Book Review: Mother Nature’s Herbal
Karen Judith Griffin presents a unique look at herbs based on twenty years of travel and research to study the foods, herbs, and medicines of indigenous cultures. She collected folktales, recipes,…
Botany for Gardeners: Taxonomy of Monocots-The Iris Family (Iridaceae)
The Iris Family (Iridaceae) takes its name from the Greek goddess of the rainbow, Iris. It is comprised mostly of herbaceous plants, some of which are commercially important for their…
Plant Profile: Mirror Plant (Coprosma repens)
Although mirror plant is considered a weed in its native New Zealand, it has naturalized in California where it is grown for its orange-red berries in late summer and its…
Five Sedges for Containers
Most people think sedges are grasses. They certainly look like grasses but they aren’t; they are a different and distinct group of plants that belong to a different family, the…
Plant Profile: Golden Chain Tree (Laburnum x watereri)
There is probably no more beautiful sight in the garden than a golden chain tree in bloom with its long dense pendulous chain of yellow pea-like flowers in spring. As…
Book Review: A Fresh Twist on Fabric Folding
Combining her interest in origami and quilting Rebecca Wat presents six techniques and twenty projects for three dimensional designs including garden favorites such as flowers and butterflies in addition to…
Weeds and Their Control: Redroot Pigweed (Amaranthus retrofluxus)
Redroot pigweed is a summer annual native to tropical America but grows throughout the United States including Alaska and Hawaii and is considered a noxious weed in some states. It…
Plant Profile: Siberian Peashrub (Caragana arborescens)
“Underwhelming” is probably the best adjective to describe this extremely hardy plant. Neither the small yellow-pea like flowers nor the pods or leaves will probably excite you, but if you…
Plant Combination: Cool Trio for the Mid-Summer Garden
When the sun shines hot and temperatures rise in mid-summer, it seems as though the garden is full of hot colors, red, orange, and yellow. Beautiful as they are, those…
Plant Profile: Japanese Kerria (Kerria japonica)
This deciduous shrub offers masses of yellow flowers on upright and arching green stems for two or three weeks in April or May and may rebloom in the summer. The…