Teresa Woodard

Ever wondered about growing tomatoes or cucumbers in containers? With a good-size pot, high-quality soil and attentive watering, you can grow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce or even watermelon in containers on your deck, patio or balcony.

Chicagoan Bethany Bey knows a lot about keeping plants alive on a porch, patio or deck—she has more than 100 containers thriving on her rooftop garden! Here are her best tips and tricks for soil, container size, sunlight, watering, fertilization and plant choices (for both flowers and edibles).

A Michigan trial garden manager shares her expert tips on creeping phlox, tall garden or perennial phlox (phlox paniculata) and woodland phlox, including when to plant phlox, when phlox blooms, watering phlox, and how to encourage re-blooming.

Many homeowners view moss as a pesky nuisance, but Dale Sievert, a retired professor in Wisconsin has made it the star of his incredible woodland garden. The property includes a Japanese garden, perennial beds, water features and more. See photos of the garden and find out how to grow moss and which shade plants grow well in the Midwest.

It can be hard to find plants that thrive under trees, where often there is dry soil and low light. We talked to an Indianapolis plant pro who suggests techniques and plants to try, including Siberian Bugloss, Solomon's Seal, and Japanese Painted Fern.

We visited a magnificent woodland garden in Wisconsin—these are nine of the shade-loving plants that thrive there, including bloodroot, ligularia, wire vine and meadow rue.

When it's time to plan (and plant) your garden, head to any of these destination garden centers for inspiration, quality plants and expert advice. Our top picks include Ohio's Groovy Plant Ranch, Tangletown Gardens in Minneapolis, Bowood Farms in St. Louis and Detroit Garden Works in Sylvan Lake, Michigan.

Get your fix of succulents—funky, trendy, spiny, spiky, shapely and unexpectedly hardy—at Groovy Plants Ranch, a destination garden center in Marengo, Ohio.

Whether grown as a spring ground cover or standing tall in summer borders, phlox delivers big hits of pink, white and lavender—and new varieties of creeping phlox (phlox subulata) and tall garden phlox (phlox paniculata) are better than ever.

Craving a bit of paradise? Bring an island vibe to your Midwest yard and container gardens with these bold, colorful outdoor tropical plants.

Indoor blooming plants add a welcome touch of color to your home. Our favorites include African violets, moth orchids, anthurium, crown of thorns, and zebra plants.

Don’t let orchids’ stunning beauty intimidate you. Many of these exotic plants are well adapted to our indoor growing conditions and will even rebloom with the right care. Here's how to care for orchids, including tips on watering, sunlight, fertilizing and more.

Author Lisa Eldred Steinkopf shares how to make blooms last longer—and repeat. Here are her top tips for easy-care indoor plants, including African violets, orchids and Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti.

Grow everlasting flowers like strawflowers, oats, celosia and marigolds to harvest for DIY bouquets and wreaths, with these recommendations from Gretel and Steve Adams of Sunny Meadows Flower Farm in Ohio.

The founder of Aquascape (aka The Pond Guy) built a small backyard pond for his mom—an oasis that has since expanded to include a stream, waterfalls, fish, wetlands bog, water lilies and more.

At her cottage in Wisconsin, Erin Schanen—known to her social media followers as the Impatient Gardener—treats each growing season as a chance to experiment.

A sustainability expert suggests perennials, shrubs and trees that are hard to kill—including salvia, coneflower, geraniums, goldenrod and catmint—plus tips for how to garden through climate change.

If you’re growing plants, you’re already on your way to helping the planet be a greener place. Here's how to make an even greater impact.

From a Midwest horticulture pro: 10 favorite annual plants with long-lasting color, including salvia, lantana, cleome, coleus and portulaca.

Get expert tips on how to plant sunflowers, when to expect blooms, how to harvest sunflower seeds and more.