March is here and spring will soon be in the air!

Bye Bye February. Hello spring.

Spring is only three short weeks away. Who's ready to start planting?

Spring can be an exciting time for conifers in the garden. Bright new growth can be the usual vivid blues and greens, but can also be red or yellow that ages to green. They are a wonderful addition to play off the spring colors of Tulips and Daffodils and other spring blooms.

Spring seems to have arrived! What's blooming or looks great in your area?

Happy #NationalPetDay! Share photos of your pets loving the outdoors with us 🐶🐱🐾

Don't forget about conifers when planning your garden additions. Placement for winter enjoyment is plus. They mix wonderfully with perennials, trees, shrubs, grasses and roses, acting as both backdrop and focal point. Give them a try. You'll be rewarded for years.

Maybe spring will finally arrive and burst into its full glory...and not snow again.

Is it January or April? I could have sworn it was April.

Chicagoland Grows / Chicago Botanic Garden have introduce some new creeping phlox that are real head turners. Look at the vivid color and wonderful flower shapes on 'Violet Pinwheels' in our research greenhouse. Wow!

'Raging Red' is the best new red flowering dogwood to date with the added bonus of deep burgundy foliage. Foliage greens a bit during summer before changing to flaming red in fall. Spring bloom and colorful summer foliage.

Look at 'Variegated Stellar Pink' in fall. Wow!

Dogwood fever is almost here, which is one of the many things we love about spring. There are better red flowered dogwoods today and an amazing selection of variegated varieties as well that provide color from spring to fall. 'Variegated Stellar Pink' dogwood in spring.

One of the best is 'The Rising Sun', which has been around for a few years now, but the colors are hard to beat. A continuous show of chartreuse/light green to yellow to a peachy apricot at the tips as new growth emerges all season. Must have!

One of our many favorite things about spring are the Redbud trees. The new foliage color breakthroughs make them fantastic from spring to fall. A new dark leaf variety called 'Black Pearl'. Wow! Look at that shine!

It’s a great day for gardening here in Ohio 🌷 who else is in the garden today? – at Tipp City, OH

Acer x pseudosieboldiana 'First Flame' is one of the newest on the scene. It is rated as a solid Zone 5 plant, but I expect after a few more years of observation that it will prove to be hardy to Zone 4 as well. It may be 2019 before you see this one in stores or catalogs.

Being hardy to Zone 4 (-30 F), makes them an option for those who have never been able to grow Japanese Maples. Acer x pseudosieboldianum 'Ice Dragon'

Fantastic Spring and Fall foliage color on Japanese Maples? And they're hardy? Check out the spring colors of some of the new Japanese Maples from Iseli. Wow! Acer x pseudosieboldianum 'North Wind', one of their new hybrid Japanese Maples.