Hartley Magazine

All the latest news, hints, tips and advice from our experts

Best Easy-Care Plants for Years to Come

It’s the time of year for giving thanks. And as a professional garden writer, I am thankful for the exciting new plants from growers and marketers that I get to trial and review. However, sometimes many seasons pass before plants demonstrate just how good they really are. So, I’d like to share a couple of […]

Instant Privacy Hedges—Now You Can Buy Time

Recently, while walking through the aisles of the Independent Garden Center trade show in Chicago, I discovered a product I’d never seen before—containerized hedges. A row of neatly sheared plants outlined the booth. Clearly, they were field-grown and root pruned, their branches naturally intermingling. It was a living privacy wall you could buy. It would […]

From Acer to Zelkova—New Small Trees Solve Big Problems

It’s that time of year when horticultural trade shows deliver the best and brightest for next year’s market. I was lucky enough to attend several, including the Independent Garden Center Show in Chicago and the FarWest Show in Portland, Oregon. That’s where I met up with Nancy Buley, Communications Director of the wholesale company, J. […]

Written in United Kingdom

Gardens to Share—Portrait of a Gem Hidden in Plain View

This month I’m looking at what can happen when private gardeners take their passion public. Streissguth Gardens is a private/public enterprise that could be duplicated in neighborhoods all over the country. Recently, I went for an urban hike with friends on the east side of Seattle’s Lake Union. On Blaine Street, we arrived at a […]

Think Outside the Vase—Floral designer Sylvia Lukach shares unusual choices from her home country of South Africa

South Africa is a cornucopia of exciting plants, perfect candidates for the greenhouse or the garden in warmer parts of the U.S. Knowing and growing these rarely featured varieties opens up a whole new world of interesting designs. This month I’m talking to Sylvia Lukach, founder of Cape Lily, Floral Design and Travel. She’s originally […]

Make a Flowery Hat—Another way to enjoy your garden’s bounty

It’s the season when our gardens are overflowing with flowers. So, I asked garden writer and photographer Janet Davis to share her delightful tips for creating wearable floral art. And with a greenhouse, you don’t even have to wait for the bountiful season. You could get this look year-round. Here’s how she does it.   […]

Keeping On—Toni Gattone shares tips on how to be a forever gardener

Toni Gattone doesn’t ever want to stop gardening. This prolific writer, dynamic speaker, and author of an upcoming book on adaptive gardening from Timber Press says, “We all have physical limitations. Especially as we get older. But the question is—how and when and what do you change so you can keep on doing what you […]

The Best Garden You’ll Find in a Book

I once received a breezy Christmas letter with the advice— “Everyone should take their family to the Galapagos.” I fell out laughing. Really? Everyone? What would the Galapagos look like then? And yet, when I walk into the garden of Marietta and Ernie O’Byrne, I understand that letter writer’s impulse. Everyone should see this acre-and-a […]

Darcy Daniels on Plant Lust—How to impulse buy and still love yourself in the morning

Plant lust. If you garden, you’re probably susceptible. You fall in love with a plant—or many plants—and then find yourself wandering your yard, not knowing how to fit your exciting new beauties into your garden’s design. So in anticipation of my own yearly plant lust, I’m turning to Portland, Oregon designer, Darcy Daniels. Would she […]

Is My Evergreen Dying? — Arborist Kevin Narbonne explains what to look for

On certain nights in January this year, more than ninety percent of the U.S. shivered with temperatures under 30 degrees F. Especially vulnerable were those plants with evergreen foliage. So what’s a gardener to do? If you couldn’t trundle susceptible plants into a greenhouse or other shelter when the cold hit, how do you help […]

Fascine—An ancient hill holder for modern gardens

I love when I come across a new (to me) gardening term. I’d never heard the word fascine, until I talked with Vanessa Gardner Nagel, award-winning landscape designer and author. She mentioned she was building fascine to stabilize the slope in her Pacific Northwest ravine garden. A fascine, she explained, is a bundle of sticks […]

Big Surprises in Small Packages

Small yet highly effective tools can be the perfect gift for the holidays. When garden space is tight—like inside a greenhouse—this collection of scaled-down products will be appreciated. Or, put these miniature offerings on your own wish list if someone needs a hint about your preferences. Cobrahead Mini Weeder – Folks who use the regular […]