Gardening & Landscape

Do not Forget the Winter Garden Interest

In late fall, with beds full of worn out perennials and annuals, sad but resolute gardeners often bid farewell to their color-filled gardens and turn their attention to the fall clean-up. The talk turns to the beautiful autumnal leaves, while inwardly gardeners sulk as they remember what was. With a little planning and some knowledge of the many magnificent but often less popular plants, gardening can easily become a four-season affair.  

The fall garden is more than cabbages and a couple of pots of mums. And the winter garden shouldn’t feel like a nuclear bomb hit the landscape.  Garden structures are fundamental to a strong winter landscape. ‘Good bones’ in the garden are not limited to well designed structures and art but should include evergreens, deciduous trees with bark interest, water features, and plants like grasses and perennials with seed-heads to attract wildlife.

Flowers (annual and perennial), Gardening & Landscape

Helianthus (the perfect perennial)

Perennial Sunflower  Helianthus

Probably one of the most-loved flower, sunflower is a long-time favorite for borders and for bouquets because of their huge blossoms. While not quite as large as its annual cousin, the perennial sunflower makes up for what it lacks in size with loads of blossoms in late summer and into fall.

Colorful Combinations

The perennial varieties of sunflower are not quite as colorful as their annual counterparts, but they still put on an impressive display of color. Perennial sunflowers can generally be found in varying shades of gold, with a few cultivars in a softer lemon yellow.

The biggest difference among many of the sunflower species is in the foliage. While sunflower leaves tend to be coarse in texture, there are some exceptions, such as Helianthus salicifolius which has fine foliage. These plants don’t branch, except at the flowering tips, creating an extremely soft and airy texture.

Perennial Sunflower Care Must-Knows

Many native perennial sunflowers in the United States are tough plants coming from the Great Plains, prairies, and open rocky woodlands. They are well-adapted to a variety of conditions. Ideally, perennial sunflowers prefer well-drained soil with average moisture. Many types, though, are adapted to drought, while others like the swamp sunflower prefer, you guessed it, swampy moist soil. Most perennial sunflowers do well in average-to-poor soil, while a few others like soil rich in nutrients. Be careful with some of the larger growing types; if they are planted in too-rich soil, they may flop over from an overabundance of growth.

To prevent legginess, plant sunflowers in full sun. This encourages the most blossoms possible on the most compact habit. Many species will tolerate part shade, but they are more likely to develop fungal diseases like leaf spot and powdery mildew.

If you are planning on growing some of the taller species, make sure you can stake them as they are prone to flopping. Or plant them near other tall plants, walls, or fences for surrounding support. After they have finished blooming, don’t remove the spent blossoms; the oil-rich seeds in the blossoms are loved by small birds, who happily perch on the old blooms and snack to their hearts’ delight. The spent flowers also add winter interest to the garden.

DIY Projects, Home Buying

Shipping Container Homes

Container homes, looking for an inexpensive backyard office or a tiny house in the woods? Check out the growing field of container architecture, which offers container homes constructed from reused shipping containers. Builders today offer prefab container homes. There are also plans and kits that allow you to build a custom container house with electricity, plumbing, windows and other options. Anyone considering a container house also should take into account the cost of the land and a foundation upon which the container will be placed.

Shipping container homes, also called storage container homes, offer a fast, green, and sustainable approach to building. These intermodal steel building units (ISBUs) are manufactured in a factory-controlled environment so they are standardized and reliable. They can be used to build an average-sized home with almost no wood by place several containers together and even on top of each other.