What a year it has been! 2023 was a gorgeous year in our expanded display gardens here at Garden Crossings in Zeeland, Michigan. With fairly moderate temperatures and decent rainfall, our plants flourished, creating a vibrant swathe of color across the front of our retail garden center. Let’s take a look back at ten of
Why didn’t my hydrangea bloom? What can I plant that the deer won’t eat? How do I overwinter this shrub in a container? You’ll find answers to these and many more of the most commonly asked questions in this season’s edition of Ask the Expert. Let’s dig in! Questions About Hydrangeas and Other Shrubs Why
When you stop to think about it, birds are a lot like people in that they need many of the same things to survive and thrive. Food, water, shelter and community are all critical components of the ecosystem in which they live. If your landscape is lacking any of the four, you are less likely
Are you tired of replanting all of your patio and porch pots every year? What if some of them contained plants that returned for several years? Though non-hardy annuals are traditionally used in patio and porch containers, the palette of available plant material increases exponentially when you add hardy perennials and shrubs into the mix.
As pretty as they are all on their own, you can enhance the beauty of your hydrangeas by pairing them with complementary plants that accentuate their best traits. Companion plants can also bring color and texture to the space when your hydrangeas aren’t in bloom. Let’s take a look at all six types of hydrangea
If you enjoyed some blueberries in your cereal this morning or a thick slice of tomato on your BLT sandwich, you have a bee to thank. Native bees, of which there are approximately 4,000 species in North America, are the primary pollinator of many of our agricultural crops. They are generally far more efficient at
We’ve grown literally thousands of varieties of plants at our nursery over the years. Many of them make their way into our own home garden and the Signature Gardens surrounding our retail garden center. In the process, we’ve identified a select group of plants that are continually impressive either for their extraordinary ability to bloom
Some plants are just better together—a concept that has given rise to the idea of companion planting. If you grow vegetables, you may be familiar with this term. There, companion planting is more about one plant attracting or deterring insects from the other or about plants creating physical support for one another. When it comes
Whether you garden exclusively on a balcony or around a small patio, you can surround yourself with plants you’ll love. We’ll show you how using a dozen different examples and explain what makes each space work for the homeowner. Handy plant lists will help you achieve a similar look in your own landscape. Let’s get
Lots of people who like to garden also like to collect plants. We find irresistible plants everywhere we go and one by one, our gardens grow. And grow. And grow! While it’s perfectly OK (and fun!) to collect lots of different kinds of plants, we need to get smarter about which ones we allow into
If you are like many people across the country this year, your area may be experiencing drought. While extreme drought tends to end the gardening season due to severe watering restrictions, it’s possible to keep your garden going in areas that are experiencing mild drought by growing plants that can adapt to drier soils. Even
Photo Courtesy of Proven Winners You may have seen the idea of planting a moon garden pop up in your social feeds recently since it has become quite trendy. But the concept of designing a garden with plants and water features that reflect the moonlight is an ancient trend born centuries ago in China’s meditation