Spring is an ideal time to plan and install herbaceous perennial plants. Many 1-gallon size perennials will provide a great flower display in the first year. Perennials provide a source of nectar and habitat for pollinators after spring flowers on trees and shrubs have passed. News of our wild pollinators dropping in number in recent [...]
The ability to find joy in the midst of great loss is a character trait that is not just hard to grasp, but one to be admired. The inspiration behind this project, located in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago, was to honor the memory of a wife who was taken from this world too soon, and to [...]
A traditional gift for Valentine’s Day is a bouquet of roses. Cut flowers are beautiful but not very long lasting. If you love roses and want to enjoy them all summer long, plant hardy landscape roses in your garden. These plants are low maintenance and easy to grow. The following are the tried and true [...]
Ornamental grasses have gained popularity in recent years due to their low maintenance and potential for year-round interest in the garden. These plants also respond beautifully to the wind and create sound with their rustling leaves. True grasses are in the Grass family (Poaceae) but horticulturists consider Sedges (Carex spp.) within the group of ornamental [...]
Sometimes we are really tested as landscape designers and horticulturists. One common challenge that we encounter is getting plants to grow in parkways, especially in urban neighborhoods. Large, mature street trees, often with shallow roots and a dense canopy such as Norway Maples, rob a site of sun, moisture and nutrients. Even with these less [...]
Here at Nature's Perspective, we love plants so much that we could live by the famous quote of Nelson Henderson: "The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit". Spring will come and bring your garden back to life once again. With that in mind, we share [...]
Each year there are countless plant varieties that are introduced to the green industry. They all look wonderful in catalogs, but we choose carefully. After a year or two on trial in our garden, we let everyone have a chance to enjoy them at home. Here are some of the recent additions to our nursery. The [...]
Last year, we encountered a widespread, extremely destructive disease called Impatiens Downy Mildew, affecting Impatiens walleriana (common impatiens). It is an aggressive and easily spread disease that causes the plant to lose its leaves and eventually die. Some of you may have encountered this at your property last summer. Downy mildew is not easy to detect [...]
Drought has been called the “slow motion disaster”. Tornadoes, hurricanes and floods happen in a matter of minutes or hours; drought unfolds over days, weeks and months. This drought of 2012 is truly historic; some compare it to 1930 dust bowl. In Illinois, all but three counties have been declared disaster areas- Cook County is [...]