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Vines give your garden height and structure, and hide unsightly features, such as cracked walls or unattractive views. Many perennial vines thrive in full-sun conditions. Some have beautiful flowers and others are grown for their attractive foliage. Give your perennial vines a sturdy support and plenty of room for their roots to spread out for best results.
Begonias are grown for their attractive flowers and succulent leaves. More than 1,300 species exist, and — due to the ease with which they may be hybridized — more are being cultivated constantly. Begonias are members of the family Begoniaceae. Most begonias grow best in shade, but a few actually prefer full sunlight.
Plants grown primarily for their foliage offer a rich contrast in color and texture for the flower border. They also provide garden interest for a much longer period than flowering plants, which often bloom for only a week or two. In annual pots and planters, foliage plants often provide the “spillers,” cascading over the edges of the pot and providing a foil for the blooms of the other annuals in the mix.
Sun-loving varieties of coleus sport foliage in brilliant shades of red and burgundy, setting the landscape ablaze with color from late spring until fall. Although some coleuses develop the richest color when grown in a shaded area, these coleuses deepen in color when grown in full sun. Many gardeners are reluctant to let go of summer flowers when fall arrives, leading them to bring the flowers inside for the winter. Although the entire plant is unlikely to survive, taking cuttings to produce new plants and growing them inside until spring is a workable solution.
Although ferns are much older than flowering plants or even conifers, they are numerous today and thrive in several habitats. In the home, ferns add color to a room and liven up a patio. While many ferns kept by homeowners are small, some grow much larger. Large ferns often require plentiful sunlight for optimum growth.
"Ivy" is a colloquial name given to plants with attractive leaves and a climbing growth habit. In the U.S., English ivy (Hedera helix) and Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) are two common species grown as ornamental garden plants. However, other "ivies" exist, including poison ivy and Swedish ivy. All of these ivies may be grown in sunny landscapes or sunny windows when grown as houseplants. The key is good soil moisture and preventing dehydration from afternoon heat or lots of wind.
Counting the yield of a wheat crop will result in only an inexact estimate unless you wait until the wheat is mature and the harvest is complete. For accuracy, only when the wheat is harvested and weighed can the formula be used which calculates bushels per acre for the given crop year.
It is rare to find a flower that can fit almost any landscape, including the geographical area's rainfall and sun exposure limits. Petunias are one such flower, thriving in a variety of conditions, with some types of the flower requiring less sun, water and maintenance than others. In addition, petunias offer a variety of color options, with some flowering all season.
Afternoon sun is warmer than morning sun and notoriously scorching in the summer. As the sun begins to set, it is the west side that receives the hottest heat of the day. Afternoon sun is a challenge for potted plants. Container plants already need frequent watering because of their confinement. The best afternoon sun loving potted plants need to love full sun and be drought tolerant.
Used in American gardens since Colonial times, boxwoods (Buxus spp.) are slow-growing but long-lived evergreens. These finely textured shrubs come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, and they tolerate close clipping, making them suitable for formal hedges and topiary. Boxwoods tolerate sun but prefer shaded or partially-shaded planting sites.
Creating planters helps provide gardeners with an opportunity to create a lush garden, without digging into the ground. Many types of planters exist to meet a home gardeners needs including plant pots, hanging baskets, window boxes and raised garden beds. In areas known for hot, dry summers, plant planters with heat-tolerant plants to create a lush, healthy garden throughout the growing season.
American marigolds (Tagestes erecta) and French marigolds (T. patula) fill the landscape with bright, yellow-orange blooms, bringing color and interest to the landscape. Understanding the proper gardening culture, including light and soil requirements, helps home gardeners select the best site and grow healthy marigolds.
Evergreens provide some of the most common scenery in a winter landscape, offering beautiful shapes and welcome winter color. Other types of trees contribute to winter gardens and yards through unusual features that often don't stand out until leaves fall. Unusual bark patterns and colored twigs contrast with stark winter surroundings, while the twisting shapes of trunks and branches create pleasing patterns of light and shadow.
In addition to water and temperature requirements, a plant's light requirements help determine whether to purchase certain specimens. While many plants thrive in moderate amounts of both sunlight and shade, others require full amounts of sunlight. Choosing sun-loving varieties to grow in the open areas of your yard and garden ensures the best chances of landscaping success.
Weigela is a flowering shrub that produces pink, red and white flowers. Blooming heavily in early summer, it continues to bloom in a limited fashion in short bursts throughout the growing season. Some types are more frost-tolerant, surviving through zone 4.
Landscaping plants with winter appeal usually get it from their bark, the color of their twigs, their evergreen nature or their persisting fruit that adds color to a landscape mostly devoid of it. These winter-interest plants include some native types that prove hardy to cold conditions across large chunks of North America.
Cannas can grow in Indiana as an annual plant, or as a perennial if a gardener takes the time to cut the plants back after a frost and dig them up. Indiana is in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5a to 6a where plants must be able to withstand winter temperatures that range from minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit to minus 20 degrees. Cannas will live outside in winter temperatures that range between 0 and 10 degrees.
Colorful shrubs with vibrant flowers and/or foliage that are capable of growing in full sun and easy to maintain are a property owner's dream. These shrubs require little care, but reward you with color in the landscape every year. Look for disease-resistant shrubs that have few serious pest problems and grow in many types of soil.
Quiet elegance and subtle beauty describe the majestic Hosta Plant. Also known as plantain lilies, these perennial plants come in a multitude of rich colors, sizes and shapes. This diversity in appearance enables gardeners to choose the right Hosta for almost any gardening scenario. Many hostas require shade, but you can find sun loving varieties that grow well in partial sunlight conditions. (See Reference 2 "partial sun situations").
Removing spent flowers from plants can help to promote flowering as well as keep your plants looking neat. This practice of removing flowers that have already bloomed is known as "deadheading" because you are removing the fading or dead flower heads from the plant. Remove fading flowers from your plants and they can direct more energy into reblooming. Wait until a flower is dead and brown before removing it to use it as a source of seed for next year's blooms.
Calculate the total yield of a soybean harvest using the yield component method. This statistical method requires the soybean farmer to analyze the state of their field. Rather than count all the soybean pods in the entire field, this method requires farmers to go out and analyze a few representative portions of the field and average them together to determine the estimated soybeans per acre.
Most home gardeners have an area of their landscape that is exposed to the sun all day long. These areas have little or no shade and should be filled with plants that can tolerate full sunlight. The best plants for these hot areas not only love the sun, but can also tolerate drought conditions.
The soybean is a legume native to east Asia and is found in many Chinese, Japanese and other Asian dishes. Soybeans are grown around the world, including Hawaii where the climate is similar to that of countries like Japan. Soybeans are used to make soy sauce, soy milk, tofu, bean paste, tempeh and other foodstuffs. You can grow your own healthy soybean plants in Hawaii.
Container gardening is one of the fastest growing types of gardening, according to the Colorado State University Extension website. Growing plants in a container allows many people to enjoy gardening even if all the space they have to devote to the hobby is one sunny corner of their patio. For a low-maintenance sun-loving container, choose plants that are labeled "drought tolerant." These plants have a high tolerance for heat and sunlight and require less watering than other types of sun-loving flowers.
Achieve gardening success by choosing plants that thrive in the type of soil you have. A soil pH test kit, available at most garden centers, will determine the exact pH of your soil. A pH above 7 means your soil is alkaline. Some plants, such as acid-loving azaleas, will not thrive in alkaline soil because the essential nutrients those plants require are not present in the soil in a form the plants can use, according to Iowa State University Extension.
Unlike their deciduous cousins, evergreen trees do not shed their leaves, adding year-round greenery to the landscape. In addition to being an ongoing source of color, evergreens are also popular because they require little to no additional care once they are established. On rare occasions when a pruning is in order, most evergreens require only a slight trimming of the main branches to help them retain their shape. The best time for pruning is early spring.
Set aside an area in your garden for growing long-lived perennial vegetables. They require less work than annual vegetables that live only one year before they must be replaced. Perennial vegetables enter dormancy in the winter and wait for warmer spring temperatures, giving you crops of fresh vegetables year after year.
Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) are perennial flowers. Colorful, tall and showy, they are favorites with home gardeners who want to make a statement. Hollyhocks can be grown in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 5 through 9, according to North Carolina State University. Most of the Phoenix metropolitan area is located in USDA zone 9, which means that, while hollyhocks can be grown there, they are going to need plenty of cooling moisture during extended periods of hot, dry weather.
Many brilliant and colorful plants thrive in alkaline soils without sacrificing their foliage and blooms. Nurturing plants in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, alkaline soils are defined as those that have a pH level above 7.0. To ensure that your plants survive and that the landscape is alkaline in nature, have your soil tested before planting.
Many plants cannot tolerate extreme heat and direct sunshine, preferring to grow in the shade in states like Florida, where daytime temperatures can be excessive, To find plants that thrive in the heat and direct Florida sunshine, choose plants native to the state, or to similarly tropical climates,
Chickens need grains and greens to produce eggs and will munch on many types of greens. You can grow succulents and water-loving plants for your chickens along the edge of a pond or in an enclosed water garden near their coop. If your hens mostly stay indoors, you can toss water-loving cut greens such as watercress or Swiss chard in with their daily ration of grains. The greens may provide a boost of calcium that will thicken eggshells.
There are many plants that thrive in alkaline soil without sacrificing their vibrant blooms. Grown in a wide range of shapes and sizes, alkaline soils have a pH level above 7.0 and contain more lime than acidic and neutral soils. Test the soil to ensure your garden is considered alkaline.
Sun-loving potted plants create a cool element in hot outdoor living areas. Open, sunny areas can get hot, and container culture is difficult for some plants, so it is important to choose shrubs, ornamental and fruiting trees, succulents, herbs and flowers that thrive in full, hot sun. Suitable containers include wood, metal, plastic and clay. A pot with several drainage holes in the bottom allows water to drain away from the roots.
Water plants allow you to create gardens around water fountains, ponds, bogs and lakes. Landscaping yards with protected wetlands are ideal places for water plants. Water plants need to have water to survive. Some plants do well in wet soils rather than submerged in water.
If you have limited space for gardening but still love to grow flowers, one of the easiest -- and most decorative -- ways to do so is in a window box. These boxes fit outside a window sill to give the house a decorative, floral air, but also require plants that can grow in this inevitably sunny location.
Sun-loving plants are well-adapted to dry climates and full sun, making them ideal for sunny states such as California, Arizona and Texas. Some flowers and cacti can even survive for long periods of time (sometimes several months) without a drop of water from the sky. Cacti and succulents actually retain water inside a tough exterior.
A sun-laden garden or yard is one that gets eight or more hours of sun per day during the growing season, according to House and Garden Living. This is usually a southwest-facing area of your yard. Most perennials and many annuals are sun-loving flowers. Adding flowers to your sunny areas will brighten the area and add fragrance and color to your landscape.
Perennials are rewarding plants that continue to perform in your garden year after year. Using perennials as your garden's foundation plantings will ensure ongoing color and interest. Mix and match them according to height, color, and blooming season. Knowing when they will bloom lets you plan your choice of garden annuals to fill in the empty spots. Sun-loving perennial plants are available to beautify your landscape from early spring to late autumn.
In some areas of Florida, the only trees around other than palms are the small ones that builders plant to add curb appeal to homes and offices. These miniatures do not provide much shade for people or for plants. Gardeners in Florida must seek out hardy, sun-loving plants if they are to derive any pleasure from gardening. Fortunately, many plants are adapted to full sun and flourish in Florida's long, sun-filled days.
There is often some shade in landscape areas that can prove to be an obstacle for the optimal growth of sun-loving plants. The problem is best handled by choosing from the large number of plants, shrubs and trees that thrive in the shade. Common areas of shade in landscape could be on the north side of homes and under the larger shade trees such as maples and beeches.
Although annuals must be replaced each year, they flower profusely all season and provide lots of color in the garden. Almost all annuals are sun lovers, doing best in full sun, although some will bloom well in part sun. Annuals generally aren’t picky plants, either; they thrive with sun, moderately good soil and water.
According to a publication released by North Caroline State University, one of the top-ranked landscape architecture schools in the country, the best soil pH for growing vegetables ranges from 6.0 to 6.5, which is slightly acidic. Growing vegetables in alkaline soil (soil with a pH value greater than 7.0) can be a difficult undertaking that needs considerable planning and care. Testing a soil sample every three to four years will indicate the pH value of the soil and which vegetable plants will be best suited for it.
Whiskey barrels that were once used to hold distilled spirits can be reused to create a decorative and functional corner in a yard or garden. Whiskey barrels fit with many decor styles. They can also weather and develop a patina if they include metal hardware in their construction. Whiskey barrels offer a splash of color in a corner when filled with a variety of annual plants. They also can act as a space saver vegetable garden.
Weigela is a deciduous shrub that comes in many varieties. The tubular flowers run from several shades of pink to purple to red. There are even some white varieties. Some of these plants will only grow to 2 feet tall while others will grow to over 6 feet. There is sure to be a type of pink weigela that will fit into your landscape. The shrub is easy to grow and flowers for several weeks in spring or early summer. If you have an empty, sunny spot in your landscape, weigela may be the perfect plant for it.
Plumbago, a beautiful perennial shrub, loves full sun to partial shade. It grows to a height of 3 to 4 feet and can be up to 5 feet wide. The plumbago is a favorite with butterflies. This attractive shrub can be found as a foundation plant or in borders. Its beautiful blue flowers bloom from May until the first frost.
Cannas are exotic-looking flowers that are easy to grow, plus they bloom all summer long. Cannas are tall, tropical plants that come in many colors and grace many public gardens and zoos. It is simple to add some island-looking flare to your home with these low-maintenance plants.
Conifers and most broad-leafed trees reward homeowners with leaves that persist year-round. Proper care of such trees require pruning to help the plants stay healthy and reach their growing potential. Use the right tools and invest a little time to give these evergreens the conditioning they need. With successful pruning, your evergreens will reward you with years of successful growth.
