Posts By

Katherine Rowe

Katherine is a garden professional with a background in design, conservation, and public horticulture. She holds a master’s degree in landscape architecture and a love of gardens, parks, and natural lands alike. Katherine enjoys exploring gardens and wild spaces through work and travel and designing gardens with nature at the helm.

Close-up of a blooming pollinator flower container including plants such as Pelargonium peltatum, Fairy Blue Fan Flowers, Isotoma axillaris, Dahlias, Dorotheanthus and others.

Ornamental Gardens

9 Container Combinations To Attract Pollinators

It’s officially summer, and the garden buzzes with bees, butterflies, and birds. Pollinators and beneficial insects enrich biodiversity, manage pests, and keep flowering plants and vegetables healthy and productive, even in our little garden corners. Container plantings contribute to the cause by providing nectar and pollen-rich selections with varying flower forms and long bloom sessions. Join gardening expert Katherine Rowe in a look at potted combinations tailored to drawing pollinators.

Close-up of a patriotic flower bed with blooming purple Whirlwind Blue Fan Flowers, white Garden verbena plants and rich red petunias decorated with a small American flag.

Gardening Inspiration

9 Patriotic Flower Bed Ideas for the 4th of July

Commemorate independence with dazzling color and Fourth of July-inspired garden arrangements that allow self-expression and a classic color scheme. From bold to traditional, these liberty-inspired motifs let us honor Independence Day in an inviting garden style. Adaptable and versatile, red, white, and blue plantings and accents contribute to the day’s appreciation while providing all-season appeal. Join gardening expert Katherine Rowe in a look at patriotic garden bed inspirations.

A close-up of a long white hanging container with several small American flags, a variety of flowering and trailing plants including white petunias, deep red geraniums, a Helichrysum Silver Plug plant and Hedera Helix.

Flowers

9 Red, White, and Blue Container Designs for Independence Day

We don’t need an excuse to embellish flowering containers, but with Independence Day approaching, the opportunity presents itself to add a splash of red, white, and blue to arrangements. Whether a straightforward representation or a loose adaptation, this classic flowering color scheme celebrates the Fourth of July and the summer season with versatility. Join gardener Katherine Rowe in exploring adaptable displays to highlight Independence Day.

Cleome hassleriana, one of the unusual cutting flowers, displays palmate, green leaves and large, airy clusters of spider-like flowers in shades of pink, each with long, protruding stamens.

Flowers

13 Unusual Flowers for Your Cutting Garden

Unique and unusual flowers foster creativity in the cutting garden and fresh and dried floral displays. With so many to choose from, incorporating fresh finds is boundless. Join gardening expert Katherine Rowe in exploring high-performing, unusual cutting garden selections, including twists on old garden favorites, ornamental perennials, and flowering annuals.

Close-up of several shade hanging baskets with flowering plants Sutera cordata featirung trailing habit, rounded, jagged, green leaves and delicate white and purple tubular shaped flowers with contrasting yellow throats.

Flowers

19 Plants For Beautiful Hanging Baskets In the Shade

Hanging baskets brighten garden corners and bring cooling respite to warm summer days. They’ll add vertical interest and color through vibrant flowers and foliage, whether on a covered porch or under a tree canopy. Add dimension to the shade garden with these beautiful selections of shade-loving plants well-suited to growing in hanging baskets.

Close-up of a geranium plant cutting rooting in a glass vase filled with water, set against a white background.

Gardening Tips

31 Popular Plants You Can Root In Water

Rooting stems in water is a simple process that rewards us with creating new plants. Join gardening expert Katherine Rowe in exploring viable plant selections to start in water. If we’re lucky, we’ll soon add the new roots and shoots to our garden collection and enjoy the display as we go.

Hydrangea petiolaris, an evergreen variety, boasts lush, glossy foliage and cascading clusters of white lacecap flowers that bloom against a backdrop of climbing vines.

Shrubs

7 Evergreen Hydrangea Varieties for Year-Round Appeal

While beloved, commonly grown hydrangeas drop their leaves in winter, a few evergreen hydrangea selections and relatives in the Hydrangeaceae family hold lustrous leaves year-round. In addition to attractive foliage, their flowers, fruits, and growth habits inspire a doubletake in the garden. Join gardening expert Katherine Rowe in exploring unique evergreen hydrangea varieties for all-season interest.

Tough annual Catharanthus roseus blooms in a hanging black container in a sunny garden, producing glossy, dark green, oval-shaped leaves and a profusion of five-petaled pink flowers with contrasting white centers.

Flowers

17 Tough Annuals for Summer Containers

While summer ushers in a profusion of blooms and filled-to-the-brim container displays, it also brings extreme temperatures and weather that can stress plants. Starting with tough annuals gives arrangements a headstart to perform without missing a beat (even if the gardener scoots away on vacation). Here, gardener Katherine Rowe explores durable annuals for summer containers.

Watering blooming soft pink roses in a summer garden using a nearby blue hose, directing the water flow to the base of the plant.

Flowers

5 Tips for Watering Your Roses This Summer

Roses, poised for continued growth and flowering in the warming temperatures of late spring and early summer, thrive with a few key watering techniques and cultural practices. Garden expert Katherine Rowe offers tips for summer watering to keep roses flourishing this season and beyond.

Columbine flowering plants are popular choices for shaded raised beds, characterized by delicate, lobed leaves and distinctive, spurred purple flowers.

Raised Bed Gardening

21 Best Shade Plants for Raised Beds

Shade garden displays bring bold color and texture to dark garden zones. Shady raised beds offer the opportunity to showcase dynamic foliage and flowers while solving challenging garden situations. Garden expert Katherine Rowe explores plant selections perfect for brightening the shade in raised garden beds.

Clusters of small, white lantana flowers cascade over dense, green leaves.

Flowers

15 Drought-Tolerant Plants for Hanging Baskets

Hanging baskets lend vertical interest to the garden, ornamenting the view with dynamic flowers and foliage. To lessen watering needs (and water worries) opt for plants that withstand dry conditions, at least for a short time. Join gardener Katherine Rowe in exploring drought-tolerant plants with a host of other winning qualities to grow in hanging baskets this season.