In the video below, I demonstrate a process of first envisioning a planting concept based on shape, form, texture and color. After which I identify two different groups of plants for two different growing environments in order to recreate the visualized scene.  ..

I'm a plant lover, just like you, so I'm inclined to experiment with new varieties of old favorites as they come to market, and you'll find many of them included in our combos. That said, eGardenGo isn’t intended to be an exhaustive directory of every plant available on the nursery shelves—have you counted how many varieties of pink-toned echinacea, burgundy heuchera, or dwarf red-leaf maples there are out there?   ..

Creating a garden that fits together—one that makes sense and works as a whole—is like a jigsaw puzzle, a word jumble, or really any puzzle that challenges us to create order from chaos. Our puzzle is further complicated by the fact that we're working in four dimensions, if we take the seasonal aspect of our creation into consideration. Though as the pieces, or in our case plants, start falling into place, the overall scene starts shaping up. It begins to make more sense and everything gets a bit easier. But getting started can feel daunting. ..

The most engaging planting combinations are able to strike a delicate balance between having enough different-ness to capture our attention versus enough same-ness to hold the scene together. When considering the extremes, we can easily see how too much variety can feel jarring and chaotic, and how too much sameness can lead us down a path to ho-hum. Just like Goldilocks, we're striving for "just right" — and even then, there's an enormous range of possibilities, so it can be helpful to know what kind of feeling or mood you're trying to evoke. ..

I love slow-growing, dwarf conifers and find them especially valuable when choosing plants for small gardens where every plant needs to earn its keep—their compact size and year-round good looks consistently earn them a place in my designs. ..

Autumn is the perfect time to step back, assess your garden's performance, and make plans for what you'll tackle next. While there's much to learn from observing what's working well and plants that are thriving, it's equally useful to learn from what's not. So it's a great time to take note, especially of those plants that are struggling and/or not performing as well as you'd hoped. ..

Unless you’re a heckuva lot tougher than me, working outdoors during a bout of extreme weather—whether it's blistering heat, bone-chilling cold, or torrential rain—has less appeal.  ..

I've had a blast sharing my presentation, Beyond Pinterest—Unlock the Secrets Behind the Pretty Picture, with audiences around the Northwest for the last six months. The reception has been super-enthusiastic and I've been thrilled to have attendees tell me that it's been really helpful to them.  ..

It's spring and my garden fever is running high. If you're like me, you're full-on in plant acquisition and garden-making mode.  ..

On the hottest days of summer my husband and I gravitate to a pair of comfortably worn Adirondack chairs in our "secret garden"—a cozy backyard spot under the shelter of two linden trees. What draws us into that part of the garden? What makes one seating area more inviting than another? ..

Let's say you've assembled a palette of plants that you think work well together. It doesn't really matter how you arrived at it—maybe you dreamed it up yourself, or perhaps you followed one of the many road maps to success you'll find here on eGardenGo. Whatever the source of your inspiration, though, getting your plants laid out in an organized and logical fashion can be daunting until you get the hang of it.  ..

Happy New Year! Thanks so much for following along as I've created and shared planting combination ideas, design tips, and more —I hope that you've found eGardenGo to be loaded with inspiring and fun content— I've sure had a blast creating it and connecting with you! ..