Hollyhocks look romantic and old-fashioned, but they add color and drama to today's gardens. Grow them beside fences or walls, or in the back of the border, where their tall stalks can reach for the sky.
By Deborah Snoonian
June is National Perennial Gardening Month, and when we asked where you buy your favorites, many of you named the biggies, like White Flower Farm, Jackson & Perkins, and Wayside Gardens. But we were psyched about all the lesser-known nurseries on your list, including:
Perennial Pleasures, Vermont This nursery specializes in heirloom plants and herbs. Its fields and greenhouses are tucked behind the owner’s 1840s house.
Carroll Gardens, Maryland They earned kudos for offering a wide variety of perennials, bulbs, and roses. Get advice from the site's Garden Club Connection community.
Big Dipper Farm, Washington Shop by variety or yard condition at this Pacific Northwest nursery's website, which offers tips on caring for flowers and plants once they arrive.
High Country Gardens, New Mexico Just like the name says, this nursery stocks varieties that are adapted to high altitudes, as well as dry climates and drought conditions.
Spring Hill Nursery, Ohio Visit their "step-by-step garden" section to browse more than a dozen mixed gardens designed by their pros, along with one-click ordering for all the plants and flowers you need.
By Carol O’Meara
Turning your landscape into an edible feast fit for the eyes as well as the stomach is a hot trend in 2015, and breeders have been busy developing varieties that look and taste amazing. They're not just showy, they can be practical too, with sizes petite enough to feed smaller families or appetites and fit into smaller garden spaces.
Take a look at these sexy newcomers and renewed acquaintances. You won't want to hide them in a backyard vegetable garden, because they're pretty enough to hold their own up front in the flower beds.
Purple Wonder strawberry
Purple Wonder strawberries from The Cook’s Garden fill a bowl with color and flavor.
Purple Wonder strawberries from The Cook’s Garden fill a bowl with color and flavor. (Provided by Cook's Garden)
This hipster is not your average strawberry. It’s a sweet, two-tone treat with burgundy-purple skin hiding a red heart. June-bearing plants produce early, ushering in summer with bountiful harvests. Bred by Courtney Weber at Cornell University; get it at Cook's Garden (cooksgarden.com, $11.95 per plant).
Phoenix nasturtium Herb and edible-flower aficionados will thrill to this new variety of Tropaeolum minus. Instead of conventional, rounded petals, Phoenix's flower petals are cut into three or four points, like flames. The result is a stunning display of edible beauty. Well-behaved and compact in the flower bed, this plant changes form if planted in hanging baskets and will give you trailing, floral-flamed stems. Found at Park seed (parkseed.com, $4.95).
Ruby Glow Romaine
Love your lettuce, but want to add a bit more pizazz? Check out Ruby Glow Romaine, shown on Grow's cover.. The dark purple leaves are a designer's delight, setting off lighter-colored plants or flowers in the bed. Cooks will love it, too, for its tasty, crisp leaves. Harvest it, then delight in discovering that the heart of each head is an eye-popping combination of lime green and ruby red. Great for container or mountain gardeners; order from Cook's Garden (cooksgarden.com, $6.95).
Kalibos cabbage
Another purple performer for the garden, this cabbage forms diminutive spires of mauve leaves with snow white hearts. You won't have to plan for cabbage that feeds thousands — the petite, mild-flavored, 2-pound heads are perfect for single meals. Baker Creek Heirloom seeds has them (rareseeds.com, $3).
Rainbow carrots
These carrots hit a market sweet spot for gardeners and foodies alike, wooing them with roots of yellow, orange, purple, and white. If you want to plant a rainbow, you can find a mix at FedCo (fedcoseeds.com, $2.60) or at many other seed companies.
Rainbow carrots
These carrots hit a market sweet spot for gardeners and foodies alike, wooing them with roots of yellow, orange, purple, and white. If you want to plant a rainbow, you can find a mix at FedCo (fedcoseeds.com, $2.60) or at many other seed companies.
But for gardeners who want a carrot of a different color, get Atomic Red from Botanical Interests (botanicalinterests.com, $2.69). Atomic Red is delicious raw, but doesn't mind the heat of the kitchen; however you cook them, the colors of their screaming red skin and orange core intensify.
Peregion beans
These beans may not look like much on the vine, but out of the pod they're considered one of the most beautiful dried beans. Swirled and marbled in hues of mocha, cocoa, and white, they keep their colors through cooking for decorative dishes. Add to that their sublime flavor, and this heirloom from Oregon is worthy of a hardcore foodie's garden. Vermont Bean Seed company has them (vermontbean.com, $2.85).
Butterscotch squash from Johnny's
Select Seeds is a small butternut with a very small seed cavity. It also takes up less room in the garden. (Provided by Johnny's Select Seeds)
Glass Gem corn With kernels
that look like dyed pearls, this corn's spectacular beauty created an Internet frenzy when it was first introduced in 2010. Ear after ear is filled with translucent, jewel-colored kernels, which can be used for popcorn, ground into flour, or left to decorate your home. This corn needs room, producing side tillers on 6-to-9-foot stalks, and takes 120 growing days. For best kernel color, harvest once the husks are dry and brown. Found exclusively at Native Seed (shop.nativeseeds.org, $5.95).
