September/October 2021

Garden Gate

The Illustrated Guide to Home Gardening and Design

Garden Gate1 min read
Garden Gate
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Kristin Beane Sullivan EXECUTIVE ART DIRECTOR Eric Flynn SENIOR EDITORS James A. Baggett Sherri Ribbey TEST GARDEN MANAGER/ASSISTANT EDITOR Jennifer Howell ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Carrie Topp SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Katie Meyer SENIOR
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From The Editor
As much as I usually dread the end of summer, when it does arrive, I find that it actually feels more like a beginning. Maybe it’s the back-to-school excitement (that honestly doesn’t seem to be as strong in my kids as I remember for myself!). But ev
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Garden Gate Online
See the secret to saving all of your favorite cannas, dahlias, gladiolas and more. GardenGateMagazine.com/articles/how-to/ Keep the vegetables coming well into winter when you sow these cool-weather-loving veggies. Here’s how. GardenGateMagazine.
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Reader Tips
If you have more knitting needles than you need, or you stumble into old ones at a garage sale like Jessie did, reuse them in the garden. With a permanent marker, write the name of the plant on a used wine cork, then pierce the cork with the needle.
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Pest Watch
Colorful bright red to tan nymphs hatch from overwintered eggs in late spring to feed on tender emerging leaves of many perennials and vegetables. As the nymphs grow, they change appearance, and eventually adults have bright yellow wings with stark b
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Submit Your Garden Tips!
SUBMIT YOUR TIPS & UPLOAD IMAGES ONLINE: GardenGateMagazine.com/share OR MAIL TO: Garden Gate Tips, 2143 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50312. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number in case we have questions for you. ■
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DIY Backyard Firepit
Nothing says fall like a cozy backyard firepit. And firepits have never been more popular. They’re attractive, functional and provide an instant outdoor gathering place. This DIY version uses supplies easy to find at your local home improvement cente
Garden Gate5 min readArchitecture
Make Gardening Easier
Change in the garden is inevitable. Just ask wellness and green-living lifestyle advocate Shawna Coronado. After a decade of creating the garden of her dreams in Illinois and building a reputation as an organic gardening expert, she was diagnosed wit
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Botanical Names
Ocimum basilicum Solanum melongena Origanum vulgare Petunia hybrids Cucurbita pepo Solanum lycopersicum Cucumis sativus Capsicum annuum Beta vulgaris Solanum lycopersicum Euphorbia hypericifolia Cycas revoluta Sansevieria trifas
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Top Picks
No matter how long the growing season is, the first frost always seems to come too soon. There’s no need to give up gracefully, though! Add a variety of fall superstars to your garden, and September and October can be every bit as glorious as May and
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Botanical Names
Juglans nigra Miscanthus hybrid Miscanthus x giganteus Miscanthus spp. and hybrids Calamagrostis x acutiflora Panicum virgatum Festuca glauca Helictotrichon sempervirens ■
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Spring Cleanup How-to
Wrangling maiden grass foliage can be a challenge — they aren’t called leaf blades for nothing! Cut the dead foliage back to within a few inches of the ground in late winter or early spring and use these tips to make the job easier. • Wear long slee
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Polite Large Grasses
These go-to grasses won’t spread aggressively around your garden. Warm-season prairie native with an upright habit, tolerates a range of soils, purple-tinted flowers in late summer; full sun; 4 to 6 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 4 to 9
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More Low-growing Grasses
• Black mondo grass Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ Evergreen ground cover that prefers moist, slightly acid soil; small pink bell-shaped blooms in summer; full sun to part shade; 6 to 9 in. tall, 10 to 12 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA zones 6 to
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What’s Your Fall Garden Style?
Midsummer hits. Your carefully curated and thoughtfully maintained beds and borders are at their height of beauty: abundant blooms, lush foliage, a combination that reflects your personal style and makes you feel accomplished. Way to go! But this is
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Success With Bulbs
There’s no better way to have a gorgeous spring than by planting plenty of bulbs in fall. They may not look like much when you buy them, but these little packages are packed with potential! Tulips bloom in a rainbow of colors; cheery daffodils come i
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Returning Tulips
It’s not uncommon for species tulips (which are often quite small) to perennialize, but the ones with big showy blooms are less likely to return year after year. Among the larger-flowered tulips, Jo-Anne has found Darwin hybrids to be quite reliable
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Botanical Names
Crocus spp. and hybrids Narcissus spp. and hybrids Galanthus nivalis Tulipa spp. and hybrids Amsonia spp. Echinacea purpurea Crocus spp. and hybrids Narcissus spp. and hybrids Allium sphaerocephalon Hyacinthus orientalis Galanthus nival
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Daffodils For The South
These midspring daffodils (March in Chris’ zone 8 garden) will return every year. Campernelle Narcissus x odorus Classic heirloom jonquilla type with fragrant yellow blooms; 12 to 14 in. tall; cold hardy in USDA zones 6 to 8 ‘Golden Dawn’ Narcissu
Garden Gate1 min readRegional & Ethnic
How Long Will My Seeds Last?
Average storage life under ideal conditions: 1 YEAR: Onions, parsnips 2 YEARS: Corn, spinach 3 YEARS: Beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, peas 4 YEARS: Cucumbers, chard, lettuce, peppers, squash, melons 5 YEARS: Radishes, tom
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SEEDS For The FUTURE
Collecting and saving seeds is a full circle moment in the vegetable garden, and I take as much joy from it as I do starting seeds in spring. You don’t need to be an expert to collect and save seeds—anyone can do it! Here’s why I collect seeds from m
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Did You Know...
Some vegetables cross-pollinate easily. To prevent this, separate different varieties of cucumbers, cabbage, corn and squash by 500 feet or hand pollinate, then place lightweight row covers or insect netting over them. If you know you want to save se
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4 Vegetables With Easy-to-save Seeds
TOMATOES Saving seeds from tomatoes is a great way to preserve your favorite heirloom and open-pollinated varieties. Tomatoes are self-pollinating, and you can expect saved seed to grow true to type the following year. Harvest ripe fruits and ferment
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The New Natural
Kelly Norris is on a mission to reconnect human beings to nature. He knows that in the past few decades, gardeners have become more environmentally aware, realizing that gardens are more than just botanical accessories to our homes. He calls this fre
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Fall Vignette Plants
Perennial; densely arranged low, spreading gray-green leaves provide a sturdy framework for masses of pink daisies with burnt orange centers from late summer into fall; full sun to part shade; 12 to 15 in. tall, 22 to 24 in. wide; cold hardy in USDA
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Summer Vignette Plants
Perennial; sunny yellow flowers above distinctive reddish stalks and vibrant green leaves from spring through summer followed by attractive fuzzy seedheads that hold on all season; full sun to part shade; 1 to 3 ft. tall and wide; cold hardy in USDA
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Spring Vignette Plants
Perennial; leafless single stems rise from narrow leaves and are topped with white, pink or pale purple flowers in late spring with five swept-back petals and a cluster of yellow stamens; part shade; 12 to 18 in. tall, 12 to 16 in. wide; cold hardy i
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Design Challenge
Just because the growing season is winding down doesn’t mean you have to give up on the garden. In fact, it’s a great time to enjoy the outdoors—there’s a nip in the air as temperatures start to cool, the sun isn’t as intense as it was a few weeks ag
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4 Fabulous Fall Containers
A trip to the garden center in early fall is a far cry from the spring experience, when racks are bursting with starter plants for the season. This time of year, there are fewer plants to choose from, but they are usually more mature and often in ful
Garden Gate3 min read
Q & A
Q I’ve grown ‘Heavenly Blue’ morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea) for years, but last year I had no blooms. What is wrong? Donna Smith, MT A If your morning glory won’t bloom or blooms very little, there’s a pretty good chance that the problem is in t
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Weed Watch
What it looks like Wild garlic sprouts in late fall from a perennial bulb, overwintering as a clump of round, hollow stems that look like a tuft of grass. In late spring, a globe of lavender flowers grows atop a long stem, where aerial bulbs and seed
Garden Gate1 min read
Gardengatestore.com
We’ve collected page after page of our readers’ best tips into this handy volume. See other gardeners’ clever ideas for saving money, upcycling and troubleshooting while starting and maintaining their gardens. There’s something for everyone, whether
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Pollinator Pit Stop
This easy-care group of late-season flowers will provide a one-stop buffet for migrating butterflies, and the salvia is a hummingbird favorite, too. Deadheading the salvia and sunflower keeps things tidy and the flowers going. A Montauk daisy Nippon
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Give Your Fall Border a Fresh Look
Tired of garden mums for your fall combos? Give Montauk daisy a try. This underused perennial is covered in 2- to 3-inch white flowers from summer to frost, makes a great cut flower and has saw-tooth leaves that add texture to the garden until it blo
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Curb Appeal
You turn onto the street after a long day and a hydrangea catches your eye. That’s because you planted it at the edge of your yard as a teaser to draw you homeward. As you pull into the driveway, the beautiful view comes into focus: You’re home. Gene
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Curb Appeal
GET CLOSER From the curb, multiples of large, bold plants make an impact. But as you reach the entrance, you can start to play with finer-textured plants and touches of personality. It’s not just the first impression that counts, after all, but the w
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The Perfect Frame
Ultimately, curb appeal is meant to accentuate the home. If you’re looking for a place to begin pumping up your curb appeal, start by determining what your yard says about your home. Does it stand bare behind a vast, blank lawn, making the home appea
Garden Gate2 min readArchitecture
Garden Essentials
This reasonably priced and easy-to-find line of gardening gloves has something for almost everyone, and they come in different sizes to fit all hands comfortably. The Duck Canvas Utility Gloves above have cushy foam padding on the palms, as well as t
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Extraordinary Ornamental Grasses
Ornamental grasses have a subtle quality that might not land them in the spotlight. But they deserve far more attention than they usually receive. One look at the backlit blooms of maiden grass at left and you can see how enchanting this group of pla

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