Gardening Articles

Rudbeckia, also known as Black-Eyed Susan, is a showy, summer-blooming herbaceous perennial suitable for the sunny gardens, adding bright, long-lasting color to any perennial gardens. Plants make a bushy, upright clump with daisy-like flowers with golden yellow petals and brown or green centers that are either domed or flat. A perfect choice for mass planting, looks good in flower beds and meadow gardens and shorter forms do well in planters, attractive to birds, bees and butterflies, Rudbeckia combines well especially with ornamental grasses. The long, strong stems make Rudbeckia an excellent flower for cutting and also a good dried flower so you can enjoy them indoors as well as out in your garden

Rudbeckia have a long blooming period from early summer to frost. This makes them an invaluable addition to the late summer garden. Dead-heading or cutting back faded flowers regularly will encourage the plant to re-bloom later in the season. Seedheads are good for winter interest, if you choose to keep them, and are also a good food for the birds. Rudbeckia self-sows freely, so deadhead if you do not want volunteer seedlings next season.

A good garden planning means that you are able to enjoy colors in your garden even in the depths of winter. Even if winter blooms are smaller and paler than their summer rivals, they can be often sweetly scented and still bring joy on a winter day.

There are some shrubs that still look amazing even if the weather outside is cold and unwelcoming. Some of them even flower over this period while others bring interest in your garden with their unusual bark.

White forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum) is a shrub that worth cosseting for its precious display of delicate, flagrant, slightly off-white flowers that appear against the leafless stems during late winter to early spring. Plant them in a sheltered position, against a warm wall or fence, to protect their bloom from frost.