Just in time for Halloween–it’s Amaryllis Zombie.

Don’t let the gruesome monicker fool you! These ivory colored blooms with salmon and pink stripes Are far from ghastly. Their looks will surely catch your attention if the name doesn’t do the trick. Rarely growing above a foot high, these minitiatures have a one-of-a-kind look to go with their super unique name.

This year’s selection of amaryllises is really stunning. With favorites like ‘Apricot Beauty’ and ‘Merry Christmas’ in the line-up you really can’t lose.

To protect your roses this winter:

1. Begin at the end of fall by mounding soil or a good mulch around stems about 1 foot deep.  Remove the mound gradually with your garden hose as new growth starts in the spring. 
2. Feed your roses with a handful of a complete fertilizer per bush. 
3. Water thoroughly, and  Mulch with hay, straw, or bark to conserve moisture and hold down weeds which will give your roses a better chance to bounce back as the weather warms. 
4. Fertilize monthly during the active growing season until mid-summer to make your plant stronger and ready for the next hard winter.

Roses are naturally hardy vigorous plants, with some wild climbing varieties reaching 60 feet or higher and thriving in the harshest conditions. And, since the introduction of the Knock Out Rose in 2000, breeders have focused on bringing out the innate strength of roses, making some of the hardiest disease resistant roses ever seem. But, there are some conditions that even the strongest plants struggle to surmount. If you are a rose gardener in a colder area, you know how hard it can be for roses to thrive in the spring following a hard winter.

Fall is the best time for planting those lovely flowering shrubs–it ensures that your will have an excellent show in your garden next spring. One of the showiest garden favorites is hydrangea. Here are a few things to keep in mind when planting yours this fall.

1. Planting your hydrangea early in the fall would be ideal, if you plant them in the summer, they will need a lot more water in the beginning to establish the root system.
2. Most varieties will thrive in full sun to part shade as long as they are planted in moist, rich soil. So choose a nice spot in your garden with good soil, or amend if you must.
3. Water deeply once a week, and maybe more, if the weather is particularly hot or dry. Hydrangeas love moist soil, but just like most of the plants in your garden, watering too much will cause root rot.
4. Fertilization of hydrangea could vary greatly depending on your intentions because certain elements of the fertilizer will effect the soil pH, which is a major determinant of bloom color in the pink/blue Hydrangea varieties, but a good all-purpose slow release fertilizer is always a good idea.
5. Always do research about your particular variety before doing anything. There are so many different varieties hydrangea that have different needs for things like pruning, light, moisture, and nutriment.

Good luck with all of your fall planting! Check out two of my favorite Hydrangeas, Hydrangea Annabelle and the ever-popular Endless Summer Hydrangea.

As any experienced gardener knows, moderation and balance are the keys to success in any landscape. This means that open spaces with plenty of sunlight should be evened out with shadier areas too. Sometimes it can be challenging to find plants which will grow just as well in shaded places, but fortunately we’ve got plenty of options for those sun-spare nooks and crannies.

Try an The most common garden Irises are the german bearded Irises, Siberian Irises, and the Japanese Irises. Most of the irises you buy will be cultivars of species from one of these three categories. The Iris is a striking plant with a unique bloom shape–one of the most readily identifiable flowers in any garden. Most iris will be some shade of blue or purple, adding a very cool feel to your garden. Many spring flowers have overtly warm tones, yellows and reds, but irises make a nice contrast.

The bearded irises are easy to cultivate and propagate, and have become very popular in gardens. They grow in any good free garden soil, the smaller and more delicate species needing just a little organic material, either peat or loam, for better drainage. The Japanese and Siberian Irises do well in very moist soil, some varieties even work well as water plants. If planted this fall, your iris bulbs or rhisomes will become well established over the winter and give a great performance next spring.

Avocado Don Gillogly (Persea ‘Don Gillogly’) is a luscious tropical tree that fruits year-round if kept in doors. This avocado is a vigorous dwarf that produces tons of fruit on a small tree. Fast-growing and pest-free, this Mexican native produces two crops a year of soft, black-skinned avocados with a flavor so rich you need nothing else for a scrumptious guacamole!

You should have your first crop in just over a year. If you live in a milder climate, it will also perform well on the patio, but bring it indoors beside a sunny window before frost. This tree can reach up to 10 feet in the wild, but it is very easy to keep it pinched and trained in a container. This is one of those really great plants that will have your guests going "wow, is this real?" and you will be able to reply by letting them try some of your delicious homemade guacamole.

This is one of Wayside Gardens’ top sellers. It has proven, in the last few seasons, to be a real customer favorite. This tree will not disappoint.

Admittedly, you’ll never achieve the splashes of radiant color that come so easily in the summer, but there is no reason to let your garden wither. If you get creative you can squeeze bits of color from this plant and that until you have a perfectly enchanting winter garden.

Evergreens are sooth with a ephemeral array of blues, silvers, greens, and golds. From The blue-gray of the Arizona Cypress ‘Glabra’, the bright Thuja ‘Gold Ribbon’, adding these colorful trees will add height and structure to your garden, while providing subtle winter colors throughout the bleaker months.

Plants that produce fruit in the winter add bright colors that will contrast well with the more subtle evergreen colors. Holly berries or Pyracantha can add nice warm splashes of reds and golds. The large, bright red rose hips of shrub roses can be very attractive in the off-months.

Deciduous shrubs and trees that have colorful bark are often used as colorful accents in the winter garden. Birches, maples, and cherries are great examples. Some Japanese Maples, for example, have bright white or red bark that really stands out against the muted colors of winter.