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Index > Garden Blog

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Everyone wants this vine: Blue Sky is in full bloom now!

Thunbergia laurifolia - Blue Sky vine, Blue Trumpet Vine, Scrambling sky flower

🩵 Everyone wants this vine: Blue Sky is in full bloom now!

Thunbergia laurifolia - Blue Sky vine, Blue Trumpet Vine, Scrambling sky flower - is a super-fast growing climber that will cover your fence in just one season!

📚 Learn more about Thunbergias from previous posts:
Perfect everblooming hedge for shade
Blue Sky in just one season and forever
Clock Vine

🛒 Shop Thunbergia vines

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Why is it called Kings Mantle

King's Mantle - Thunbergia erecta

🤴Why is it called King's Mantle
  • ✨ Looking for a hedge that blooms non-stop, even in the shade? King's Mantle - Thunbergia erecta - is ever-blooming superstar is the perfect flowering bush or hedge for those tricky shady spots in your garden.
  • ✨ Unlike its climbing cousins, this Thunbergia prefers to sprawl as a shrub, making it easier to manage.
  • ✨ With its fast-growing, bushy habit, it's ideal for mixed beds or creating a medium-to-low hedge that stays dense and beautiful year-round.
  • ✨ The flowers? Think of morning glories, with stunning purple or white petals and sunny yellow throats. And if you're feeling adventurous, try the 'Lavender Ice' variety with royal, lavender-variegated flowers for a unique twist. The name King's Mantle is well-deserved!
  • ✨Not just a pretty face, King’s Mantle also boasts small, dark green leaves that make the flowers pop even more.
  • ✨ It's a pruning enthusiast's dream - cut it back, and it'll reward you with even more blooms!
  • ✨ Whether you plant it in sun or partial shade, King's Mantle will thrive in well-drained soil, delivering a burst of color all year long.


📚 Learn more from previous post:
Perfect everblooming hedge for shade

🛒 Shop King's Mantle

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The solution to eliminate weeds finally found!

Senna (Cassia) alata â€" Empress Candle, Candelabra Plant

🌞 The solution to eliminate weeds finally found! Yet it has beautiful sunny flowers!
  • 🟡 Imagine a plant that grows fast, stays in bloom almost year-round, and covers your garden with lush, vibrant greenery with sunny, candle-like flowers. That's the Senna (Cassia) alata – Empress Candle, Candelabra Plant.
  • 🟡 This garden wonder lights up your space with golden, candle-like flowers, while its huge leaves provide cool shade and keep weeds at bay! Weeds 🌱 just don't have a chance to grow under its canopy!
  • 🟡 In just one or two seasons, it can grow up to 10 feet wide and 6-8 feet tall, creating a natural masterpiece of beauty.
  • 🟡 Butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees flock to its bright yellow flowers, which are followed by intriguing, rattling seed pods 🦋🐝
  • 🟡 The Empress Candle isn't just a plant - it's a stunning, must-have addition that transforms any garden into a living work of art.


🎥 Watch the video in the next post 👇

🛒 Shop Empress Candle

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants #Nature_Wonders

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Why so many gardeners this year planted Native American Persimmon

American Persimmon tree (Diospyros virginiana), fruit on the branch

American Persimmon tree (Diospyros virginiana), fruit on the branch

American Persimmon tree (Diospyros virginiana), fruit

American Persimmon tree (Diospyros virginiana), fruit

🙃 Why so many gardeners this year planted Native American Persimmon

🍯 The American Persimmon tree (Diospyros virginiana) is a hardy, low-maintenance tree known for its delicious, sweet fruit that ripens in the fall. This small to medium-sized tree is perfect for gardens, attracting wildlife while providing a nutritious harvest.
  • 🍊Native to North America, known for its sweet, flavorful fruit.
  • 🍊Small to medium-sized tree, easy to grow in various soil types.
  • 🍊Fruits are rich in vitamins and antioxidants, ripening in fall.
  • 🍊Great for wildlife, as birds and animals love the fruit.
  • 🍊Cold-hardy and drought-tolerant, making it a resilient choice for gardens.


📚 Learn more from previous post:
Persimmon: cold hardy, dramatic fruit tree with a sweet fruit

🛒 Order American Persimmon

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What is Barbados Gooseberry?

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, flowers

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, flowers

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, fruit

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, fruit

🧅 What is Barbados Gooseberry?

Perescia aculeata - Barbados Gooseberry, is a very interesting, unusual addition for any self-sustaining landscape due to its fast-growing nature and unique combination of cactus and leafy vine, with beautiful flowers and showy edible fruit.

Low-maintenance plant, it is perfect for covering walls or fences, adds greenery and a productive food source, making it both practical and visually appealing.
  • A unique cactus with real leaves, unlike most cacti. Needs very little water.
  • Fast-growing vine that can cover fences or walls quickly.
  • When in bloom, the vine is covered with beautiful white flowers, followed by bright orange, edible, tangy fruits.
  • Great for adding greenery and a food source to your garden.


🛒 Plant Barbados Gooseberry

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What is the easiest and toughest plant for covering both fence and ground?

Trachelospermum jasminoides - Confederate Jasmine

💥 What is the easiest and toughest plant for covering both fence and ground?
  • 💮 Trachelospermum jasminoides - Confederate Jasmine: this charming plant is a triple threat - beautiful, fragrant, and versatile!
  • 💮 With its sweetly scented flowers and bright leaves (variegated in some varieties), it's perfect for covering fences, trellises, or even as a ground cover.
  • 💮 It blooms profusely from winter through spring, adding vibrant color and scent to your garden.
  • 💮 It's incredibly easygoing: drought-tolerant, fast-growing, and happy in both sun and shade. Whether you want a lush hanging basket or a fragrant garden showstopper, this jasmine is a no-brainer!


🛒 Order Confederate Jasmine

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What is the best undemanding yet interesting plant for dry, hot area

Pedilanthus tithymaloides â€" Devils Backbone, Jacobs Ladder

⚡️ What is the best undemanding yet interesting plant for dry, hot area
  • 🌿 Pedilanthus tithymaloides – better known as Devils Backbone or Jacobs Ladder – is a fun, quirky plant with zig-zagging stems that definitely catch the eye! Despite its name, it's anything but evil, it's just a name that adds intrigue.
  • 🌿 Its curious structure looks like nature decided to make an origami plant! Its cute pink blooms add to the charm.
  • 🌿 Whether you’re into drought-tolerant landscaping/xeriscaping or need an easy-going houseplant, this one fits the bill. Plus, it's a survivor, tolerating dry conditions with style.
  • 🌿 Perfect for those who like a bit of plant personality.


📸 More photos in the next post👇

🛒 Get your own Devils Backbone

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What is the Jasmine Oil made of?

French Perfume Jasmine, Poets jasmine (Jasminum officinale)

What is the Jasmine Oil made of?
  • 🌞 French Perfume Jasmine, or Poets jasmine (Jasminum officinale) is the most popular jasmine in the world as it is the source of the original Jasmine essential oil.
  • 🌞 There are two varieties - with single flower (Jasminum x grandiflorum - it has larger size flower and is more rare) and double flower ( Jasminum officinale Flore Pleno). They are very hard to tell apart when not in bloom as the leaves look the same, but the flowers differ (see video).
  • 🌞 Essential oil of this jasmine is one of the most important components in perfumery.
  • 🌞 Grown in the perfume fields of Southern France.
  • 🌞 Semi-evergreen to deciduous vine with lots of fragrant white flowers in spring, summer, and fall.
  • 🌞 Drought tolerant and hardy, it has good tolerance to a wide range of temperatures and is easily maintained in pots.
  • 🌞 Jasmine associates nicely with climbing roses, honeysuckle or clematis, but it looks superb grown on its own.


🎥 The difference between the double and single flower varieties.

🛒 Shop French Perfume Jasmine

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How to add flowering vines to the landscape

Urechites lutea (Pentalinon luteum) - Yellow Mandevilla

🔍 How to add flowering vines to the landscape
  • 🍀 Vines, by their nature, are almost always climbers. There are also some that make good hanging flower vines for your baskets hanging under trees or on the front porch.
  • 🍀 Some vines are also in the fruit category. The Passiflora is a beautiful perennial climbing vine that has very showy flowers and then a fruit that can be eaten off the vine or made into a wonderful juice. It would make a nice fast growing vine for a fence or trellis. The Barbados Gooseberry also falls into this category.
  • 🍀 One of the most popular fast growing flowering vines is the trumpet vine - Allamanda. It is an evergreen vine and will take some cold without damage, although it is still considered a tropical flowering vine. It can be grown as a large shrub or small tree and makes a beautiful focal point in the landscape.
  • 🍀 If you have some large trees in your yard, a great climbing vine for shade that also produces a usable product is the Pepper family. Yes, they flower and yes some of them produce pepper that you can use in your kitchen. If you like to know what is in your food, grow your own!
  • 🍀 Another perennial, fast growing and evergreen climbing vine is the Monstera. Monsteras will climb the side of a large tree and can produce an edible fruit after a few years. It is very tropical looking, but will take some cool nights as it is protected under the canopy of the tree.


🎥 Urechites lutea (Pentalinon luteum) - Yellow Mandevilla

🛒 Shop flowering vines

#Hedges_with_benefits #How_to

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Earrings for your Princess!

Dichrostachys cinerea - Princess Earrings, Sickle bush

💎 Earrings for your Princess!

⭐️ Dichrostachys cinerea - Princess Earrings, Sickle bush from West Africa is one of the most unusual and unforgettable flowers of cheerful color combination... They bring hope, joy and sunshine into your day!

🛒 Plant Princess Earrings

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