Plant Profile: Pickeral Weed (Pontederia cordata)
Karen Pickerel weed is a deciduous emergent aquatic plant and a member of the Pontederiaceae a small family of tropical and subtropical aquatic plants including water hyacinth. It is native to…
Plants That Attract Beneficial Insects: Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)
Snapdragons are tender perennials usually grown as annual and are native to Europe, North Africa and the US. They are members of the plantago family, Plantaginaceae, that also includes foxgloves,…
Genus: Alternanthera For the Garden
Alternanthera is a genus of annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs in the amaranth family, Amaranthaceae, that also includes beets, spinach, celosia, and gomphrena. The genus consists of up to…
Plant Profile: Common Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Also called lady’s glove, fairy gloves, and fairy bells, this herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial is a member of the plantain family, Plantaginaceae, that also includes penstemon, turtlehead, and speedwell.…
Book Review: What is Climate Change?
Gail Herman’s book, What is Climate Change?, provides a basic introduction to the subject for young readers 8-12 years old. Beginning with a brief introduction to climate change and the…
Shakespeare’s Garden: Carnation
Shakespeare’s carnation, also called gillyflower and clove pink, was probably the herbaceous perennial Dianthus caryophyllus. The genus Dianthus is in the family Caryophyllaceae and has over 300 species including pinks…
Plant Profile: Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)
Golden Alexander is a short lived herbaceous perennial and a member of the carrot family, Apiaceae, that also includes parsley, celery, and poison hemlock. It is a native native to…
Invasive Plants and Their Native Alternatives: Chinese Lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata)
Also called Chinese bush clover, this semi-woody perennial is native to China, Korea, Japan, Formosa, and the Himalayas but was introduced into North Carolina from Japan in 1896 and was…
Plant Profile: Common Water Hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes)
Common water hyacinth is a floating perennial and a member of he pickerelweed family, Pontederiaceae, a small family of 34 species of tropical and subtropical aquatic plants. It is native…
Book Review: The Modern Cook’s Year
In her book The Modern Cook’s Year, Anna Jones presents more than 250 vegetarian recipes that demonstrate her sensitivity to the relationship between food and the seasons and further to…