Associated Garden Clubs of Utah

06/30/2025

The National Garden Clubs convention was held May 18-22 in Charleston, South Carolina. Shown here are representatives from the Rocky Mountain Region, including Darla Anderson, Connie MacKay, and Sue McJames from Utah.

06/23/2025

Flower of the Week: Coir Pots. A recent development in the green industry has been the use of pots made out of coir, or coconut fiber, rather than plastic. The instructions call for planting the whole thing, pot and all, in the ground. The idea of reducing waste and saving resources is a good one, but how well do the plants perform? This photo shows two hardy geranium plants that were dug up one year after being planted as instructed. You can see that the coir pots are still intact and have not yet broken down, and there has been very little root growth outside the pots. It's amazing that these plants survived a Utah summer and then a Utah winter with such a feeble root system! The fiber pots may break down more quickly in wetter climates, but we advise Utah gardeners to take the plants out of the pots before planting, in order to give them a better start. The coir pots can then be discarded in the yard waste can or on the compost pile.

06/17/2025

W**d of the Week: Puncture Vine. Tribulus terrestris, also called puncture vine or goathead, is the bane of bicycle riders and dog walkers everywhere, producing sharp, 4-pointed seedheads that break off and puncture tires and paw pads. It thrives in sunny, barren areas such as roadsides and dirt trails, where it is perfectly positioned to cause havoc. It starts to germinate when the weather warms up in late May or June and can go from a seedling, to a flowering plant, to a plant full of goatheads in less than four weeks. The best way to control it is to recognize it when it is young, like this, and pull or spray it (2,4-D and glyphosate are both effective) before it can flower.

06/10/2025

The Utah Rose Society held its annual Rose Show at the Sugar House Garden Center on Saturday, June 7. With the heat waves we have had this spring, it was more challenging than usual to produce perfect specimens for the show, but our rose aficionados came through with many beautiful blooms. Shown here is Elise Hutchings with her ‘Touch of Class,’ which won Best of Show.

06/10/2025

Flower of the Week: Corydalis lutea. This attractive little wildflower is not very well known, but it is easy to grow and generous in bloom. Just give it a shady to partly shady location and reasonably moist soil, and it will flower from April through October. It will often reseed and start to appear in new places around the garden, but the seedlings are easy to remove if unwanted.

06/03/2025

W**d of the Week: Myrtle Spurge. Euphorbia myrsinites, also known as donkey tail, b***o tail, or myrtle spurge, is native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor but was brought to Utah as a drought-tolerant ornamental. Unfortunately, it is a highly invasive w**d that spreads quickly and crowds out native vegetation in our foothills and open spaces. The milky sap is toxic and can cause blindness if it comes in contact with the eyes. The plant blooms in spring and produces seed pods that pop open in early summer, throwing the seed a distance of several yards. It is listed as a Class 4 Noxious W**d in Utah, meaning that it is illegal to sell or propagate it. The best way to control it is to dig or pull it out of the ground and dispose of it before it blooms, or at least before the seeds have a chance to mature.

05/27/2025

Flower of the Week: Poppy. In honor of Memorial Day, we present the poppy, traditionally used as a symbol to honor those who served their country and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Shown here is the oriental poppy, Papaver orientale. It is easy to grow by sprinkling the seeds over bare ground in late fall in the location where you want it to grow. It may take two or more years to become large enough to bloom; after that, it will die down in the summer, but it will come back again for many years to brighten the late-spring garden with its vivid red flowers.

05/19/2025

Flower of the Week: Woodland Phlox. Less well known than the summer-blooming garden phloxes, or the creeping pink phlox, this 12-inch tall perennial produces a stunning display of delicate purplish-blue flowers in mid to late spring. Native to the eastern U.S., it is perfectly hardy in northern Utah, where it is best grown in a shaded to partly shaded location in rich, moist soil.

05/19/2025

On Saturday, May 10, the early iris show, presented by the Utah Iris Society, took place at the Sugar House Garden Center. As befits a flower named after the goddess of the rainbow, the award-winning blooms pictured here displayed a rich variety of beautiful colors. The late iris show will take place in the same location on Saturday, May 24 from 1:00 to 4:00 PM.

05/12/2025

Flower of the Week: The Lenten rose, Helleborus orientalis, is unrelated to the true roses. It is an attractive evergreen perennial that thrives in shade or part shade and has a long season of bloom, from March to May. The waxy flowers, which tend to turn their "faces" towards the ground, come in various shades ranging from white to pink to chocolate-purple. Shown here is the cultivar 'White Pearl.'

05/05/2025