Outdoor Plants & Growing

You’re simply not using this plant enough. Maybe it has a bad press agent, but Sean, our horticulture guru here at The Gardener’s Center, says Phlox subulata, otherwise known as creeping phlox, has a lot of good things going for it and it isn’t being used nearly enough.

Every year in the spring we start getting tons of inquiries regarding everyone’s favorite hydrangea, the hydrangea macrophylla, also known as mophead hydrangeas or big leaf hydrangeas. And most of those questions and inquiries are about pruning this specific type of hydrangea, because everybody loves to prune their mophead hydrangeas.

Sean, our horticulture guru here at The Gardener’s Center, says, “Stop! Back away from your pruners!”

First to bloom in spring, Hellebores are shade-flowering perennials that grow in hardiness zones 5-8. And they can live 30+ years under the right conditions. Sean’s got all of the deets…

Perennial lavender is a desirable plant, but it’s very challenging to grow here in the northeast. There are lots of things that lavenders don’t like about living and growing in Connecticut (and it has nothing to do with traffic or taxes!), but they center around our climate and our soil structure.

Sempervivums (Hens and Chicks or Houseleeks) and Groundcover Sedums (Stonecrop) are two hardy succulents that we should be adding to our Connecticut gardens! Sean covers the different varieties and what makes them so hardy and well-suited for our area, even if they aren’t native.

Hydrangea paniculata, or panicle hydrangea, is easy to care for and they have the longest bloom cycle of all hydrangeas. But when should you prune?

Give our modern roses a chance! Know the differences between English Roses, Shrub Roses, Drift Roses and Climbing Roses and how to care for them.

Weeds are the bane of most gardeners existence, but Sean, our horticulture expert, talks about some wonderful “weeds” to include in your garden: These are two native milkweeds, the first called Asclepias Incarnata, or Swamp Milkweed, and Asclepias Tuberosa, or Butterfly Weed.

Interested in a super popular, ornamental perennial? Sean, our horticulture expert, is also a fan of catmints, (botanical name is Nepeta), not to be confused with catnip, although they are related. Why are catmints so popular? Well, they check a lot of boxes for gardeners.