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The scientific name for “snowdrops” is Galanthus nivalis, which means, ‘milk flower of the snow’, which refers to the flower color and its early flowering time. This bulb is often overlooked in our gardens because of its short stature.

Paperbark Maple is an excellent choice to plant where you need a small statured tree. This deciduous tree originates from Central China. At maturity it can reach 20 feet tall with a similar spread.

Snapdragons are an old garden favorite for many. Growing up on a dairy farm, there was not much energy devoted to having a flower garden but my parents always planted snapdragons to brighten up special places around the house and farm buildings. 

Fall weather brings on lots of changes in the garden with summer color slowing down and cool season plants starting to show what they are made of. One of those cool season plants is Ornamental kale.

Candlestick Plant is also known as emperor’s candlesticks, candle bush, candelabra bush, Christmas candles, empress candle plant, ringworm shrub, or candletree. A plant with so many common names you would think you would see this in many of our gardens but it’s not.

Turk’s Cap, as we commonly call it here at BGO, has many common names which include, Turkcap, Turk’s Turban, Wax Mallow, Ladies Teardrop and Scotchman’s Purse. No matter what you call this perennial native to South Western USA, it is certainly a conversation plant when it starts to flower mid summer to first frost.

When someone mentions milkweed, most of us think of the common milkweed (Asclepia tuberosa) which is found along roadsides and hay meadows in the Ozarks. Here at BGO, we plant several different types of milkweed to provide a varied diet for the monarch butterfly larvae to feed on.

Here at BGO, we experiment with planting different types of plants just like you do. A plant which I have not seen but in one home garden of the thousands of gardens I have visited over my gardening career. I encountered ‘Dara’ in a home garden in Jonesboro three years ago and it was put near the top of my list of a new plant to try.

Late spring is a time of transition in the garden. The showy spectacle of springtime bloom is over and the summer annuals have not yet filled in to provide the backdrop of color for the warm months. It’s during this period that larkspur (Consolida ajacis) provides a rich palette of color to fill the void.

Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus), also commonly called Grancy Greybeard and Old Man’s Beard, is one of the most beautiful and under-used, small flowering trees. This Ozark region native is breathtaking in full bloom in May when clouds of small silky-white flowers are held in drooping clusters at the ends of branches.