Agertum’s easy-going nature and unique blooms make it an excellent addition to cut flower gardens, flower boxes, and planters. If you want to grow it at home, join flower farmer Briana Yablonski to learn planting and care tips. If you’re looking for a flower that serves a supporting role in the garden and floral studio, ageratum is one of your best choices. These easy-to-care-for annuals produce clusters of blooms topped with tufts of silk-like ray flowers that give a unique and soft look. While they won’t steal the spotlight in the garden, they add a soft texture and subtle pop of color. Most of the flowers are blue, but you can also find varieties in shades of pink, purple, and white. The plants continue to pump out new blooms for multiple months, providing long-lasting color. Plus, the blooms hold up well when cut and attract pollinators of all kinds. What Is It? Ageratum goes by several names, including floss flower, blue mist flower, and bluemink. It’s an annual plant that’s native to Central America but widely grown throughout the world as an ornamental. In some locations, it’s escaped cultivation and become a nuisance plant. You can find multiple varieties of Ageratum houstonianum that vary in height and flower color. Some of these cultivars work well as short bedding plants, and others produce long stems that make them suitable options for filler flowers in arrangements. Characteristics Ageratum is a flowering annual that grows best in summer. It has a mounding growth habit with densely packed, branching stems covered with slightly fuzzy, ovate leaves. Some varieties rarely grow more than six inches tall, while others send out two-foot-long stems. Clusters of small, round flowers appear on the top of the stems. Blue is the most common flower color, but you can also find varieties with white, purple, or pink blooms. All of the flowers have elongated ray florets that look like tufts of silky floss. Some people confuse ageratum with blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum). While both of these plants produce similar flowers, the latter is a cold-tolerant perennial that’s native to the eastern half of the United States. Native Range Ageratum is native to portions of Central America and Mexico. Although it can complete its life cycle in a few months, it often remains living for multiple years in these frost-free areas. Planting Whether you want to tuck a few ageratum plants into a planter or front yard garden bed, or add taller varieties to your cutting garden, starting with healthy plants is key. Since ageratum is an annual, you’ll need to replant these flowers each year. Starting with seeds or transplants are both viable options, so choose the one that works best for you.

A delightfully airy plant with beautiful heart-shaped flowers, the Pacific bleeding heart is a must-have perennial in the shade garden. Learn where this native plant will thrive and how to give it the best care with native plant gardener Jerad Bryant. Some plants wow growers with their hardiness, and others with their ornamental attributes. Very rarely does a plant come along that exemplifies both. Pacific bleeding heart does, and it is as hardy as it is beautiful. Scientifically Dicentra formosa, this shade-loving perennial spreads through rhizomes and seeds to slowly blanket an area. Plant one this year, and you’ll have bunches of pendulous heart-shaped flowers each spring. This plant grows foliage that is as ornamental as the flowers, and they delicately divide into fern-like fronds. This native thrives in the Pacific Northwest but grows successfully throughout the U.S. with the proper care and maintenance. Follow this simple care guide and learn all you need to know to grow Pacific bleeding heart. What Is Pacific Bleeding Heart? As its name suggests, this plant is native to the Pacific Coast and the wet forests near the coastline. It creeps and crawls along airy soil to form strands of fern-like foliage and pink-white heart-shaped flowers. In the forest, it stands out among other plants, and in the garden, it creeps as a ground cover for shady areas. This bleeding heart is different than the common one Dicentra spectabilis in that it is smaller, and it is native to North America. The common bleeding heart is native to Japan and does not have as finely divided foliage. Although it is an old garden favorite, native species of Dicentra are quickly surpassing its popularity. Other than its ornamental beauty, plant this native for its beneficial offerings to the local ecosystem. This plant has a unique appendage on its seeds that is rich in oil called an elaiosome. Ants love eating this oil, and they carry the seeds to new places when they discard them after feasting. Besides ants, bees, native birds, and beetles enjoy the seeds, foliage, and flowers. A true perennial, this plant prefers a long dormancy during cold winter months. Then, in the early spring, bunches of fern-like foliage grow out of the ground before clusters of heart-shaped flowers. The flowers give way to the foliage, which stays green until fruits form from the flowers. After an entire year, the plant dies back to its rhizomes beneath the soil, and it conserves its energy so that it can sprout again. History Unlike most native plants cultivated widely, the Pacific bleeding heart was famous for garden use in the U.K. before the United States. Scottish botanist Archibald Menzies encountered it on his travels along the Pacific Coast. He collected its seeds and sent samples back to Kew Gardens. From there, Kew propagated the plant and spread it throughout the U.K. After its wide use in the U.K., American gardens caught up and started featuring the Pacific variety instead of the common one from Japan. Nowadays naturalists use this plant widely in renaturalization projects, and gardeners highly favor it the world over. Native Americans use it as a remedy for skin issues and back pain. The scientific name Dicentra means “two-spurred” in Latin and references the two points that come off of the heart-shaped part of the flower. Formosa means “beautiful and well-formed.” Any onlooker of this stately plant can see the name fits well! Native Area Pacific bleeding heart is native to the Pacific Northwest, and it grows naturally from British Columbia down to central California along the coast in forests and woodlands. It prefers light, airy soil with good drainage and lots of water during the growing season. Because it grows naturally in forests, this U.S. native thrives in dappled shade with protection from direct sunlight. It benefits from pockets of intermittent light throughout the day. In the forest, light passes through the trees sporadically, and this plant benefits from the occasional sunray. This perennial commonly grows alongside other shade-loving forest floor dwellers like evergreen violets, Western fairy slippers, and fawn lilies. Ferns like the Western sword-fern, mosses, and lichens also grow profusely where this wildflower resides. In my garden, this plant slowly spreads each year under the shade of a tall Douglas fir tree, and it thrives without much intervention. Characteristics Identify this plant easily by looking for its flowers, leaves, and structure. It typically grows to heights of one-and-a-half feet and widths of three feet or wider. From the ground in early spring, shoots of blue-green foliage sprout up. Then, stems with no leaves and clusters of pendant pink-white flowers bloom profusely. The flowers look like cut-open hearts with blood dripping down, which is where the plant’s interesting name comes from. In the wild, this plant blankets woodland areas with conducive conditions for its growth. It spreads readily underground through fleshy and tubular root structures called rhizomes. This native also uses seeds to spread itself, and it employs ants to disperse these seeds by growing the oil-rich coating they eat. In the fall, as temperatures dip below freezing, this plant dies back to its rhizomes and disappears above ground. Even in areas where winters are mild, this perennial dies back and rests for a season before sprouting to flourish in the other three. Uses Plant this Pacific Northwest native for its ornamental attributes and the wealth of natural resources it offers local wildlife. This plant is toxic for humans, and so I recommend not planting it in the vegetable garden. Situate it in an area you’d like nature to reclaim, as the shade it provides in the spring and summer creates a habitat for all sorts of bugs and critters on the soil. In reforesting and naturalizing initiatives in the Pacific Northwest, this plant settles into new areas with ease. It is helpful as a deciduous ground cover in woodlands, forests, and shaded meadows. Plant one alongside shade-loving shrubs like snowberry and serviceberry, and trees like bigleaf maple and Douglas fir. Where To Buy Buy seeds or plants to try growing this perennial at home. Live plants are easier to transplant into the garden than starting from seed. However, seed starting is a rewarding process for the adventurous gardener. Try the species plant for gorgeous pink blooms, or try a fun cultivar like ‘Zestful’ with a longer bloom period and darker flowers. Planting Three options exist for the home gardener to establish this plant in the landscape–seed germination, live plant transplanting, or rhizome division. Rhizome division and live-plant transplanting are easier, however, growing plants from seeds is a fun experiment, and seed-grown plants often exhibit unique characteristics because of their genetic variability. To grow this plant from seed, first stratify the seeds for 60-90 days in the refrigerator, or plant them directly into the garden in the fall. If using the fridge method, put seeds in an airtight container with sand that is moist but not soggy. Take the container out of the fridge once the 90 days are up, and plant seeds in a shady area after your last frost date. Cover them with a thin layer of soil no thicker than a quarter-inch. Keep seeds and their soil moist until they germinate. Seedlings quickly mature, although they may not flower their first year. After a summer aboveground and a winter belowground, your plants should sprout their famous heart-shaped flowers next spring. If you’re opting for transplanting or dividing, the process is a bit simpler. When dividing, first locate a mature clump. Then, in the fall, once the plant goes dormant, dig up part of the plant and sever the rhizomes. Plant the severed rhizomes a few inches deep in shady areas, and they’ll sprout and flower in the spring! Transplant potted live plants in the fall or spring when the weather is mild and temperatures are cool. This ensures your transplants have time to establish themselves before the summer heat arrives in full force. Water your plants well while they establish themselves, and continue irrigating throughout the growing season if rainfall is low. How to Grow Pacific bleeding hearts stand out as stately specimens in the shade garden. With dappled shade, ample water, and airy soil, your plants will thrive each year. Once established, these perennials are no-fuss ground covers with little maintenance. Maintenance This North American native plant requires little, if any, maintenance. Each year it dies back, and its foliage yellows and browns before falling to the floor. There, it decays and adds key nutrients back into the soil. When given space to freely roam, this perennial spreads and thrives with little intervention on the gardener’s part.

Love or hate the taste, cilantro is a popular addition to many cuisines. If you're growing cilantro you have probably had the problem of it bolting easily, which simply means that the plant sends up a flower stalk and goes to seed. Since cilantro is a cool-season herb, warming temperatures will signal to the plant that it's time to flower and go to seed rather than continue producing leaves. It's very sensitive to warmer temperatures, so if you're seeing signs of flowering, that's likely why. Bolting is the plant is doing what comes naturally, but you can slowly down the bolting with these some growing tips. Learn more ahead about cilantro bolting. Why Does Cilantro Bolt? Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) is a short-lived annual, cool-season herb.1 Once temperatures begin to rise and reach the 70s, the plant responds by bolting (flowering and going to seed) as a way to continue its life cycle. Producing seeds means that the species has a chance for another crop. 6 Ways to Keep Cilantro from Bolting While it can be difficult to stop cilantro from bolting, there are some ways to extend the life of the plant before it goes to seed and dies. Keep it Cool Whether you are growing cilantro in the garden or indoors in containers, temperature is a huge factor in how long the plant will last before it bolts. You can extend the harvest season by planting it in the early spring and fall when day and nighttime temperatures or lower. If growing cilantro indoors keep the plants around 70 degrees or lower. Control the Sunlight Cilantro needs only about six hours of bright sunlight. Select an indoor or outdoor spot that doesn't receive high-noon heat. Lighting for indoor pots of cilantro is easily controlled with grow lights. If planting outdoors in a hot climate, consider placing the plants where they can receive some afternoon shade. Too much heat from direct sun can cause the plant to bolt early. Water Regularly Plants that receive too much or too little water are placed under stress. To survive the stress, the plant bolts to produce some seed to extend the species. Whether growing in containers or the ground, keep the soil evenly moist but be sure the roots are never waterlogged. Pinch or Prune Often For new plants, once they reach about six inches tall pinch back the tips. Harvest or prune the leaves often (once a week) to remove damaged growth, yellowing leaves, or flowers that form. Practice Succession Planting This tip doesn't stop cilantro plants from bolting but it does help you keep tender, tasty cilantro on hand. Wait two to three weeks between each time you start seeds or plant new cilantro seedlings. This is called succession planting or planting the same crop several times during the growing season. Choose Slow-Bolting Cultivars There are cilantro cultivars that are less prone to bolting. Look for seedlings or seed packets that are described as bolt-resistant, heat-tolerant, or long-standing. Three choices are ‘Calypso’, ‘Slo Bolt’, and 'Leisure'. These cultivars are usually less sensitive to heat and can produce good-tasting foliage a bit longer into the growing season. Why Bolted Plants Can Actually Be Beneficial While it is disappointing to see a plant bolt and die, there are benefits to the natural process of bolting. The flowers that form will help attract much-needed pollinators to your garden. Many plants produce edible seeds after bolting that add flavor to prepared foods. The most beneficial effect of bolting is the production of seeds that can be saved to grow new plants. Backyard gardeners and commercial farmers have long known the value of allowing some plants to "go to seed" to maintain the longevity of a plant species.