Do you want to fill your containers with attractive winter plants that can then go into your garden in the spring? If so, this post is for you. At this time of year many want to fill their pots, urns and window boxes with greens for the holidays and beyond. Some stick cut greens right…

One of the things the custom department at HCG does at this time of year is to make arrangements for window boxes, porch pots and other containers. One of the most unusual pieces we do is a birdbath or urn topper. Here are photo instructions for you to create your own toppers…we have all the…

Many people have expressed the wisdom of actively fostering an attitude of gratitude. In pleasant times counting our blessings helps us not to take good fortune for granted. And when circumstances are difficult, seeking things to be thankful for can help balance, or even lift our burdens. During those periods when we’re just trudging through…

Some people notice that their neighbor has trimmed their blue hydrangeas down by half in October. Others wonder if they need to cut the brown flowers off their LimeLight or other Hydrangea paniculatas. Added to these questions is the confusion about when hydrangeas form their flowers, and how to prune them so that the most…

A mulch designed to protect tender plants in the winter is not the same as the mulch you put down to suppress weeds and keep moisture in the soil. The latter is usually finely chopped leaves, bark or other wood, and it works by forming a thin but fairly tight layer on top of the…

Many of our customers love the birds, and provide food and water to attract them to their yards and gardens. In this region we are blessed to have a wide range of resident birds as well as flocks that come through during migration. All birders and homeowners have their favorites, but many especially love the…

“What are those small, white balls in my lawn?” and “There are white, fuzzy things all over my plants…are they harmful?”  These are the questions that are coming into the garden center right now. Those small balls, the size of a pea or slightly larger, are wooly oak galls. They are made by a tiny…

If you are looking to identify a plant for yourself or others, here are a few things to keep in mind. It’s now common practice to post photos of plants online and ask “the hive mind” for identification. We see such requests on the Cape Cod Gardening Facebook Group all the time.  People are wonderfully…

In early September the Plantrama Podcast started the Leaf Stack Challenge. The idea is to collect an assortment of foliage that are different shapes, sizes, colors and textures, and pile them up…then take a photo and post it as you wish with the hashtag #leafstackchallenge. Why? Because it’s a fun activity that can open our…

“Is it OK to cut my perennials back and do my garden cleanup now?” “Can I trim my roses back in the fall?” “When is the best time to cut down my ornamental grasses?” These are questions our customers ask at this time of year. Truth be told, in most situations you can get away…

On Cape Cod many of us have pots and window boxes that are still full of flowering annuals in September. Our customers wonder if they can bring these beauties inside before frost. “Is it possible to keep them looking this good through the winter?” they ask, or “Can I save them and put them out…

We’ve known for a few years that monarch butterfly populations have been diminishing. Fortunately, people all across this country and into Canada and Mexico have been working to support remaining monarchs and increase their poulations. On Cape Cod we’ve begun to see the results of these efforts as more butterflies appear in wild areas and our…