Book Review: Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love
Karen A home is more than just a house; it is the landscape around the house too. With this premise author, Julie Moir Messervy, takes the reader of Home Outside: Creating…
Plant Combination: Plumed Celosia (Celosia argentea var. plumosa) and Moss Rose (Portulaca grandiflora)
Chuck This combination depends on identical colors with contrasting texture for its effectiveness. Here I chose identical shades of orange but shades of red, yellow or pink would work as well.…
Plant Profile: Green Bullrush (Scirpus atrovirens)
This herbaceous perennial is native to North America where it is found in wet lands such as marshes, low meadows, pond and stream edges, and drainage ditches. In spite of…
Plant Combination: Bishop’s Weed (Aegopodium podagraria ‘Variegatum’) and Viola cornuta ‘Penny Primrose’
For a spring combination that will brighten the wakening garden try growing yellow and white Johnny Jump Ups. Plant the Johnnies in the fall after the bishop’s weed has succumbed…
Plant Profile: Butcher’s Broom (Ruscus aculeatus)
Butcher’s broom, also known by many other common names including knee holly, is a low growing broadleaf evergreen shrub native to the Mediterranean and western Europe. The thick, glossy, dark…
Book Review: Planting a Rainbow
As an introduction to gardening Lois Ehlert’s book, Planting a Rainbow, is hard to beat. It is written for children as young as three and begins with the statement “Every…
Root-Knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) and How to Control Them
Sometimes a plant wilts easily, has a yellow appearance, fails to grow properly, and slowly dies. No signs of insect or fungal damage can be seen; fertilizing and watering does…
Plant Profile: Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius)
Swamp sunflower, also know as narrowleaf sunflower, is a herbaceous perennial native to eastern United States from the mid-Atlantic to Florida, west to Texas where it grows in wet areas…
How to Care for Bonsai: Boxwood Fig (Ficus buxifolia)
This native of central and west Africa is a medium-sized evergreen plant that is especially good for bonsai. The thick, dark green leaves are small and triangular. They resemble those…
Plant Profile: Igiri Tree (Idesia polycarpa)
This unusual deciduous tree is a native of China, Japan, and Korea, and is noteworthy for its leaves and fruits. The heart-shaped leaves are large, up to 12” across, are…