Valentine’s Day Flowers and Cards
Karen Flowers are as traditional as cards for Valentine’s Day celebrations. In bygone eras, Valentine’s cards often featured flowers as part of the sentimental message the card was trying to convey.…
Five Red Miniature Roses for Containers
In spite of their delicate appearance, miniature roses are tough plants that offer a lot to gardeners. They can be used in the landscape like other roses but are especially…
The Goddess Flora and her Garden
Flora was an ancient Italian diety and was the goddess of the flowers and mother of spring. She may be recognized in art by a garland of flowers on her…
Plant Profile: ‘Red Racer’ (Helleborus ‘Red Racer’)
Hellebores are the one of the earliest flowers in spring to bloom and begin the gardening season. Most have white, lime-green, or pink to purple flowers, so ‘Red Racer’ is…
Book Review: Grow Fruit Naturally: A hands-On Guide to Luscious, Homegrown Fruit
If you love fruit you might consider growing your own and Lee Reich’s book Grow Fruit Naturally, is an excellent guide to help you. Written for the everyday gardener, the…
Botany for Gardeners: Taxonomy of Dicots – Identifying the Mint Family (Labiatae)
Botanically called Labiatae and more recently, Lamiacea, the mint family is large and made up mostly of annual or perennial herbs, many shrubs, and rarely trees. It includes a large…
Plant Profile: Blue Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’)
Like most conifers, blue Atlas cedar is evergreen and produces cones. It is a tall handsome tree native to the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco and closely related to…
Botany for Gardeners: Taxonomy – Classes of Flowering Plants, Monocots and Dicots
The plants that dominate the world today are known as flowering plants because of their method of reproduction. They produce ovules (flower eggs) that are completely contained within the ovary…
Plant Profile: Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)
Native to central and southeastern United States, this deciduous tree is a member of the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, that also includes maple and lychee. The tree grows up to 70′…
Book Review: Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation
Andrea Wulf’s book, Founding Gardeners, is a unique work that appeals to the history buff as well as the gardener. It examines the lives of the founding fathers to show…