Growing Guides

Gayfeather, listed in most seed catalogs under its botanical name Liatris (Liatris spicata), is a hardy North American prairie perennial that sends up tall, feathery spikes of purple flowers in mid to late summer. Those spikes open from the top...

Moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora) is a low, spreading annual with fleshy, needle-like leaves and bright, rose-like flowers that open in the sun. If you have a hot, dry spot where nothing else wants to grow, this is your plant, and...

Larkspur (Consolida ajacis) is a hardy annual that sends up tall spikes of blue, purple, pink, and white flowers in late spring and early summer, right when the garden needs the color most. It is one of the easiest cottage-garden...

Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena) is an old-fashioned hardy annual that wraps jewel-toned blue, white, and pink flowers in a haze of thread-fine foliage, then follows them with striped, balloon-shaped seed pods. It earns a spot in cottage gardens and cutting beds...

Micro clover (Trifolium repens) is a dwarf, small-leaved white clover that stays low, feeds itself, and shrugs off dry spells, which is why gardeners use it for easy-care lawns, living mulch, and nitrogen-building cover crops. If you want to learn...

Muncher is a crisp, burpless heirloom slicing cucumber (Cucumis sativus) prized for its thin, tender skin and sweet, never-bitter flavor. If you want to learn how to grow Muncher cucumber from seed, you are in good company, because it is...

Golden Bantam is a classic heirloom sweet corn (Zea mays) introduced back in 1902, prized for the old-fashioned flavor of its golden yellow kernels. If you have ever wondered how to grow sweet corn from seed, this open-pollinated, non-GMO variety...

Shasta Daisy 'Silver Princess' (Leucanthemum × superbum) is a compact, hardy perennial that covers itself in crisp white, yellow-centered flowers from early summer on. It stays around a foot tall, so it holds its shape without staking and fits neatly...

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is a striking biennial herb that spends its first year as a soft rosette of fuzzy, silver-green leaves, then sends up a tall golden flower spike in its second summer. Easygoing in poor, dry soil and loved...