Have you recently had a perennial plant overwinter that you didn’t expect would survive because it wasn’t designated to be hardy in your area of the country? If so, you might be wondering why. A clue to the answer lies in the newly updated USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) that was released at the end of 2023. The map’s information has long been relied upon by gardeners, growers, and researchers to help determine which plants will survive, and which won’t, in their growing areas. The PHZM’s updates reflect changes that impact about half of the country, with the overall trend being a shift ..read more

Everyone should experience the pleasures that come from planting and tending a kitchen garden. Whether you farm a large patch or keep a few herbs in pots on the patio or balcony, the rewards are immense: the taste of a sun-warmed Tomato picked straight from the vine, the aroma of fresh Basil, Mint, and Thyme snipped and brought into the kitchen, a bounty of vegetables you most favor to create delicious meals in summer and fall. What’s for dinner tonight? Step outside your door and see. The fruit and vegetable seedlings we offer produce crops that generally cannot be found at your local superm ..read more

Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’, 2024 Perennial Plant of the Year If you’ve spent any time in recent years reading books or magazines about gardening, you will be aware of the growing interest in native plants. Regular readers of our catalog will likely have a general understanding of what this term refers to and why a gardener might seek out native plants. Because this is a complicated topic and is often over-simplified in bite-sized media, we’d like to briefly discuss the ways in which native plants figure in what we do at White Flower Farm.  What Is a Native Plant? The definition provided b ..read more

We ship bulbs and plants ordered from our spring catalog and website in time for spring planting in your area. Shipping begins in early March. The exact time you receive your order varies by your hardiness zone and weather conditions along the shipping route. Warmest zones receive the earliest shipments. As temperatures rise across the country, we begin shipping to cooler zones. First to leave our warehouse are bareroot perennials and dormant annuals including Dahlia tubers and Tuberous Begonias along with the most cold-tolerant, dormant perennials and shrubs. We ship in early March to Zones 7 ..read more

When WWII veteran and Wye College horticulture graduate Christopher Lloyd returned home as a young man to Great Dixter, the 57-acre English estate where he and his five siblings had been raised, he began what would become decades of experimentation in garden design that would result in 15 books, countless columns and articles for magazines and newspapers, and a legacy of provocation and innovation that continues to exert tremendous influence on gardeners and designers all over the world. By building on structural plantings credited to architect Edwin Lutyens, and encouraged by Daisy ..read more

It’s all too easy to get excited about the forthcoming season and plant out Dahlia tubers too soon. Unfortunately they fare very poorly in cold, damp soil and are liable to rot. If you’re looking to get a jump on things and see those knockout flowers as soon as possible, start some tubers in containers. Here’s a straight-forward how to: Round up your supplies. You’ll need: Potting soil, trowel or scoop, Dahlia tubers, empty pots, and a watering can. Scissors and gardening gloves are also helpful. Tubers come in a wide range of sizes and shapes. Some look like fingerling potatoes, others rese ..read more

Every year we ask our staff to weigh in about their favorite holiday items for decorating and gifting. If you’re looking for some fresh ideas for your shopping list, this is a great place to start! 1 Pink Azalea Topiary “I’m lucky to have a greenhouse window over my kitchen sink, where this Azalea topiary delightfully takes the drudgery out of scrubbing pots and pans. It is simply breathtaking. I love how this beautiful plant displays vibrant flowers over a long time and remains lovely even when the last flower has faded.” -Karen B., Senior Horticultural Advisor, Customer Service 2 Wint ..read more

From ancient Greek mythology to 19th-century art to today’s scientific analysis of anthocyanins, the breadth of Iris topics may surprise you. Here are 10 facts that we hope round out your view of these fascinating plants. 1 Iris is the word for “rainbow” in Greek and designates the Greek goddess of the rainbow. The many colors of Iris flowers are likely the reason behind the plant’s name. This can also be said of the colored portion of the eye, which is called the iris. 2 Each Bearded Iris flower has 3 petals (standards) and 3 sepals (falls). In some flowers, the color of the standards an ..read more

“The Ant King Palace opens its carmine door: Peony in bloom.” ~Yosa Buson (1716-1784)* It doesn’t take a scholar of 18th-century Japanese haiku to know that Peonies and ants often go together. Some of us encountered ants crawling on the rounded buds of Peonies when we were little, when bugs were “cool.” (In fact, this plant-critter connection was so fascinating to one precocious youngster that she became an entomologist.**) More of us, alas, approach the subject having experienced struggles removing the insects from our kitchen countertops. The idea of ants inhabiting one of the showiest of ..read more

Imagine if Hydrangeas were not just pretty shrubs to add to your garden or showy cut flowers for filling vases. What if they were your job? White Flower Farm’s Product Development Coordinator and shrub expert Ray Hinman knows what that’s like. On a daily basis, he thinks about what plant breeders are doing and what our customers want when it comes to Hydrangeas. He has a foot in two worlds – one very scientific, in which topics like Hydrangea remontance (rebloom) and cold hardiness are weighty concerns, and the other down-to-earth, in which the beauty and performance of Hydrangeas are really a ..read more