Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wine: Cider without Apples
Karen Although apples are the traditional fruit used to make cider, pears are used to make a similar drink called perry, and other fruits are used to flavor cider including pineapple,…
Plant Profile: Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)
Indigenous to South Africa, this tender evergreen herbaceous perennial is a member of the Strelitziaceae, a small family closely related to bananas. The plant grows from a rhizome and forms…
Plants for a Zoo Garden: Cat’s Ear (Hypochaeris radicata)
Although considered a weed in many parts of the country this herbaceous perennial resembles the common dandelion with its basal rosette of leaves that lie close to the ground and…
Plant Profile: Virginia Waterleaf (Hydrophyllum viginianum)
Also called eastern waterleaf and Shawnee salad , this herbaceous perennial is native to moist and wet woodlands in eastern US and is a member of the borage family, Borginaceae,…
Plants of the Bible: Red Sandalwood (Pterocarpus santalinus)
Endemic to the dry deciduous forests in the southern Eastern Ghats in South India, red sandlewood is also know as red sanders, Rakt Chandan, and saunderswood, and is a member…
Poisonous Plants: Wisteria spp.
Wisteria is a woody deciduous vine sometimes grown as a shrub or tree. It is a member of the bean family, Fabaceae, that also includes peas, lupines, and black locust.…
Plant Profile: Aegean Wallflower (Erysimum cheiri aka Cheiranthus cheiri.)
Native to Greece, this perennial subshrub is often grown as an annual or biennial. It is a member of the mustard family, Brassicaceae, that also includes cabbage, alyssum, and common…
Plants for a Plant Zoo: Gopher Spurge (Euphorbia lathyris)
With alternative common names like mole plant and sassy jack you can use this engaging annual/ biennial to fill several animal slots or as a rodent (but don’t get your…
Plant Profile: Buffalo Bur Nightshade (Solanum rostratum)
Also known as buffalo-bur, spiny nightshade, Colorado bur, Kansas thistle, bad woman, Mexican thistle, and Texas thistle, this annual is native to the Great Plains and a member of Solanaceae…
Plants of the Bible: White Poplar (Populus alba)
This suckering deciduous tree is native to moist areas in Europe and central Asia and is a member of the willow family (Salicaceae) that also includes aspen and cottonwood. With…