Cold Frame in Our Greenhouse – Video
Linda from GardenAccentHeaven.com tells about the problems she had with her plants getting too cold the first year she had her greenhouse and how she solved the problem with a simple and inexpensive fix.
Click here to see the video Greenhouse Cold Frame
Gardening | Comment (0)It is Cherry Bloosom Time Again!
Today is February 25, 2010. The eastern seaboard of the United States is getting another big snow storm. The weather is cold over a lot of the United States and Canada. Out here in the Puget Sound the past two weeks the weather has been just great. We have had several days of sunshine and highs in the high 40’s and even low 50’s.
Growing up on the east coast I remember looking forward to the coming of spring and going to Branchville Park in Newark, New Jersey to see the cherry tree blossoms. Only the area in the park had the wonderful blooming cherry blossoms. We also made a few trips to Washington, DC to join the great crowds of people to see the cherry blossoms also. For an easterner seeing these trees was a special treat that you looked forward to each year and made the drive to the few places where you could see them.
Out here in Western Washington State cheery and plum blossoms put on one of the best free shows you will ever see. The streets of many towns are lined with cherry or plum trees. Many home and business owners also plant the trees as part 
of their landscaping. I took a short ride around Marysville, Washington this afternoon and took these photos. All of these photos were taken within 3 miles of the GardenAccentHeaven office. When it is not raining this area has amazing beauty which I am sharing with you in these photos.
Another Flower to Attract Hummingbirds
Red Hot Poker
Another Flower to Attract Hummingbirds and the admiration of your friends and neighbors! The common name is Red Hot Poker. I suggest Flamenco or Kniphofia uvaria. It blooms over a longer time period and has more blooms in total. Hummers love their three foot flower spikes. The flower spikes are a red-orange with a mellow yellow at the base. The strap-shaped foliage adds a nice contrast to other plants. The plant can be two feet high and three feet wide. Plant it in full sun with good drainage. This plant is both heat and drought tolerant once established, a truly care free plant! Hardy in Zones 5 to 9.
Gardening, Hummingbirds | Comment (0)A stunning container plant that attracts hummingbirds
Fountain Plant
The Fountain Plant or Russelia equsetiformis is the one! It is also commonly called the Firecracker plant also. Its brilliant red flowers appear on 12-inch long sprays throughout the warm season. The blooms are 3/4 “to 1” in length and are narrowly tubular, making them ideally suited for the long, slender bills of hummingbirds.
Other common names for this plant are coral fountain, firecracker plant, rain of fire, and coral blow. With its cascading fronds and red blooms planted in a tall slender red pot, it will be a great focus plant! I love containers as you can vary the forms and colors you select and they can be moved to show them off when in full bloom, then retired to less prominent
Flowers of Fountain Plant
locations when not at their peak of glory.
The Fountain Plant can reach 3 to 6 feet high and 4 feet wide. If that is a bit large for you, just limit the width of the container but keep good height to the container as the branches take root easily and may have a tendency to be invasive. Or, to simplify, just plant it in a hanging pot!
Gardening, Hummingbirds | Comment (0)Trees That Attract Birds, Bees, Butterflies Post 8
This tree completes my current research project. Get maximum benefit from your yard by having a variety of plants with fragrant blooms which will produce fruits and bring wild life to enjoy.
AMERICAN YELLOWWOOD (Cladrastis kentukea)
Glorious drooping panicles of fragrant white flowers put on a great show in early summer. The flowers are luxurious 6 to 10 inch clusters are fragrant and it is a bee magnet. It is prized for its smooth, silvery bark, “second-best to beech” . The yellowwood doesn’t bloom until trees are over 12 feet tall, and then the blooms are best every second or even third year. Fall foliage is a soft yellow, thus its common name Yellowwood. It grows 30 to 50 feet tall with a wider spread. Prune it from an early age to encourage a graceful mature form. Yellowwood is native to the mid-Atlantic and the Midwest. They are now very rare in the wild. Hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
American Yellowwood in Bloom
A Group of Yellowwood's In Fall Colors
