Rare Plants: Less than 1 foot (30 cms or less)
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Trout Lily: Photogenic and Useful
Trout lily, a plant with stunning yellow flowers that bloom in the early spring, is quite photogenic. Large colonies of trout lilies can entirely blanket the forest floor as they mature. The colonies take a very long time to grow to this magnitude and can be hundreds of years old. Naturalize in moist, shaded areas…
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Barren Strawberry Quick Growing Guide
Barren Strawberry is a perennial plant that produces an abundance of vibrant yellow daisy flowers at the ends of its stems from early to late spring. These flowers are most effective when planted in groups. Its round, compound leaves retain their green colour throughout the growing season, even into the winter months. Barren strawberries thrive…
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Dutchman’s Breeches Care and Growth
Dutchman’s Breeches is an ephemeral spring woodland species. It blooms in the early spring, when sunlight hits the forest floor before the canopy of trees fills in. The nectar on the blooms will be easily accessible to the first emerging bumblebees. The foliage, which resembles fern leaves, begins to yellow in early summer and eventually…
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Caring for a Blue Chip Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis ‘Blue Chip’)
Caring for a Blue Chip Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis ‘Blue Chip’) in Lethbridge, Alberta, requires understanding the plant’s needs and adapting them to the region’s cold, dry climate. The Blue Chip Juniper is a low-growing, spreading evergreen with attractive blue-green foliage, making it a great choice for ground cover, borders, or rock gardens. This guide is…
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Veronica liwenensis is a Worthy Ground Cover
Veronica liwanensis was recognized as the Plant of the Month for February 2025 by the Ottawa Valley Rock Garden and Horticultural Society. Over the past four years, I have cultivated this plant in various locations within my yard, primarily in full sunlight. Some specimens thrive in a relatively dry garden, while others have spread and are…
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How To Grow Forget-Me-Not Flower
The Forget Me Not flower, by any other name would not be so sweet to gardeners, nor would the other numerous little blue forget me not flowers affectionately given the same name by their admirers.
True forget-me-not flowers have been prized by gardeners for generations.
Perhaps the little blue flowers of the forget-me-not are cherished because they are reminiscent of gardens of the long ago childhood gardens, or those of a beloved mother or grandmother. -
Hydrangea Care: an Easy Guide for Beginners
You’re likely familiar with the big, impressive blooms of the hydrangea. What you might not know, though, is how simple hydrangea care can be. Hydrangeas are hardy fellas that don’t require a whole lot of fuss. They produce beautiful flowers that form various shapes from large globes to pointy cones. And not only do the…
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Lavender
Lavender, known for its fragrant purple flowers and silvery foliage, is a popular plant for gardens and landscapes. It’s relatively easy to care for and can be used in various applications, from landscaping to essential oil extraction. Here’s how to grow, care for, and propagate lavender: Growing Lavender Choosing the Right Location Sunlight: Lavender thrives…
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Growth and Care for Prickly Pear Cactus
The Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia humifusa) is Canada’s only native cactus, and is a great conversation piece. The Prickly Pear Cactus is a unique addition to any garden, indoors or out. Plant it in dry, sandy soil and enjoy vibrant yellow flowers. It is also one of the most common cactus genera in the United…
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How to Grow and Care for Wintergreen
The wintergreen shrub is accentuated with either gorgeous, white bell-shaped flowers or brilliant, pinkish-red berries, depending on the season. Beautiful, fragrant wintergreen has evergreen foliage. This plant does well indoors, though it is typically used as ground cover. It’s the ideal addition to make your house cheery in the winter. Wintergreen makes excellent ground cover…
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Foamflower Shows Well in Groups
Foamflower can be a great addition to many gardens. It has an interesting, attractive leaf when not in flower. It also produces masses of lovely, lightly-scented white star-shaped flowers that rise above the foliage. Shell pink flower buds appear from mid-spring to mid-summer. It is most effective for visual effects when planted in groups. Green…
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Partridgeberry
Partridgeberry is a low-growing, creeping, and woody herb that is evergreen, perennial, part of the Rubiaceae family. From Newfoundland down to central Florida and west to eastern Texas, partridgeberry can be found all across the eastern United States. It naturally occurs in woodland settings, primarily on sand slopes along creek or river banks. However, it…
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Slender Blazing Star
Slender Blazing Star is an upright, clump-forming perennial with fluffy, purple flowers that bloom in late summer. It is best to plant it with slow-growing perennials or as a border plant, as it is a shorter, non-competitive plant. The long-blooming perennial Liatris, a slender blazing star or gayfeather, is native to eastern North America. It…
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Pilea Plant Grows Rapidly and Pleases
The pilea, also popular as the Chinese money plant, is a beautiful treasure. It’s cheerful and aesthetically appealing, and quite easy to care for. The plant grows rapidly before producing tiny kids, so you can share it with your friends! I can’t help but grin each time I see mine. Their unusual shape sets them…
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Cyclamen Plant Care For Winter Colour
Cyclamen are beautiful, petite ornamentals that are beloved around the holidays. They are one of the world’s most popular potted plants, distinguished by their compact size, elegantly variegated leaves, and vividly coloured blooms in a range of sizes, shapes, and patterns. They are considered easy to grow. However, indoor cyclamen plant care is quite different…
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All About Bloodroot: Characteristics, Propagation, and Care
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America, known for its distinctive white flowers and reddish-orange sap. The plant has historical significance in native medicine and, more recently, has attracted interest for its potential medicinal properties. However, it’s also appreciated for its ornamental value in gardens. Here’s what you…
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Common Blue Violet Is an Offical Flower
Common Blue Violet is a ground cover that provides an early nectar source for bees and other pollinators. It is also self-seeding and spreads. This violet is found throughout central and eastern North America in suburban lawns, busy roadsides, city parks, cracks in the sidewalk, and overgrown areas, in addition to the lush forest floors…
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Twin Flower is Charming Groundcover
Twin flower is a charming evergreen creeping vine that forms large mats in moist, shady woods. Its sweet-smelling blooms attract bees. After the flowers have faded, the plant’s evergreen leaves remain beneath the snow all winter. The Twin flower (Linnaea borealis) is a plant found throughout the northern hemisphere in circumboreal habitats. It occurs across…
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Sharp-lobed Hepatica is an Early Spring Bloomer
Hepaticas are among the first flowers to bloom in the spring. The flowers close at night and on cloudy days when pollinators are not likely to be flying. They are delicately attractive and have a tendency to blow about on their slender stems in the wind. Heptica leaves are known as basal leaves, which means…
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Canada Mayflower Growing Guide
Canada Mayflower can form large patches in a wide range of habitats, but it is most common in boreal coniferous forests. They are abundant on the forest floor and emerge tightly coiled. It blooms with frothy white flowers in late April. Its leaves are some of the earliest to appear in the spring. The white…
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Starflower
Starflower is a plant that grows in the forest understory or as a groundcover in damp, shaded soils, occasionally on the banks of rivers and ponds. It spreads via well-developed rhizomes and regrows from overwintering tubers in the spring. Seeds are produced, but they are not as important for reproduction as they once were. Starflower…
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Sweet White Violet
Sweet White Violet (Viola blanda) is a low-growing stoloniferous perennial with basal, heart-shaped leaves and fragrant, white flowers with strongly reflexed upper petals and a purple-veined lower petal. Sweet white violets can be found in open mixed woods and clearings in their native eastern United States and Canada. In the wild, they spread to form…
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Dog Violet
Dog Violet (Viola conspersa) is common in fields and pastures. It can be used as ground cover. The plants are only 2-4 cm tall in the spring, but they grow taller later in the summer. It has hairless leaves. The basal leaves are round or kidney-shaped, with rounded tips and fine rounded marginal teeth; the…
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