Garden
4. Embrace meadow gardens. Working in swaths of meadow-like plantings brings a romantic, carefree feel to the garden. Plus, using a variety of flowering perennials, natives and ornamental grasses that set seeds provides wild creatures with more sources of food, shelter and nest-building materials than traditional ornamental beds.
Modern Landscape by Botanica Design Botanica Design Email Save Planting a mass of two species of flowers in the border also makes a big visual impact and creates a bed that’s easy for pollinators to spot. Other pollinator-friendly plants to consider for a border: Catmint (Nepeta spp.) Lemon thyme (Thymus x citriodorus) Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) Coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.) Coneflower (Echinacea spp.) Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii) Lantana (Lantana spp.) Bee balm (Monarda spp.) Sage (Salvia spp.)
Bee balm (Monarda didyma, zones 4 to 9) has become a favorite functional perennial of mine. I have used this plant to battle latent weed seed spikes of Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense, zones 3 to 7) with little maintenance. Although this plant is susceptible to powdery mildew, it never really looks bad to me en masse. If it's a bother to you, cut it to the ground and watch it push out new, clean foliage the same year.
2 Beneficial Garden Insects and How to Welcome Them Ladybugs. As mentioned previously, aphids are a major issue in the garden. Ladybugs are a natural predator of aphids and can make a big difference to the health of your garden. An adult ladybug can eat up to 1,000 aphids a day, so it’s easy to see how introducing this little helper can be beneficial. You can buy ladybugs at many garden centers, but before you spend the money, make sure you take appropriate measures to help them stick around instead of flying off to your neighbor’s garden: Make sure that there is no insecticide on your plants, and inspect the leaves to see if there are aphids. Release the ladybugs at night (they do not fly at night, so they are more likely to get established in your garden immediately) near the aphid-affected plants. Provide food sources other than aphids to make them feel at home. Ladybugs also eat pollen and love many flowering plants, such as marigolds, fennel, dill and geraniums.
Mosquitoes Finally, there are several plants you can add to your garden to help repel mosquitoes. Catnip is a natural mosquito repellent that grows in most areas as an easy-growing perennial. Marigolds also have a distinctive smell that is unbearable to mosquitoes. Try planting these annuals in pots around your patio and next to windows, and the smell will prevent mosquitoes from hanging around .Wasps. As the summer winds on, wasps can become a major issue in the garden. These aggressive carnivores have ruined many an outdoor dinner. Unfortunately, vibrant-colored blooms can attract them, so put plants that bloom in the summer away from sitting and dining areas. You can also deter wasps by putting out a bowl of crushed cloves on the dining table — the smell is offensive to wasps, and they will find somewhere else to spend their time.
Incorporating moss and lichen into your wildlife container is another way to attract hummingbirds; they use those materials to build their nests. To make your garden even more attractive to hummingbirds, make sure there are places for them to perch, such as a nearby tree. You can also provide convenient perching spots in the container; add certain succulent plants, add some garden art that rises a foot or so above the container, or simply insert a small dead tree branch with multiple places for perching.
Monrovia SaveEmail 10. Golden Jackpot Weigela (Weigela florida ‘MonRigney’) The flashy pairing of magenta flowers and brilliant golden leaves sets Golden Jackpot apart from other weigela. Add to cottage-style and traditional gardens, where the vivid combination will stand out in border plantings or when placed on either side of a gate. Even in full sun and in the heat of summer, the leaves hold their brilliant color without fading. The bell-shaped flowers bloom in mid-spring, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 9) Water requirement: Moderate; water regularly in extreme heat Light requirement: Partial to full sun Mature size: 4 to 6 feet tall and wide
8. ‘Coconut’ Double Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Coconut’) As frothy as a blended piña colada, ‘Coconut’ has double blossoms with creamy petals and egg-yolk-yellow centers. Plants grow in a mounding habit, 20 inches tall and wide, staying smaller and more compact than other shasta daisies. Try ‘Coconut’ massed in borders, mixed in beds or in containers. The deer-resistant plants bloom from June until August and attract pollinators. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 26.1 degrees Celsius (zones 5 to 9) Water requirement: Moderate; low once established Light requirement: Full sun Mature size: 20 inches tall and wide
7. ‘Midnight Masquerade’ Penstemon (Penstemon hybrid) With eggplant-purple leaves and lavender bell-shaped flowers with white interiors, the colors of ‘Midnight Masquerade’ penstemon, also known as ‘Midnight Masquerade’ beardtongue, make a head-turning combination. Plant in full sun in garden beds or in large mixed container plantings as a dramatic “thriller.” The bell-shaped flowers open from the base to the tip of the upright flower stalks from mid-spring to midsummer. The plant’s flowers attract hummingbirds. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 37.2 degrees Celsius (zones 3 to 8) Water requirement: Moderate Light requirement: Full sun Mature size: 36 to 40 inches tall and 28 to 32 inches wide
3. Candy Apple Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata‘SMHPMWMH’) Add freshness to garden beds with airy, pale-green blooms that age to a snowy white by midsummer. Unlike pale-green flowering look-alike ‘Limelight’panicled hydrangeas, the flowers of Candy Apple are held up on sturdier stems that don’t flop over. Flowers can be cut for long-lasting bouquets. Grow as part of a mixed border, in woodland settings, along a fence, as a foundation plant or in containersas a patio accent. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 8) Water requirement: Moderate to high; keep soil evenly moist Light requirement: Partial shade to full sun Mature size: Up to 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide
Grow a bean teepee. A kid-friendly classic for edible gardens, a bean teepee is effectively a structure that provides a trellis for vines and an outdoor playroom for children. Turn a trellis into a teepee by arranging bamboo stakes in a circle — with a section left out as an entrance — and securing the stakes at the top with garden twine. Plant beans, sweet peas or other climbers around the outside of the teepee and train them to grow up the sides.
Out here on the porch, a bowl of twigs has the look of a fire pit without the fire hazard. "The glowing-embers effect was created by tucking strings of orange twinkle lights in among a whorl of local driftwood sticks," McLeod explains. "We made the outdoor coffee table that it sits on and used a large drill bit for the extension cord. The absence of a visible power source completes the illusion."
5. Plant in clusters. Flowers clustered into clumps are easier for pollinators to spot than individual plants scattered through the yard. In small gardens, aim to plant flowering annuals and perennials in groups of three or five plants. In larger gardens, make clumps about 3 feet in diameter, or arrange plants in even larger swaths. Grouping flowers also makes sense designwise, as clumps and drifts have a soothing visual appeal in the landscape.
Q