Tips from the Pros
Don't Zone Out: Work Within Your Zone
It may come as a surprise, but those zone maps we often skip over in seed catalogs are something to pay attention to. They're the foundation for one of most important rules of gardening: Work within your zone. The reason is simple. Knowing what plants will do best in your climate zone is the first step toward having a beautiful garden. Developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1960s, zone maps divide the country into regions based on the lowest winter temperatures each will experience. They allow gardeners to determine which perennials, shrubs and trees will survive the average winter, and pick the ones that will succeed. Pennsylvania is Zone 6, which is a great zone to be in when it comes to plants. In Zone 6, you can grow a great variety of species, with temperatures that allow both cold-weather and warm-weather plants to flourish - even in the same garden! A good summary of zone information is available on the Monrovia garden company website, where there's also a feature that allows you to determine any zone in the country just by entering a Zip code. If you want more detailed information on zones, check out the U.S. National Arboretum website.

Plant of the Month
Okame Cherry
Let's face it: After a rough winter, nothing says spring like an explosion of cherry blossoms. And from Down South to Up North, the earliest bloomer is the Okame cherry. These pink-flowered trees are the stars of Washington's famous Cherry Blossom Festival, and they provide spectacular displays across the Philadelphia region as well. Okame cherries are one of spring's earliest flowering trees, sometimes flirting with the last freezing temperatures of winter. They have showy rose-pink petals up to an inch wide, and they bloom for up to three weeks. Okame cherry trees are fast growing and can reach a height of 30 feet when mature and a width of more than 20. They can be planted individually to accent a yard or in rows to provide a border along a boundary or driveway. After flowering, Okame cherries develop deep green foliage that turns bronze-orange-red in the fall. One word of caution though: Okame cherries need full to partial light, and do not do well in shade.

Landscaping Trend
Low-Maintenance Lawn Alternatives
Americans love their lawns, but sometimes you find that the work and maintenance outweigh the beauty and pleasure. As a result, more and more homeowners are turning to turf grasses and other plantings to create "no mow lawns" or "low maintenance lawns." These plantings have a natural look, require less watering and can reduce or eliminate most mowing (though some species benefit from an occasional touch up). If you want an even surface, Penn State turf experts recommend fine fescues. These are narrow-leafed turf-type grasses that are used extensively for parks, grounds and lawns where low maintenance is the goal. If heat tolerance is a goal, too, the Penn State experts suggest tall fescue. This species is the most heat and drought tolerant of the cool-season turf grasses. It has a deep root system, but is slow to establish and has a more mounded look than the fine fescues. If all you want is a durable, handsome turf grass, Kentucky bluegrass is the choice for this area. It has a medium to fine leaf, a dark green color and is successfully used in everything from home lawns to athletic fields. Kentucky bluegrass is cold tolerant, wear tolerant and moderately drought tolerant (and recovers quickly). For great information on turf grasses, visit the Penn State Center for Turf Grass Science website.