Nature Hills Gardening Community

The Holly-Winter Red Ilex verticillata 'Winter Red' also called Winter Red Winterberry is the Queen of fruiting shrubs . It is a female shrub so it does need a male to pollinate. The Ilex 'Southern Gentlemen' is the recommended pollinator for the Winter Red to obtain the bright red fruits that are fairly large and beautiful to behold...

The Coast Redwood Sequoia sempervirens has often been called a Giant Coast Redwood due to the fact that it can grow from 50 feet to up to 300 feet tall! (Taller than many buildings including some skyscrapers.) Redwoods can be traced back to the Jurassic Era! They are a tough tree and have very little to no problem with diseases or insects. Their bark...

If you are like me, you buy too many bulbs every year. Around Thanksgiving you heave most of the remaining bulbs into the ground with a sigh of relief. However, if you are like me, more often than not, you also have a few left over. Simply keeping them until next year is not an option, so put them to good use. If the ground is still workable, plant...

If you want some show stopping drama in your garden, why not add some Oriental Poppies ? These Oriental Poppies Papaver orientale are brightly colored in orange, pink, red, salmon, and white flowers. The flowers are good sized at 4 to 8 inches across. Blooming time begins in late spring to early summer. They will swing and sway in the wind on tall stems...

I I am not a winter person. Give me spring and summer all year long and I would be happy. I will admit to admiring some snowstorms as they can be really beautiful; if I'm home and not on the roads anyway. If they are clogging the streets, that's another story. I would prefer to see those pretty snowflakes in some other way. So this Summer Snowflake...

Most people buy roses for the beautiful blooms--which is very sensible, since not all rosebushes are lovely when they are out of bloom. Real rose lovers also consider the hips, sometimes called "heps", which are the fruit of the rose. Depending on the species and variety of rose, the hips can by tiny or cherry tomato-size and can range in...

Evergreen shrubs are almost a staple in a lot of landscapes because of their beauty, the fact that they stay green all year and they are wonderful complementary background or foreground color for other plants that are placed around them. They make a great hedge as well. The Taunton Spreading Yew taxus x media 'Tauntoni' is a dark green evergreen...

If you are looking for a fast growing windbreak or privacy tree, the Theves Poplar Populus nigra 'Afghanica'' is a perfect specimen. It will grow from 40 to 50 feet tall and 8 to 10 feet wide, therefore making a wonderful windbreak or screen. Their upright form looks somewhat like tall columns. These remind me of soldiers standing guard...

Sedum Spurium 'Elizabeth Red Carpet' is quite a sight to see. I am used to seeing Sedum used mainly in rock walls or rock gardens. It's a good plant for areas that most things don't like to grow in. It actually likes dry soil, full sun and grows fast. It's red flowers put on a show from May to September and even attracts butterflies...

My Thanksgiving centerpiece this year will include bright, brownish red fruits of the hypericum or St. John's Wort plant. In my garden, these fruits have long since turned from red to black, but somewhere in the world they have turned ruddy just in time for the fall harvest. The sight of the St. John's wort fruits (which look a little like rose...