 "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now." — Chinese proverb
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Planting Trees and Shrubs: Choosing, Siting, and Getting Them Off to a Strong Start
Trees and shrubs are among the best investments a gardener can make, providing shade, privacy, wildlife habitat, and lasting beauty. This guide covers why trees and shrubs matter, how to choose a healthy specimen, where and how to plant them using current best practices, and how to care for them through their critical first years. |  |
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Tree planting, staking, and siting near utilities
Establishing new trees well means staking correctly for strength, choosing species suited to the site and infrastructure nearby, and understanding where certain popular choices create problems down the road. |  |
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How to Grow and Care for Dogwoods
The beloved flowering dogwood tree, found in home gardens across the country, is just one of the many types of dogwoods. Some species are native to the United States. |  |
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Top 50 Trees and Shrubs
Let's open Trees and Shrubs week with a list of the most popular of these woody plants in our database. There are a lot of great plants in this list! |  |
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Crab Apple
Compost to the dripline, an inch of water a week, and a light late-winter pruning are all a crab apple asks in exchange for one of the finest small flowering trees you can grow. |  |
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Calcium Fertilizer Helps Trees Survive Winter
With winter around the corner, many gardeners will be preparing their landscape plants for the coming cold temperatures. With an estimated 1 million urban trees worldwide dying each year from freezing temperatures, researchers are trying to find ways we can better protect plants. A study in England suggests that fertilizing in fall with calcium nitrate can help trees survive both freezing temperatures and salt damage from products used to de-ice roads and walkways. |  |
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Sonoran Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizeni subsp. herrerae)
Plant Habit: Cactus/Succulent
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Fruit: Dehiscent
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Resistances: Drought tolerant
Pollinators: Bees
Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots
Conservation status: Vulnerable (VU)
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Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Vesuvian')
Hybridizer: John Benz
Year of Registration or Introduction: 1992
Foliage type: Dormant
Scape height: 36.00 inches
Bloom size: 5.50 inches
Bloom time: Midseason
Plant Traits: Extended Bloom
Bloom Traits: Self
Bloom Form: Single
Color description: ruby red self with green throat
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 3 -40 °C (-40 °F) to -37.2 °C (-35)
Flowers: Showy
Ploidy: Tetraploid
Parentage: sdlg x Tet. Ed Murray
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Pink Carpet Oxalis (Oxalis adenophylla)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Water Preferences: Mesic
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 3 -40 °C (-40 °F) to -37.2 °C (-35)
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Pink
Bloom Size: 1"-2"
Flower Time: Other
Suitable Locations: Alpine Gardening
Uses: Groundcover, Dried Flower, Will Naturalize
Wildlife Attractant: Birds
Toxicity: Other
Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots
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Florist's Cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade, Partial or Dappled Shade, Partial Shade to Full Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 9a -6.7 °C (20 °F) to -3.9 °C (25 °F)
Plant Height: 6 inches - 12 inches
Plant Spread: 6 inches - 12 inches
Leaves: Deciduous, Variegated, Other
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: White, Pink, Red, Lavender
Bloom Size: 1"-2"
Flower Time: Spring, Late winter or early spring, Late fall or early winter, Winter
Suitable Locations: Houseplant
Uses: Suitable as Annual
Resistances: Deer Resistant
Toxicity: Other
Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots
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Sutherland's Begonia (Begonia sutherlandii)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Partial or Dappled Shade
Plant Height: 6 to 8 inches
Plant Spread: 12 to 15 inches
Leaves: Unusual foliage color, Evergreen, Deciduous, Other, Semi-evergreen
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Orange, Other
Flower Time: Summer, Late summer or early fall, Fall
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Containers: Suitable in 1 gallon, Suitable in 3 gallon or larger, Needs excellent drainage in pots
Awards and Recognitions: RHS AGM
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 Photo by Bea10
"The blooms are on the small side but the bright color makes it stand out."
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 Photo by Baja_Costero
"Late summer. Pale yellow flowers with red midveins"
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 Photo by jon
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 Photo by psudan
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 Photo by Char
"First one I've seen that is orange one with red spashes"
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 Photo by Bea10
"The blooms are pinker in cooler weather."
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 Photo by Bea10
"After division only one bloom and quite different from the previous years."
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 Photo by valleylynn
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 Photo by colcol
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 Photo by janinilulu
"large & very meaty"
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Engaging threads from our forums:
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The numbers from this week:
203 members joined.
1,760 posts written in our forums.
448 photos posted to the plant database.
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