Book Review: Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables
Karen Six seasons, you ask? Yes, because when talking about fresh produce you have to consider that the summer must be divided into three parts, early, mid-and late, because of the…
Collecting Seed: Sunflowers (Helianthus spp)
The large genus of Helianthus includes bth annualas and perennials but the most commonly grown is an annual, Helianthus annus. The plants are usually tall and bear very large showy…
Plant Profile: Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
Buttonbush, also called honey-bells and button-willow, is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to wetlands such as swamps, marshes, riverbanks, and floodplains from New Brunswick and Minnesota south to…
Garden Plants for Flower Arrangements: Giant Sea Holly (Eryngium giganteum)
Giant sea holly is a short lived herbaceous perennial often considered a biennial, and is native to the Caucasus and Iran. The first year it produces a basal rosette of…
Plant Profile: Common Monkshood (Aconitum napellus)
Also called wolfsbane and helmet flower, this herbaceous perennial is a member of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, that also includes columbine, hellebore, and delphinium. It is native and endemic to…
Book Review: The Vegetables We Eat
Gail Gibbon’s book, The Vegetables We Eat, is both an introduction to the different kinds of vegetables and a mini botany lesson. Gibbons begins with the concepts of perennials and…
Earth Kind Roses: Largest Flowers
A rose bush covered with large flowers is very appealing especially if the bush is low maintenance. The four roses described below have flowers that are at least four inches…
Plant Profile: Bush Honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
Bush honeysuckle is a small deciduous suckering shrub native to open deciduous or mixed coniferous woods, rocky slopes, and roadsides in eastern North America from Newfoundland to Saskatchewan, south to…
Beneficial Insects and How to Attract Them: Soldier Beetle
Soldier beetles belong to the Cantharidae family of insects with about four hundred seventy species in North America. They are also known as leatherwings because of their tough wing covers…
Plant Profile: Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica)
Also called green arrow arum and tuckahoe, this aquatic plant is a member of the arum family, Aracaeae, that also includes Jack in the pulpit, peace lily, and skunk cabbage.…