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July Perennial of the Month-Bee Balm
The alliums have gone dormant. The lilies are spent. Even the spring bulb foliage has withered away. The season seems to be speeding along even though summer has only officially started… Why does…
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Highlights from 2025 Pond-O-Rama!
Pond-O-Rama is undoubtedly the biggest annual garden tour in the St. Louis area. 2025 was the 25th anniversary of this event, with 29 hosts spread over the metro region from House Springs to…
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June Tree of the Month-Shellbark Hickory
During a recent trip to the University of Missouri (Mizzou) campus, I couldn’t help but notice the abundance of shellbark hickories, Carya laciniosa. These trees are striking and large, with deep green leaves…
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June Shrub of the Month-Big Leaf Hydrangea
Even if you aren’t a plant-geek, it’s impossible not to notice-those shrubs brimming with huge blue or pink blooms, like a set from a Hollywood movie. You know the one…there’s a big Victorian…
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Highlights from the Lafayette Square Spring Home and Garden Tour-2025
The 56th Lafayette Square Spring Home and Garden Tour took place June 7th and 8th in and around the historic St. Louis neighborhood surrounding Lafayette Park. 12 properties were included on this year’s…
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Garden-Lou Spotlights Kathie Soehngen
Oakville, Missouri Garden-Lou had the recent pleasure of meeting with Kathie Soehngen in the Oakville Garden she’s created, nurtured, and enjoyed with her husband, Jim for over 49 years. The Soehngen Garden will…
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May Tree of the Month-Kousa Dogwood
After our native dogwoods, Cornus florida, April Tree of the Month-Dogwood, finish blooming, the kousa dogwoods take the stage. Cornus kousa (syn. Benthamidia japonica) is native to Japan, Korea, and China and can…
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May Shrub of the Month-Deutzia
Deutzia is not a well-known shrub among most homeowners or average gardeners. I had never heard of it before until I started taking plant ID classes. It didn’t seem like anything special, until…
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May Perennial of the Month-False Indigo
One of the most striking native perennials for our area is the false indigos. Baptisia australis, with its royal purple blooms, and Baptisia sphaerocarpa, with its sunny yellow flowers, are both so structural…
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April Tree of the Month-Crabapple
If one could bottle up the scents of childhood, for me, it would be the lingering smell of melting tinsel against C7 Christmas tree bulbs, The sharp scent of Bactine on scraped knees,…
