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January 7, 2009: Announcing the release of 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants: Tough-but-Beautiful Plants That Anyone Can Grow. Books start shipping today and should be available on-line and in bookstores very soon! In the coming weeks the proud parent (me) will be posting blogs featuring these sustainable, dynamic, easy care, plants perfect for everyone from the new gardener to the seasoned veteran. And they fit our busy lives like that perfect pair of gardening gloves. They provide all the “bling” without the “sting” of hours and hours of work. They possess most if not all of the following traits…

High Impact Traits

*Multi-season Interest

*Colorful Foliage

*Long-Lasting Bloom

*Outstanding Texture

*Architectural Form

Low-Maintenance Sustainable Traits

*Long-Lived

*Tolerate Heat and Humidity

*Cold-Hardy

*Deer Resistant

*Drought Tolerant

*Insect & Disease Resistance

*Minimal or No Deadheading

*No Heavy Fertilizing

*No Staking

*Infrequent or no Division for many years

*Infrequent or no Pruning

What else can we ask for?? So join in the celebration…Happy Birthday 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Plants!

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the New York Botanical Garden with close friend and fellow author, Denise Adams. It was a blustery day but my spirits were lifted when I saw numerous plants,  that I feature in my new book 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants. They were shining through the cold and stealing the show particularly in the perennial garden. With frozen fingers, down on my knees, I wrestled with my camera to get just the right angle on a combination featuring ‘Color Guard’ yucca (Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’)(photo). I hope you will enjoy the visual—of the yucca that is! Also creating a focal point in another border was the beautiful native, rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) (photo).  Other high-impact, low-care plants such as various sedges (Carex sp.) and hellebores were also looking very fine. We decided to forgo the lines at the Christmas train exhibit and headed around the gardens to enjoy the Henry Moore’s.  Along the way we oohed and aahed  the breathtaking  bark of  massive tanyosho pines (Pinus densiflora ‘Umbraculifera’) as well as yet another high impact plant, paperbark maple (Acer griseum)(photo). What a great day! Be sure to get out and enjoy the peace, and joy, of the winter garden.