Growing herbs in your garden is very rewarding, as a small plant can be used regularly to spice up whatever you're cooking. Thyme, rosemary, basil, and parsley are common in many gardens in the US, but one that is commonly forgotten and especially easy to grow is coriander/cilantro.

Is it cilantro or is it coriander? Well, actually it's both. The plant itself is called coriander. As a spice, cilantro refers to the leaves of the plant, and coriander refers to the seeds.

As a young plant, cilantro leaves makes a great addition to almost any southwest dish, whether it be in salsa, guacamole, tacos, rice, or salads, but are also featured frequently in many asian dishes. Their tanginess brings many dishes alive with the addition of a few small leaves.

Later in its life, the cilantro plant will flower, attracting bees and eventually producing coriander, another valuable spice with flavors similar to citrus and sage. Coriander is used widely in curry, sausages, stews, pickles, and ratatouille, and goes for upwards of $8 a pound. Saving the seeds is easy. Once the plant has bolted and dried up with summer heat, just run the tops of the plant through your fingers and sift out the seeds. They're BB sized and shaped, so they're easy to pick out. Set these out to dry for a few days. Once you have dried the seeds, roast them in a frying pan over low to medium heat, frequently shaking the pan. Cool, and put in a bottle or jar in your spice cabinet and grind a few up whenever you're ready to use them.

Aside from its culinary uses, having cilantro around the garden will help attract ladybugs to your garden, and ladybugs eat aphids! Ladybugs will lay their eggs where their larvae will have plenty to eat, which is wherever aphids are plentiful. Having these beneficial insects in your garden will keep your plants happy, and help you avoid having to spray chemicals on your food.

Cilantro makes a great companion plant for tomatoes and peppers in your vegetable garden. It's easy to plant from seed, or you can get starter plants. It's easy to start indoors, and like parsley (a relative), it likes cooler weather, so now is a good time to start some. You'll be glad you did!

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An artichoke (Cynara scolymus or C. cardunculus) is a giant thistle which becomes a beautiful flower. Well, it could become a beautiful flower--if we didn't pick it as a flower bud and eat it as a vegetable.

Artichokes, native to the Mediterranean region, were later introduced to Southern Europe and Asia. The artichoke has dramatic and sculptured gray green foliage that is very attractive in your vegetable garden. In fact, this vegetable is beautiful in your ornamental garden, too!

An artichoke's overall form is almost like a fountain and needs up to 4 feet of space for full growth. It likes full sun, cooler temperatures and moist soil. If you live in a very hot zone, plant it in the shade. Mulch under the plant to help maintain the moisture that it loves.

At planting time, plant dormant roots or young plants with the root shoots just above the soil level and then mulch. Water at least once a week, keeping the root system moist.

Aphids, snails, slugs, and earwigs tend to be the artichoke "pest of the day." Blast the aphids and earwigs off with water. Use a snail bait for snails and slugs.

The best time to harvest your artichokes is once the edible flower buds are 2-4 inches in diameter. Cut off the bud, including 1.5 inches of stem with the bud. At the end of the season, cut back the old bearing stems/foliage to near ground level and mulch around the remaining plant. Don't forget to give your artichokes a well-balanced fertilizer.

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Long valued for their profuse sprays of flowers from spring to early summer, coral bells (heucheras) are now also being valued for their bold, showy foliage. This genus of perennials has received a lot of attention from horticultural breeding programs in the last decade, and the result is an introduction of wonderful variations in foliage colors, leaf shapes, and flower colors.

While most original coral bell selections produced light green early spring foliage which then matured to a darker green later in summer, newer varieties are now available in amber, bronze, burgundy, purple and ruby tones. Even the newest green-leafed varieties now come dressed up with silver veins, mottling or streaks. Many new cultivars also come with exquisite ruffled foliage.

Using coral bells in the landscape provides a contrast to other plants, making your garden more interesting. Adding bronze, red, or purple foliage to the landscape brings out a new dimension of color. When these vibrant colors are placed next to green plants, your eye is drawn to the entire landscape--creating interest and depth. Most coral bells form evergreen mounds less than a foot high and across; the flowers appear 1-2' above the foliage.

Even the flower colors have benefited from breeding programs and now come in shades of bright pink, coral, red, cream, and white. The flowers provide an extra benefit to the garden by attracting hummingbirds, butterflies and beneficial insects to the garden. The spent flowers are easy to remove; you need only tug gently from the base of the stem to remove them.

While coral bells prefer partly shaded locations, these hardy plants can also tolerate full sun in milder summer regions of the U.S. They perform best in moist (but not wet) soils and need only a modest amount of feeding during the growing season. Don't neglect them completely though, because the nutrients in plant foods help bring out a deeper, darker more intense color in the foliage.

Plant them in borders or in clusters of three or more, so that their sprays of blooms will have an even more dramatic effect in the garden. Coral bells also make great container plants because they don't have an aggressive root system. Coral bells are just what you need to add some flair to your garden.

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William Cowper once wrote the now famous words, "Variety is the spice of life." This couldn't be truer in the garden. Nothing spices up a garden like plants with variegated foliage. Use too many and they'll make you dizzy. But placed in the background or strategically planted in the midst of the garden, variegated foliage can bring out the best in all of your plants.

Variegated plants come in a myriad of shapes and shades. From bold to subtle, there's something for every gardener's personal tastes. If it's a tree you're looking for, nothing steals the show like the 'Flamingo' box elder. It can be the centerpiece to build your entire garden around.

Many variegated plants make excellent hedges. Instead of hiding in the background, they provide a great starting point to planning a garden. Consider variegated English boxwood, 'Red Twig' dogwood, 'Gilt Edge' silverberry, euonymus, variegated English holly, variegated kohuhu, variegated mock orange, dappled willow or weigela. Many of these plants also look wonderful when planted individually to bring out a corner or become a focal point on a mound or garden island.

If a hedge is not your cup of tea but you still want to hide some of your fence line, a variegated bower vine or variegated potato vine will do an excellent job. For bursts of color and interest throughout your garden, consider variegated varieties of abelias, daylilies, licorice plants, phlox, mock orange, sage, stonecrop, weigela, New Zealand flax and ornamental grasses.

If your garden has shaded areas, don't worry. There are many great selections for areas with less sunlight. Many popular variegated plants prefer shade or partial shade.

No matter what your garden setting is, variegated plants not only look great but also add interest. We have a large selection of plants with unique foliage and variegated colors. Stop by soon and see the beauty of these plants in person. You wont be able to resist them!

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Answer:

It can if you have bad drainage or have plants close to a downspout. Most neighborhood properties are designed to allow water to drain away from the home, and if you have any type of slope at all your plants should be okay, barring a 30 day torrent of water. However, plants next to downspouts can suffer, so it is wise to add a downspout extension to steer water away from prized plants in areas where water might collect. It also helps to turn off your sprinklers on when it's raining...

If you still face a bad drainage situation, consider re-landscaping that area with bog-loving plants. If you hate bog-loving plants, you could always sell your home. After all, what good is a home if you can't plant your favorite plants around it?

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