How to Care for Bonsai: Fig Tree (Ficus carica)
Karen A relative of the popular rubber plant, this native of the Middle East and Mediterranean regions is significantly different because it loses its leaves in winter. Fig trees have been…
Plant Profile: Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
A deciduous shrub or tree, sassafras is native to eastern North America from Canada to Florida westward to Kansas and Texas where it is found in woods and thickets. It…
Book Review: The Reasons for Seasons
The change of seasons has special meaning to gardeners and is a difficult concept for young children. Gail Gibbons’ book, The Reasons for Seasons, attempts to simplify the basic principles…
Beneficial Insects: Yellow Jackets
If you have ever been chased and stung by a yellow jacket you must be surprised that the title of this post suggests that they are good insects. The truth…
Plant Profile: Korean Angelica (Angelica gigas)
This tall biennial or perennial is a native of Asia where it inhabits forests and grasslands. It is a member of the carrot family, Umbelliferae, that also includes celery, sea…
Six Spring Bulbs for a Pink-Themed Garden
When the cherry trees begin to bloom in the spring with their pink cotton candy colored flowers the garden is bathed in soft light that seems to go perfectly with…
Plant Profile: Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Cardinal flower is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial native to North America where it grows in moist to wet areas such as stream and river banks, pond edges, marshes and swamps.…
Book Review: Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens: 200 Drought-Tolerant Choices for All Climates
As restrictions make water more precious and increasingly expensive having a beautiful garden becomes more difficult. Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens by the husband and wife team, Lauren and Scott…
Weeds and Their Control: Dodder (Cuscuta spp.)
Dodder is a unique weed because of its parasitic nature. It twines itself around another plant and attaches itself by means of haustoria, root-like structures that penetrate the host plant…
Plant Profile: Blue Lobelia (Lobelia sipilitica)
This clump-forming herbaceous perennial, also known as blue cardinal flower, is native to eastern United States where it grows in moist to wet places such as floodplains, bottomlands, along streams…