NEW YORK (AP) — Volley after volley of

A lot of folks remove the tall, thick flower stalks of lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina), too. I agree the plant’s namesake thick, velvety, silver leaves are the star of the show. But I also like its late-summer, pinkish-purple blossoms. There’s no accounting for taste, however, so do whatever makes you happy.Rex begonias, grown in shady areas outdoors (and often indoors as houseplants), are prized for their textured foliage, which can be best described as groovy. Their red, pink, purple, maroon, silver, burgundy, green, swirled, spiraled or otherwise far-out patterned leaves are such show stoppers that their small, pink or white flower clusters are often considered party poopers.

Then there’s Liriope, or lilyturf. Also called monkey grass, the low-growing groundcover produces small flower spikes in late summer. Then, the purple or white flowers give way to nearly black berries in fall. (Warning: Liriope muscari is well-behaved; Liriope spicata, which I accidentally planted more than a decade ago, has running roots that will eventually overtake your garden.)Some foliage plants surprise in spring rather than fall. Siberian bugloss (Brunnera), for instance, is beloved for its beautiful variegated, heart-shaped, green and silver or white foliage that brightens shady gardens throughout the growing season. But it also produces small, light blue flowers in spring.Mature boxwoods bloom in spring, too, often surprising (and sometimes concerning) their owners with tiny, yellow-green flower clusters.

Although conspicuous, the flowers of Heuchera are somewhat beside the point. Also called coral bells, the plant’s foliage is regarded as its raison d’être, brightening dark garden corners with yellow, white, copper, coral, purple, red or pink, often ruffled leaves. Its flower spikes, which oddly often don’t coordinate with its foliage color, holds clusters of bell-shaped blossoms high above the leaf mound from late spring through summer. In my opinion, some are lovely, but others are ghastly.It’s best to research a variety’s flower color before committing.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning

for weekly gardening tips and advice.“At the end of the day, when you do the family meals upstairs, they’re just regular people at home. They just want a good meal. They want to sit down with their family,” she said. “If they have children, they eat together. And just to see that on a daily basis, it’s not what you see on the news.

“It’s the other side of them that we get to see,” she said.Comerford, who hung up her apron and chef’s toque in July 2024 after nearly 20 years as top chef and nearly three decades on the kitchen staff, is the longest-serving chef in White House history. Her tenure spanned the presidencies of

Each of the five families she served approached food differently, Comerford said aton food and wine. She was asked whether she’d describe any of the presidents as “real foodies.”