As the Director of the Allen Centennial Garden, a public garden on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I’m always on the lookout for plants that extend the season of interest for our visitors. Plants that are hardy, easy to grow and dependable rank high on this list of some of our favorites.

Plant madness consumes gardeners in the months of May and June. But before loading that hot new plant on to your garden cart, give some thought as to what it needs in terms of care and how you plan to provide it. Will it be stuck into an empty spot in a perennial bed, with no thought as to its need for water? Or will it spend a couple of months in its pot, requiring daily watering, as it becomes root- bound and struggles?

There are wanted posters out everywhere! Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), is an invasive insect native to Asia that has killed tens of millions of ash trees in urban, rural and forested settings. It is known to be a hidden hitchhiker on that firewood you bought the other day to take to your camp because it was a good price. With the U.S. Interstate system, it has easily found its way and invaded many counties and states ...

When you say “recycling,” most people think of plastic, paper and metals items. They clean and separate these items each week for trash pickup or take them to a recycling center. But what do you do with those items that you need to discard that you cannot easily recycle or may be too big for trash pickup? Why not get creative and give those items a new life in the garden? You can reuse or repurpose them. Here are four easy to make projects for your garden that can be made from those unwanted items ...

A garden contains a collection of plants chosen for the location and the role they are to play, but a garden can be much more. It can become an expression of shared memories created over a lifetime – a picture of things that have been important to you. Most residential gardens are obviously personal. However, it can be fun and constructive to review how your garden has evolved and consider what personal touches you might add ...

When the summer sun blazes down, we humans turn into shriveled lobsters, scuttling to hide beneath beach umbrellas and lurking in the far reaches of the basement. Plants don’t have these options. Instead, over the millennia, they have adapted their physical characteristics (morphology) to deal with harsh conditions. Different species have adapted in different ways ...

Long after the seasons of spring, summer and autumn have passed, you can still enjoy the trees in your landscape. After the leaves fall, some trees stand out in the garden with their unique bark. Some have bark with interesting texture, while others provide striking colors. An often overlooked feature in the garden, bark is most important in the winter. Trees continue to exude their beauty even in the bleakest of winters ...