Last updated on July 19th, 2018
Many moons ago, I was a columnist for Garden Design Magazine. Now I’m just an enthusiastic subscriber! I love the full-length stories (some run 10-20 pages to include lots of gorgeous photography) on plants, gardens, and design ideas — all presented without ads. Highlights from the Summer issue, and a special offer for you:
Boxwood spirals, cones, and globes make this a lively garden space. To shape spirals and cones in your own garden, try Buxus ‘Green Mountain’ and B. ‘Green Tower’. For boxwood globes, try B. sempervivens ‘Suffruticoa’ and B. ‘Green Velvet’. Get more ideas for using boxwood in the Summer 2018 issue of Garden Design magazine. Photo by Jonathan Buckley.
To add sunflowers to your floral arrangements without creating a mess, use pollenless sunflowers! Here’s one we love: ‘Moulin Rouge’—an annual sunflower with gorgeous, velvety, deep red ray flowers with an ebony center and wine-colored stems. See more fun varieties of sunflowers in the Summer 2018 issue of Garden Design magazine. Photo by Rob Cardillo.
Treasure your plants long after they’re gone from the garden! Learn how to press flower blooms and foliage and get ideas for how to display them in the Summer 2018 issue of Garden Design magazine. Photo by Josh Endres.
If you don’t already receive Garden Design, the summer issue is a great one to start off with! And since you’re a friend of mine, you’ll get your first issue for free when you subscribe. Just go online to www.gardendesign.com. Or, call (855) 624-5110 and tell ’em Kevin Lee Jacobs sent you!
xKevin
Janice says
I like your explanations on Thanksgiving Schlumbergera truncate and the Christmas
Schlumbergera bridgesii and I am looking at the plants I have and I think I have both. The one that has just flowered is a beautiful large red flower and I think that is Bridgesii. The segments are quite smooth as you say but when a new segment is forming the last bit of the older segment has a little bit of a point on either side. Also, some of the buds did not mature and dropped off which I was not very happy about. Was this because of too much water? Thanking you Janice
Susan says
Hi Kevin,
Since your the jack of all flowers and master of some, I thought you’d be the perfect person to answer a simple African Violet question. This is one of the few flowers that love me. Meaning I can get them to bloom and live longer than a week. LOL What do you consider to be the easiest African Flower plant or variety for a novice to grow or at least try to grow? I was asked this question but since I don’t have a problem growing the plants, I didn’t know what to tell this person. Thanks for any info you can give me.
Sincerely,
Susan
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Janice – Common cultural conditions that lead to bud drop: Too much moisture and too high heat.
Hi Susan – Next to African Violets, the easiest flowering plants from Africa are Pelargonium (geranium) and impatiens. These last two will gladly live indoors in winter in North America.
Carol H. says
Pollen-less Sunflowers! It seems like that would not be a good idea for the bees.