The Canna Cannova Series separates itself from almost every other canna on the market. These easy-care, tropical bulbs are prized for their super-sized leaves in bright green, bronze, black, or variegated. Cannova has a compact, bushy habit and the ability to form multiple shoots. They bloom earlier and continue nonstop from summer until the first frost. Flowers come in shades of red, rose, yellow, scarlet, lemon, and mango and are available in standard forms that can grow 5 feet tall and dwarfs that grow just 2 feet tall.
The dwarf morning glory is a customary bedding plant that is ideal for massing, edging, hanging baskets, or containers. The bushy, slightly trailing mound blooms abundantly in summer with striking 1 to 2-inch-wide flowers in a carnival of colors including royal blue, red, pink, or white.
Acclaimed for their cheery, brightly colored flowers, coneflowers (echinacea) are a mainstay in summer garden. These long-blooming perennials are easy to grow and maintain, and make a great addition to any landscape or mixed container. Their long sturdy stems rise above the compact foliage, making them an excellent choice for cut flowers. Coneflowers are time-honored perennial that makes a classic addition to just about any garden style.
Mike Westphal, the Garden Guru, shares some helpful tips and products you can use to deter and prevent ticks in your yard.
Ticks can be a big problem in Hampton Roads, and as the weather warms, they become more active in our area. People are more likely to be heading outdoors to hike, work in the yard and head to the beach, and ticks live in tall grass and thick brush as well as thick, wooded areas. And, if you have deer that roam the neighborhood, then ticks may also be more prevalent. Regardless of where you live in the Hampton Roads area, ticks can be an issue.
The monarch butterfly has long been an ambassador of nature in the garden and a symbol of summertime. Generations of schoolchildren have raised monarchs in classrooms, watching in awe as caterpillars transform into beautiful orange-and-black adult butterflies. Yet monarch butterflies, once a familiar sight, are plummeting toward extinction (by 90 percent in the last 20 years). One of the main reasons for their decline is a lack of milkweed, the species’ only caterpillar host plant. Without milkweed, monarchs are unable to complete their lifecycle.