rated for at least o...