The dog days of summer offer a good opportunity to start those garden craft projects you want to use for holiday gifts and shop for early gardening related gifts.

Everything seems to be large today. There are mega muffins, and super size fries. One-size-fits-all doesn´t apply to ornamental grasses. Many species are so huge they would overwhelm some landscapes. The solution is to choose smaller grasses.

Scented geraniums were chosen as Herb of the Year for 2006. This offers a great opportunity to showcase these delightful plants.

Culinary herbs are among the most popular of landscape plants. Plant breeders are focusing much more attention on herbs than they did earlier. There are many excellent varieties for landscapes. These include hardy ones that are great for beds and borders as well as others suitable for container gar

When it comes time to choose a garden style, there are a number of things to consider.

Summer is my least favorite time of the year. The heat can make landscape chores unpleasant. This can be a dry time as well, meaning we have to find time to water those plants that need it. That is one of the reasons I choose easy care plants that can take the heat.

Summer comes early and stays late. Warm nights cause heat-loving vegetables like peppers to drop their blossoms. Flowers can become leggy and stretched, while edible crops may become unproductive. All of this led to the concept of heat zone listings for plants.

Interest on herbs and herbal healing continues to grow every year. Here are some books on the subject.

Often, spring-flowering bulbs like tulips and daffodils are more widely planted than summer-blooming ones. Summer flowering ones, such as the cannas, are easy to care for. They can add beauty to the landscape throughout the growing season.

Container plants should be an integral part of every landscape scheme. Of the many reasons for growing plants in containers, portability is an important factor.