Hort Shorts
- Pole beans, sweet peas and vining cucumbers are ideal veggies for trellises, but gourds, winter squash, cantaloupes and other small melons may also be trained skyward. Heavy fruits may need extra support to keep excess weight off the vines’ stems—make a hammock out of cloth or pantyhose and tie to the main supports.
- Clump-forming liriope (L. muscari) is so popular as an edging plant that one of its common names is border grass. The tidy form and ruggedness make it ideal for that purpose, but some liriopes are also lovely in flowerbeds in groupings or as accents. Try varieties with variegated foliage such as ‘Silvery Sunproof’, ‘Variegata’, ‘John Burch’, ‘Gold Band’ and ‘Marc Anthony’. The solid-gold-leaved variety ‘Pee Dee Gold Ingot’ also brightens up perennial beds.