Organic Gardening News

Gardening rules are mostly seasonal, though nobody labels them that way. Deadhead, feed, prune, weed, tidy up. Those instructions arrive in spring with no expiration date attached, so people keep following them straight through August out of pure habit. A few of them stop helping around now. A couple start doing real damage. The garden would be better off if you sat down instead.

Anyone told how to start a garden has heard most of these, usually as flat commands rather than seasonal ones. The plants themselves have moved on. Growth is slowing, energy is heading down toward the roots, and a whole category of chores has quietly become optional.

Rules That Expire Around Mid-August

None of this means abandoning the garden. The job changes, though. It shifts from pushing growth to letting plants finish what they started on their own schedule. Most of the payoff lands next spring rather than next week, which is probably why these habits are so hard to drop.

1. (Don't) Deadhead Every Spent Bloom

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Deadheading in June keeps flowers coming. Doing it in late August throws away the entire point of the season. Coneflowers, sunflowers and rudbeckia turn spent heads into seed right when goldfinches are raising a late brood. That timing is not luck. Goldfinches nest later than almost any songbird precisely because they wait on that seed. Leave the heads standing and the birds find them without any help. Self-sowing annuals do that very same thing. Let cosmos, larkspur and nigella drop their seed and next year arrives free, or collect a few heads into seed envelopes from Walmart and decide where they go yourself.

2. (Don't) Feed the Perennials and Shrubs

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Nitrogen tells a plant to grow. That is a fine instruction in April and a genuinely bad one now, because the soft green growth it produces has no time to harden before frost arrives. Tender shoots going into a cold snap are the ones that blacken and die back.

Woody plants have already shifted into storage mode, moving sugars down into roots and stems for winter. A feed interrupts that process at the worst possible moment. Put the bag away until spring. Container plants still flowering are the one reasonable exception, since they are annuals headed for the compost pile anyway. Nothing about their winter matters.

3. (Don't) Prune for Shape

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Shrubs cut now respond the way they always do, by pushing new growth. The trouble is, that growth has weeks rather than months to firm up. Producing it also spends sugars the shrub banked for winter, leaving less in reserve for February. Taking off the outer canopy also exposes interior branches that have spent all summer shaded, and bark that has never seen direct sun scalds easily in late-season heat.

Broken and diseased wood still comes out whenever you find it, since that is removal rather than shaping. Everything cosmetic waits for dormancy, and by then the plant has nothing left to lose by being cut. The shrub will look no worse in the meantime.

4. (Don't) Pull Every Last Weed

(Image credit: Ekaterina Savyolova / Getty Images)

Spring weeding decides whether seedlings survive. August weeding is mostly about how the bed looks from the driveway. Established plants have already claimed their water and light, and a few latecomers underneath are not taking much. Every pull disturbs the fungal threads and soil life that spent all summer settling in. Roots left in the ground hold a bed together through fall rain. Your back gets the rest as a bonus.

There is one hard exception. Anything setting seed comes out today, because a single pigweed left to ripen seeds a bed for years. A weeding knife from Amazon lifts a taproot cleanly without turning over half the bed. The rest can stay.

5. (Don't) Cut Back Yellowing Foliage

(Image credit: Qwart / Getty Images)

A plant heading into dormancy empties its leaves before it lets them go. Sugars and stored nutrients move down into the roots and crown, and the yellowing is that transfer showing on the outside. Cut the stems green and the whole shipment goes to the compost instead. Dry and brittle is the signal, not the first hint of yellow. Leave the leaves on the stem while that happens, since cutting at the base ends the transfer just as surely as stripping the foliage does. Vegetable crops winding down get the same treatment. Diseased foliage is the exception. That comes out the day you spot it, bagged rather than composted.

6. (Don't) Keep the Lawn Green

(Image credit: Nickbeer / Getty Images)

Brown grass in August is not dead grass. Cool-season lawns go dormant on purpose when heat and drought arrive, shutting down top growth while the crowns and roots stay alive underneath. Established lawns handle several weeks of it without harm. Fighting dormancy with daily sprinkling wastes water and grows shallow roots into the bargain. A dormant lawn does want a drink eventually. Water your lawn with roughly half an inch (1.3cm) every two or three weeks keeps the crowns alive without waking anything up. It greens back up on its own once nights cool and rain returns, usually within a fortnight of the weather turning.

7. (Don't) Clear Beds Down to Bare Soil

(Image credit: Big Shot Theory / Getty Images)

Bare soil is the tidiest a bed ever looks and the least useful thing it can be. Fallen leaves and hollow stems are where a long list of native bees, beetles and moth pupae spend the winter. Hauling all of it off in September removes next year’s pollinators along with the mess. Bare ground also crusts over and erodes through the fall rain. Rake what blows onto the lawn, leave what settles in the beds, and top it with shredded mulch from Home Depot if the look bothers you. The cleanup still happens either way. It just happens in April, once the pollinators have overwintered and had a chance to leave.

As you read and learn about a specific plant’s pruning needs and preferences, you may develop some pruning anxiety. With such specific pruning rules, you may feel like you need a diagram next to a plant to prune it properly.

But not all plants are fussy about pruning. Many plants are much more laid back. One of my favorite forgiving plants to care for are tomato plants. But even though growing tomatoes and pruning them the right way is easy, there are still some important guidelines you need to follow for the best results.

Pruning tomatoes the proper way and at the proper time can increase your yields, make harvesting easier, and keep plants pest and disease-free. Here’s how to prune tomatoes for healthy plants and bigger harvests.

Should You Prune Tomato Plants?

The answer to this question is actually a personal one. Some people assert firmly that pruning tomato suckers improves the production and health of a plant by improving airflow, which can reduce the spread of disease. Others claim that pruning tomato suckers damages the plant unnecessarily, opening it up to disease without providing considerable benefits.

Your tomato plant won't instantly grow three new stems in the place of every stem you cut, but it will reward your pruning efforts with a bounty of delicious fruit. Regularly pruning tomato plants will help the plant produce more fruit.

Plants need foliage to create energy from photosynthesis, but the growth and development of foliage uses up a lot of the plant’s energy that could be used for fruit production. Cutting off tomato suckers redirects the plant’s energy away from growing new stems in favor of producing more fruit. Pruning off extra stems also means that your plants will produce less tomatoes that are bigger in size.

It is possible to get overzealous when pruning tomatoes and wind up with an over-pruned plant. First you need to understand which types of tomatoes benefit most from pruning and then I’ll walk you through how to prune tomatoes the right way for the best results.

(Image credit: Hakase_ / Getty Images)Pruning Different Types of Tomatoes

When it comes to cutting back tomato plants, there are some things you need to know. Tomato plants fall into two categories: determinate and indeterminate.

Determinate Tomatoes

Determinate tomato plants are shrub-like. They grow to a certain height, then stop growing up and instead fill out and grow bushier. Determinate tomato plants also go to flower and fruit all at once.

‘Patio’, ‘Roma’, and ‘Celebrity’ are a few popular varieties of determinate tomato plants. Because they fruit in a shorter time span and grow as more compact plants, determinate tomato plants need less pruning.

When you first plant a determinate tomato, you should prune off any tomato flowers that form before the plant is 18-24 inches (45.5-61 cm) tall. This will redirect the plant's energy from flower formation to developing strong roots.

As the plant grows, prune out any crossing, crowded, damaged, or diseased stems and foliage to keep the plant open, airy, and free of pest and disease. Removing tomato plant leaves that grow just beneath the flower sets will send more energy to fruit formation.

(Image credit: Helin Loik-Tomson / Getty Images)Indeterminate Tomatoes

Indeterminate tomato plants are more like vines. They grow long stems that continually bear new fruit sets. You can save space in the garden and focus on fruit production by growing indeterminate tomato plants vertically up poles, arbors, trellises, or fences.

They can be trained and trimmed easily to grow as single stemmed, heavy fruit-bearing plants by removing excess tomato plant leaves and sucker stems that form along the main stem.

Many heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and ‘Better Boy’ tomatoes are popular varieties of indeterminate tomato plants. In late summer, they can be top pruned to redirect the plant’s energy into ripening its last fruits.

When pruning tomato plants, or any plants, focus first on removing foliage, fruits, or stems that show any sign of disease or pests. Then sanitize your tools and wash your hands to prevent the spread of any common tomato diseases or pests that may have been present.

How to Prune Tomato Plants

If you have decided that pruning tomatoes is the best course of action for your gardening goals, you need to make sure that you do it the correct way to help reduce the chances of disease.

(Image credit: VlarVix / Getty Images)

1. You want to start pruning tomato plants when they get to be about 1-2 feet (30-60 cm) tall. Any smaller than this, and the plant may not recover from the shock of being pruned.
2. By the time your tomato plant gets to be this size, the plant will have branches coming off the main stem. Where these branches meet, you will see an additional branch growing. This is called a tomato sucker. Using a sharp, clean pair of pruning shears, snip these small sucker branches off.
3. The best time to prune tomato plants is in the early morning on a dry day. This will allow for the wounds from the pruning to heal cleanly and will reduce the chances of the plant being infected by disease.
4. If you choose to prune tomato plants, make sure that you use irrigation methods that water tomato plants at the soil level (like this soaker hose from the Home Depot) rather than from above (like sprinklers). This will prevent soil splashing up onto the tomato plant and the tomato plant's wounds, which can introduce disease pathogens.

Essential Tomato Pruning Tools

ZGYFJCH Garden Silicone Thumb Knife

These clever thumb knives are the perfect tool for pruning away unwanted suckers.

Fiskars Bypass Pruning Shears

You can't beat the affordability of these high-quality pruners from Fiskars. That's why this brand is Content Editor Laura's go-to for pruning tools.

Felco F2 Pruning Shears

If you're looking splurge on pro-level pruners, these cult-favorite pruners from Felco are a favorite of Editor-in-Chief Melanie.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all it took to lure migrating birds into a stop-over in your backyard was a welcome sign? Well, in reality, that is all it takes, but it has to be a welcome sign written in a language our feathered friends can understand.

So how do you flag down and help the birds heading south for the winter? Fall bird migration is the perfect time to lay down the welcome mat and turn your garden into a favorite bird pit stop. All it takes is adding a few critical elements that will aid these birds in their long journey south.

I’ll share my top tips to turn your yard into a migratory bird’s new favorite pit stop. Just making a few simple changes to your landscape can help birds survive and safely reach their southern destination for winter. Here’s what to do now before the migration season begins.

Why Supporting Migratory Birds Is So Important

Migratory birds never had it easy, with a long and tiring flight north in spring mandating a reverse flight that’s equally long in fall. This includes many colorful songbirds like orioles, tree swallows, red-eyed vireos, scarlet tanagers, yellow-rumped warblers and thrushes.

But these beautiful species are declining dramatically, causing all of us bird-lovers to worry. Yes, much of the problem is due to losses of habitat and breeding grounds from urban spread. But these migratory birds have also suffered from a significant loss of rest stops along their migration routes.

As parks and wild lands get eaten up by human activities, the migrating birds’ customary stopover areas are reduced. These have been important resources for the birds, providing them with safe places to stop, rest, and refuel in their long voyage to a distant destination. These vital wildlife habitats are shrinking, but you can help reverse this problem by adding just a handful of elements to your garden now before bird migration begins.

(Image credit: Federica Grassi / Getty Images)Turn Your Yard Into a Bird Migration Pit Stop

The good news is you don’t have to have thousands of acres or millions of dollars to help. By turning your landscape into a high-quality stopover area, each of us can join the fight to save the migrators and help keep them alive. Think high-energy food, clean water, and safety. Here are the critical elements you need to get started on creating an appealing pit stop.

1. Provide High-Energy Food

(Image credit: Lindaze / Shutterstock)

I sometimes head out to watch the San Francisco Marathon or Bay-to-Breakers race, cheering on the regular people who are courageous enough to run the extra miles. Their friends and supporters stand on the sidelines along the way handing out high carb snacks to keep the runners fueled, like raisins, dates, bananas, and jelly beans.

You can be that kind of loyal supporter to your migrating bird population, too. Put energy-packed food in your bird feeders, like black-oil sunflower seeds, niger seeds, and millet blends. Add high-energy suet cakes, which you can get from Chewy, to provide protein and fat. These are the options tired birds will appreciate most.

2. Grow Native Fruits & Berries

(Image credit: Danita Delimont / Shutterstock)

Many different types of fruits and berries ripen in fall, and these natural snacks can attract even more passing birds than your feeders. Provide a variety of fruit trees and bushes like blackberries, beautyberries, sassafras, spicebush, dogwood berries, wild grapes, and elderberries as well as apples. Birds can eat the fruit off the tree or fruit that has fallen to the ground.

Remember, even if the bird doesn’t want to eat your particular fruit, fallen fruit attracts bugs and bugs make wonderful meals for birds. Don’t forget about cedar and juniper trees that produce berries birds will devour. Then there’s holly berries that mature in fall and bright red hawthorn fruit that ripens in late summer. These berries can remain on branches well into winter for the latest birds on the migration path.

You can find lots of native fruit trees, shrubs, and plants for sale from Nature Hills Nursery to grow in your garden for birds.

3. Offer Fresh Water

(Image credit: Chelsea Sampson / Getty Images)

All living creatures need water. If there was neither food nor water, your lifespan drops to a maximum of three days. Think of the migrating birds!

Water sources are critical life support elements for migrating birds. Flying long distances dehydrated birds quickly. Without hydration, the birds simply cannot make it through the arduous journey.

They need to be able to fill up on water quickly after they descend from the sky to rest. Plus, they use water to bathe and clean their feathers, which are essential for aerodynamic flight.

Yet wetlands and marshes are being sacrificed to urban spread and rivers are being rerouted or polluted. Adding a reliable water source for birds to your backyard will go a long way toward creating the pit stop your feathered friends are dreaming of.

Use a shallow bird bath and maintain it well. Clean your bird bath by picking out fallen leaves and debris every day, rinse out the muck, and fill it up with fresh water every few days. You can find tons of beautiful bird baths that suit a variety of garden styles from the Home Depot.

4. Create a Safe Landing Spot

(Image credit: Getty Images)

What are the big dangers for birds when they stop in a backyard? Assuming you’ve followed the suggestions above, they won’t have to worry about dying from hunger or dehydration. But look out for the windows! Attach stickers or make a big X out of brightly colored tape to keep windows visible to flying birds.

Plus, keep kitties indoors. A cat outdoors will sport with birds – it’s in their nature. Free-ranging domestic cats take out some 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds each year in this country. That’s one heck of a threat to the wild bird population. Protect the exhausted visiting migrating birds by keeping house cats away from your garden.

Bare stems with fruit still hanging on them make an alarming sight in the middle of August. The plant looks like it is dying. Peppers left behind start scalding in the sun without any canopy over them. Something is wrong, though the plant is rarely as far gone as it appears.

Most trouble with growing peppers this late comes down to four causes, and they leave different fingerprints. Where the shedding starts, what the fallen leaves looked like on the way out, and what the weather has been doing will narrow it down fast.

1. Heat

(Image credit: Tatiana Maksimova / Getty Images)

Peppers stop cooperating when days push past 90F (32C) or nights stay above 75F (24C). Pollen turns tacky at those temperatures and pollination fails. Pepper blossoms drop before they ever set fruit. Leaf loss follows as the plant sheds what it cannot keep hydrated through the afternoon. Wind through a hot spell makes it worse by stripping moisture faster than roots replace it. The tell is the order: flowers go first and foliage follows, not the other way around. A stretch of shade cloth from Home Depot over hoops takes the edge off a heat spike without cutting light enough to matter.

None of that is fatal. Plants that shed flowers through a hot spell start setting again once nights cool. That means early September across most of the country. Resist the urge to tidy up in the meantime. New fruit comes off wood the plant already has, and cutting peppers back hard in August leaves less of it to work with. The leaves still hanging on are shading fruit that would scald without them.

2. Water Swings

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Erratic watering does more damage than watering lightly. Roots that go from saturated to bone dry and back lose fine feeder tips every cycle. The plant balances that loss by dropping leaves, lowest first, while the top stays green. Container peppers get hit hardest. A pot can swing from wet to dry in a single hot afternoon, where peppers in open ground shrug off a missed day. A soil moisture meter from Amazon pushed down near the root zone answers the question faster than poking a finger in the surface.

The fix is rhythm rather than volume. Water deeply on a schedule the plant can rely on. Mulch keeps the top few inches from swinging between extremes every day. Here is the confusing part. Overwatering yellows pepper leaves exactly the way drought does, since roots in saturated soil cannot pull oxygen either. Dig down and squeeze a handful. Soil that holds its shape and glistens is too wet, and soil that will not clump at all has gone past dry.

3. Nutrients

(Image credit: Zbynek Pospisil / Getty Images)

A heavy crop is a hungry crop. Peppers pull nitrogen out of older foliage and move it into ripening fruit. The lowest leaves pale first. They yellow, then they let go, while everything above them looks perfectly healthy. That gradient from the ground up is the signature. It tends to show right as the first fruit starts turning color. Nothing is diseased here, and the plant is doing exactly what you asked of it, just at its own canopy’s expense.

Feeding peppers lightly helps, but you should leave it at that. Too much nitrogen this late pushes soft growth that will not ripen before frost. High-nitrogen fertilizer is itself a documented cause of blossom drop, which turns one problem into two. Peppers draw heavily on potassium while fruit sizes up, which is the argument for leaning that way rather than skipping the feed altogether. Something balanced or potassium-leaning at half strength supports fruit already set without redirecting the plant back into leaf production. This one from Amazon is a good bet.

4. Disease

(Image credit: wisely / Getty Images)

Two diseases spot pepper leaves in August, and the shape of the spot tells them apart. Bacterial spot begins as water-soaked flecks on the undersides of older leaves, darkening to brown or black inside a narrow yellow halo, with angular edges where a vein stops them. Cercospora, the fungal one, makes rounder lesions with pale tan centers and dark rims. Gardeners call it frogeye. The name explains itself once you have seen one. Either way the centers dry and drop out, the leaves go shot through with holes, and defoliation runs from the bottom up until the fruit is sitting exposed. A copper fungicide from Amazon slows both, so the diagnosis can wait until after the first spray.

Handling matters as much as spraying. Both travel on splashing water and on hands moving through wet plants. Stay out of the row until the foliage dries and water at soil level from here on. Neither has a cure once a plant is far gone. Pull the worst ones and keep the debris out of the compost. Clean seed and a resistant variety are the real answer next spring.

I've had bright blond hair for as long as I can remember. Well... technically since 2019, but after seven years it feels like part of my personality. The only downside? Keeping blond hair looking fresh is surprisingly hard work – so, yes, if my garden borders can help, of course I will accept the assistance!

Now, I love my blond hair as cool and ashy as possible; in fact, I absolutely hate it when my hair starts veering too warm or brassy. For years, my solution was simple: reach for the purple shampoo. It worked, but between juggling work, two children, my garden, and everything else life throws at me, regular trips to the salon for toner appointments slowly became less realistic.

If I'm honest, I've also found myself trying to cut back on some of the harsher products I use where I can. So I was genuinely surprised when the answer turned out to be a very pretty flower (and one that was already growing in my own garden borders).

This Pretty Flower Is My Secret To Brighter Blonde Hair

My mother-in-law gave me a copy of The Garden Apothecary by Christine Iverson, knowing I'd become slightly obsessed with finding new ways to use the plants I grow. It's full of ideas for turning flowers and herbs into skincare, haircare, household products, and even recipes.

As someone who spends a small fortune trying to stop that dreaded yellow creeping into my blond hair, one recipe immediately caught my eye. "Purple hollyhock flowers contain a natural dye that can cancel out these tones," promises Christine.

(Image credit: Alex Manders / Shutterstock)

It's only a three-ingredient recipe, so an absolute doddle to make. And the apple cider vinegar it calls for? Well, as Christine puts it, it is an "antimicrobial to ease scalp conditions and also adds shine as well as helping to fade yellow tones".

No-brainer, right? Especially as you can buy good-quality apple cider vinegar by the half-gallon on Amazon.

If you're keen to try it for yourself, all you need is:

• 2 tablespoons fresh purple hollyhock flowers (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 250ml water

The method couldn't be easier, either; just add the flowers, vinegar and water to a saucepan and gently simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes. I always leave mine for the full 20 minutes until the liquid has reduced slightly and taken on a rich purple colour.

Then, once it's completely cool, you strain out the flowers and pour the liquid into a clean container.

Shop Hollyhock Hair Toner Essentials:

Mother Earth Vinegar Organic Apple Cider Vinegar With the Mother

HOME GROWN Hollyhock Summer Carnival Mix Flower Seeds

Winco Strainer With Single Fine Mesh

I apply it all over my hair from root to tip after wetting it, then leave it to work for around 15 minutes. (In reality, I almost always leave it on for more because I inevitably get distracted doing something else).

After that, I simply shampoo and condition as normal. I love that my hair feels super soft afterwards, which is just an added bonus; after all, the main benefit is that those brassy tones in my blond hair seem significantly toned down, and all without leaving my hair looking flat or dull – or feeling dry, which is always an issue I have with the official shampoos.

(Image credit: Alex Manders / Shutterstock)

Of course, I'm not suggesting you'll never need purple shampoo again, or that this will replace a professional toner if you're after a dramatic color correction. But as someone who wants to stretch the time between salon appointments and make more use of what I'm already growing, it's become one of my favorite little garden discoveries.

Who knew one of the prettiest flowers in my borders could double as part of my blond hair routine? All hail the hollyhock, I say!

He loves modern, clean-lined architecture; she loves colour, and plenty of it. This couple each realized their dream in a custom-built home in White Rock with dramatic angled walls that created a distinctive profile and interiors inspired by a vividly coloured Italian side table.

The five-level, nearly 7,000-square-foot home with views over Semiahmoo Bay and including a gym, theatre room, spa, rooftop deck and outdoor lap pool was designed by Dag Design & Co. and built by Tycon Building Solutions. Madeleine Design Group (MDG) was responsible for the interior design that included everything from developing design concepts, sourcing custom furniture, and recommending finishes and textiles to ensure the completed home would reflect the homeowners’ vision.

While the table, with its kaleidoscope of colours bought by the homeowner on a vacation in Italy, was the primary source of inspiration, the colours were not replicated as much as interpreted, says MDG principal and creative director, Madeleine Sloback.

The colour palette is evident in different forms throughout the house — muted for the cabinetry, more vibrantly reflected in furniture like the dining room chairs and highlighted in textiles like the custom area rug in the great room.

Stepping into the main level entryway gives the first clue to the homeowner’s bold approach to colour and design.

The geometric shapes on the area rug introduce a playful and expressive layer to the entryway that reflects the client’s love of colour and brings personality to the space while the architecture and millwork establish a strong backdrop, says Sloback.

The wallpaper in the powder room located directly off the foyer makes the connection between the two spaces.

“Although the rug and the powder room wallpaper are different materials and patterns, there was definitely an intention for them to feel related. Both use geometric forms and a similar palette of greens, blues, warm neutrals and earthy tones, helping create a sense of continuity as you move through the home,” says Sloback.

The kitchen, identified by Sloback — and Tycon president Tyson VanDelft — as one of their favourite rooms in the home, is anchored by a green 160- by 60-inch island with a honed marble countertop while a table-height bar is supported by arched legs and constructed with contrasting charcoal quartz (Caesarstone Black Tempal).

The backsplash tile (Ann Sacks by Kelly Wearstler) was selected as an expression of the client’s personality and to reflect the broader design of the home.

“Throughout the project, the client embraced bold colour, rich materiality and a sense of individuality, so it felt important that the kitchen reflect that same confidence rather than relying on a more conventional backdrop,” says Sloback, adding she was attracted to the texture and movement in the tile while the pattern also mimics the soft curve seen on the lowered eating bar on the backside of the island.

“The subtle relief catches light differently throughout the day, creating depth and shadow across the surface and giving the kitchen a layered, tactile quality. We wanted the space to feel visually engaging and lived-in, rather than flat or overly polished,” she says.

Moving from the kitchen to the adjacent dining room, a walnut slat ceiling — a recurring design element in the home — visually zones the open-concept space, improves acoustics and conceals the custom track lighting.

The dining room chairs are another nod to the homeowner’s love of colour.

“Once we landed on the chair that she liked, it was an opportunity to bring in the colours from the inspiration table and just make it a little bit more playful,” says Sloback.

The Italian table was also front and centre at meetings held to design the custom rug in the great room.

Sloback worked with M R Evans, a Vancouver-based wholesale supplier that specializes in bespoke rugs and floorcoverings, to create the rug.

The four-to-five-month process that begins with inspiration images and ends with a completed artwork to form the basis of the finished product is not for the faint-hearted. The colours were hand-picked to tie into the Italian table.

“We held each colour pom (a sample tuft of dyed yarn) against the table to see which ones complemented it and which ones didn’t,” she recalls.

With the decisions made, a small 18- by 18-inch sample of a section of the design is created and signed off. M R Evans worked directly with famous Portuguese manufacturer Ferreira de Sá to complete the project.

Moving through the home, the colour story continues in the primary bedroom.

“We wanted to introduce some colour into the space, but not too much,” says Sloback.

Leaning into green, a shade seen in several places throughout the home, the design team presented several wallpaper samples and the final choice of a forest scene now provides an out-of-the ordinary backdrop for this space that also includes a seating area that overlooks the pool in the backyard and ocean views in the distance.

“We loved the juxtaposition with the ocean views at one side and the forest on the other side. It’s like a piece of art that gives more depth to the space,” she says.

In the en suite bathroom a curbless frameless glass shower enclosure enhances the feeling of spaciousness while a black tub and neutral surfaces allow the MOM light fixture by Penta to be the focal point.

“Throughout the home, the client embraced bold choices and wasn’t afraid to introduce moments of surprise, so we wanted the lighting to reflect that same spirit. What drew us to this fixture was its collection of individually shaped and coloured glass elements. It feels almost like a curated grouping of small art objects, creating visual interest without overwhelming the space,” says Sloback.

Today the spa is the picture of calm and serenity — but it took a lot of head scratching and a multitude of trades to make it the feature that won Sloback the 2026 NKBA B.C. chapter’s Design Excellence Award for a Wellness Space (and contributed to her winning the organization’s 2026 Designer of the Year award).

VanDelft acknowledges the challenges the space presented.

“Getting the mechanical from one side of the house to the other through very narrow pathways, and considering designers want to maximize ceiling heights, that room ended up being far more complex than just what you see in a finished picture,” he says.

“You have all mechanical for the entire house serviced through pockets because there’s so many levels to the house and a stairwell in the centre; we had to get mechanical through the house and of course above that spa ceiling,” says VanDelft adding that the confined space also needed to house the complex mechanical system necessary for the sauna.

While Sloback wanted to include the wood-slat millwork feature that runs throughout the home into the spa as well, but walnut wasn’t suitable for the space.

“Although cedar is a naturally warm yellow colour, it’s what you have to put in the sauna,” she says. “Incorporating the cedar and having it in all the millwork detailing in the spa made it feel like its own special space but still having that repetition.”

Ultimately this unique home highlights the collaborative process between the homeowners and the building and design teams to create a home that successfully marries modern design and the sophisticated use of colour.

Related

• Aging-in-place: Taking steps to future proof your home
• Interior design rules that can — and can’t — be broken

Traditional, or “hard”, lofts — those hip, happening New York-style spaces converted from warehouses into residences — are not as prevalent in Vancouver as they once were. You’ll still find pockets of them in Gastown, Mount Pleasant and Yaletown, many of which are not warehouse conversions per se but more self-styled artist lofts, says Oakwyn Realty’s Andrew Lasko, listing agent for the Richards Street loft condo .

“The zoning laws changed so lofts aren’t economical to build anymore,” he explains.

Also, new building codes, costly retrofits, HVAC and insulation requirements all take a bite out of building budgets. Not to mention all that empty space floating around below high ceilings that doesn’t count toward density the way a full second floor would.

And while not a warehouse loft conversion, the name of this one, “Tribeca Lofts”, is a nod to its New York-inspired style with partial brick exteriors that also reflect Yaletown’s roots as a warehouse district.

Lasko says what sets this building apart from the converted boutique lofts and the newer loft towers is its size — just 53 strata units over eight floors, which he says is uncommon. Plus, as a bonus, this particular unit was initially designed as two separate units when the building was being constructed in 2006.

“The original owners purchased both units from the developer and expanded and customized the layout and finishings,” says Lasko of the 2,055 square foot double unit. “They wanted room to entertain, so you get this great space that is so multifarious. (There are) four distinct areas that are not part of the open space, in kind of an x shape, where you can’t see out from but are still connected with some privacy.”

What’s inside

Being a loft-style condo, the ceilings stretch 16 feet and the floor-to-ceiling windows with motorized blinds let in plenty of natural light.

Lasko says the hardwood flooring made of Brazilian Lyptus in rich cognac and honey tones is unique and durable.

The kitchen oven, steam oven and warming tray are premium German-engineered Gaggenau. The refrigerator is Sub-Zero, faucet is European-designed Blanco Culina, and glass-front aluminum cabinet fronts are supported by German Kesseböhmer’s parallel lift hinge technology, which lifts parallel to the cabinet body as opposed to swinging out.

Lasko describes the unit’s “double string” staircase — with two metal beam supports on each side — as an “architectural staircase”, meaning its design isn’t just functional but decorative. “Each step is solid wood and quite thick, and the tempered glass balustrades are mounted with exposed stainless steel standoff fittings, which gives the impression that they’re floating,” says Lasko. It ascends to a second-level walkway, which he calls a “skywalk”, leading to two en suite bedrooms and a third bathroom.

The primary bathroom countertop features a semicircular glass bowl sink that sits on a tiger wood vanity with adjacent tiger wood shelving and a floating mirror suspended by wires above. The primary shower has a double rain shower plus a third detachable shower head/arm. Leucos Design Lab Cubi lamps in hand-blown cubic form with white satin diffuser spread a soft, even light.

The primary bedroom is large enough to fit a king-size bed, which could be positioned to wake up to a view of the tree canopy outside the windows, which are covered with hardwired motorized blinds. The room also features a large walk-in closet with built-in shelving. “It’s a room in and of itself, less of a closet and more of a dressing room,” says Lasko.

He says the rest of the home’s lighting, including the large Moooi Random Light II sphere, was designed to work with the angles of the windows to spread unique patterns in different ways at different times of the day. Low-profile regressed lighting with pinhole openings throughout are ideal for art display. The office’s lighting is Italian-made by DGA.

Because it is an amalgamation of two units, the home has two balconies but they’re not large. “It’s not a home for the outdoors-oriented person, but you could put a little bistro table out there that looks out onto the quiet treed courtyard.

“Despite being in a vibrant, sometimes louder downtown area, because it faces onto the courtyard, there’s a great sense of quiet and space between (the unit) and any other buildings. The building is L-shaped with the unit in the L, so it’s insulated from sound.”

The double unit also means it comes with a storage room plus a locker as well as two parking spots.

Lasko says the home “is grand, spacious, luxurious, and unique. It meets the needs of someone who wants something special with the practicality of walkability, location, and vibrancy.

“I think the right buyer is someone who is downsizing, who wants something a bit more central. Maybe they like to entertain, have art or just want a sense of quiet and space. I think it could be an (older) couple or younger. People in tech seem to gravitate to these kind of spaces, especially since there are so many opportunities for home offices — there could be three offices in here if you take away one bedroom.”

In the neighbourhood

The current owner, an artist, had purchased the unit initially intending to live in it for five to 10 years, but ultimately stayed for 16 years. Arts and theatre are a big part of her life, and she loved the vibrancy of the neighbourhood, the walkability to galleries, restaurants, shopping, or transit, says Lasko.

B.C. Place is a 10-minute walk away, Science World a seven-minute drive in one direction, and Granville Island 10 minutes’ drive in the other.

Many schools — elementary, high and private — are a short drive away. St. Paul’s Hospital is a four-minute drive away and VGH 11 minutes.

Location:401 — 988 Richards Street, Vancouver

Listed for: $1,899,900

Year built: 2006

Type: Two bedrooms, three bathrooms

Size: 2,055 square feet

Realtor: Listed by Andrew Lasko, Oakwyn Realty Ltd./Lasko + Associates Real Estate Group, Vancouver

For more detailed mortgage information, explore our guide to Canada’s lowest national insured and uninsured mortgage rates, updated daily.Related

• Sold (Bought): 100-year-old Shaughnessy home showcases refined finishing touches
• Property Watch: Duo Sunshine Coast homes offer double the views

It’s a peculiar twist of fate that by the time you’ll want to spend time outside and enjoy the sunshine in peace, there are gaps starting to emerge on the back of withering early bloomers and dwindling annuals. I’m not just talking about the gaps you might see on the ground or in containers, either. This also seems to be an issue with vertical space, with some screening plants thinning out right just as it seems most pleasant to sit outside.

Indeed, the tall stuff can often go first. Perennials that held the back border all summer start leaning into each other. Annuals stretch out and go see-through at the base. And just like that, garden privacy takes a hit and the neighbors have a clear view of your patio. This window of time for our outdoor living space to get used without the scorching heat is precious, making those late-summer sightline gaps such a frustrating timing conflict.

But that doesn’t mean you have to wait until spring to call in reinforcements, or resort to expensive fencing. There are some stunning ornamentals you can plant this month that only need weeks to establish. Plant the right climbers, natural screens, and speedy evergreens, and they find their groove long before you have to worry about hard frost. Whether you want to plug a narrow gap between balcony posts or need a dense living wall along a boundary, these fast growing privacy plants will quickly give you sanctuary to enjoy this glorious transition.

Set Up Fast Growing Privacy Plants

While summer temperatures begin their gradual shift into fall, ground temperatures remain very warm, creating an ideal base for root development. Allowing for hardiness zone variations, planting container-grown plants or nursery stock means root systems can establish fast, without the stresses that can come with midsummer heatwaves and spring waterlogging. Before deciding on one of these fast-growing plants, make sure you clear away the spent plants and assess your gap realistically in terms of planting space and condition.

In terms of optimum soil conditions, you need a ground temperature in the 60s or low 70s Fahrenheit (15-23°C). If you’re not sure, it’s easy to find out with a good soil thermometer. For ease of use, I recommend the highly rated Smart Choice Stainless Steel Soil Thermometer from Amazon to check if your plants will be in the best place for rapid late summer establishment. Before dropping a new plant into the ground, submerge the root ball in a bucket of water until bubbles stop rising, and gently tease apart outer fibrous roots. Ensure the planting bed drains freely, too. Standing water in warm August soil will rapidly cook root systems and invite phytophthora rot.

(Image credit: Whitemay / Getty Images)

Before planting, you also need to add compost or organic material, worked through the whole bed and not just sprinkled a handful per planting hole. Roots that hit a rich pocket ringed by clay will circle inside it and never run. But feeding matters less than watering this month. A heavy nitrogen push now just makes soft growth for the first frost to find. A deep soak 2-3 times a week beats a daily drizzle, since the point is pulling roots downward. Add a good mulch using a thick, lush moisture-retainer like Sta-Green Shredded Black Mulch from Lowe’s, layered 2-3 inches (5-8cm) thick, to keep growing conditions consistent at ground level.

In terms of planting, remember that one straight row has limits. Depth is what helps to make privacy. Fast-growing evergreens hold the back line, while grasses and perennials fill the middle band, and vines climb whatever posts are standing. North of zone 6, lean on annual vines (woody shrubs put in this late may be cutting the window close). Without further ado, let’s meet our fast growing plants…

1. Black Eyed Susan Vine

(Image credit: Rudolf Vlcek / Getty Images)

Want a fast climbing bloomer for August planting? Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata) is a sprinting spectacular. Garden centers often mark these down in August, and even a modest transplant picks up speed in days, reaching 6-8 feet (1.8–2.4m) while the weather holds. So you can enjoy juicy oranges, zingy yellows, and hot cerises all the way to hard frost – perfect for a quick vertical lattice fill or balcony railing privacy. Vibrant Sunny Susy Pink Beauty Black Eyed Susan Vine Plants Sacred Roots Nursery from Walmart is great value.

Annual in zones 3-9 and perennial in zones 10-11, this fast-grower twines rather than clings, so it wants something thin to grab. Trellis netting along a porch rail can thicken into a dense curtain inside a month, with plants set about 18 inches (45cm) apart. However, a little afternoon shade is beneficial in southern regions, so the leaf edges don’t scorch. Keep soil consistently moist and apply a liquid seaweed drench such as Bloom CIty Liquid Seaweed and Kelp Feed from Amazon to maintain stem elasticity against late-summer winds.

Small Space Screen Sacred Roots Nursery Black Eyed Susan Vine Sunny Susy Pink Beauty Plant

2. Sweet Autumn Clematis

(Image credit: Billy_Fam / Getty Images)

Few climbing vines match the sheer sensory heights of sweet autumn clematis (C. terniflora) in late summer. Buying a potted 2-gallon start in August gives you an instant green screen that transforms into a snowdrift of vanilla-perfumed, star-shaped blossoms that can last through to October. For a gorgeous bargain, grab your Sweet Autumn Clematis Live Plant from Fast Growing Trees to make sure you get a headstart on this climber’s exquisite twinkling fragrance.

To support this climber, you just need a sturdy trellis, chain-link fence, or arbor framework. Place the root crown slightly deeper than in the nursery container, and keep the base shaded with a heavy mulch layer or low-growing companion plants, while the top growth basks in full sunlight. Prune back hard in early spring to control this high-impact sensory screening beauty and keep it thick and lush.

Vanilla Superstar Fast-Growing-Trees.com Sweet Autumn Clematis Vine

3. Cardinal Climber

(Image credit: Gay Bumgarner / Alamy)

Hummingbirds love their red blooms, and this one (Ipomoea x multifida) is a breathtaking fast-growing plant if you’re looking to attract hummers to your yard. Planted from starts in August, its feather-like foliage and vibrant red trumpet blooms grow at breakneck speed. Gates and arbors are where this lacy beauty belongs, and it can reach 10-15 feet (3-4.5m) in a matter of weeks. Heat suits it down to the ground, and poor soil does not slow it down. Just get it onto its supports early.

A natural hybrid between the Cypress vine and morning glory, the cardinal climber thrives when temperatures sizzle. Because its foliage is delicately dissected, it is ideal for seating nooks where you want privacy without feeling boxed in. Pair it with white thunbergia for a striking contrast. If your local nursery is out of stock, don’t worry. You can get the same fast-growing screen and hummingbird-friendly blooms with American Beauties Major Wheeler Coral Honeysuckle from Amazon.

Hummingbird Alternative Green Promise Farms American Beauties Major Wheeler Coral Honeysuckle Vine

4. Green Giant Arborvitae

(Image credit: Mykola Sosiukin / Getty Images)

They don’t call this the Green Giant (Thuja standishii x plicata) for nothing. This lush evergreen stalwart is an undisputed classic for year-round privacy. August–September is prime planting time for your potted giants. There’s currently a great discount on Green Giant Plants at Fast Growing Trees. Arriving at 5 feet (1.5m), these evergreens can put on 3 feet (0.9m) a year once settled, maturing at 40–60 feet (12-18m) tall.

Left unchecked, these evergreens just keep going, which is the part people miss when they tuck one against a house! A back property line is the best place for these plants. Deer walk right past this one, unlike most sensitive arborvitae species. Just water deeply twice a week through autumn until the ground freezes. Apply some shredded bark mulch around the base to retain soil moisture in winter.

Green Screen Fast-Growing-Trees.com Thuja Green Giant Arborvitae

5. Passion Flower

(Image credit: Andrea Kennard Photography / Getty Images)

For an exotic flourish to your privacy screening aspirations, passion flower (Passiflora incarnata) is quite the showstopper, combining high-impact visuals with edible treats. Planted as a nursery start in August, this vigorous native climber shoots up quickly and fills with exotic flowers that have a decidedly otherworldly vibe. If you’re lucky, this dynamic climber also produces fruits called maypops. Buy established and extra-frilly Maypop Purple Passion Flower Plants from Plant Addicts.

The intricate purple-and-white blooms open continuously from mid-summer into autumn, giving off a sweet, clove-like fragrance while attracting native pollinators. By late autumn, pollinated flowers give way to the egg-shaped maypops, which offer a juicy tart flavor. Ideal for wire trellises, arbors, or deck railings, the vine dies back to the roots after hard frosts in zones 5-6. But don’t worry, it will shoot back up with tremendous speed next spring: thicker, lusher, and even more alive with frilly blooms.

Exotic Edibles Plant Addicts Maypop Purple Passion Flower

6. Switch Grass

(Image credit: ImageBroker McPhoto / Getty Images)

You wouldn’t necessarily expect to see an ornamental grass in a line-up about privacy, but this one is capable of great things (pun intended). Most ornamental grasses on the August sale bench are cool-season types that did their growing back in spring, so a pot looks much the same in October as it did in May. Switch grass (Panicum virgatum) is a native warm-season grass that reaches full height and maximum impact late in the summer, which is the whole reason it belongs here.

Cultivars like powder blue Heavy Metal add unusual contrast as well as an upright structure that holds its shape all winter. And for a real bargain, you can currently pick up Perennial Farm’s Cheyenne Sky Switch Grass plants from Amazon which promises bright green-to-red foliage and lush purple blooms. Switch grass is an enchanting and unexpected treat for privacy, with its rustling dynamics and late season plumes. Expect 4-6 feet (1.2-1.8m) of upright stems under airy seed heads, and aim to set your plants 2-3 feet (60-90cm) apart along a driveway or patio edge.

Texture Screen Perennial Farm Marketplace Perennial Farm Cheyenne Sky Live Switch Grass

7. Southern Wax Myrtle

(Image credit: Kottapsm / Alamy)

Southern wax myrtle (Morella cerifera) is a treat for late summer planting, combining native evergreen resilience with intriguing fragrance. This fast-grower has a reputation as a rapid living fence, but also offers aromatic bayberry-scented leaves, which is a lovely bonus for something you might be buying purely to block a view. Yes, it has the dependability of lush foliage which is as waxy as its namesake. But you also get berries on female plants in the fall, providing winter food for birds.

When planting in August, prune back any soft, spindly branch ends by one-third to force dense interior branching and lessen transplant transpiration stress. Dwarf cultivars top out at 4-6 feet if you need lower deck privacy, while the wild species forms a taller privacy screen, topping out at 15-20 feet (4.5-6m). You can get a starter pot of Hirt’s Gardens’ Bayside Bonito Southern Wax Myrtle from Amazon for a bargain at the moment. Mulch well to encourage rapid vertical growth.

Fragrant Native Hirt's Gardens Bayside Bonito® Southern Wax Myrtle

8. Sunshine Ligustrum

(Image credit: Ros Burnley / Alamy)

For electric golden-yellow foliage to brighten dark garden corners instantly upon planting, this fast-growing privacy plant is a genuine dazzler. A few states regulate wild types of this genus, so check with your local extension office if you live near natural woodland boundaries. However, Ligustrum sinense ‘Sunshine’ is a sterile, non-invasive selection that never flowers or sets fruit. The tiny leaves emerge in electric gold and hold evergreen where winters stay mild.

Plant this quick learner where you know it will receive full sun, as shaded locations cause the brilliant foliage to revert to lime-green. Count on a foot or more of growth a year, topping out near 3-6 feet (0.9-1.8m) tall and about as wide, with plants set 3 feet (0.9m) apart for a hedge. This plant responds exceptionally well to shearing, allowing you to train it into a formal architectural screen or let it maintain its natural, rounded habit. Buy lush and lovely Sunshine Privet from Fast Growing Trees.

Golden Wonder Fast-Growing-Trees.com Southern Living® Sunshine Ligustrum Shrub

Need more ideas for getting the most from your plants, indoors and out, and looking for the best seasonal expert advice delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter!

By August, patio pots and borders are looking tired, but there’s a really easy way to help heat-stressed plants recover – and I seriously don’t know why more gardeners don’t know about it. This natural tonic revives pretty much all plants from tomatoes to roses, hostas to hydrangeas. And rather than promoting top-growth like most fertilizers, it boosts roots so they’re able to take up more soil nutrients and moisture. The result? Healthier, happier plants.

And did I mention you can buy enough to treat your whole garden – lawn and vegetable patch included – and get change from $20? Because this tonic is made from a plentiful, natural, renewable resource: seaweed.

If you're caring for any garden in the unrelenting heat and intense drought of this summer, then a pick-me-up seaweed tonic is the solution you need right now. Because even drought-tolerant plants are starting to struggle this El Niño summer. Reinvigorating plants in August will keep summer bloomers flowering for longer and prepare fall bloomers for a good display, encourage healthy foliage, and ensure all go into winter in a stronger state for a better performance next year. So you can understand why I’m surprised that more folk don’t know about this easy way to help heat-stressed plants in August.

Why a Seaweed Tonic Helps Heat-Stressed Plants

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While most fertilizers push plants to grow abundant, bigger stems, leaves, flowers and fruit, seaweed helps plants to support the top-growth it’s already got. So for heat- and drought-stressed plants that are struggling to cope, this efficiency boost gives tired plants the helping hand they need to recover.

A seaweed fertilizer acts as a biostimulant that encourages root growth – and not just any root growth but the fine, feeder roots that plants use to take up nutrients and moisture from the soil. A good seaweed tonic will also provide the plant with elements that are needed to maintain healthy foliage and, in particular, their ability to photosynthesize efficiently.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

A heat-stressed plant is highly likely to have slowed or stopped root growth, directly affecting its ability to absorb water and nutrients, and support growth above ground. Meanwhile, scorched or dropped leaves reduce the plant’s ability to photosynthesize and generate energy for root growth or replacement foliage, creating a vicious cycle that ultimately can lead to death.

Treating your plants to a seaweed tonic can halt this cycle, allowing recovery but also strengthening the plant so it can better cope with further heat or drought stress. A seaweed tonic is also a useful source of trace elements including iron, manganese, zinc and boron, supporting overall soil and plant health. So, treating your backyard to a seaweed feed should be on your list of garden jobs in August.

The Best Seaweed Tonics to Use

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Not all seaweed tonics are created equal. At this time of year, a liquid seaweed tonic is best to give plants a quick pick-me-up (powdered kelp meal is used for slower-release support). Look for a product that is entirely made up of seaweed, rather than a plant food that includes a seaweed extract among other elements. That way, you can choose to use the tonic on its own for plants that shouldn’t be fertilized at this time of year, as well as alongside a plant food for those that should. Think of seaweed not as a fertilizer but as a general tonic for health and vitality – so its use shouldn’t replace your regular feeding schedule.

Not all seaweed species are equally nutrient-rich, either. Any product that names the seaweed species, or the number of species included such as CleanKelp which is made with seven species and is available from Amazon, is likely to be of higher quality than one which is simply labelled as a generic ‘seaweed’ feed.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Kelp is a particularly beneficial type of a seaweed used in tonics, because it naturally contains cytokinins and auxins, hormones that actively stimulate root development and cell division. This is what buffers plants against stressors like extreme heat and drought, so is well worth seeking out. Do read the fine print, though, because some products may include the word ‘kelp’ in their name while the ingredients tell a different story. Any product that specifically names the source of its kelp, such as GS Plant Foods Organic Kelp Fertilizer, available from Walmart, is a safe bet.

Another great base ingredient to look out for is the seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum, commonly called knotted wrack or rockweed. This has evolved to live in an intertidal zone, experiencing great fluctuations in salinity and temperatures so, as well as cytokinins and auxins, has compounds that can further increase a plant’s resilience in the face of tough environmental conditions, including frost. FoxFarm Bush Doctor Kelp Me Kelp You, available from Amazon, is made from Ascophyllum nodosum seaweed.

When to Use a Seaweed Tonic

You can use a seaweed tonic anytime that plants are actively growing, which is typically between March and September. It’s low in nitrogen so doesn’t directly encourage new stems and foliage, so it’s safe to use on plants such as roses and hydrangeas that shouldn’t be fertilized late in summer, because of the danger of soft new growth being damaged by frosts.

In spring and summer, you can treat plants to a seaweed tonic every two weeks to help them handle hot weather and dry spells, tapering off to once a month in early fall.

Don’t apply a seaweed tonic during periods of extreme heat or drought, however. In these conditions, rapid evaporation can lead to concentrated residues which may harm roots, and even root-growth stimulation will stress plants further.

How to Use a Seaweed TonicAs a Soil Drench

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The best way to use a liquid seaweed tonic at this time of the year is as a soil drench, as it will have a speedy but fairly sustained effect. It’s important to apply it to damp rather than bone-dry soil, so irrigate the soil beforehand with plain water if necessary.

It’s vital to accurately dilute the seaweed tonic to the levels recommended on the packaging. Under-diluting the tonic can harm a plant rather than help it, so don’t think you’re doing your plants any favours by adding an extra slug of the concentrated liquid to your watering can.

Apply in the cool of the early morning or evening, and be sure to water the soil and not the plant's foliage.

As a Foliar Feed

(Image credit: Getty Images)

You can also use liquid seaweed tonic to spray leaves, though at a more diluted concentration than as a soil drench – again, follow the instructions on the packaging. A foliar feed gives a more instant boost within hours, so it’s handy to revive plants that are really struggling. However, leaves are easily scorched by sun following a foliar feed, which is why a soil drench is a better way to routinely boost plants’ vitality.

To revive a tired lawn, you will of course need to use the liquid seaweed tonic as a foliar feed, so apply in the late evening so grass blades have time to absorb the nutrients, or on a mild day with cloud cover (just before a period of light rain is ideal). Dampen the ground beforehand if needed, and use a watering can with a rose fitted to deliver an even sprinkling. It’s especially important not to use seaweed as a foliar feed in extreme heat or drought.

Misting leaves is a great way to reinvigorate tired houseplants, too, as pots are easily moved out of direct sunlight.

Don’t Give These Plants a Seaweed Tonic

Because seaweed is a gentle tonic, most plants will benefit from a feed. It’s safe to use seaweed extract on edible plants, including root vegetables and fruiting and leafy green crops. Indeed, a seaweed tonic is a great way to boost tomato plants in August and keep the harvest going.

However, there are a few exceptions. Don't give a seaweed feed to:

• Plants adapted to extreme heat and drought such as cacti and succulents
• Young seedlings
• Herbs that have evolved to live in a dry, nutrient-poor environment such as rosemary, thyme and lavender.
• Very sensitive houseplants such as orchids.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

A 100% seaweed tonic is such an easy way to give most of your garden plants a boost in August and September, helping them to recover from the intense heat and drought of this summer. Choose the right tonic and you'll not only reinvigorate pretty much everything growing in your entire backyard, but improve its resilience against any more weather extremes to come. That way, your garden will be full of flowers that bounce back beautifully from summer heat stress.

So now you know this handy little secret, be sure to share it with all your gardening friends, because we all deserve happy, healthy plants that reward us with lush foliage and abundant flowers, even in a heatwave summer!

Daylilies get their name from the fact that each flower only lasts for a day. Their big, bright blooms open wide for one glorious day then close up never to flower again. But, thankfully, each plant can put out many blooms in succession over the course of the summer. An established clump of daylilies can produce up to 200-400 flowers over the course of a month or more!

However, at a certain point in the season, most types of daylilies finish blooming for summer. If your plants are done for the season already, you may be wondering if there is a way to encourage a second flush of daylily flowers before summer ends.

Well, you’re in luck! There is one simple trick that can force daylilies to put out another round of blooms before fall arrives. Plus, it keeps plants looking lush and fresh all season long. Here’s how to do it.

Do All Daylilies Rebloom?

(Image credit: Daniela Duncan / Getty Images)

Every daylily plant produces multiple flowers per plant, but there are certain cultivars that are specifically bred to rebloom all summer. These remontant varieties keep producing new flowers multiple times per growing season and are a great way to add color that lasts all summer.

The extremely popular ‘Stello d’Oro’ daylily, which is available from Monrovia at Lowe’s, is a reblooming type that you can force into flowering a second time in late summer.

Other reblooming daylily cultivars include:

• ‘Barbara Mitchell’
• ‘Charles Johnston’
• ‘Dragon’s Eye’
• ‘Fairy Tale Pink’
• ‘Gentle Shepherd’
• ‘Good Fairy’
• ‘Green Flutter’
• ‘Happy Returns’
• ‘Hyperion’
• ‘Joan Senior’
• ‘Jolyene Nichole’
• ‘Mini Stella’
• ‘Parade Queen’
• ‘Pardon Me’
• ‘Raspberry Frolic’
• ‘Serene Madonna’
• ‘Siloam Double Classic’
• ‘Super Stella’
• ‘Strawberry Candy’
• ‘Wedding Band’

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Daylilies are more likely to rebloom in the South where the growing season is longer. So if you live in the North in a cold climate with a short summer season, it may be harder to get flowers to rebloom before fall weather arrives.

The classic orange daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) will not rebloom, so just enjoy these blooms as they appear in summer and wait until next year to see their cheery flowers again.

How to Make Daylilies Rebloom

The best way to encourage a second flush of flowers is deadheading daylilies after old blooms fade. Deadheading forces the plant’s energy away from producing seeds in the seed pod where the faded flower was and instead redirects energy towards new growth – including new blooms.

Once a flower closes and begins to fade, use a pair of sharp, clean pruners (Editor-in-Chief Melanie swears by her Felco pruners from Amazon) to cut off the dead bloom. It’s best to prune away spent flowers before a seed pod starts to form.

Be careful not to accidentally cut off any unopened flowerbuds that have yet to bloom. Daylilies produce multiple flowers per stalk, known as a scape, that bloom in succession. But once all the flowers on a scape have bloomed, it’s best to cut off the entire stalk at the base of the plant.

(Image credit: Photowind / Shutterstock)

Cutting back daylily flowers not only boosts blooming, but it also keeps plants looking fresher for longer. Spent flowers wither and fall off and eventually the entire flower stalk turns brown and can make your garden look untidy.

Another way that you can potentially get plants to put out a new flush of flowers is to divide daylilies. Divide and transplant daylilies in late summer or early fall, around August or September, in order to force new growth and encourage blooming. This method works best in areas with a long growing season because it can take plants a while to settle into their new home and set flower buds.

When you hear the words ‘colorful perennial for fall’, admit it: your mind goes to mums immediately, right?

You’re not alone; chrysanthemums have become one of those plants that almost feel synonymous with the autumn months. The moment summer starts losing its grip, garden centers fill with them in jewel-bright shades of purple, pink, red, orange, yellow, and white, ready to be tucked into containers, lined along front steps, or planted into borders to give everything one last burst of color before winter.

I love how wonderfully immediate they are. You buy one, put it somewhere that needs cheering up, and suddenly the garden looks as though you’ve made an enormous effort. And yet... well, and yet over the past few years, I’ve found myself looking at another plant growing around the garden and thinking that, actually, this might be the fall flower I’d choose if I were starting from scratch.

The Colorful Perennial Quietly Replacing Mums

Now, it’s not as instantly associated with fall, and it certainly doesn’t arrive in garden centers with quite the same fanfare. But once asters start flowering, they have a habit of making everything around it look better, which is why this colorful perennial is quietly becoming my favorite alternative to mums.

The thing about mums is that they are brilliant at one particular job: giving you an enormous hit of late-season color. Asters, meanwhile, are all about the build-up; rather than appearing as one big autumnal statement and calling it a day, they take things slow and steady as they weave their way around the garden... and, much like that iconic tortoise, this is exactly how they win the race (and all while making everything around them look better).

Shop Asters:

Perennial Farm Marketplace New England Aster

WAROON Hardy Wood Aster

Perennial Farm Marketplace Snow Flurry Aster

There really is an aster for everyone. The smooth aster, for example, is a native plant that boasts masses of daisy-like flowers in airy shades of blue and violet. The Snow Flurry Aster is another great native option, which brings with it showy white blooms all fall long.

Then there’s the New England variety (like this Grape Crush New England Aster from Nature Hills), which is taller, fuller, and far more exuberant, with masses of colorful flowers that can range from pink and purple to blue and white, depending on the variety. And hardy wood aster, too, offers an easy breezy way to add a little late-season brightness into a woodland-style or partly shaded area.

Honestly, we spend so much time choosing plants for the moment when they look their absolute best. We want the perfect June border, the perfect summer container, the perfect flush of flowers for photographs. But if you want something that carries us (and pollinators!) through those fall months, asters are absolutely the answer.

(Image credit: ESOlex / Getty Images)

Falling for another colorful perennial doesn’t mean I'm giving up on mums entirely, of course; there are few easier ways to create an instant splash of fall color, and I still love seeing those great big pots of flowers appear when the seasons change.

I’ve readjusted my mindset, though, to think of mums as the quick fix and asters as the long game. One gives you an immediate display, and the other earns their place in a fall garden year after year – especially when the rest of the garden starts running out of flowers.

And if I had to choose between the two? Well, I’d take the asters. Every single time.

In my 20 years as a garden writer, many people have asked me for my favorite plants and garden accessories that I recommend. And I understand, because there’s nothing better than buying something an expert already uses in their own yard. So I’m excited to share my top picks with you. In fact, as I am writing this, I’m even humming “These are a few of my favorite things!”

I am definitely a tree-lover and many of my favorite trees stand taller than my house now decades after planting. So they have their limitations as recommendations. But there’s one little tree you can head out and buy that will bring you joy inside the house or out, as well as plenty of other garden tools and accessories I couldn’t live without.

This list of my favorite plants and essential gardening tools have transformed my garden for the better over the years and I believe they can do the same for you – whether you are spiffing up your own backyard or buying a gift for a garden-loving friend. Here's what I recommend to everyone who wants to know my must-have picks.

1. Meyer Lemon Tree

(Image credit: Tetra Images / Getty Images)

When you buy a potted Meyer lemon tree (Citrus × meyeri 'Improved'), there’s a really tough question you have to answer. Should you keep it indoors in a sunny window or outdoors on the patio?

For a time, I used to move my one container-planted Meyer lemon tree from inside in my bedroom to outside in the sun and back again. But this became a pain, so the obvious solution is buy two trees!

I adore my little Meyer lemon and it brings me joy in so many forms. The leaves are a happy green and the blossoms have an incredibly lovely fragrance that fills the house or the patio.

Then there is the delicious fruit – a bold yellow lemon with a thin skin and sweet, citrusy juice. A Meyer lemon is a mix between a tart lemon and sweet orange, so it’s the best of both worlds.

You can grow a Meyer lemon tree indoors or outdoors. Mine is almost a pet rather than a tree and it’s definitely one of the things I would save in a fire. You can get a Meyer lemon tree shipped to your door from Trees.com (formerly Fast Growing Trees).

2. Bird Feeder

(Image credit: Alamy)

I love birds! One of the things I like best about my little home in the mountains in Sare is the morning bird song. I’ve planted 200 trees on my land because I love trees, too, and know that they welcome birds and squirrels. The birds reward me with a surround-sound of song for about half an hour just before the sun rises each morning.

I encourage the birds by putting in bird houses. Oh the joy of hearing those twitters, then watching mom bird show her babies how to fly! All those hungry birds get food from me as well, so good bird feeders are a must.

Yes, I know there are smart bird feeders, but I personally avoid them on the theory that feeding birds is one of those old-fashioned activities one can do without connecting to technology.

I like the simplicity of the Youvip Metal Roof Bird Feeder from Amazon and have two in France and one in my backyard in San Francisco. It’s made of elegant bronze metal with a perch large enough to accommodate an entire family.

3. Solar Lights

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Solar lights may not be a gardening tool per se, but they are a useful and lovely addition to any landscape. They decorate my garden just the same way that a beautiful plant does and bring me immense joy as I step outside on a dark night.

I had lots of solar-powered lights around my mountain home in France where the dark nights make them stand out like stars. But even in urban San Francisco, it’s appealing to walk to the back patio and see the “fireworks” lights I installed.

I got these solar lights from Walmart that look like mini fireworks and I recommend them to one and all. They are weather-proof and the batteries last for up to 10 hours and then can be recharged. You can program them to be steady or to flash. Plus, you can also bend the copper wire of the lights to get the look you want.

4. Limelight Hydrangea

(Image credit: S.O.E / Shutterstock)

Do you have a group of friends who you invite to every party, confident that they will show up and have a good time no matter who else is there? I do too, and I also have an inside clique for my garden. At the top of that list is hydrangeas, my reliable garden chums. They are easy to grow, tolerant and versatile, and utterly gorgeous during their long bloom seasons.

If you are just tiptoeing into the wonderful world of hydrangeas, consider starting with a 'Limelight' hydrangea. This is an easy-care shrub with an incredibly long blooming time and spectacular cone-shaped blooms.

Why are they spectacular? First, they are huge – bigger than any of the other hydrangea flowers I grow. Second, they are a gorgeous lime green from the moment they bloom in summer all the way into the fall growing season. Toward the end of fall, the flowers change into a deep pink that provides a stunning contrast with the lush dark green leaves.

Buy yours from a quality grower, not a big box chain for the best results (though you can get Limelight hydrangeas from Proven Winners at the Home Depot). I suggest Perfect Plants Nursery when buying hydrangeas because plants come from the grower with a 30-day guarantee.

5. Long Garden Gloves

(Image credit: Mariya Surmacheva / Getty Images)

When someone asks me to “give them a hand” in the garden, I never take a risk. I carry my own extra-long garden gloves with me – these gloves from Ace Hardware called Game of Thorns. Yes, I admit it, I was taken in by the cute name of these Watson Gloves. But if they’ve saved my hands/wrists/arms one time, they’ve done it a thousand times.

I happen to have a defensive hedge of pyracantha in France that loves to scratch me with its long thorns, as well as roses, hawthorn, and holly (with their ferocious leaves!). In San Francisco, the bougainvillea is armed and dangerous as well. And the skin on my arms prefers to stay in one piece.

If you need to protect your arms in the garden from sharp or stinging plants, it’s wonderful to slip on these tough gloves that come up to your elbow. They even have a knuckle bar and thumb saddle for added protection.

Fall-flowering clematis are a joy, filling September with colorful blooms to refresh gardens after a long, hot summer. Most start blooming months earlier, so their fabulous flowers will carry a garden through that late-season gap when summer-flowering perennials are exhausted but many fall bloomers are yet to reach their peak. Some varieties even bloom through to the first frost, making these late-flowering clematis vines an indispensable element of designing a garden for great fall color.

What’s more, late-season clematis are the easiest of all vines to prune, even for beginner gardeners who’ve never picked up a pair of hand pruners before. In February or March, just as new growth appears, all the stems need snipping to around a foot or so above the ground, just above a bud – and that’s it! Because these vines all flower on new growth, this no-nonsense annual prune means blooms grow along the full length of the vining stems for a standout display. And, by reducing the stems to such a short length every year, the growth is easily controlled.

Fancy an abundance of showstopper fall flowers, year after year? Here’s our pick of the very best fall-flowering clematis vines to plant in every spot – plus the one you should never introduce to your garden.

1. Best For Fragrance: Sweet Summer Love Clematis

Proven Winners Sweet Summer Love Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Part or full sun
• Grows 10 feet high and 6-10 feet wide

Don’t be fooled by the name of this fabulous climber, because while its heavy flush of flowers in July and August earns it a spot on our pick of best clematis vines for stunning summer flowers, it steadily carries on blooming all the way into October. While the myriad 2-inch flowers are very pretty, opening a cranberry-red and maturing to purple for a fabulous color-changing effect, their divine fragrance is the reason you should add this vine to your garden.

The scent is sweet and comforting, mixing warm vanilla with a nostalgic hit of almonds and cherries that will remind you of Jergens Original Scent Cherry Almond Lotion. And when you consider the size of this vine and what a heavy bloomer it is, you can begin to imagine the wonderful cloud of fragrance it brings to any backyard.

This clematis is better grown in the ground on account of its size. Don’t worry, though, as although it’s a vigorous grower it’s not invasive and was intentionally bred to be well-behaved, and has won numerous gardening accolades. By pruning it hard in early spring, you can easily control its size, too. And use its abundance to your advantage by allowing this vine to smother a sturdy archway, scramble over a pergola or disguise an ugly shed.

2. Best for Shade: Samaritan Jo Clematis

Samaritan Jo Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Full to partial shade
• Grows 4-5 feet high and 3-4 feet wide

Think all clematis need sun? Think again! Samaritan Jo clematis has been bred to flourish in full to partial shade, doing best with less than four hours of sunlight a day, and its silvery purple-edged petals light up a dark spot a treat. This vine is tough, too, and hardy down to -30°F, so don’t worry about it getting chilly in a shady corner. Because of its compact size, this beauty can be grown in a large planter as well as in the ground, adding to its versatility.

This well-behaved vine begins blooming in May and is still going strong in September, and often into early October for plenty of autumn flowers. Snipping off faded blooms and treating it to a diluted liquid tomato feed such as Espoma Organic Tomato!, available from Amazon, every couple of weeks will keep it flowering for as long as possible.

3. Best for Beginners: Happy Jack Purple Clematis

Proven Winners Happy Jack Purple Clematis Vine

• Zones 5-9
• Part to full sun
• Grows 6-8 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide

If you’ve never grown a clematis before, or simply want an easy life, then you really can’t go wrong with Happy Jack Purple Clematis. It’s a new and improved version of the well-known Clematis ‘Jackmanii’ – which is already considered to be one of the most dependable clematis cultivars in the world!

Happy Jack Purple brings bigger flowers, measuring 3-5 inches across, and more intensely-colored plum-purple petals that almost look like they’re made of velvet. Its contrasting yellow stamens are brighter than its predecessor’s, too, and it flowers all the way from June to the first frost. And even then it’s not done! While the leaves fall from this deciduous vine as temperatures plummet, its seedheads have long, plume-like tails that become more fluffy and feathery as winter goes on.

Because Happy Jack Purple flowers on both new and old wood (yes, for double the flowers), prune it a little higher – to two feet from the ground – than our other fall picks in February or March.

This is one of those fabulous flowering plants that look like you spent hours gardening but practically grow themselves. So, if you have a friend with a birthday in August, you’ve just discovered the best-ever present!

4. Best For Flower Size: Lindsay Clematis

Lindsay Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Part to full sun
• Grows to 4-5 feet high and 2-3 feet wide

If you want your friends, family and neighbors to stop in their tracks when they step into your garden, Lindsay clematis is for you. The elaborate flowers measure a whopping 6 inches across with vibrant violet-purple petals and magenta-red anthers. You’ll be surprised just how many blooms this vine can fit on its compact frame, too, making this a great choice for a small garden, and one of those easy-grow accent plants that landscape designers love.

While the main blooming period of Lindsay clematis is from May to July, it reliably produces a second flush in September that can last into October. Its compact size means Lindsay clematis will flourish in a pot as well as in the ground, and just imagine these showstopper blooms in a container by your front door.

5. Best For a Patio Container: Gisella Clematis

Gisella Clematis

• Zones 4-9
• Full sun
• Grows 4-5 feet high and 3 feet wide

Gisella clematis is a real sun-lover, so won’t mind baking on a sundrenched patio or deck in a large container one bit. And it’ll put on quite the show, blooming from May right through September and into early fall. Because this clematis flowers on new wood, its five-inch flowers smother the plant from top to bottom, and they’re the most beautiful dusky pink hue that no cottage garden should be without. Its foliage is a darker green than most clematis vines, too, setting off those showstopper flowers a treat. As quick and clever ideas for containers go, this beauty is a winner.

Because of its compact size and shrub-like shape, Gisella clematis makes for a fabulous accent patio planter, too. And while this plant needs full sun for the most abundant display of flowers, it’ll appreciate having cool feet and well-draining but moist compost – easily achieved by regular watering and strategic positioning in the low shade cast by an outdoor sofa.

6. Best for Low-Maintenance: Jolly Good Clematis

Proven Winners Jolly Good Clematis Vine

• Zones 4-9
• Part to full sun
• Grows 6-7 feet tall and 2-3 feet wide

Living up to its name, Jolly Good is one of the most easy-going clematis vines to grow, and is another hybrid of the dependable ‘Jackmanii’. While it needs something to hold onto, it happily scrambles up a fence, trellis or post, using small leaf stems called petioles that act like miniature hands to hold onto supports. Because of its natural habit to grow tall but not very wide, Jolly Good tends to stay where you want it rather than rambling off in other directions, making this one of the best fast-growing vines that don't scramble out of control.

Its lovely lavender flowers begin in June and continue through September. Plant it in the ground and, as long as the soil is well-drained and you water it regularly, it won't care a jot if you’re on clay, loam, sand or chalky ground. Jolly Good is one of the best perennials for patio pots that bring maximum flowers for minimum effort, too.

7. Best for Abundant Blooms: Pink Mink Clematis

Proven Winners Pink Mink Clematis Vine

• Zones 4-9
• Partial to full sun
• Grows to 9-10 feet and 5 feet wide

Developed by Polish clematis master Szczepan Marczyński who is known for breeding hybrids with tremendous flower power, Pink Mink clematis was introduced 15 years ago. Since then, it’s certainly proved itself to be a prolific bloomer. Each of its bright pink flowers, the curved petals sporting a magenta stripe down their centres, measures 2-3 inches across, and a mature plant may boast a hundred flowers at any one time at its peak.

Pink Mink clematis starts with a heavy flush of flowers in June, then steadily repeat-blooms through till the end of September. This vine is the perfect Goldilocks size to grow over an arch or trellised garage wall, filling a once-bare spot with fabulous flowers, without ever getting out of hand.

And One Never to Plant: Sweet Autumn Clematis

(Image credit: Getty Images)

While Sweet Autumn clematis isn’t classed as invasive in every state, it’s a fast and vigorous vine capable of reaching a huge 20-30 feet high and 10-20 feet wide, forming a dense blanket that can block sunlight from other plants. The real problem, however, is its overabundance of seeds that germinate far more easily and quickly than most other clematis.

Sweet Autumn clematis has become a major ecological concern across the eastern United States, Florida and parts of Canada, where it’s escaped from gardens to affect natural ecosystems, and is classed as an invasive species.

While this self-seeder is still widely sold for garden use in many states where it’s not considered invasive, it’s a thug and there are plenty of other fall-flowering clematis that are just as beautiful but won’t cause you any headaches. If you're shopping at a garden centre, be careful not to pick this Clematis terniflora up thinking it's the native Clematis virginiana, too: while the flowers of both are almost identical, the leaf margins of the native clematis are toothed while those of sweet autumn clematis are smooth.

Expert Tips For Planting Clematis in August

(Image credit: Amateur Gardening)

• All clematis need trellis or support wires to enable the vine to climb, or you can grow this vine up through a shrub or tree. Stems will twine themselves around their support, so there's no need to tie them in, unless you want to encourage them to spread out. You may need to guide new stems towards the trellis with bamboo canes.
• Clematis like moist but well-draining soil. So use a large planter that's at least 18 inches deep and wide, filled with a container potting mix such as Expert Gardener Potting Mix for Potted Plants available from Walmart. In the ground, dig a hole that's twice as wide and slightly deeper than the pot your clematis comes in, and improve the soil with compost or well-rotted manure, such as Black Kow Organic Compost and Manure available from Walmart, before planting.
• All clematis do better if their roots are kept cool, so use mulch, pebbles or low annual plants at the plant base. In a pot, you can arrange patio furniture to cast shade onto the container.
• Water deeply and regularly, immediately after planting and then once or twice a week.
• When adding a summer- and fall-flowering clematis to your garden in August, you'll want to avoid transplant shock, which may temporarily halt blooming. The more mature the plant, the less vulnerable it is, so buy the biggest container size you can afford. Stand the clematis pot in a bucket of water for 20 minutes to soak the rootball before you plant it. Try to disturb the rootball as little as possible when planting, and plant it 2-3 inches deeper than the original soil line.

By August, it’s fair to say that most gardens are past their peak. That’s why it’s vital to include late-season bloomers, as well as foliage plants with multi-season interest, to keep borders looking fresh through fall. I recently visited a garden that had paired Japanese anemones with ninebark, and it really caught my eye. The combination makes a stunning addition to our new Plant Matchmaker series.

The dainty, saucer-shaped flowers of Japanese anemone (Anemone × hybrida) almost appear to float on their tall, willowy stems. They might look delicate, but they are surprisingly cold-hardy, blooming from late summer through fall. Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius), meanwhile, is a shrub with multi-season interest, providing a dense backdrop of foliage that often deepens to bronze in autumn, along with spectacular seed heads – the remnants of beautiful flowers from earlier in the summer.

My top variety picks for this planting combination are the Japanese anemone ‘September Charm’, available to order online from Nature Hills, and ninebark Tiny Wine, available in a pack of four from Walmart. September Charm produces light pink flowers blushed with deeper rose and centered with golden stamens, which appear from August into October. Tiny Wine is a dwarf variety of ninebark, which is ideal for this pairing, as larger varieties will overshadow the anemones. Its bronze-maroon foliage holds its color through the main growing season, creating a dramatic foil for the anemone’s graceful flowers.

These two plants don’t flower at the same time – and that’s part of the appeal. Tiny Wine shines with clusters of pinky-white flowers that are loved by pollinators in late spring and early summer, long before the anemone begins its display. Once the flowers begin to fade, the shrub’s dark foliage provides months of color.

Proven Winners Tiny Wine Ninebark (4 Pack)

September Charm Japanese Anemone

Honorine Jobert Windflower

Why Japanese Anemone and Ninebark Work So Well Together

This pairing is all about contrast. The soft pink flowers and delicate green stems of September Charm appear even more dainty against the deep maroon tones of Tiny Wine.

The ever-changing display adds impact across three seasons: ninebark flowers in spring, followed by fruits and bold foliage in summer, with anemones taking over the floral show as fall approaches. It’s such a rich color palette, running from the palest pink through to the darkest red.

The plants’ contrasting growth habits are also important here. September Charm anemones typically reach 3–4 feet in height on wispy flower stems, while Tiny Wine forms a dense, compact, rounded shrub that’s about 3–5 feet tall and wide. The similar heights mean the anemones can mingle around the edges of the ninebark, softening its outline and giving that all-important impression of “floating flowers”.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

For the best impact, position ninebark toward the back or middle of the border, and plant anemones in a loose drift around the front and sides. Avoid surrounding the shrub with perfect symmetry – this combo looks most natural when the anemones pop up at irregular intervals.

As well as romantic pink, white Japanese anemones can also work beautifully with dark ninebark. ‘Honorine Jobert’, available at Plant Addicts, is a classic choice, with pure white petals and golden centers that create an elegant contrast with ninebark.

(Image credit: Alamy)How to Grow Them Together

The key to making this plant pairing work is to find the sweet spot between their individual growing requirements.

Tiny Wine ninebark thrives in a full-sun location, which will allow its foliage to develop its richest hues. It is suitable for planting in USDA zones 3–7 and, once established, it’s a tough, low-maintenance flowering shrub. It can tolerate a range of soil types.

September Charm anemones are hardy in USDA zones 4–8 and will grow in full sun to part shade. This means the combination is only suitable for zones 4–7. In addition, Japanese anemones require organically rich, evenly moist, well-drained soil. They should not be allowed to dry out, and their foliage can scorch in very hot, exposed locations.

All this means the pairing is best in a sunny border with moist but well-draining soil. In warmer climates, position the plants where they receive plenty of morning sun but have some protection from intense afternoon sun.

When planting, allow enough space for Tiny Wine to reach its maximum mature spread of 3–5 feet, and give the anemones room too, as they will spread through rhizomes.

(Image credit: Alex Manders / Getty Images)

Water both plants regularly while they are establishing. While ninebark is quite tolerant of dry spells, anemones will need more regular watering.

Ninebark needs little regular pruning. If shaping is required, do it after the spring flowers have finished, as it blooms on old wood. Anemones can be cut back after flowering has finished, though their faded stems do add interest to the garden in late autumn.

Together, these plants create a border that evolves rather than peaking all at once. Ninebark flowers in spring, its rich foliage and fruits carry the display through summer, and Japanese anemones provide the fall finale.

The end of summer is a transition period for many plants, including your potted peace lily. It’s still the growing season, but temperature shifts, dry indoor air, and shifting sunlight angles can all impact your plant as it edges toward fall and the dormant season. August peace lily care aims to focus on this transition and help the plant stay healthy as it prepares for a slowdown in growth.

If you’ve noticed your peace lily looking a little deflated in ways that go beyond the usual wail for a watering, this is the time to get on top of some easy interventions before things change in earnest. It’s a vital time for action, since this is still a phase of growth for your plant. This monthly pitstop is your way of reassuring your peace lily after weeks of continuous air conditioning and intense sun angles. That way, it will keep growing (and looking gorgeous) for longer.

These simple monthly jobs will take minutes, but will ensure that your plant flourishes in high summer and keeps developing lush and glossy leaves and pristine white spathes well into fall. Make sure your peace lily is primed for fresh growth and bushy beauty even as the seasons start to shift. Not only will this help yours look better now, but it will also mean it is as healthy as possible going into spring.

Quick Peace Lily Tasks in August

The great news is that peace lily care isn’t too demanding this month. It’s mostly about starting to adjust a few of your basic summer approaches, checking in with appearance and environmental shifts, and getting your houseplant ready for the change in seasons. These simple checks and tasks don’t take long, but they will keep your peace lily healthy and thriving in the transition to a gentler, slower season, and promote better growth once your plant is on the other side of winter.

Take a couple of minutes first to assess your plant's position. Whether your peace lily spent the summer in a sleepy corner indoors, or enjoying a little holiday on a shaded porch in USDA hardiness zones 10-11, this month is where warmth and light will shift. Indoor air conditioning can strip ambient humidity in ways that are easier to miss when we are focused on the warmth outside. Meanwhile, peace lilies that have been outdoors must be inspected before being moved inside as nights cool down.

(Image credit: Elzauer / Getty Images)

It’s a good idea to check the soil moisture level and the texture of your potting mix before trying these tasks. If your soil is nutrient-deprived or compacted, it is going to struggle with any feeds or treatments, and will be less able to support fresh spathes (that’s those gorgeous white blooms, to you and me!). For easy, battery-free readings, the XLUX Soil Moisture Meter from Amazon is excellent, especially for deep containers, and can also be used with your outdoor plants.

If you spot that water pools on top or runs straight down the inside edge of the pot without soaking in, hydrophobic peat compaction may have taken hold. That soil meter probe can help verify whether lower roots are dry. Adding some fresh potting mix to the top few inches can recharge tired containers. Pick something with an airy texture, like Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix for Tropicals from The Home Depot. This will help to kickstart aeration and better soil drainage so you can be sure these quick peace lily wins are as effective as possible.

1. Focus on the Deep Soak

(Image credit: Olga Yastremska / Getty Images)

Yes, it’s true that one of the classic characteristic signs of a sad peace lily at any time is drooping leaves and stems associated with insufficient or poor watering. However, by August, even a well-watered peace lily may be starting to feel the pinch. Summer temperatures and dry indoor air conspire to dry out the soil in your plant’s container. Large-leaf varieties like 'Mona Loa' lose moisture rapidly through transpiration during hot August afternoons. However, smaller varieties like 'Power Petite' have lower water reserves and can dry out rapidly in small containers.

Aim to combat this with regular, deep watering that soaks the roots and soil. First of all, check the soil with your finger. When the top couple of inches (5cm) are dry, it’s time to water. Over summer, it’s possible that your peace lily may be suffering from a buildup of minerals on the surface of the potting soil, which can affect the plant’s ability to absorb water properly. So it’s also a good idea to perform a deep-soaking flush with room-temperature, filtered, or rain water. Do this until liquid runs freely out of the drainage holes.

Just be sure the water drains well and isn’t sitting in the bottom of the pot. If plants are sitting in drainage water for extended periods, this can also cause issues with root rot. For a simple, cheap way to lift your pots slightly off the base of the tray, grab a pack of Dedara Plant Pot Risers from Walmart. This budget-friendly bundle of supports slides discreetly inside any plant tray. Proper hydration will yield visible results within 8 hours, as stems snap back crisp and upright.

2. Shield Foliage from Shifting Sunlight

(Image credit: Irina Piskova / Getty Images)

The angle of the sun is getting lower at this time of year, but it can still be too much for a peace lily, which prefers indirect light. Signs a peace lily is getting too much sunlight can include bleached, faded leaves, and curling or crispy leaf edges. Variegated cultivars like 'Domino' or 'Picasso' can suffer even more, because their cream-colored sectors lack protective chlorophyll and burn within hours of direct sun exposure.

Check how the sun is hitting your peace lily, especially in the afternoon when temperatures are highest. If the light is too intense, move it to a location with less direct sunlight. An east-facing window is ideal, but you can also put it near a west or south-facing window, behind the protection of a larger plant or sheer curtain. For a quick way of relocating heavier indoor plants (or moving outdoor plants indoors from outside), Bloem Planter Caddies from Target will wheel your peace lilies into position without any tedious lifting and are available in charming terracotta tones.

Just make sure you don’t place your plant in the path of cold air currents from air conditioning vents while trying to keep it cool. Thermal shock can cause leaf drop and drooping. It’s also important to rotate the plant pot at regular intervals to ensure even growth. You should find this helps to prevent further leaf browning and encourages deep, glossy new foliage.

3. Boost Local Humidity

(Image credit: Valeriy_G / Getty Images)

Peace lilies thrive in humid conditions, although they do tolerate less-than-ideal conditions. The heat of August can lead to a lot of air conditioner use, which, in turn, can lead to exceptionally dry air. Indoor air conditioning can strip ambient humidity below the 50-60% baseline that these tropical natives prefer. Your peace lily will survive small fluctuations, but will benefit from added localized humidity at this time.

You can raise humidity levels with a pebble tray. Place the pot on top of a shallow container filled with pebbles and water. This creates moisture right around the plant. If you have other tropical plants that like humidity, group them together, so they trap more moisture around them. A gentle morning misting spray above the foliage can also help on hotter days, cooling down the leaf canopy and reducing transpiration stress. Just be sure to mist early in the day, so the droplets evaporate before nightfall, preventing standing water from sitting in the central crown.

To ensure your living space stays in the ideal humidity zone, use a monitor like the ThermoPro TP50 Digital Indoor Hygrometer and Humidity Meter from Amazon to track room temperature and relative humidity levels in real time. This TempPro staple is staggeringly good value, very popular with plant lovers, and will help you to decide exactly when to group plants or refill your humidity trays.

4. Apply a Gentle End of Season Feed

(Image credit: Csikiphoto / Shutterstock)

Peace lilies aren't heavy feeders, but light applications in the growing season promote healthy foliage and flower development. August is a great time to apply a final end-of-season drizzle. Just make sure your fertilizer is diluted to half or quarter strength, as peace lilies are sensitive to super strengths and feeling a little weakened by the excesses of summer.

Best options for feeding will feature a range of trace minerals that can replenish your plant after a long phase of growth, and give it the extra reserves needed to push out those extra bright white spathes, as well as the lushest new growth. Look for feeds with a gentle, balanced formula with potassium and magnesium to strengthen stems. If you are on a bit of a budget, try Bloom City’s Organic Liquid Seaweed and Kelp Fertilizer from Walmart to nurture that natural sheen ahead of the shorter days.

5. Clean Foliage and Deadhead Spathes

(Image credit: Kinga Krzeminska / Getty Images)

Your peace lily will appreciate a little tidying to help get ready for fall. Where you see faded spathes, gently deadhead them with clean snips near the base of the dead spathe stems. Don’t leave these dead spathes decaying on the surface of the soil as they can attract fungus gnats and mold. Given the hard work your air conditioner will have been putting in, chances are the leaves have also accumulated some dust. So give them a quick rinse in the tub, or use a soft, damp cloth to wipe them.

While tidying your peace lily leaves, keep an eye out for speckling, webs, or small flying insects. If you’re worried about summer pests, try a little neem oil (again, make sure this is diluted). It’s a great way to promote a natural glossy leaf shine and target early pests, such as spider mites or mealybugs. Dilute some Captain Jack’s Neem OIl Concentrate from Walmart and spray the leaves, then wipe. It’s the perfect pest blitz for a lush sheen that also means your plant is better able to process light.

Shop Peace Lily Essentials

(Image credit: Liudmila Chernetska / Getty Images)

Keeping your peace lily lush, vibrant, and blooming doesn't require a cabinet full of specialized supplies. A few gentle organic boosters and plant health care essentials will help your plant thrive through August and beyond. These can also be used on your other tropical indoor plant babies.

Organic Tonic

Bloom City Bloom City Clean Kelp Seaweed Fertilizer

Peace lilies thrive on gentle feeding during their summer growth window. This organic kelp and seaweed blend delivers essential trace elements that strengthen your plant's foliage cell walls and promote long-lasting blooms without chemical salt burn.

Potting Treat

Home Depot Miracle-Gro Tropical Potted Plant Mix

Dense, compacted soil suffocates peace lily roots and leads to yellowing leaves. Formulated with volcanic ash and pine bark, this light mix uses volcanic ash and pine bark to maintain superior drainage.

Organic Pest Care

Captain Jack's Bonide Captain Jack's Neem Max Concentrate

Dry August air and indoor air conditioning create ideal breeding grounds for spider mites, thrips, and mealybugs. This organic 3-in-1 bug blaster can be diluted into a spray bottle to treat active pests, keeping foliage pristine as you transition to fall.

Need more ideas for timely gardening jobs and seasonal expert advice delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for the free Gardening Know How Newsletter!

August can be a bittersweet time in the garden. Some of your favorite flowers bloomed months ago, and the big flush of July is beginning to fade. Don’t lose hope, though, as plenty of flowers, including native plants that keep pollinators coming to your yard, bloom through August and even well into fall.

Later-blooming pollinator plants are essential for the bees, butterflies, and others that rely on flowers for nectar. Support your local pollinators by ensuring some of your beds keep blooming through the end of summer with these and other native species. (And be sure to offer them a DIY watering station or bee cups from Amazon to keep them hydrated this summer!)

Here are six wonderful choices for your August garden.

1. Cardinal Flower

(Image credit: Patrick Jennings / Shutterstock)

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) is known for its dramatic spikes of fire-red flowers that light up late-summer garden beds. It blooms readily throughout August and often into September as well. This wildflower is native to many parts of North America and thrives especially in wet areas, such as stream banks and swampy meadows or fields. It can grow in full sun or partial shade.

Find a spot in your garden for cardinal flower where the soil stays consistently moist: pondside, low areas on woodland edges, or in rain gardens. Cardinal flower attracts all types of pollinators, but especially hummingbirds, which are drawn to the color red in particular. This is a short-lived plant, but it will reseed readily and colonize new areas, so leave at least some faded flowers in place to develop seeds. You can find cardinal flower plants from Burpee and have them delivered straight to your door.

2. Mountain Mint

(Image credit: Getty Images)

This native herb naturally grows throughout the Northeast and many central states in the U.S. It has a strong, pleasing minty scent and blooms in late summer with small white or pale pink flowers. While the blooms are small, they are also abundant, and several pollinators are drawn to them for their bountiful nectar.

Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum or P. virginianum) grows best in full sun, but it will tolerate some shade. It also tolerates poor soil and drought conditions once established. It will spread readily over time, so it’s a great option for a pollinator meadow or a naturalized area. As a bonus, the minty smell deters rabbits and deer from nibbling on this plant. Mountain mint can be purchased from Garden Goods Direct and will wow you with how many pollinators it attracts.

3. Ironweed

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Also called New York ironweed, this is a tall (often growing up to seven feet or two meters) perennial native to the eastern U.S. It grows in wet meadows, along streams, and in marshes and blooms in late summer and fall with pretty purple flowers that pollinators love. In winter, the sturdy, tall stems provide good perches for migrating birds.

Ironweed (Vernonia noveboacensis) needs moisture in the soil to grow well, so choose a spot with wetter soil and full sun. Because of their height, these flowers make good backdrops for other plants. Use them along fences or at the backs of beds. Find a 1-gallon pot ironweed plant from Garden Goods Direct.

4. Button Blazing Star

(Image credit: Corey T. Burns / Getty Images)

Button blazing star (Liatris aspera) blooms in August on bottlebrush-shaped spikes with the top flowers opening first and the bottom opening last. Many native bees and butterflies are drawn to the purple blooms as flowers on other plants begin to fade in late summer. Monarchs are particularly attracted to button blazing star.

Grow this flower in areas with full sun and soil that drains very well. It won’t tolerate soggy soil or roots. Once established, button blazing star, also called rough blazing star, is highly drought-tolerant. In addition to feeding pollinators now, the seedheads feed birds in fall, so resist the urge to deadhead spent blooms. Find button blazing star seeds from Munjoy Seeds on Etsy.

5. Goldenrod

(Image credit: Mark Nistico / Getty Images)

Native species of goldenrod (Solidago spp.) bloom most heavily beginning in August. They produce significant amounts of nectar and pollen and are favorites of a variety of native pollinators. With goldenrod in the garden, you’ll enjoy richly colored gold plumes of flowers that practically glow in the afternoon sunlight.

If you enjoy the sight of a meadow waving with brilliant goldenrod but worry about allergies, have no fear. It’s a common myth that goldenrod causes hay fever. Its pollen is much too sticky and heavy to fly through the air. Only pollinators can move it from plant to plant. Goldenrod is also very easy to grow. It thrives in full sun and can adapt to a variety of soils. You can find a wide variety of native goldenrod plants from Plant Addicts and get growing the pollinator garden of your dreams.

6. Joe Pye Weed

(Image credit: Jaclyn Vernace / Shutterstock)

Don’t let the name fool you. This isn’t a weed. It’s a striking, very tall native wildflower that blooms in August. Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium spp.) blooms with large clusters of small purple flowers that sit atop sturdy stems that reach six or seven feet tall. Monarchs love the flowers, as do swallowtails and many native bees and wasps.

Joe Pye weed does best in soil that retains some moisture, so grow it along streams or ponds or in low areas of the garden that collect water. They prefer full sun but do just fine in partial shade. Due to their large size, be sure to give individual plants plenty of space to grow. Find a Joe Pye weed plant from Lowe's or your local garden center.

Make August a part of your pollinator garden plan. While many flowers put on a big show in spring and summer, these late-season beauties light up the garden with deeper, richer colors that support your local butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and even birds who benefit from the seeds. Choose a variety of these and other late-summer flowers to feed all the local wildlife.

There are buildings we know first as images, and Fallingwater is among the most familiar. Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1936 house stretches over a waterfall at Mill Run, in the wooded hills of western Pennsylvania, its concrete terraces appearing to float above rock and water.

For Vancouver artist Mike Seymour, the deeper impression came from being inside it, after the visitors had gone.

Seymour studied architecture in Winnipeg before moving into an experimental practice spanning ceramics, lighting, glass and metalwork. On Aug. 29, he will present three chandeliers at Fallingwater as part of the house’s 90th-anniversary gala and the completion of a three-year renovation.

A Facebook invitation

The opportunity came through Facebook, a platform he rarely uses beyond community and farmers market updates. When an advertisement appeared for a residency run by Fallingwater and the nearby Touchstone Center for Craft, it seemed so precisely suited to him that he doubted it was real.

“I thought it was a scam,” he says.

Seymour called Touchstone, who he’d never heard of, and asked “is this competition real?”

They said it was, and applications were closing in two days. Seymour says there were about 10,000 applicants. His proposal set out a simple idea: to reconnect his architectural training with his current work in craft. He was selected and had roughly four weeks to prepare.

Alone in the house

The three-week residency began with seven days at Fallingwater, followed by two weeks making at Touchstone, about 20 minutes away. Seymour arrived with thoughts of creating stone furniture, but his thinking shifted as he spent time there.

Fallingwater receives around 1,500 visitors on a busy day, but at night Seymour could enter the house almost alone. Without the movement and conversation of a tour, its atmosphere became more apparent. Deep overhangs shade the interiors, making the house almost cave like, while polished sandstone floors gather and reflect the changing light.

Those solitary hours also revealed the house as more than an architectural monument. Seymour noticed early Tiffany glass experiments and a collection assembled by a family (the Kaufmann family who Fallingwater was built for) engaged with art and design. Treating Fallingwater as a found site, rather than approaching it only through Wright’s reputation, allowed him to respond intuitively to the objects, materials and landscape around him, he says.

The river inside

The river, so dramatic in photographs, provided another surprise. In places, Seymour says, it is only about four inches deep. Its bed is formed from compressed sandstone with wavelike contours shaped in prehistory, creating an impression of much deeper water.

That texture continues inside. The polished finish was inspired by stonemason Walter Hall, who had used it in his own house. Its reflected light resembled the light on the river, and Wright brought the idea into Fallingwater, strengthening the sense that water and stone continue through the rooms.

Seymour has translated that effect into ceramics. He formed very thin sheets of clay over small rocklike shapes, then deliberately overfired them so they softened and distorted into rippled forms. To give them the glistening quality of wet stone, he recreated glossy mid-century glazes, adapting formulas that had originally relied on lead.

Flowers in the forest

The surrounding forest offered the next layer. The Kaufmann family chose a site filled with rhododendrons, and the grove remains. Seymour arrived in late May, when much of the woodland was only beginning to green but the rhododendrons were full and starting to flower, he says.

Their overlapping leaves and petals gave him the structure for a ceiling-mounted chandelier that he’s created for this gala.

Around stainless-steel armatures, the glazed ceramic forms will sit like broad petals or low rosettes. Light will move across their uneven surfaces, recalling both the polished floor and the shallow river beneath the house.

The other chandelier Seymour is creating is a wood-fired version of his Paean chandelier. Touchstone’s kiln allowed him to try wood firing for the first time.

Made for one place

The work he’s created for Fallingwater builds on a direction established in Milan in 2023, when Seymour launched his slender ceramic-tube lighting work at Villa Bagatti Valsecchi. The series led to commissions around the world, with new glazes and finishes developed for individual clients.

Fallingwater offered something different.

“A two-week deadline on making a whole new body of work is pretty nuts. It’s short. The intention behind it was to force decisions really quickly, to think intuitively and respond quickly rather than thinking about it too much,” he says.

Related

• Getting the most out of every room in your home
• Rethinking how luxury homes are built

You’ve probably heard it said a hundred times that propagating from cuttings is the best way to get free plants! And yet, it’s not always true. Sometimes, propagating from cuttings – or even trying to – can land you in jail and saddle you with fines. So the key is: know before you go.

Since rooting plant cuttings doesn’t involve fertilization, it is called an asexual method of reproduction. And it can be free and fun as long as you stay on the right side of the law!

As a plant lover and an attorney, I am here to give you a synopsis of the questions you need to ask.

When is Rooting Plant Cuttings Legal?

(Image credit: Oksana_Schmidt / Getty Images)

If you can answer yes to these questions, rooting cuttings is absolutely the way to go. So walk through them every time you are thinking of practicing asexual plant propagation!

1. Does the parent plant belong to you?

“But I was only taking a cutting,” doesn’t get you off the hook if you are pinching a cutting from a parent plant in a retail store, a plant on private property, or a plant on public land including parks and botanical gardens. You can be arrested and charged with theft, trespass or property damage.

2. If not, do you have permission from the owner to take a cutting?

If the parent plant belongs to a neighbor or a small store, you might ask the owner whether you might take a cutting. Sometimes the answer will be yes, and that puts you on the safe side of the law. If the answer is no, do not under any circumstances take a snip.

3. Is the plant one that grows from cuttings?

Not every plant can be propagated by cuttings so look it up on your smart phone. Those that don’t include palm trees, conifers like pine and spruce trees, and almost all bulb plants, including tulips and daffodils. It’s not worth the time or effort to try to root a cutting from plants that won't grow from cuttings.

4. Are you sure that the plant is not covered by a patent?

If a plant is patented, patent law makes it illegal for anyone to reproduce that plant without the permission of or license from the person holding the patent. Wait! What’s a plant patent?

All About Plant Patents

(Image credit: Carol Yepes / Getty Images)

Everybody has heard of patents. They are issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and give the person or company developing a novel product protected rights over that product. But did you know that new plants are developed every day - plants with new colors or new traits that make them different from any others? Plants can also be patented.

In order to get a patent, you have to do a lot of work. First, you have to confirm that your invention is new and conduct a thorough patent search to be sure it hasn’t already been patented. Then you have to fill in a lengthy application with sketches or photos and submit everything to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to be reviewed. I once did one for a friend who had developed folding airplane wings that would take up less room in storage. I can tell you it was a nightmare project!

When new plants are developed and patented, it is an equally tedious process. But anyone who receives a plant patent holds all rights to produce or reproduce the plant - for a term of 20 years. During that period, it is illegal for anyone (including you!) to root cuttings of that plant or otherwise asexually reproduce a patented plant.

Patented plants will have a tag advising a buyer that they are patented, together with a plant patent number (often in this format: “PP#12345). In many cases, there will be a specific reminder that under patent law, the plant cannot be reproduced asexually.

What This Means for You

(Image credit: Firdausiah Mamat / Getty Images)

This discussion might have you envisioning a dishonest person in a science lab pouring smoking liquids from one test tube to another in an attempt to reproduce a plant that has recently been patented. But no, a violation of this law is more likely to look like an ordinary person who buys a patented plant and clips off a stem cutting to propagate for a friend.

Yes, even if you spend money and purchase a patented plant, you do not have the right to reproduce it. The law strictly forbids asexually propagating the plant – whether you intend to gift it, sell it, or distribute it.

However, the reality is a little less threatening. As far as I know, the Patent Office does not send people door to door inspecting plants to see if plant patents were violated. And they would have a hard time if they did. Assuming the plant no longer bears the tag stating that it is protected by a patent, it would be difficult to determine whether any individual plant was a clone of a patented plant.

On the other hand, if you root cuttings from an expensive patented plant and sell them online as clones of the patented plant, you might find yourself on the business end of a lawsuit!

Explore More Legal Topics

(Image credit: Pikusisi-Studio / Getty Images)

• What to do if your tree falls into a neighbor's yard.
• Can you take garden plants with you when you move?
• What can you do if a neighbor's weeds are taking over your garden?
• Can you salt a neighbor's driveway or sidewalk in winter?
• Are there plants that are illegal to grow?
• What can you do if a neighbor's tree is making a mess in your yard?
• How to landscape with an HOA.
• What can you do if a neighbor's tree is blocking sun in your yard?
• Is it OK to take plant cuttings from parks?
• What can you do if your neighbor uses herbicides and you are trying to grow organically?
• Is it OK to take plant cuttings from garden centers?

We’ve all experienced the disappointment of a dying plant in a dried-out patio planter. But before you consign that wilted plant to the compost heap, there’s an easy trick that will bring even severely dehydrated plants in pots back to life. And the magic ingredient you need is already in your kitchen.

The problem with half-dead dehydrated plants in pots – even those that have dried out past the point of return without this handy trick – is that the potting soil has lost its ability to absorb water. In fact, fully dehydrated soil becomes water repellent. So, no matter how much you water your ailing plant, that water passes straight through the soil and roots don’t get a chance to suck up any moisture. The result? Your plant dies.

If you add just one or two drops of this household staple to the water, however, everything changes. That tiny amount helps the water grip the soil particles so the moisture penetrates the compost and your plant can rehydrate. And that vital ingredient? Dish soap. As quick and clever fixes for container planting go, this trick is a handy one to know, especially if you've just got back from a vacation this heatwave summer!

(Image credit: Getty Images)Why Does Dish Soap Help Save Plants?

Fully dehydrated soil becomes hydrophobic, which literally means ‘water-fearing’. The soil repels water droplets are repelled, which run straight past the particles rather than being absorbed. This doesn’t just happen because you've forgotten to water your plant, though that's often the cause: long spells of hot, dry weather can kill good bacteria and fungi that live in soil, and they leave behind an oily, waxy residue that coats the soil particles.

Dishwashing liquid contains surfactants – short for 'surface-active agent' – and these chemical compounds have one end that loves water, and one end that loves oil or grease. That’s why they work to clean your dishes, grabbing hold of the dirt and pulling it into the water. And you can put this ability to good use in your garden to force the hydrophobic soil and water together, saturating the soil and allowing the plant’s roots to finally suck up that moisture it’s so desperate for.

(Image credit: Getty Images)How to Use Dishwashing Liquid to Save Plants in Pots1. Find a Watertight Tub

The size of the tub you need will depend on your pot: ideally, you want to stand your dried-out planter in the tub. A large rubber bucket such as this Kings County 8-Gallon Bucket from Lowe’s is perfect for the job, but use whatever you can find.

If your planter is too big to fit in a tub, don’t worry, you can still use this method.

2. Make a Mild Dish Soap Solution

It’s vital to use an extremely mild solution of detergent to revive potted plants: one or two drops of liquid dish soap in a standard 3-gallon builders’ bucket of water is plenty. Use a higher concentration and the washing up liquid can damage roots and leave harmful residues in the soil.

If you have a plant-based dish soap such as Attitude Dish Soap, available from Amazon, great. If not, any dish soap is fine but a cheaper, basic dishwashing liquid is likely to contain fewer chemical additives than a premium heavily-formulated dish soap. So, choose the bottom-of-the-line dish soap such as this Dawn Dishwashing Liquid from Amazon over a higher-end product in the same range.

Using tepid water rather than cold will help the dish soap disperse.

3. Soak the Dried-Out Pot in the Solution

(Image credit: Getty Images)

If the dehydrated pot is small enough to fit in your bucket, fill your tub with enough water to submerge around two-thirds of the pot height in the dish soap solution. Let the pot sit for around half an hour, or until the top layer of soil feels damp to the touch.

If your planter is too big or heavy to fit in a tub, carefully poke a few holes into the soil surface with a chopstick or similar, doing the best you can to avoid the central ball of roots. Use a watering can without a rose fitted to very slowly pour the dish soap solution over the soil, targeting those holes. Give the soil a second application after 15-30 minutes.

Either way, don’t let the dish soap solution touch the plant stems or foliage as it can strip their protecting coating, leading to further dehydration, fungal disease and scorching. Rinse off any splashes immediately.

4. Drain and Irrigate With Plain Water

If your pot has been standing in a tub of dish-soap solution, lift it out and leave it to drain fully. Then fill a watering can with plain water and irrigate as usual until you see water draining from the base.

If you’ve applied the dish-soap solution from above, you need to do the same with plain water, but irrigate very slowly to begin with, and repeat the procedure a few times. While the dish-soap surfactants have treated the soil, you're now rehydrating it with the plain water.

How to Help Your Plant During Recovery

(Image credit: Getty Images)

It’s wise to move your plant into a spot that’s shaded from the harsh midday sun while it recovers. Even plants that prefer full sun will be fine if they only have 4-6 hours of gentle morning and evening sun for a few weeks while they recover. Grouping pots together will lower the cumulative temperature of the soil, too.

It’s vital that your plant has consistent moisture during recovery. An easy way to achieve this – as well as keeping plants well irrigated going forwards to avoid getting to this stage – is to use a simple drip irrigation system. These don’t need to be complicated or expensive.

Basic drip irrigation systems for potted plants simply transfer water from a container to potted plants so take minutes to set up and don’t need to be connected to a faucet, and all you need do is keep the main water bucket topped up. This $27 Bamworld Automatic Waterer from Walmart has an easy-to-operate digital control unit, while this Drip Irrigation Kit for Patio Pots, also from Walmart, is even simpler with a solar-powered pump.

(Image credit: Future Publishing Ltd)

Another option to make keeping patio pots evenly watered without spending a fortune is to use upturned recycled bottles in spikes. This $13 six-pack of plastic spikes with adjustable drip spouts from Walmart fits plastic soda bottles, while this set of 10 terracotta watering spikes from Amazon relies on the porous clay to slowly deliver moisture from long-necked glass wine or beer bottles.

Don’t fertilize your plant for at least a month, as it needs to fully recover before new growth is encouraged.

Plants should perk up within 24 hours as stems and leaves rehydrate. Wait a week before pruning any leaves or stems, as you may be surprised what comes back to life. Any that are still completely brown after a week won’t recover, though, so snip these off. Within 2-4 weeks, you should see fresh buds and leaves starting to sprout.

If any plants don't recover, then do replace them with low-maintenance perennials that bring maximum flowers for minimum effort in patio containers.

More Easy Ways to Keep Plants in Pots Hydrated

Smart Potting Mix

Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix, 16 Qt. (2-Pack)

Self-Watering Pot

Bloem 16" Self-Watering Indoor/Outdoor Planter

Water-Storing Crystals

Indoor/Outdoor Water Retaining Crystals

Can I Use the Dish Soap Method For Houseplants Too?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

This recovery process works just as well for houseplants as well as potted outdoor plants. However, do make sure the pot has a drainage hole. If it doesn’t, you won’t be able to wash out the dish soap residue, which can harm roots long-term. If the pot doesn’t have a drainage hole, carefully tip the plant out and either repot it into a container with drainage holes or wrap the rootball and compost in newspaper or paper towels before soaking, flushing and returning to its planter. And don't feel bad, we all need a little help to keep houseplants perfectly watered!

More Handy Tricks To Use Pantry Staples in Your Garden

• Baking soda, vegetable oil and dish soap makes an effective spray to prevent fungal disease on tomato plants.
• Baking soda and dish soap can be used to treat powdery mildew.
• Use baking soda and white vinegar to make a natural mosquito trap.
• Baking soda, icing sugar and water makes an effective ant trap.
• Sprinkling cinnamon on houseplant soil can help to control fungus gnats.
• Smouldering coffee granules are a natural wasp repellent.
• Cayenne pepper can be an effective pest control if used in the correct way.

On August 12, the Moon will pass in front of the Sun, temporarily dimming daylight across parts of the US. It won’t be a repeat of the dramatic total eclipse that crossed the country in 2024 (most Americans will see only a partial rather than a total solar eclipse) but research from that 2024 event showed just how sensitive birds can be to sudden changes in light.

Think about it: birds rely on the natural cycle of light and darkness to tell them to do all sorts of things, whether it's when to wake, feed, forage, migrate or settle down for the night. When an eclipse suddenly dims the sky in the middle of the day, then, scientists have found evidence that some birds can respond as though night has arrived – becoming quieter, changing their feeding behavior and, in some cases, returning to their roosts.

And then, just as quickly as it arrived, daylight returns, throwing them all (from cheery songbirds to your very own birth month bird of prey) for a complete and utter loop. Indeed, many species appeared to switch back into a dawn-like chorus back in 2024 when the light returned.

How To Help Birds After The Solar Eclipse

Yes, a solar eclipse doesn’t just make the sky look extraordinary. For animals that use daylight as a cue, the sudden drop in light can trigger surprisingly night-like behavior, and other wildlife can respond to the sudden darkness, too – making an eclipse a rare opportunity to see how closely animals' behavior is tied to the natural light cycle.

Now, while I love the birds in my garden, I can’t do much about the moon getting in the way of the sun. However, there is one very simple thing I can do once the solar eclipse is over – and it will literally take me all of two minutes to do. Probably less, actually.

(Image credit: JudiLen / Getty Images)

You guessed it, folks! That evening, I’ll be turning off my outdoor lights. Which, yes, might sound like a tiny gesture, but artificial light at night can disrupt wildlife even when there isn't a social eclipse in the mix.

The Royal Horticultural Society has warned us a few times now that garden lighting can disturb birds from sleep, alter their feeding and singing patterns and disorient birds that migrate at night. As such, experts say we should make a point of turning garden lights off when they aren’t needed; if outdoor lighting is necessary, we should keep it low, directing it downward and using warmer, lower-intensity lighting where possible. Motion sensors and timers can also help prevent lights from being left on unnecessarily.

Basically, invest in the kind of garden lighting that reduces light pollution as a rule, and keep it off at night if you want to do your bit for local birds and critters. Especially after a disruptive event like a solar eclipse.

Wildlife-Friendly Garden Lighting:

WIYIFADA LED Bug Light Bulbs Outdoor 2-Pack

GPATIO Outdoor String Lights, 100ft

L LOHAS LED LED Yellow Flood Light Bulb 2-Pack

Honestly, the easiest thing we can do for birds and wildlife after a solar eclipse (partial or total) is simply to let them have a nice and quiet night... preferably one as dark as possible. If you want to do your bit, then, avoid unnecessary outdoor lighting, keep disturbance to a minimum and make sure birds have access to the basics they need throughout the summer – clean water, natural shelter and places to feed (this stunning solar bird feeder ticks off a lot of boxes!).

Remember: an eclipse is a natural event, and birds have evolved alongside changes in daylight. Once the sun comes back out, normal daylight resumes... but that doesn’t mean we need to make the night that follows any brighter than necessary.