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1 month ago | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
Pearls of Perfume is a hybrid mock orange (Philadelphus) that reblooms from spring through fall, with white double flowers that emit a citrusy scent. This fragrant shrub works in a mixed garden border or a large container, or it can be planted in multiples as a flowering hedge. Pearls of Perfume mock orange made the shortlist for Plant of the Year at 2023’s Chelsea Flower Show.
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2 months ago | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
Eastern arborvitae, or Thuja occidentalis, are garden favorites for their evergreen leaves, which provide color and texture in the garden all year long. The species itself is a needled evergreen native to eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, where it grows on lakesides and open hills. Selective breeding has given gardeners a wide range of options in arborvitae; cultivars come in all shapes and sizes, with foliage in gold, reddish tones and all shades of green.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
Each year, the Perennial Plant Association, a membership group of plant and garden professionals, votes one species or cultivar Perennial Plant of the Year (view them all here). Criteria for the award include a wide growing range and availability, resistance to pests and diseases, ease of care and, of course, beauty, preferably in more than one season. Named Perennial Plant of the Year for 2025 is clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum).
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Dec 17, 2024 | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
The American Hosta Growers Association (AHGA) is made up of professionals who specialize in Hosta. Members include wholesale and retail nurseries, both mail-order and walk-in, as well as the growers that produce starter plants for these nurseries. The AHGA aims to promote interest in gardening with hostas and to share the best information on their care. Want to grow the 2025 Hosta of the Year?
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Dec 12, 2024 | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
Grow 'Blue Ball' Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis 'Blue Ball') for its gorgeous blue-green needles, which outline its loosely globular shape. This is a dwarf conifer whose slow growth rate and undemanding nature should earn it a spot in foundation beds, mixed borders, rock gardens or any other suitable site where it can be admired year-round but especially in the winter.
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
With its silver-blue needles, cascading branches and narrow silhouette, weeping white spruce (Picea glauca 'Pendula') makes a handsome specimen in a tight garden space. It serves equally well planted as a small group to anchor a garden bed or in a row as a privacy screen. However you use it, this evergreen conifer deserves the spotlight in winter, when its color and shape can really come to the fore.
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Dec 9, 2024 | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
With their bright and festive flowers, poinsettias have long been the go-to plant for indoor decorating at the winter holidays and for sharing as a host or hostess gift. Everyone knows a poinsettia when they see one, but there are certain varieties that stand out among the rest. Christmas Mouse is one of those special poinsettias. An award-winner in Europe, this variety has rounded bracts and leaves, rather than the pointed kind that most poinsettias have.
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Nov 21, 2024 | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
While other female blue hollies (Ilex x meserveae) can grow large, the truly dwarf cultivar named LittleOne tops out at three feet, making it the perfect holly for front yards and foundation plantings, where it can lend year-round color without blocking windows. It has a rounded shape that complements formal settings. This holly can produce vivid red berries, and its dark green foliage has a high sheen and toothed edges for added textural interest.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
Miniature leaves in a lively light green create enticing texture on this tidy cotoneaster discovered by renowned plant hunter Daniel Hinkley. Naturally growing taller than it is wide and very receptive to shearing, this midsize semi-evergreen shrub works well in a mixed border, foundation planting or as a narrow hedge. Dot it throughout the garden to create structure, rhythm and continuity amid seasonal elements. Shear Genius cotoneaster can stand in for boxwood (Buxus) where it is hardy.
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Nov 19, 2024 | 
hortmag.com | Meghan Shinn
The spread of boxwood blight has made it necessary to replace infected boxwood (Buxus) in gardens and to seek alternative shrubs. Happily, we don’t need to abandon boxwoods altogether, because plant breeders have been working to create boxwood varieties that can withstand the blight. Related: “Boxwood Blight: What Is It and How to Avoid it”NewGen Boxwood (USDA Zones 5b–8) have shown good resistance to boxwood blight and to a significant insect pest, the boxwood leafminer.
