Read 'Plant Profile: Spider Flower (Cleome hassleriana)' at http://www.KarensGardenTips.com.

A native of South America, spider flower will add a unique look to any border. The long thin stamens that protrude from the flowers look like the legs of spiders, giving the plant its common name. Theses stamens together with the abundant long slender pods add to the light fluffy look of the plants as they grow to 3-6’ tall. Tall varieties are a good choice for the back of the border, where it will attract butterflies and birds, against a fence, in large containers, and in shrub borders, filling in until the shrubs reach their mature size. Spider flower is easy to start from seed and reseeds itself with abandon. The leaves are attractive but have spines at their base and produce a slightly sticky and odiferous substance that some people find objectionable. These few negatives are minor compared to the high impact the beautiful flowers have in my garden and I grow it every year from seed to be sure I have a good supply to fit into the holes left by perennials as they pass their prime. And here’s a final tidbit: in its native habitat it is pollinated by bats!

Type: Annual (perennial in zones 8-10).

Bloom: Large racemes of white, pink, rose, or mixed colored flowers, are borne through out the summer until frost.

Size: 3-6’ H x 1-3’ W.

Light: Full sun to part sun.

Soil: Average, light, moist, well drained, but tolerates some dryness when established.

Care: Deadheading to encourage flowering; may be shaped by pinching terminal growth when about 1’ high to promote the development of branches.

Pests and Diseases: None of significance but susceptible to aphids, spider mites, whiteflies, Japanese beetles, mildew and rust.

Propagation: Seed but hybrids may not come true. Reseeding can become a problem but seedlings are easy to remove and are stopped by a covering of mulch.

Companion plants: Plant shorter annuals or perennials such as celosia, gomphrena, or gooseneck lysamachia, in front of spiderplant to hide its leggy lower stems.

Outstanding Selections: ‘White Queen’; ‘Violet Queen’.

Read 'Plant Profile: Gayfeather (Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’)' at http://www.KarensGardenTips.com.

Gayfeather is one tough plant! It can take heat, cold, drought, or poor soil and still come through with its tall fuzzy purple flower spikes. The plant first makes its appearance in spring as a tuft of grass-like leaves. Later, a leafy spike appears bearing the flower buds. It provides a strong vertical accent in the garden (or in a vase arrangement), and looks great in drifts or small clumps. The species is a North American wild flower native to a large part of the U.S. so it is especially pleasing in a meadow garden.

Type: Herbaceous perennial.

Bloom: Lavender purple flowers are borne on tall spikes in mid summer. The buds open at the top of the spike first and continue opening downward.

Size: 18-30” H x 24”W.

Light: Full sun.

Soil: Prefers moist, well-drained, average soil but tolerates much less.

Hardiness: Zones 3-9.

Care: Cut flowering spikes to the basal tuft of leaves when blooming has finished in order to freshen up the garden.

Pests and Diseases: Generally pest free but can be attacked by powdery mildew in late season when humidity and heat are high especially if stressed by drought.

Propagation: Dig up corms in the fall and divide with a sharp knife to increase the number of plants, but division not necessary. Can be grown from seed but may not come true.

Companion plants: Goldenrod (Solidago spp.), Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm), coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Boltonia asteroids, daylilies (Hemerocallis hybrids) and various grasses such as feather reed grass (Calamagostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’) or fountain grass (Pennisetum sp.).

Comments: Attracts bees, butterflies and birds. Great cut flower.

Read 'Plant Profile: Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota)' at http://www.KarensGardenTips.com.

It is Queen Anne’s Lace time in the North Carolina Piedmont and I am rejoicing. I would give a lot to grow Queen’s Anne Lace in my garden but I know that she is a free spirit and I respect that so I harvest her blooms from weedy lots. Every year I look forward to making at least one lovely, romantic, arrangement featuring Queen Anne’s Lace. Sometime I just put single stems of her in a vase; other times I combine her with whatever I have in the garden of the same ilk. Today it was the greenery of chartreuse hosta leaves overlaid with darker green pittosporum leaves, three sprays of the pink rose ‘Ballerina’, 3 large pink coneflowers, and an accent of dark pink bee balm. I may have been the only person that liked the combination, but I enjoyed making it. I will definitely make note of the place where I found it this year and hope that next year will bring another bountiful harvest. That is not to say that I would not welcome Queen Anne’s Lace into my garden; I do. I will shake the seed heads in the appropriate places and hope for the best. It would be a wonderful garden plant in my garden if it chooses to grow there but it probably won’t.

Type: Biennial.

Bloom: Tiny white flowers are borne in umbels up to 3” across May to October. Some flower heads have a single purple flower in the center.

Size: 24-48” H x 12” W.

Light: Full sun to partial shade.

Soil: Tolerant of many soil types and is common in roadsides and fields in many parts of the country.

Fertilizer: An organic mulch will provide all that is needed.

Hardiness: Zones 3-9.

Care: In some areas it may become invasive and must be removed by digging out the tap root and collecting seed heads before they ripen.

Pests and Diseases: None of importance.

Bird's nest seed pod

Propagation: Collect seed when seed heads (called bird’s nests) turn brown.

Companion plants: Queen Anne’s Lace is a wild flower and so can be nicely combined with other such plants like grasses, black eyed Susan, butterfly weed, golden rod, coneflower, thistle, and common mullein.

Comments: Caterpillars of the Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly eat its leaves and bees and other insects use its nectar.