Throwing a garden party is an invitation to indulge fantasies and exercise creative opportunities. Whether you're style is laid-back or posh, a garden setting presents entertaining at its most creative.

Personally, I delight in dressing up garden objects that traditionally serve one purpose and using them for another. For...

There are many clever uses for climbers. I inherited a red rose, the name of which I've never discovered. It's feet are firmly planted at the back of a mixed border, taking up practically no space. The rose blooms once in June high up above a window on a wall...

Winters are long, cold and dark in Willow, Alaska, 70 miles north of Anchorage. The temperatures on the coldest days dip to -55 degrees. The nights on the shortest days last a bleak 22 hours. "A far cry from the rough and tumbleweed Texas where I was born," says Les...

Fake flowers are blooming where they've never been before -- in upscale gardens, window boxes and containers. To increase sales of fakes, wholesalers such as Aldik, Inc. has botanists on staff to assure their botanical accuracy. Flowers are identified and sold by their botanical name. Some fakes include leaves with...

Planting bulbs is as close to a sure bet as a gardener ever gets. Unlike shrubs, trees and perennials, most bulbs can only be planted in the fall. Consequently, it's now or never!

Since no real gardening is done in the winter, do a little planting now, then sit back...

Six zucchini plants more than feeds my family of seven, weekend guests and neighbors all summer. After boiling, sautéing and baking tiny zucchini, and pureeing larger ones for breads, we still are surprised to find several hiding, in spite of their baseball-bat size, under even larger leaves. Conventional wisdom in...

Every garden has its off days, usually when visitors are expected. So what's a gardener to do when caught with his or her petals down? Inspired by the magician's art of distraction, I suggest subtly redirecting the visitor's attention.

Potted plants are the first line of defense. Placed in...

Among gardeners, there is a dark joke about which plants make the best gifts for pesky neighbors and annoying acquaintances. Although I've yet to play this game, I've been tempted. Topping the gift list are plants with a run-away metabolism, affectionately known as "the flowers of discontent."

They are as...

Caught between the weather and wild animals, gardening in Alaska is an extreme sport. Yet, despite nine months of winter and roaming wild animals, Les Brakes' garden abundantly blooms from June to September.

Delphiniums and foxgloves skyrocket from...

If a climbing red rose hadn't come with our house, I might not have fallen so hopelessly in love with climbers. The rose looked lonely as it climbed, the ivy as its trellis, on the side of our house. I tentatively added...

It would be hard to find a more congenial twosome than late-blooming lilacs and early- blooming peonies. They are compatible in color, fragrance and form. If their beauty doesn't hold your attention, their perfume will. They bring out the best in each other.

In late May and early June, when...

When it comes to bulbs, bigger is not always better. Many tiny spring bulbs are among Mother Nature's most carefree plant, undemanding and adaptable. Their ability to roll with the punches and go forth and multiply is just short of a miracle. In my garden, they're encouraged and utterly at...

It probably isn't wise for me to admit my latest love is fool's onion. You might misunderstand, thinking me the fool. But then, love is rarely rational.

I can only guess how it got its nickname. Perhaps, because it resembles an allium when it flowers. Allium is...

Before you hang the "garden closed" sign on the gate and sit back on your haunches, visualize your garden in winter. Is it bare beds and brown twigs? Are your conifers and broadleaf evergreens all the same color of green? Do pots sit empty until spring? If so, you are...