Labrador Tea And Lappland Azalea

The Native Azaleas Of The Far North

Labrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum)

One of the great envies of all northerners is the lack of azaleas and rhododendrons in our gardens. We now have a few cultivars that are hardy to zone 4 courtesy of the Northern Lights breeding program at the University of Minnesota, but for those in zones 3 and colder, they are not really a reliable option. And thus the status of rhododendron is elevated to that of unreachable, a flowering shrub of warmer climates.

The truth is, rhododendrons are among the most diverse and...

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Junipers As Ground Covers

My Personal Recommendation For Tough And Tenacious

For many homeowners, a low-maintenance landscape is nothing short of the holy grail, a quest for the mythic and the impossible. They want something that will look good with minimal attention to watering, weeding, pruning and any other form of care that might arise. Of course, Nature rarely works this way and thus the low-maintenance landscape will never truly be the no-maintenance landscape. However, it is possible to approach this goal with careful planning and a selection of plants that is...

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Legginess Exposed

Neither Good, Nor Bad, Just Leggy!

Tatarian Honeysuckle grows to be characteristically leggy when mature

Professional garden designers will often refer to a particular plant as "leggy". Exactly what do they mean by this, and how should Northscapers use this to benefit our own landscapes and gardens?

First of all, "legginess" is mostly used in reference to shrubs. It is simply a measure of how low the "bushy" or leafy part of the plant comes to the ground, and in its absence, how much "leg" the shrub shows, i.e. exposed parts of the stems or trunks. A shrub is considered to be leggy if...

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The Heralds Of Spring Came Bearing A Message

How To Prune A Spring-Flowering Shrub... And Why!

'Northern Gold' Forsythia doing what it does best!

Around these parts, the forsythias are in full bloom. Their cheery yellow flowers radiate warmth and promise in the bright spring sunlight, and they offer me the first definitive proof that the gardening season has left the realm of our dreams and become a reality.

I have seen some of the most stunning forsythias in bloom, so showy that they literally took my breath away. I have seen waves of them, and I have seen stunning feature plants that just dominate the landscape....

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