Every year the National Garden Bureau announces its selection of the 100 best new garden plants introduced that year. While the list includes new varieties of flowers, fruits and vegetables, it’s usually the annual and perennial flowers that receive the lion’s share of the attention from home gardeners. In past years, new varieties of Petunias and Impatiens have sold out quickly at local garden centers as gardeners rushed to add the latest must-have flowers to their garden beds. This year’s crop of new annuals and perennials promises to generate just as much gardening excitement. ...read more

Indoor plants bring a touch of the outdoors into your home. A splash of bright yellow Daffodils (Narcissus) turns a dreary room warm and sunny in an instant. Baskets of trailing English Ivy (Hedera) transform a quiet bedroom into a lush, relaxing oasis. Adding a pot of old-fashioned Primrose to a quiet corner gives a room a cozy feel. There is something about living plants that makes us feel good. ...read more

The simple act of placing a pot of delicately-flowered Cyclamen (Sowbread) on a table or hanging a basket of silver-leafed Wandering Jew in a kitchen window or adding a bright green potted Sago Palm (Cycas) to an empty corner instantly transforms a room into a relaxing oasis. Indoor plants bring the soothing colors and scents of nature into our homes.  ...read more

One of America’s favorite flowers, roses grace gardens with their beauty and heady fragrance all summer long. From June to September, rose bushes bloom with a profusion of colorful flowers from pale pinks to luscious salmons and sunny yellows to deep reds. Roses do require attention but are not the prima donnas of old. Modern rose varieties are hardier and more disease and pest-resistant than the roses your grandmother may have fussed over. Today, gardeners of all experience levels can grow roses successfully.  ...read more

Feeling depressed? Anxious? Overstressed? Stop by your local garden center and pick up a pot of posies. A new study on the emotional impact of flowers by behavioral researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey proves scientifically what we know empirically: Flowers make us feel good! Rutgers researchers found that flowers have a remarkable power to improve emotional health. Simply being in the presence of flowers was found to elevate mood significantly, measurably increase feelings of life satisfaction, and promote positive social behavior. That’s a lot of power for a pot of pansies, or Viola Wittrockiana, the happy-faced flower’s scientific name. ...read more