Cleome, Cleome hassleriana: “Spider Flower”

Long ago, back in the time of flower power and hippie counterculture, I grew my hair long and lived for a while in a shabby fifth-floor walk-up that had few amenities but was flooded with bright sunshine all day long. That gorgeous light was no doubt responsible for the obvious good health of the young marijuana plants that were growing in a pot on a windowsill. I can’t tell you anything about the potency of that crop because someone apparently panicked and destroyed it before it could be harvested. Had we only known that marijuana’s foliage bears a remarkable resemblance to that of the old-fashioned garden stalwart cleome, it’s entirely possible that we could have passed off our plants as a totally legal flower and, thus, saved the crop.

Search for Cleome hassleriana on gardening advice websites and you will inevitably find queries from people who have noticed the deeply cut palmate leaves on the seedlings and gotten nervous about what plant they actually have purchased at the garden center. Not to worry, as the plant matures and develops its distinctive space-age flower heads with their pastel petal clusters and long, whisker-like stamens, the similarity with marijuana totally vanishes.

Above: Tall pink Cleome ‘Clio’ brushes against Salvia ‘Waverly’ with silvery cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), hot pink Gomphrena ‘Fireworks’, and lime Ipomoea batata ‘Dwarf Marguerite’, which keeps the composition fresh. Photograph by Marie Viljoen. For more, see Color Theory: 10 Perfect Plant Combinations for Autumn.

A native of South America and the West Indies, the so-called spider flower was appearing in gardens in North America, Europe, and the UK in the early 1800s. It was a favorite of Victorian gardeners who liked to grow it in pots in their iconic greenhouses, and it was a mainstay in that era’s floriferous cottage gardens. The plant went out of favor as gardens got smaller but is enjoying a resurgence now as cottage gardens become popular again and as new cultivars require less maintenance and make this plant more versatile.

Above: Cleome by Neelix via Wikimedia Commons.

Cheat Sheet

• Deadhead to ensure continuous, full-season bloom time.
• The species grows tall (from three to five feet) and needs no staking, making it a good plant for the back of the border.
• Mix with other sun lovers such as zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, dahlias, celosias, and castor beans in cottage gardens, meadows, or butterfly gardens.
• Cut the flowers for dramatic, if somewhat short-lived, indoor arrangements.
• Beware the thorns on many varieties. Handle with care and avoid planting in high-traffic areas.

Aside from the thorns, a couple of other characteristics of cleome may prevent some gardeners from wanting to use this plant. It emits a musky fragrance, which some people describe as “skunky” and find unpleasant. And it has a penchant for enthusiastically reseeding itself. The seed pods form under the flowers and, unless you intervene, will ripen and split open to liberally dispense the seeds. Harvest the pods to prevent rampant self-seeding, to save seeds to plant in another part of the garden, or to preserve the pods for use in dried arrangements.

Above: Photograph by Dinesh Valke via Flickr.

Keep It Alive

• In most areas, Cleome hassleriana is grown as an annual. It is hardy only in USDA zones 10 and 11.
• This plant thrives in bright sun (at least six hours a day) and is unfazed by sunstroke-level heat.
• Once established, Cleome is drought tolerant (especially if dressed with a layer of organic mulch).
• Cleome will grow in virtually any type of soil as long as it has good drainage.

Above: ‘Senorita Rosalita’. Photograph by Serres Fortier via Flickr.

Hybridizers have developed new cleome cultivars that make this plant even more useful and appealing. The Spirit series is shorter and bushier than the species, making it a good choice for containers as well as the fronts of beds.

However, the newer cultivar ‘Senorita Rosalita’ represents an even more dramatic breakthrough in cleome breeding. Not only is it somewhat shorter than the species, it also is thornless, scentless, and sterile (it will not produce seed pods or, therefore, unwanted seedlings). In addition, because no energy goes into seed production, Rosalita’s pretty lavender-pink flowers bloom vigorously all season, and the bottom of the plant does not have the tendency to get yellowed and scrawny over time like the older varieties.

For more growing tips, see Cleome: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design. If you are looking for a flower to add late-season color to a garden bed, see our favorites:

• Annuals 101: A Field Guide
• Superhero Plants: Take That, Aphids
• Carnations: Rethinking a Supermarket Flower
• It’s High Season in Grace Kennedy’s Garden

Some people would look at a neglected San Francisco side yard filled with an overgrown ramble of scraggly rose bushes and forsaken calla lilies, and feel intimidated. All that hard-packed clay—will we need a jackhammer to loosen it?

Anastasia Sonkin and Taylor Pollack are not those people. The San Francisco–based garden designers and partners in Talc Studio looked at their client’s 40-by-25-foot garden in the city’s Castro neighborhood and saw “a little magical green pocket in the middle of the city.”

Maybe every garden starts as a love affair. “This whole garden started with some Norfolk Island palms that the client, a plant enthusiast, fell for hard. “He said, ‘All I need are these palms,’ so we put two in the raised bed and one by the entrance,” the garden designers say. “That’s how it all started.”

And yes, they had to use a jackhammer to dig out planting holes.

Photography by Airyka Rockefeller, courtesy of Talc Studio.

Above:  A theatrically pruned Meyer lemon tree (Citrus × meyeri) greets visitors at the gate. Visible behind the Meyer lemon tree, against the fence, is a silver torch cactus (Cleistocactus strausii).

When Sonkin and Pollack first saw the garden, they discovered the mature Meyer lemon tree laden with fruit. “It was really happy even though it was neglected and pretty overgrown,” they say. “It was hard to prune it, but we were able to make this spiraling trunk—that is definitely the focal point of the garden, that trunk.”

Above: A ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) is a native of Mexico (and not really a palm at all). Easy to grow in sun or shade, it has few demands beyond an affinity for dry and well-drained soil. Surrounded by a layer of smooth river rock that serves as mulch, the palm enjoys superior drainage.

“The challenge was the garden is on the heaviest clay in the Castro, so finding plants that could withstand that kind of drainage was a challenge,” the garden designers say. They added gypsum to the planting holes, sprinkling in handfuls and shoveling in cactus mix.

Above: The master bedroom is on the ground floor and the French doors look out onto the Meyer lemon tree. At the base of the balcony staircase is a Farfugium.

The clients “also really like the idea of walking barefoot in the garden, which is why we chose to use ipe for the path and smooth river rock pebbles,” the designers say. “We had to level a lot of the garden.”

Above: A potted philodendron add texture and greenery to a corner of the garden.

Above: The clients remodeled the house before tackling the garden. The stairway, balcony, and garden fence were all installed during the renovation.

Above: Planted against the fence are Pittosporum ‘Silver Sheen’ shrubs with delicate foliage. In front of the shrubs are yuccas (and one agave).

Above: Two Norfolk Island palms are interspersed with clumps of birds-of-paradise in a long raised bed that runs the length of the garden.

Above: “The palms will get really large, but they’re slow-growing, so it’s exciting to see them develop a new leaf every once in a while,” the designers say.

Palms expert Jason Dewees, a staff horticulturist at Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco and the author of Designing with Palms, sourced the Norfolk Island palms.

Above: A dining area in the corner of the garden has built-in benches made of ipe and stumps for additional seating. “In the dining area we used the larger stones underfoot,” the designers say.

The clients’ garage serves as a backdrop to the dining area. The euphorbia against the garage has grown significantly in the two years since it was planted. “It used to fit within the frame of the door, and now it’s much bigger,” the designers say.

Above: “The garden is north facing but gets dappled light and really nice afternoon light,” the designers say.

Above: The view from the dining area.

If you’re planning to design a new garden or overhaul an existing landscape, start with our curated guides to Garden Design 101 for ideas for Pavers, Decks & Patios, and Gravel Courtyards. See more of our favorite layouts for small city gardens:

• Pacific Heights Mystery: A Hidden City Garden Reveals Its Secrets
• Privacy Landscaping: How to Use Plants in a City Garden
• 10 Garden Ideas to Steal from Amsterdam’s Canal Houses

Folding camp furniture was considered such a breakthrough invention that in 1893 the Gold Medal Camp Furniture Co. dispatched salesmen from its headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin, to travel to Chicago to display its first designs—including a cot and a canvas chair—at the World’s Fair.

The furniture was exhibited at the fair to depict “The Angler’s Camp and Its Outfit.” But hobby fishermen weren’t the only ones who had a use for the folding furniture. Folding cots found their way into military barracks, and the canvas camp chairs went to Hollywood, to become the director’s chair on movie sets. And on a patio, deck, or balcony, folding camp chairs can’t be beat for their lightweight portability.

Here are 10 of our favorite modern folding camp chairs at prices that fit a variety of budgets.

Above: From designer James Perse and made in the US, a teak Cross Creek Directors Chair is covered in an all-weather fabric; for more information and pricing, see James Perse.

Above: The ultimate in outdoor elegance: the Folding Chair by Mogens Koch was designed in 1932 and is made of oil-treated beech and mahogany with brass fittings and a natural canvas cover. It is currently on sale for £547 (marked down from £644) at the Conran Shop.

Above: A Highlands Deck Chair folds flat for storage and is $266 from Blue Ridge Chair Works.

Above: A Folding Director Chair has a teak frame and is on sale for $179.99 at All Modern.

Above: Covered in all-weather Sunbrella fabric, a solid teak Directors Chair chair is $498 from Serena & Lily.

Above: A wood  Low Back Director’s Chair has a canvas seat and back and can hold up to 250 pounds; it is $129.74 from Film Tools.

Above: With a frame made of North American hardwood and a canvas seat and back available in 14 colors, a World Famous Director’s Chair is $189 from Thos. Baker.

Above: A Take Chair with a frame of aluminum and laminated bamboo has a washable canvas cover; $159.95 from Snow Peak.

Above: Made of hardwood, a Director’s Chair with a natural cotton cover is $48.99 from Target.

Above: Designed by Milan-based architects Ludovica & Roberto Palomba for Eumenes, a Xenía outdoor folding chair has indoor style. Available in three styles: as an armchair, with armrests, and as a lounge armchair. A powder-coated stainless steel and die-cast aluminum frame comes in five colors. For more information and prices, see Eumenes.

•  Folding Camp Chair from Italy
•  7 Classic Camp Cots on Remodelista
• 10 Easy Pieces: Folding Bamboo Benches

Coneflower, Echinacea: “Prairie Home Companion”

When I think of coneflowers I imagine a country hill scattered with flowers, and then I see Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie running between the pretty stalks and brushing through dusty colored grasses. Echinacea really is a quintessential prairie flower so I am not too far off, but you should also know that the quaint image doesn’t stop on the homestead; coneflowers incorporate quite well into more contained, urban gardens.

Please keep reading to learn more about this versatile flower.

Above: In a Maine seaside garden by Thomas Lynch Design, native Echinacea pallida is planted among Schizachyrium scoparium ‘The Blues’. See more of this garden in our 2017 Considered Design Awards. Photograph courtesy of Thomas Lynch Design.

Native to North America with a family of about 10 species, Echinacea originates from open wooded areas and dry plains. The most popular and most easily grown variety is Echinacea purpurea. The wilder varieties, unfortunately, have a long tap root that makes it harder for them to thrive in a regular garden settling. Echinaea purpurea, on the other hand, has fibrous roots, which allows the plant to accommodate different soil conditions and also makes it a great candidate for dividing and transplanting.

Above: A perfect color palette: Asclepias tuberosa, Echinacea pallida, and Liatris scariosa mingle in a Maine meadow, attracting pollinators. See more of this garden in our 2017 Considered Design Awards. Photograph courtesy of Thomas Lynch Design.

Because I love stories about plants’ origins, I will mention that the genus Echinacea was named by the 18th-century German botanist Conrad Moench: The Greek word echinos—meaning hedgehog—described the flower’s spiky, round seed head that reminded him of a hedgehog. The common name, coneflower, refers to the way the petals are arranged away from the center, sort of backwards, as the center forms a cone.

Above: Echinacea varieties and hazy purple Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian sage) mingle in Dutch designer Piet Oudolf’s garden at Hummelo. Photograph courtesy of My Garden School. See more at Garden Design: Learning to Plant the Piet Oudolf Way.

The flowers once only came in shades of purple with dark centers, but because of hybridization you can now find petal colors in all sorts of sherbet shades: orange, yellow, red, lime green, and white. These new hybrids are a tad more finicky and demand more organic matter at planting time. Also, coneflowers are often described as drought tolerant, but I find that that with a little more water you get a more floriferous plant and lusher leaves, especially with the hybrids.

Above: Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ blooms on the High Line in New York City. Photograph by Elvert Barns via Flickr.

Some of my favorite varieties include Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’ (orange centers ringed with deep purple petals) and E. purpurea ‘White Swan’ (relaxed snow white petals surround a copper orange cone).

Cheat Sheet

• Easily grown from stock, seed, or division. If grown from seed, Echinacea might flower the first year if seeds are sown early in the season. If grown from nursery stock, I recommend planting in the spring or fall.
• Plant with other likeminded prairie plants such as yarrow, rudbeckia, and ornamental grasses. Or go in the opposite direction and plant coneflowers in a cottage garden where they mingle with daisies, roses, and hydrangeas.
• A pollinator lure. The flowers are rich in late-season nectar, which butterflies and bees appreciate and devour. Also deer-resistant once established, but I have found coneflowers to get nibbled after being freshly planted.

Above: E. purpurea ‘White Swan’. Photograph by Patrick Standish via Flickr.

Keep It Alive

• To get the best flower production and stems that don’t lean for sunlight, plant coneflowers in full sun with good air circulation (otherwise mildew can form on the leaves and slugs and snails can be bothersome).
• The stalks can grow to a variety of heights depending on the variety you choose and the soil conditions, but generally they hover around two feet high and wide. Dwarf varieties exist but I am partial to the taller types.
• Blooming begins in mid-summer and repeats through the fall months if deadheaded. Tip: Toward the end of the season, I try to leave some seed heads through the winter so the birds have a snack.  Then, in the spring I shear them back, which makes a bushier plant that blooms longer into the season.

For more growing tips, see Coneflowers: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design. For long-lasting perennials to add color to a late-season summer garden, see our curated Garden Design 101 guides to our favorite Perennials, including Asters 101 and Salvia. Read more:

• 10 Ideas to Steal from Prairie-Style Gardens
• Everything You Need to Know About Perennials
• Secrets of an English Head Gardener: How to Transplant Shrubs and Perennials
• 10 Things to Do in the Garden in June

In a city, a front garden may be nothing more than a narrow strip of land to separate a house from the curb. How do you make the most of such a small space?

The rationale that UK-based designer Sheila Jack applies to her own small front garden in West London shows that elegance and generosity are not mutually exclusive. Here are nine ideas to steal for your own city garden.

Photography by Britt Willoughby Dyer, for Gardenista.

Rewards for passersby

Above: All too often, people equate formality with a need for privacy, putting up high hedges with the effect of throwing indoor rooms into gloom. A light screen of roses will not only mitigate the view toward the street, it also spreads happiness.

“Neighbors and passersby often stop and look at the roses (and even get their phones out to take a picture), which I love,” says Sheila. Our photographer Britt Willoughby Dyer adds: “The frontage is so pretty, it really stands out along the road.”

For Sheila Jack’s back garden, see Designer Visit: Sheila Jack’s White Garden in West London.

Railings to support plants

Above: Floribunda bush rose ‘Iceberg’ decorates the metal railings.

Use your railings (or wall) to good effect. Sheila Jack’s iron fence is sturdy, low enough for roses to spill over, and doesn’t need painting very often. Rosa ‘Iceberg’, shown, is not actually a climber but it leans on the railings and does not need tying in. Other plant possibilities besides roses: wisteria, jasmine—carefully trained—or easier Trachelospermum jasminoides.

Containers to consider

Above: A pair of powder-coated steel containers flank the entrance.

Whatever they happen to contain, a container’s size, color, and material are important. Avoid anything too precious because of the possibility of theft. After a pair of containers was stolen, Sheila replaced them with a pair of matching vessels made from inexpensive, powder-coated steel, in a color not unlike the front door.

Although the boxwood balls stationed by the door have not been discovered yet by caterpillars, Sheila is thinking of changing them to pittosporum cut into mounds, for added texture.

Plants that flower for months

Above: ‘Iceberg’ roses bloom in front of a variegated holly.

Sheila chose the reliable floribunda rose ‘Iceberg’ to provide a long season of flowering. “I just have to remember to deadhead them and they literally flower from May until Christmas.” Similarly white and repeat but with a stronger scent is Rosa ‘Margaret Merril’.

Small trees, evergreen or otherwise

Above: A small holly is structural but not so big that it blocks light.

Trees are important to give height but the wrong choice can look out of scale and cast too much shadow. When Sheila moved to this house, the holly shown here was a shrub, which she cut into a “rough standard,” bringing out some character. Which brings us to another point: Don’t get rid of everything when you move somewhere new.

Variegated varieties

Above: Tasteful white roses are shaken up by a bit of variegation.

Prejudices against variegated plants are due an overhaul. One of the easiest variegated varieties to come to grips with is holly, with either silver variegation or gold, as shown here with Ilex ‘Golden King’. Each leaf looks individually drawn, bringing vitality to this evergreen. If you think that it doesn’t go with the paintwork, or with your white color scheme, think again. Like its nonvariegated counterpart, it goes with everything.

Knot gardens

Above: A jigsaw of walls, evergreens, gravel, and a garbage can.

Elizabethan knot gardens were designed for enjoyment from above, via an open window or even the roof. This approach is still relevant, since the view down to the garbage cans in the basement is seen daily and is usually a missed opportunity. Sheila turned her bin area into a matrix, with box framing the roses and plenty of gravel to keep down weeds and retain moisture.

Boxwood alternatives

Above: Roses are framed by mini hedges.

The inevitable epilogue to the above scene is that the boxwood has since fallen victim to the box tree moth caterpillars that have been devastating English gardens. “I didn’t want to use insecticide, taking out all the pollinators with it, and picking them off proved futile,” says Sheila. “I’ve replaced it with Taxus baccata (yew), an experiment to see if I can get it to make a good low hedge.”

Low-water plants

Above: Sheila Jack’s front garden in West London is a buffer from the street.

“The Iceberg roses are so completely easy,” says Sheila. “They never get watered and they are disease-resistant.”

Are you designing a new small city garden or updating an existing layout? Start with our curated guides to Garden Design 101, including Roses: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design and Fences & Gates 101. Read more:

• Landscaping: 10 Classic Layouts for Townhouse Gardens
• Boxwood: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design
• Designer Visit: A ‘Magical Green Pocket Garden’ in San Francisco
• Landscape Design: 10 Simple Layouts for Summer Roof Gardens

Poison ivy was making enemies as early as the 17th century. Upon discovering it in the New World, Captain John Smith noted in 1623, “The poysoned weed is much in shape like our English Ivy, but being but touched, causeth rednesse, itching, and lastly blisters.”

The redness, itching, and blisters are the main reasons that 400 years later gardeners are still trying to get rid of the vine (touching the oily substance called urushiol on the plant’s leaves and stems causeth more than 70 percent of us to break out in a painful rash).

But Toxicodendron radicans is not an easy plant to kill. To get rid of poison ivy, you have to dig out or kill its roots as well as its stems and leaves. The last time I tried this, I ended up with a prescription for prednisone and instructions from my doctor to go home and sterilize my Felco pruners.

There’s a better way to kill poison ivy in your garden. Here’s how.

Leaves of Three, I Hate Thee

Above: Photograph by Virens via Flickr.

The first step to getting rid of poison ivy is to identify it. This is tougher than you might think. Yes, poison ivy has clusters of three leaves. Yes, the leaves are pointed and—if mature—have ridges along their edgeth, as John Smith might say.

But poison ivy also can look a lot like poison oak, or like furry raspberry leaves (which you don’t want to kill), and is frequently mistaken for Virginia creeper (which has five-leaf clusters).

If you’re not sure if you have poison ivy, put on a pair of heavy gloves and snip off a cluster of leaves to examine closely. Photos abound on the Internet. If you’re still not sure, take the leaves to your local nursery to get a positive ID.

Learn Its Tricks

Above: Photograph by Sam Fraser-Smith via Flickr.

Poison ivy likes dappled sunlight but also lurks in shady spots. It will climb tree trunks, attach itself to a fence or wall, and run rampant in moderate climates along the Eastern Seaboard.

In a wooded area, it will intertwine with other low-growing plants, such as ferns, which makes it harder to kill without hurting its neighbors. But don’t give up.

Pick Your Poison

Above: Photograph by Bmerva via Wikimedia.

You have two choices when it comes to killing poison ivy: a natural method or a chemical poison. Both will work, but chemicals may work faster. For more on the pros and cons of a DIY natural weed killer versus a chemical herbicide such as Roundup, see Landscaping 101: Homemade Weed Killer.

Natural Born Killers

Above: Photograph by Justine Hand. For more, see Landscaping 101: The Pros and Cons of Homemade Weed Killers.

If you want to avoid chemicals, you have a few choices:

Manual Labor: Put on long sleeves and pants, tape your pants and shirt cuffs to prevent skin exposure, pull on a pair of heavy gloves, and dig out as much poison ivy as you can. The trick is to get the roots, which means digging down a few inches—at least six—beneath roots and then reaching in to pull them out. This job is easier if the ground is soft; try it after a rainy spell. Be warned that you inevitably will overlook a few little roots. Watch for new growth and pull it out as soon as possible to weaken the plant, or at least to try to break its spirit.

Boiling Water: I am a big fan of pouring a kettle of boiling water onto weeds to kill them. This works best if the plant you want to kill is growing in a crack in a path or next to the driveway or somewhere other than a garden bed full of desirable plants. Boiling water will kill anything it touches. Caveat: When it comes to poison ivy, the underground roots will survive a dousing. After the boiled leaves and stems die back, new growth will emerge. As soon as you see it, pour on more boiling water. Over time, the rate of new growth will slow.

Above: Photograph by Esculapio via Wikimedia.

Smothering: You can cover a patch of poison ivy with a plastic tarp or big piece of cardboard to kill it. Afterward, check the perimeter of the treated area for new growth; underground roots that were outside the jurisdiction of the tarp may send up shoots.

Potions: The main ingredients in DIY homemade weed killer are salt, vinegar, water, and dish soap (which helps to broadcast the spray farther). Justine investigated the pros and cons of homemade weed killers—some of which are not as “natural” as you might think—and offers a comprehensive report at Gardening 101: Pros and Cons of Homemade Weed Killers.

Chemical Warfare

The two most commonly used chemical herbicides in the war against poison ivy are Roundup and Brush-B-Gone, whose respective active ingredients are glyphosate or triclopyr. These are chemicals I don’t use in my garden, but if I had a backyard overrun by poison ivy and small children tromping through it, I might want a speedy solution to the problem. If you spray chemical herbicides on poison ivy, it will die fast. As with other methods, watch for new growth and spray again immediately.

Above: Photograph by Katya Schulz via Flickr.

Dispose of the Body

After you cut, pull out, or dig up poison ivy, do not put it in your compost pile. Do not touch it with bare hands. Do not burn it (it can release harmful, irritating fumes). Instead, bag it in plastic and dispose of it as trash (unless you live in a municipality that offers an alternate plan).

After you finish killing poison ivy, strip off your gardening clothes—gloves too—and put them into the clothes washer on a hot setting. Hose down or clean off your shoes or boots before wearing them again (urushiol can remain active on the surface of clothing and shoes for as long as five years).

Weed warriors, unite. For more suggestions, see:

• 5 Favorites: Digging Tools.
• 10 Easy Pieces: Garden Gloves.
• The Claw: A Tool Weeds Will Fear.

Finally, get more ideas on how to plant, grow, and care for various vines and climbers with our Vines & Climbers: A Field Guide.

In Woodstock, Vermont, potters Zoe and James Zilian of Farmhouse Pottery rely on “simple tools and strong beliefs in process and authenticity” to create beautifully useful objects. Their two-handled ceramic confit jar (available in two sizes) has the perfect proportions to support a summer floral arrangement.

An armful of wildflowers would look lovely. So does a bunch of peonies, as shown above, arranged by Oregon-based flower grower Erin Benzakein of Floret Flowers.

Above: Available in two sizes (medium and large) from Farmhouse Pottery, the medium Farmhouse Pottery Confit Jar is also available for $295 from Floret Flowers.

Above: See more of Erin Benzakein’s flowers at Ask the Expert: 7 Tips to Grow Cut Flowers in a Tiny Garden, from Floret Farm.

Above: Both sizes of the wheel-thrown Confit Jar also are available directly from Farmhouse Pottery; $295 and $425.

If you’re looking for a vase that’s just right for a summer floral arrangement, read more:

• The New Organics: 10 Wooden Vases for Foolproof Floral Arrangements
• Objects of Desire: Wet Vessels by Aviva Rowley
• Foxgloves: Rethinking a Fickle Flower

When greeting card artist Caroline Kent moved to her Sussex cottage in 2010, a local gardener suggested she develop a wildflower meadow on an area of brambly scrubland.

For inspiration, she didn’t have far to look. The meadow at Great Dixter in East Sussex, England has been inspiring other gardeners and designers for decades. Some make a pilgrimage to Dixter to see whimsical yew topiaries and spectacular wildflowers, or for the annual meadow gardening study day with head gardener Fergus Garrett.

A very lucky few manage to get their hands on  some of the Great Dixter’s own meadow “strewage”—seed-rich cuttings—with which to start their own wildflower patch. In 2014, Caroline Kent was one of the lucky ones:

Photography courtesy of Caroline Kent.

Above: The wildflower meadow inspired Kent, an artist whose Scribble & Daub greeting cards showcase her drawings, to create a Great Dixter collection called In the Meadow.

In the four years since Caroline Kent began creating her meadow, it has flourished with a succession of native wildflowers and the diverse wildlife that follows, including shrews and slow-worms.

Above: All of Dixter’s wildflowers have appeared in her meadow over the years except the elusive wild orchid (but finally this summer the first patches of these are starting to appear).

Like many meadow-makers, Caroline has followed a traditional regimen. “We scythe and rake and then scarify the ground in September, which takes the best part of a week or more. It’s labor intensive, but it seems to be working well at the moment,” she says.

Above: Four years on and Caroline, whose bespoke cards and artworks are commissioned by brands including Hermes and The Conran Shop, has created a series of elegant illustrations depicting the wildflowers that grow at Dixter.

Cowslips, snakeshead frittilaries, wild orchids, snowdrops, and crocuses are among the flowers depicted in the In the Meadow series of 12 cards. Each of Caroline’s line drawings is reproduced on an antique Heidelberg letterpress at Adams of Rye and then individually handpainted with a traditional dip pen and ink. And to give thanks, a donation from the sale of each card goes to the Great Dixter Charitable Trust.

Designing a meadow garden? Read more:

• Expert Advice: 8 Tips for a Meadow Garden from Grass Guru John Greenlee
• Required Reading: Flower Meadows at Great Dixter and Beyond
• Ask The Expert: How to Plant a Meadow Garden, with James Hitchmough

Update your summer house—or make your regular house feel more like a summer retreat—with a few well-placed upgrades. This week the Remodelista editors discovered design ideas to create a summer palette. Here are a few of their favorites:

Japanese Glassware

Above: Fresco’s Large Kasumi Plate in pink-inflected purple can be used either as a plate or a shallow bowl; it measures 11.75 inches around and is 1.5 inches deep; $140 each.

Pink Pendant Light

Above: Hanging over a dining table in Hackney, London are two Louis Poulsen Ph5 Pendant Lights in pink; $996 each at Design Within Reach.

Rattan Daybed

Above: Made in Indonesia, the Honey Rattan Daybed is $549.99 from World Market; twin mattress not included.

Midcentury Scandi Rug

Above: Another design from Oyyo, the Östra dhurrie rug is €2,590 for the 6.6-by-9.8-foot size at Oyyo.

Big Green Egg

Above: A London food writer’s outdoor space features a German biergarten table and a Big Green Egg barbecue mounted in a built-in counter. Photograph courtesy of The Modern House.

Writes Alexa: “Writer Mina Holland and musician Freddie Denham-Webb were looking to buy their first house in London earlier this year. When offer after offer fell through, ‘invariably because someone else gazumped us,’ says Mina, they went south of the river and bought a 750-square-foot maisonette in Crofton Park.”

See more in Start from Scratch: A Food Writer’s First Renovation in South London.

In their first flush, allium flowers add to the joyous rite of spring. Although they are overtaken in color and height by midsummer flowers, their striking spherical silhouettes continue to hold their own, nestled among green herbs or the featheriness of fennel. When cut, a semi-spent allium adds weight to an ephemeral summer bouquet.

Ornamental alliums—not to be confused with the edible chives and onions that also belong to the Allium genus—are versatile perennial flowers and their shelf life is phenomenal. Are you craving some for your garden? Read on:

Photography by Britt Willoughby Dyer except where noted.

What are the best varieties of alliums?

Above: Allium schubertii, in the flower field at Bayntun Flowers, Wiltshire.

Polly Nicholson of Bayntun Flowers in Wiltshire, England trials flowers for cutting in her role as a specialist grower—and has a lot of time for alliums. She grows them in unimproved soil, in a field. Ornamental alliums are not only versatile, they also have strong characters, individually.

At one end of the spectrum are the “usual” flower border types which are nevertheless spectacular, such as sublimely round Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’ or smaller, egg-shaped Allium spherocephalon. Then there are the pinks, such as Allium nigrum ‘Pink Pearl’ or the big ones, such as mega Allium schubertii.

Above: Allium schubertii lends itself to metal sculptures, since it already looks like one; as it ages, the flowers become more silvery.

After the initial prettiness of alliums, the essence of the flower comes out, whether it’s the “enormous stellar structure” of A. schubertii, in Polly’s words, or A. nigrum‘s “bare, vivid green clusters.”

When should I cut back allium seed heads?

Above: Alliums at Bayntun Flowers, in Wiltshire.

While alliums are a fantastic draw for pollinators when in flower, their seed heads also provide food for birds. That is if you don’t cut them down first. Polly dries hers in a former stable, to be repurposed for wreaths but also displayed on their own.

Intrigued? See Outbuilding of the Week: A Stable for Horses and Flowers in Wiltshire.

What is the best way to propagate ornamental alliums?

Above: Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’ in Wiltshire, England.

When the luxuriance of purple begins to drop away, allium becomes fuller, giving it a different kind of value in arrangements and in the outlines of a flower border. Although the developing seed heads look abundant, allium hybrids do not grow true from seed and should be propagated by gently lifting the plant for bulblets. Some varieties, such as Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’, will slowly multiply, while other varieties are a positive nuisance: check in your area.

What are the best growing conditions for alliums?

Above: A. nigrum ‘Pink Jewel’, growing in the flower fields of Bayntun Flowers.

Alliums are not fussy about quality of soil (as long as there is reasonable drainage) but they do prefer full sun. If the area you have planted them in becomes more shaded over time, the bulbs can be dug up and moved. Even semi-shade can lead to floppiness or a no-show. If you are growing them specifically for cutting, the young shoots will benefit from organic slug pellets in spring.

What are some other kinds of ornamental alliums?

Above: Allium siculum (also known as Nectaroscordum siculum, which literally means Sicilian honey garlic) in Wiltshire, England.

Sicilian honey garlic can make a nuisance of itself, sprawling if deprived of maximum sunshine levels and spreading around at will. But its subtle colors, waxy texture, and hanging bells of flowers make it a very sophisticated weed. Its silhouette evolves over the season: spent flowers close and move skyward, resembling a sheaf of arrows.

Above: Evolution of a Sicilian honey garlic, as the flowers fuse to become seed heads, before journeying upwards.

What are good companion plants for alliums?

Above: Alliums in bloom on a rainy day at Sichtungsgarten Hermannshof in Weinheim, Germany. Photograph by Jeonghi.go via Flickr.

In a display, alliums can be odorous (some would say malodorous), particularly the Sicilian honey garlic. Polly suggests adding herbs, sweet peas, and other highly scented flowers to alliums, as a kind of nosegay.

Above: Allium sphaerocephalon freshly unsheathed from their papery cases.

A later-blooming, excellent value variety is the drumstick Allium sphaerocephalon. Pale buds develop into a marvelous burgundy-green, rivaling the more metallic flower. When cut, they can be used for adding airy full stops as in the arrangements to follow.

What is the best way to arrange alliums as cut flowers?

Above: Polly uses former stables for working on arrangements.

“Allium schubertii form the base, through which the others are threaded,” explains Polly of her arrangement using different types of alliums, all at slightly different stages of their development. “It’s almost like having a loose ball of chicken wire in the neck of the vase.”

Above: In the workroom at Bayntun Flowers, dried alliums hang from the ceiling.

“The other alliums provide wonderful texture and form in the body of the bunch,” continues Polly. “They make interesting silhouettes peripherally.” Their height is balanced with foliage; their spherical nature, when young and old, is echoed by the delphinium in bud.

For more growing tips, see Alliums: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design in our curated guides to Bulbs & Tubers 101. See more ways to use alliums to great effect in a flower bed:

• Alliums: Just As Good As Tulips But Better
• DIY: Alliums, Three Ways
• Gatehouse Garden: A Dramatic Black Backdrop for a White Wildflower Meadow

Onto July—and the Fourth. Kick back with a cold drink and read up on our latest finds.

Above: Diving into July. Photograph from Before & After: A Swimming Pool in the Hamptons, Inspired by Spain.

• One of our favorite New York City haunts has been transformed into a garden oasis. Stop in.
• A Fourth of July DIY.
• Minimize waste on moving day.
• Travel obsession: an inn on the English coast, color edition.
• Michelle is packing a new book about secret, open-to-the-public gardens in cities around the world into her suitcase wherever she goes this summer, for exploring tiny, hidden urban oases wherever she goes.
• Meredith is headed to Florence and Alexa is Paris-bound. Have a can’t miss garden or shop to share? Let them know in the comments.

Above: New from Notary Ceramics: a Flat-Lidded Ikebana Canister, which can serve as ikebana display or, with the top removed, a simple summer vase.

And few plant swaps to jot down, all going on today:

• Columbia, South Carolina, 3-5:30 p.m. at Fit Columbia, 2002 Blossom Street.
• Madison, Wisconsin, 2-4 p.m.
• Melbourne, Australia: Green at Kathleen swap by the Melbourne Library Service.
• And one next Sunday, July 8: Plantez-Vous, the next What the Flower-organized seed swap in Paris, at Point Éphémère. @WhatTheFlower_Paris.

Recently in Obsessions:

• Current Obsessions: Midsommer
• Current Obsessions: City Summer
• Current Obsessions: In Bruges

In the garden July is a month with a split personality: we look back wistfully (at the successes of spring) and forward with trepidation (can this garden be saved, to withstand the August heat that’s ahead).

Here are a quick garden fixes that will pay off next month (and in September):

Clean Up the Strawberry Patch

Above: Choose the best weapon to renovate the strawberry patch: see Garden Tools: Which Trowel or Weeder is Best for You? Photograph by Mimi Giboin.

After you’ve picked the last strawberry from your plants, it’s time to cut back brown or drooping leaves. Weed between plants and mulch with an inch or two of compost. Now it the time to thin or transplant strawberries; carefully dig up runners as well as roots to move a clump to a new spot.

For more growing tips, see Strawberries: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.

Deadhead

Above: Interplanted with fuzzy-headed grass Pennisetum villosum, pink cosmos ‘Dazzler’ will keep blooming all summer if you cut back spent flowers. See more at In the Garden with Philippa: Brit Style with a Black Backdrop. Photograph by Jim Powell.

Hone your deadheading technique: See Landscaping 101: How to Deadhead Flowers.

TLC for Tomatoes

Above: It’s not too late to corral tomatoes into cages, for their own good. Which is the best support for your tomato varieties? See 10 Easy Pieces: Tomato Cages.

I never met a tomato plant that didn’t perform better with a little coddling. Pinch back suckers to help them focus their fruiting efforts. Make sure tomatoes get enough water (from a drip irrigation system or a hose, every day).  See more tips at Tomatoes: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.

Cut Back Spent Flowers

Above: See more tips at Foxgloves: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer.

Many flowering spikes—from penstemons to foxgloves to gladiolas—have finished flowering by now. Or have they? When you cut back spent blossoms, check to see if any lateral spikes are growing from the spikes. If so, leave them in place to encourage more blooms.

Add Annuals

Above: See more at Cleome: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design. Photograph by Marie Viljoen.

Many of our favorite flowers are annuals that cheerfully take on the job of adding color to the garden just as summer perennials start to flag in August’s heat. With bright blooms and attention-grabbing flowers, these fast growers can make you love your garden in late summer. (And  many annuals will live on by resowing themselves, with seeds carried on a breeze to pop up in a new spot next year.

For more ideas, see Everything You Need to Know About Cottage Gardens and browse our curated design guides Annuals 101 for tips to grow Sunflowers, Nasturtiums, and Zinnias.

Help Your Hydrangeas

Above: See more of this garden in Rhode Island Roses: A Seaside Summer Garden in New England. Photograph by Nathan Fried Lipski of Nate Photography.

Do you wish your pink hydrangeas were blue, or vice versa? You can take control of their color destiny by amending the soil. For tips see Hydrangeas: How to Change Color from Pink to Blue.

Keep Weeding

Above: Photograph by Sara Barrett.

Don’t let the weeds win. If you need a new weapon to inspire you during the doldrums of summer, see a few of our favorites in 10 Easy Pieces: Weeding Forks.

Prune Fruit Trees

Above: A water sprout is a shoot (or cluster of shoots) that appear, unbidden, on a tree trunk as shown on this cherry tree in Jindai Botanical Gardens in Tokyo. Photograph by Takashi .M via Flickr.

Prune spring-flowering fruit trees in summer when spores of silver leaf disease are dormant.

For more tips, see Everything You Need to Know About Flowering Trees.

Fill Bird Baths

Above: Photograph by Marie Viljoen.

Water evaporates faster in hotter temperatures. Replenish bird baths as needed. For more ideas about designing water features, see Everything You Need to Know About Fountains.

Cut Back Wisteria

Above: Photograph by Mimi Giboin.

Wisteria, if unchecked, will behave like a thug, says our friend Tim Callis, a garden designer on Cape Cod. He recommends shearing several times a year. In summer, cut back long shoots and stems to no more than six leaves.

Water if Needed

Above: Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.

Gardens like an inch of rain a week. Is yours getting enough? Use a Rainwater Calculator to figure it out, and if your plants need more irrigate accordingly.

Automate your irrigation system with Hardware 101: Smart Irrigation Controllers. And if you need to upgrade or repair your irrigation, see Drip Irrigation: Emergency Repair Kit Essentials.

Don’t Mow Low

Above: An English boxwood hedge edges a mown path in which daisies thrive. Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer.

In hot, dry months keep your lawn looking green by allowing blades of grass to grow longer; a crew cut will create brown spots. Use the right tool for the job; see 10 Easy Pieces: Reel Lawn Mowers and 10 Easy Pieces: Riding Lawn Mowers.

Are you planning a major overhaul or a minor rehab in the garden? Get inspiration from our Garden Design 101 guides and see:

• 10 Things Your Landscape Architect Wishes You Knew (But Is Too Polite to Tell You)
• Landscaping: 10 Clever Gardening Tips to Save Time
• Landscaping 101: Biodynamics for the Edible Garden

When New York-based designer Fawn Galli’s clients asked for a remodel of their Upper East Side townhouse in Manhattan, the request included the overgrown backyard. The family, avid nature lovers, wanted to spend as much time as possible outdoors during warmer months.

Galli teamed with garden designer Lili Herrera to create three distinct “rooms.” The result: A new ground floor kitchen connects to the garden, which was regraded (and excavated by three feet so the owners, who are tall, would have a deeper space and more privacy).

Photography courtesy of Fawn Galli.

Curb Appeal

Above: Window boxes enliven the façade of the townhouse.

Above: Window boxes planted with Torenia ‘Summer Wave’ (on either side), Pentas ‘Starcluster White’ mixed with Dahlia ‘Hypnotica Lavender’ (middle), and Dechondra ‘Silver Falls,’ which cascades.

Walled Garden

Above: Columnar boxwoods (Buxus sempervirens ‘Dee Runky) delineate three rooms used for different purposes, all shady. The boxwoods eventually will grow together to create a green wall.

A redbrick wall creates a serene backdrop.

Above: Hoggin, the same composite material used in Paris to pave the paths of the Luxembourg Gardens, is underfoot in the middle room (the dining area) to differentiate it from the “green garden,” which is closest to the kitchen and includes a barbecue area.

The green garden is paved with Roxbury granite, selected for its flecks of silver; plantings include white hellebores and ferns such as snowdrop, creeping white mazus, and rock cap moss.

Above: Early-blooming Japanese cherry trees will eventually fuse overhead in the dining area.  Plantings here are in shades of blues and purple, including wood violets, lungwort, and grape hyacinths.

Galli, who used bold colors in the interiors, chose a teak table by Terrain and vintage  Sculptura side chairs by designer Russell Woodard. The chair covers, in a vivid blue, are made from Holly Hunt Nairobi fabric from the Great Outdoors line and have a subdued tribal pattern.

Above: The family uses the third section of the garden, defined by a steel pergola planted with trailing climbers including quick-growing silver lace vine, Dutchman’s pipe, and trumpet vine as a lounge area.

In springtime, daffodils and crocus add to an orange palette.  Furnishing include a teak lounge chair from Belgian design house Manutti covered with a bold outdoor textile by Stark. The furnishings also include a teak coffee table and sofa by Skargaarden, with sofa cushion fabric by Maria Flora.

Galli chose a Pin Dot Moorish pendant from Tazi Designs in San Francisco to add a bohemian air.   At night, pinpoints of light dance through the dark.  Hakone grass around the perimeter adds texture and pavers of Roxbury granite, the same stone used to build the Brooklyn Bridge, are laid down here without joints.

Whether you’re designing a city garden from scratch (or just looking for a quick fix for a long, narrow backyard), get ideas from our Garden Design 101 guides to landscaping, including our guides to Pavers 101, Gravel Gardens, and Decks & Patios. Read more:

• Landscaping: 10 Classic Layouts for Townhouse Gardens
• 10 Ways to Improve Your Garden with a Pergola
• Landscape Design: 10 Simple Layouts for Summer Roof Gardens
• Designer Visit: A ‘Magical Green Pocket Garden’ in San Francisco

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Trend alert: Lately we’ve been noticing garden tools, totes, and togs in soothing shades of dark green (mirroring an interior design trend which the Remodelista editors noted recently). Here we’ve rounded up 10 olive garden favorites:

Above: An olive Japanese Tool Carrier made by Matsunoya is £110 from Labour & Wait.

Above: An olive green Carbon Steel Hand Trowel with a rust resistant powder coated blade has a hole in the handle to make it easy to hang from a hook for storage; $6.49 from Sear’s.

Above: Available in olive, a leather pair of Briers Washable Gardening Gloves is £10.07 from Mole Valley Farmers.

Above: Made by Water Right, a 50-foot Polyurethane Slim & Light Drinking Water Safe Garden Hose is $69.95 at Amazon.

Above: An olive green Women’s Garden Apron from Esschert Design has multiple pockets to carry tools and is $19.49 at Amazon.

Above: A Japan-made Trusco Tool Box (model T-320) is “a medium-sized flat box with a collapsible handle and a metal latch with space for a 25mm padlock,” notes retailer Rikumo. Made of painted steel, it is $34.

Above: A small olive green Watering Can with “an ‘anti-spill’ top, and a narrow spout, which the retailer notes makes it easy to direct water into the pot, not onto the floor” is £26 (currently out of stock). For restocking information, see Labour & Wait.

Above: An olive green Carbon Steel Hand Fork has an ergonomically designed handle, curved for comfort; $6.74 from Sears.

Above: Okabashi’s olive green Copenhagen Clogs are waterproof and made of from 15 to 25 percent recycled material in Buford, Georgia; $18.99.

Above: A collaboration between New Zealand home goods shop Everyday Needs and bag designers Deadly Ponies, the Garden Bag is made of waxed cotton; $115 NZD ($83 USD) at Everyday Needs. Read more at Waxed Cotton: Everyday Needs Garden Bag.

Stocking up on garden shed essentials? See our newly updated 10 Easy Pieces archives for roundups of our favorite Weeding Forks, Garden Plant Supports, Tomato Cages, and more. See more color trends:

• 5 Favorites: Colorful Garden Walls
• Garden Visit: Flower Borders in a Colorful English Garden, Tattenhall Edition
• 5 Favorites: Bed Linens in Shades of Olive on Remodelista

“A great alternative to gravel, crushed clam or oyster can be used on paths, patios, courtyards, driveways, and even bocce ball courts (the shells don’t hold water or imprints from shoes and balls),” writes Janet As the shells are walked on or driven over, they break into smaller pieces that disperse evenly, creating a stable surface that’s not prone to the ruts and holes you get with crushed stone toppings.”

In additional to being practical, seashell surfaces are environmentally friendly—and stylish. We’ve rounded up some of Gardenista favorites to make the case:

Parking Pads

Above: Having grown up in Maine, Massachusetts-based landscape architect Matthew Cunningham immediately knew seashells would be the perfect material to pave a parking area at the end of a driveway in Lamoine, Maine (about a three-hours’ drive north of Portland). Photograph by Matthew Cunningham.

For more of this project, see Landscape Architect Visit: Clamshell Alley on the Coast of Maine.

Herb Gardens

Above: A seashell surface doubles as walkway and mulch in an herb garden where lavender flourishes in one of Landscape Architect Edmund Hollander’s Grand Estate Gardens.

A sense of scale and proportion can elevate a humble surface material in an estate garden.

Garden Paths

Above: Seashells from nearby Chesapeake Bay are used on the paths at Colonial Williamsburg.  Photograph by Justine Hand.

See more at Garden Visit: Secrets of Another Century at Colonial Williamsburg.

Garden Gateways

Above: On Cape Cod, a split-rail fence marks the boundary between the clamshell driveway (which gets a refresher layer every two to three years) and the entryway to the garden. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.

See more of this garden at Gardenista Book Sneak Peek: The Architects’ Studio on Cape Cod.

Cottage Gardens

Above: “Few would dare to work with the acid yellow of Patrinia, but against this chocolate door on Cape Cod it really works,” says Justine. “In this clamshell driveway, where this perennial self-seeds to wild effect, designer Tim Callis paired Patrinia with fennel and oregano.” Photograph by Justine Hand.

See more in 10 Garden Ideas to Steal from Provincetown on Cape Cod.

Side Courtyards

Above: When visitors step inside the front gate, at a white clapboard captain’s villa and boathouse on the harbor in Fjällbacka, a remote resort town on the western edge of Sweden, the first surface they encounter is seashells. The shell-paved courtyard creates a sense of separation between the house and the nearby road. Photograph via Anna Ski.

For more of this garden (and for a closeup view of the seashell ornamentation on the front gate), see From Sweden with Love: A Romantic Captain’s Seaside Villa.

Bocce Courts

Above: Photograph via Myco Supply, which sells Bulk Crushed Oyster Shells for bocce courts.

For a DIY bocce court, first spread a 3-inch layer of drainage rock. Next add a weed barrier (such as a layer of landscape cloth). Then spread a 3-inch layer of crushed rock, fine gravel, or decomposed granite. You can also top dress the surface with a special bocce court blend of crushed oysters; for information, see Myco Supply.

For more, see Hardscaping 101: Bocce Courts.

Ribbon Driveways

Above: Photograph courtesy of Bridgehampton, NY-based Stelle Lomont Rouhani Architects, members of our Architect and Designer Directory.

If you’re designing or resurfacing a path or driveways, start with inspiration from our curated design guides for Driveways 101, Pavers 101, and Sustainable Surfaces.

• Hardscaping 101: Seashell Paths and Driveways
• 10 Garden Ideas to Steal from Provincetown on Cape Cod
• Tales from Truro: An Untamed Landscape Channels Thoreau’s Cape Cod

Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia: “Prairie Daisy”

Black-eyed Susans are native prairie flowers. If you grew up in Illinois, and your kindergarten teacher said to draw a flower, it is likely that you reached first for a yellow crayon (for the daisy petals) and next for the black (to color in a round center. I drew a whole meadow the year I was five.

I was much older before I realized that there is more than one variety of black-eyed Susan and that some are perennials, others annuals or biennials (all of them belonging to the same plant family as sunflowers). Rudbeckias are at home on the flat, sweeping stretches of land that define so much of our open terrain and may be the first wildflower you think of even now, decades after being promoted to first grade (the year of coloring in the stars and stripes on pictures of an American flag).

Are golden black-eyed Susans the right plant for your garden? They’re certainly cheery, with their strong jolt of long-lasting yellow (or orange) flowers. Read on for tips to grow them and to make them get along with other colors in your garden’s palette:

Above: On some black-eyed Susan varieties, color seems to bleed from the center onto the petals. Two cultivars with brown or black color at the base of the petals are ‘Denver Daisy’ and ‘Gold Bullion’. Photograph by John Perry via Flickr.

How can you tell if a black-eyed Susan is going to be a perennial or an annual flower? First, read the label on the seed packet or the nursery pot. If that’s no help, a general rule of thumb is this: Most black-eyed Susans are varieties of either Rudbeckia hirta or Rudbeckia fulgida, with R. fulgida more likely to be a long-lived perennial plant.

Above: Black-eyed Susans bloom against an airy backdrop of Stipa giganta at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, England. Photograph by Amanda Slater via Flickr.

How do you make so much bright yellow work in a border? Undercut it with the tawny colors of perennial grasses, which can create a neutral backdrop to frame the flowers.

Above: Photograph by Amanda Slater via Flickr.

Another tack to take is to give in to all that yellow optimism and plant a meadow or a prairie garden to make your black-eyed Susans look at home. The benefits are many: Black-eyed Susans have long-lasting blooms, will add color to a late summer landscape after many other flowers have faded, and are hardy, adaptable plants. After all, to flourish on a prairie you need to be able to withstand wind, beating sun, dry spells, hail, drenching rainstorms, and even the occasional tornado.

Above: Black-eyed Susans blooming on Narragansett Bay. Photograph by Dr. Mary Gillham Archive via Flickr.

There are black-eyed Susans and there are brown-eyed Susans (equally lovely) and one of our favorite brown-eyed varieties is Rudbeckia triloba (a short-lived perennial in USDA growing zones four to 7 and an annual elsewhere).

Cheat Sheet

• Black-eyed Susans will add a strong dose of golden color to a garden; a good foil for their cheery flowers is a backdrop of tawny perennials grasses.
• Purple flowers also complement black-eyed Susans well; interplant them with Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) or purple asters.
• For a perennial black-eyed Susans that will return next year in the same spot where you planted it, consider R. fulgida ‘Goldstrum’ if you live in USDA growing zones 4 to 9. (In zones 4 to 7, a short-lived perennial brown-eyed Susan is Rudbeckia triloba.)

Above: Yellow and purple: a happy combination. Here black-eyed Susans mingle with Verbena bonariensis against a backdrop of Stipa. Photograph by Amanda Slater via Flickr.

Keep It Alive

• If you don’t cut down the seed heads, annual black-eyed Susans will reseed themselves and and pop up in delightfully unexpected spots next year.
• Depending on the variety, perennials black-eyed Susans will thrive in USDA growing zones 3 to 9 (with most cultivars happiest in zones 4 to 7).
• In full sun or partial shade, with  a moderate amount of rainfall or irrigation, black-eyed Susans will bloom from mid summer and into September.

Above: Photograph by Miss Skittlekitty via Flickr.

For more growing tips, see Black-eyed Susans: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design in our curated guides to Annuals and Perennials. For more prairie garden design ideas, see:

In 1777, the U.S. Continental Congress made an important design decision: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” It’s a color scheme we still honor today.

To fly a star-spangled banner on the Fourth of July (or any other day), you’ll need a flagpole. We’ve rounded up 10 poles to consider, in two styles:  wall-mounted (to fly a flag against the facade of a house) and in-ground (a freestanding flagpole you can site anywhere in the garden).

N.B.: For in-ground installation, a flagpole should be anchored in a ground sleeve (typically made of a length of PVC pipe), surrounded by cement and dry sand. Depth may vary depending on the height of a flagpole; a 20-foot flagpole, for instance, should be in a 2-foot-deep hole. A metal collar, set at ground level, encircles the pole. For more information about installation, see Gettysburg Flag Works.

In-Ground Flagpoles

Above: A 20-foot White Fiberglass Flagpole scaled for residential gardens has a maintenance-free surface even under trying weather conditions (it is designed to withstand 100-mph winds). The flagpole comes with a 4-by-6-foot American flag; the set is $359.99 from Home Depot.

Above: A 20-foot silver Aluminum Retractable Flagpole comes with a decorative gold ball finial, a pulley and rope, a cleat, and a flag; $62.89 from Overstock.

Above: A 17-foot Liberty Flagpole Kit made of rust-free tubing can fly two flags at once and comes with a nylon US flag measuring 3 by 5 feet; $154.99 from Amazon.

Above: Manufactured in the US, heavy duty Estate External Halyard Satin Aluminum Flagpoles “are gracefully tapered with scaled down proportions perfect for home, apartment or small businesses,” notes retailer Flags International. The poles are made of “seamless 6060-T6 aluminum with tensile strength not less than 30,000 psi and a yield point of 25,000 psi” and come in a variety of heights from 15 to 35 feet and diameters of from 3 to 5 inches; $522 to $1,649.

Above: A 20-foot tapered aluminum Residential Flagpole comes with “all accessories and fittings needed: a cast aluminum truck with pulley, 3 inch diameter gold ball ornament, braided polypropylene halyard, cast nylon rope cleat with screws, and a heavy duty ground sleeve.” It is $119 from Amazon.

Wall Mount Flagpoles

Above: Made in the US by Annin Flagmakers, a six-foot-long, wall-mounted aluminum Spinning Flagpole comes with a 3-by-5-foot flag and fasteners; $55.79 from Home Depot.

Above: A 6-foot Deluxe Wall Mount with a flagpole made of 10-gauge anodized aluminum (with a 15-year warranty) is $175 from Flagpoles Etc.

Above: An All-American Flag Set comes with a two-piece, 6-foot pole, mounting rings, a positino bracket, and a 3-by-5-foot nylon flag. It is $49.50 from Flags International.

Above: A USA Heritage Series Flag Kit includes a 5-foot, two-piece mahogany stained wood flagpole, a pole sleeve, a fixed brass bracket, a carved pine cone wood finial, and 2.5-by-4-foot cotton American flag; $57.79 from Valley Forge.

Above: An Aluminum Rotating Flagpole has “an internal ball bearing to rotate with the flag and wind to ensure your flag never wraps around the pole,” notes the retailer. It is available in three finishes and two lengths (from 5 to 6 feet) for from $21 to $24.50 from Flagman.

For more ways to celebrate the Fourth of July, see:

• DIY: A Flag-Inspired Tablecloth by David Stark
• The Secret to the Best Fourth of July Barbecue
• DIY: Raspberry Sparkler for the Fourth of July

Opium Poppy, Papaver somniferum

The notoriety of Papaver somniferum, the “sleep-inducing poppy,” is only partly to do with its outlaw family.

Opium poppies are grown for their edible seeds and for pharmaceutical uses. The type that you see in gardens—whether your own or in the medicinal section of a botanic garden—is the legal relation, not toxic enough to be useful to anyone. The subversive beauty of P. somniferum is firmly rooted in its fabulous color and texture, and the way it can turn a vegetable patch into a Dutch painting.

Photography by Jim Powell for Gardenista.

Above: Self-seeded opium poppy that has not been weeded out of a fennel, in my garden.

More correctly but prosaically called “breadseed poppy,” Papaver somniferum is an unknown quantity when in bud. A couple of nearby seeds may result in shades of profound magenta and desirable pink, like the wild opium poppies in our vegetable garden, at the top of this page. On the other hand, they could germinate into the tawdriest hues of clapped-out mauve, in which case you are perfectly within your rights to pull them out.

Above: Double varieties of black opium poppy include Papaver somniferum ‘Black Beauty’ and ‘Black Peony’.

This is the great thing about self-seeding plants: If you edit them, they look purposeful. If you don’t, then they are weeds, run amok. Opium poppies grow well with other poppies, seen here at the Oxford Botanic Garden, in the medicinal plant beds. But it’s more fun to allow them to pop up wherever they like. In soil that is rich, like a vegetable garden, they will grow stout and tall, with handsome glaucous foliage and green-gray seed heads on strong stalks.

Above: Single deep black opium poppies at Oxford Botanic Garden.

Dutch masters (and Dutch mistresses such as Rachel Ruysch and Maria van Oosterwyck ) demonstrated their talent for photo-realist detail when they painted the backs of flowers, as well as the fronts, in the 17th century. Who can blame them? Every part of an opium poppy is fascinating and useful, from seed to flower to decorative dried seed head. The stalks also have a way of creating bends that eventually reach skyward.

Above: Papaver somniferum ‘Pink Dawn’ is a named variety which is similar but more predictable than the wild pink types.

Dutch “vanitas” paintings also featured decaying leaves of opium poppies, which are more fleshy and cabbage-like than those of oriental poppy or common poppy (Papaver rhoeas). After the petals from a series of buds have finally finished dropping (this goes on for longer than you might think), the plant does look rather sorry, as the green drains away. It’s important to leave well alone for more poppies next year, since these are annuals.

Above: Single deep plum-purple opium poppies at Oxford Botanic Garden.

There are plenty of named varieties of opium poppy, if you are introducing them into your garden or would like to add color depth, in the knowledge that they will eventually cross-pollinate. In the UK, Special Plants sells a dark, single poppy like the one shown here, called Papaver somniferum ‘Lauren’s Grape’  (£2 for a packet of 20 seeds) that can reach heights of feet.

Above: All opium poppies complement one another, from red to pink to plum to black.

Renee’s Garden in the US offers an heirloom selection of opium poppy seeds (which are legal, they carefully point out) called ‘Pepperbox Poppy’ ($2.99 for a packet of 1,000 seeds).

Cheat Sheet

• Opium poppies are happy companions to vegetables and herbs in an edible garden.
• Some favorite named varieties include P. somniferum ‘Sissinghurst White’ and frilly ‘Drama Queen’.
• To sow, sprinkle seeds on the surface of prepared soil (but do not cover them).

Above: Texture in the garden, which is entirely self-seeded with fennel and poppy.

Keep It Alive

• Opium poppies prefer soil that is preferably moist but definitely well-drained.
• They seem undisturbed by wind and cling on to their petals while being blown about.
• Papaver somniferum thrives in sun or semi-shade.

See more growing tips at Opium Poppy: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design in our curated guides to Annuals 101. Read more:

• Poppies in Paradise: A Garden Visit in Healdsburg, California
• Rethinking Poppies: How to Make a Fragile Flower Last Longer
• How to Grow Annual Flowers: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design

The plants that grow around a swimming pool landscape can add privacy and create a serene, inviting landscape if you choose wisely. But pool environments are notoriously harsh on plants. A heated pool will raise nearby humidity levels. The reflective surface of the water also intensifies sunlight, and chlorine or chemicals (from splashing) can be a concern.

For plants that will survive and thrive around a swimming pool (in any climate), use our list of our favorite hardy pool plants—tropicals, succulents, shrubs, vines, and ground covers— as a starting point:

(N.B.: For our posts on other swimming pool design elements, see our Swimming Pools 101 guide. And watch for our upcoming posts on decking materials, coping, and tile for pools.)

Tropical Plants

Above: A few years ago LA-based photographer Laure Joliet’s father, Vincent Joliet, succumbed to the charms of surfing town Todos Santos on the Baja California coast of Mexico.  From its perch, the house floats like an island next to the pool. Photograph by Laure Joliet.

Banana tree:  With their towering, oversized leaves, banana trees (Musa) instantly create an oasis. These giant beauties grow quickly (some varieties scrape the sky at 25 feet) and prefer a sunny but sheltered spot near a wall or interspersed with other plants for protection (because their lush leaves get easily tattered from the wind). Bananas are also greedy for water and love good compost as fertilizer. While most bananas are frost tender, Musa basjoo is considered the most hardy.
Philodendron: For a tropical-modern palette, consider massing philodendrons.  ‘Xanadu’ is a dense  (but tender) evergreen, a  low-spreading plant that clumps to 3 feet tall by 5 feet wide. It boasts heavily dissected glossy green leaves and appreciates a shady spot. The larger variety Philodendron selloum grows into a massive 6-by-6-foot shrub and tolerates more sun. See more at Philodendrons: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.

Above: The bird of paradise variety Strelitzia reginae. Photograph by Warrenski via Flickr.

Bird of paradise: Strelitzia nicolai is a smart choice because of the fast, fountain-like growth and leaves that can grow to an impressive height of from 5 to 10 feet. Like the banana tree, giant bird of paradise appreciates a sunny spot but also shelter from strong winds to avoid the leaf shredding effect. Site this tropical stunner where it can reach its ultimate height and spread of 15 feet wide. A much smaller and slower growing version, Strelitzia reginae is an option prized for its large bird-like orange and blue flower heads and bold evergreen leaves. Growing to only 5 feet tall, it is great in containers too.

Above: Located near Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, the tiny house has one bedroom, one batch, and one bed: 66 per night. Photograph via Airbnb. For more, see One Bedroom, Desert View: A Tiny Casita in Mexico, Swimming Pool Included.

Palm: Like banana trees and giant bird of paradise, palms create a strong vertical element and add privacy. One thing to consider, though, is the scale of your garden because some palms can grow to colossal heights. See more ideas at Palm Trees: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & and Design. Here are some cold-hardy palm varieties:

• Windmill palm tree (Trachycarpus fortunei) is hardy to 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis)  is hardy to from 5 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Pindo palm tree (Butia capitata) is hardy to from 12 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
• California fan palm tree (Washingtonia filifera) is hardy to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tropical plants to avoid: And then there’s bamboo. While I love its versatility and adore how the towering stalks sway in the subtlest breeze, the papery leaves and aggressive roots can be a complete nightmare in a landscape surrounding a swimming. Plant only clumping bamboo—and make sure it’s a good distance from any pool to be safe.

Succulents

For a more modern look around your pool, consider incorporating shed-free, easy succulents with their sculptural nature.

Above: Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.

Aloe: Low maintenance, aloes don’t shed foliage and enjoy the heat; they thrive in full sun. Plus hummingbirds love to visit these bright blooms.

Above: Salvaged native Mexican fence post cacti (Pachycereus marginatus) grow against the serene backdrop of whitewashed walls of a 90-year-old adobe house in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Native desert plants “mediate” between the historic building and a modern lap pool in a garden by Phoenix-based landscape architect Steve Martino. See more in 10 Ideas to Steal from Desert Gardens.

Agave: One of my favorite succulents (surrounding a pool…or just about anywhere) is Agave attenuata. Requiring little water and care, this bold beauty can grow to a height of 5 feet, provides a strong accent, and looks especially attractive surrounded by additional succulents like Aeoniums and low-growing sedums. Agave attenuata is frost tender to 25 degrees, so provide some protection if needed. Tip: When using succulents around a pool, avoid those with spines, needles, or thorns for obvious skin-exposed dangers.

Hardy Shrubs

Above: Photograph by Matthew Williams. See more of this project in Swimming Pool of the Week: Dreaming in Blue at a Stylist’s Hamptons Compound.

Euonymus: Golden euonymus (Euonymus japonicus ‘Aureomarginatus’) is a brightly colored shrub of green and gold evergreen leaves. Versatile, requires minimal care, and can reach 6 feet tall.

Fortnight lily:  Nearly ever-blooming, the exotic white flowers of fortnight lily (Dietes iridioides) burst from stiff evergreen blades that are from 2 to 3 feet tall.

Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’: Surviving harsh winters and full summer sun, this amazingly hardy shrub offers up to four different colors through the season. This generously sized 8-foot-tall beauty also produces pistachio-colored blooms midsummer.

Ground Covers

Above: The architects planted a mix of Irish moss and thyme between the bluestone pavers. For more of this project, see Swimming Pool of the Week: A 1920s’-Era Summer House at Water’s Edge. Photograph by Michael Moran courtesy of O’Neill Rose Architects.

Scotch moss: A superb evergreen ground cover for between pool pavers, Scotch moss tolerates being walked on. While it flowers, the buds are too tiny to be noticed by bees.

Above: Turf grass feels cooler underfoot than most hardscape surfaces. But be aware that turf is thirsty and will require regular irrigation. Photograph by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista. For more, see Landscape Architect Visit: Vineyard Views in Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley.

Artificial grass: Another idea is to consider installing zero-maintenance artificial grass as a pool edging, simply because the area directly near a pool is extremely tricky due to foot traffic and splashes of chemicals.

Vines

Above: Photograph by Lauren Moore. For more of this project, see Garden Visit: Spanish-Colonial Style Made Modern in LA.

Well-behaved vines can add privacy when trained up a trellis. Chlorine-tolerant vines include confederate jasmine (can also be a great ground cover when contained properly), bright yellow flowered Carolina jessamine, and the reliably tough climbing fig that attaches itself with self-clinging tendrils.

Chilean Jasmine: The wonderfully fragrant Chilean jasmine (Mandevilla laxa) is an easygoing vine (hardy to 10 degrees) that produces white flowers with a heady fragrance similar to gardenia.

See more of our favorite Perennials and Ground Covers in our curated guides to Garden Design 101. For more landscape ideas for swimming pools, see:

• The New Modernism: 20 Best Minimalist Swimming Pools.
• Pool of the Week: A Manmade Beach in the Portuguese Countryside.
• Landscape Ideas: Garden Design for a Swimming Pool Area.

Finally, get more ideas on how to integrate a swimming pool into your landscape or exterior home project with our Hardscaping 101: Swimming Pools guide.

Pencil Cactus, Euphorbia tirucalli: “Sticks on Fire”

I am not usually a person who throws caution to the wind, but despite the numerous warnings about the toxicity of euphorbia’s latex sap, I still admire and use this striking plant in many of my container designs.

Please keep reading to learn why you should still plant pencil cactus (carefully, of course):

Above: A potted Pencil Cactus in a 19-centimeter pot is £35 (available seasonally) from The Fresh Flower Company. For US, readers, a Pencil Cactus in a 1-gallon pot is $19.99 from Dancing with Nature via Etsy.

Above: Photograph by Alejandro Bayer Tamayo via Flickr.

I actually get the sap on my skin from time to time despite my safety attempts and don’t find the sap irritating, but there are countless wicked accounts of the opposite. If there is eye contact, blindness can occur and ingestion of the sap can be fatal. Now I know this sounds like a doomsday scenario, but if caution is exercised and gloves are worn and sunglasses or eye wear is donned, then there is no need to shun this beautiful plant, and let me tell you why.

Above: Photograph by Megan Hansen via Flickr.

This euphorbia got its nickname “Sticks on Fire” for a reason. Numerous slender stems, resembling small pencils or sticks, grow from the base, and during the cooler months they glow superbly in vivid shades of pink, orange, and yellow when grown in bright sun. The colors are utterly stunning and make you forget the warnings.

Pencil cactus is easy to grow if three things are provided: high light, low water, and gritty soil. Tip: This plant is perfect for travelers or people who sometimes forget they have houseplants.

Above: Photograph by Erin Boyle.

Cheat Sheet

• This colorful succulent is the ideal specimen for containers providing a striking silhouette. In its natural habitat, pencil cactus can soar to 30 feet but in a pot it can reach 6 feet under ideal conditions.
• Plant pencil cactus with Sedum ‘Angelina’ to highlight the bright chartreuse tones, or plant with Sedum ‘Firestorm’ or Crassula ‘Campfire’, whose red and orange margins pick up the euphorbia’s bright hues.
• Pencil cactus is an excellent choice for drought-tolerant, succulent seaside gardens where temperatures don’t dip below 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Looks lovely with aloes and agaves.

Above: Photograph by Erin Boyle.

Keep It Alive

• Outdoors, grow pencil cactus in full sun. Indoors, place it on a sunny, warm windowsill that receives a southern or western exposure. It also is happy living in a greenhouse.
• Provide immaculate drainage for pencil cactus. Bagged cactus soil is encouraged.
• Water every two weeks and less in the winter, and as with most succulents it’s better to let pencil cacti dry out than to drown them or risk rotted roots.
• Fertilizing is not urgent, but if you want try a balanced liquid houseplant food, feed pencil cactus once a year in the spring.
• Be cautious when pruning any dead stems to avoid skin contact with the sap.

For more growing tips see Pencil Cactus: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design in our Garden Design 101 plant guides. Learn more about our favorite succulents:

• Succulents & Cacti 101: A Guide to Growing, Care and Design.
• Agave: A Field Guide.
• Gardening 101: Christmas Cactus.