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Don’t Be Ordinary: Eight Utterly Un-Ordinary Gems

Nancy J. Ondra/Hayefield.com

Last month, I started the “Don’t Be Ordinary” series to explore the many excellent reasons to consider growing from seed. This time, let’s look at one of the most tempting, for many of us: the opportunity to grow truly uncommon plants that we can’t easily buy (or sometimes, even buy at all) as plants.

You’ve probably heard it said that there’s a good reason common plants are common: they are easy to find and easy to grow, thriving in a wide range of conditions with minimal care. Though uncommon plants are hard are find, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are hard to grow, or that they are merely botanical curiosities with little garden value; it may just indicate that few gardeners have had the opportunity to give them a try. I’ve had good luck with all eight of these oddities in my Zone 6/7 Pennsylvania garden, most of them for several to many years, without providing any particular soil preparation or specialized care. And, it just so happens that I have seeds of all of these in my Hayefield shop, so if any of them strike your fancy, you have a chance to grow them for yourself. Some are also available from other sources, which you can investigate through an online search. Continue reading Don’t Be Ordinary: Eight Utterly Un-Ordinary Gems

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Three Neat Plants – Mid-August

Ceratotheca triloba 'Alba' at Hayefield

I’ll be putting up my Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post up over at Gardening Gone Wild this month, but there’s so much going on outside that I was able to pick out three pretty cool plants for a post here as well. Two of my mid-August picks have great flowers and one has…well, it’s hard to explain why I like it, so I’ll save it for last. Continue reading Three Neat Plants – Mid-August