Plant Profile: Parry’s Agave (Agave parryi)
Karen Also known as mescal agave, this species is a native of Arizona and New Mexico and is more cold hardy than other agaves. It has silver-green heavily toothed leaves that…
Book Review: Halloween Pumpkins and Parties
If you are having trouble coming up with great ideas for Halloween this book is a great source of ideas. It includes directions for all things associated with Halloween from…
Flowers for Arrangements: Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus cultivars)
Children and adults alike love snapdragons. Their common name comes from the fact that when a floret is squeezed on its sides, it opens and closes its dragon’s-like mouth. Look…
Plant Profile: ‘Low Down’ Willow-Leaved Sunflower (Helianthus salicifolius ‘Low Down’)
If you love sunflowers but find you can’t accommodate them because of their great height, this is a sunflower to consider. A perennial, it forms a compact clump of foliage…
Native Plants as Groundcovers for Shade
Chuck Every garden seems to have places where a groundcover is needed. Often these places are problem areas due to such factors as shade, soil conditions, or slope. These places may…
Plant Profile: Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
To most gardeners dandelions are pesky weeds but to herbalists they are valuable plants. As early as the tenth-century, Arabian physicians mentioned the plant and by the sixteenth century British…
Book Review: Roots, Shoots, Buckets, & Boots: Gardening Together with Children
One of the great pleasures in life is sharing the love of gardening with children. Most of them naturally like the idea of digging in the dirt and delight in…
Characteristics of Old Garden Roses: Moss Roses
If your looking for something a little bit different, take a look at moss roses. Their sepals, calyces, and pedicels are covered with a growth that looks like moss. This…
Plant Profile: ‘Loraine Sunshine’ Oxeye (Heliopsis ‘Loraine Sunshine’)
This is one of those “WOW” plants mainly because of its unique and striking foliage. The coarse leaves are greenish white with green veins and add as much to the…
Native Plants with Bold Foliage for Moist to Wet Places
Wet soil can be a problem in any garden and finding plants with handsome foliage that will grow there in full sun can be even more difficult. There are, however,…