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Garden Like an Impressionist: If Monet Had a Hose (and a Spreadsheet)

Not a Blueprint — A Feeling I think about flower beds the way some people think about paintings. Not in the sense of perfect symmetry or high drama, more like mood, rhythm, and cohesion. I want a space that feels intentional without feeling overworked. A place where your eyes can land, then wander. Where things

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Plant Profile: Bigleaf Hydrangea (Deep Purple)

Opening Observation Hydrangeas are the comfort books of the garden. Everyone knows them, and yet each type tells a different story: bold mopheads, delicate lacecaps, stately panicles, dramatic oakleafs. They can be showy or subtle, but always familiar. Hydrangea macrophylla, the bigleaf hydrangea, has always been my favorite. It is generous and moody, sometimes both

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Plant Profile: Mountain Hydrangea ‘Tuff Stuff’

Opening Observation I first learned about Tuff Stuff while designing a shade garden for a neighbor who wanted to surprise her parents with something beautiful, fragrant, and low-maintenance. She sent me inspiration photos filled with layered, flower-heavy beds, the kind that look lush and lived-in. Hydrangeas were everywhere in her examples, but the space she

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Plant Profile: Clethra alnifolia ‘Hummingbird’ (Summersweet)

Opening Observation I found Clethra while looking for something else. I had a list of reliable evergreens—Sweet Box, Pieris ‘Little Heath,’ a few other steady choices meant to hold shape and color year-round. Summersweet was only on the list as an option, a maybe. But the moment I saw it, compact and quietly elegant, I

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