Plant Profile: Soap Aloe (Aloe maculata aka A. saponaria)
Karen Also known as zebra aloe, this evergreen succulent perennial is native to southern and eastern South Africa, and south-eastern Botswana and Zimbabwe where it grows in a variety of habitats…
Plants for a Mary Garden: Common St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
Common St. John’s wort is a herbaceous perennial known for its medicinal properties from ancient times. It is native to Europe, western Asian and North Africa where it occurs in…
Plant Profile: Rosa ‘Earth Song’
Long narrow buds open to large full cup-shaped flowers up to 5.9″ across . The fragrant flowers are carried singly or in clusters of up to 5 and have rich…
Book Review: Edible Houseplants
Edible Houseplants offers a guide to growing 46 tropical houseplants from citrus, fig, and papaya to coffee, chocolate and vanilla. The plants include trees, shrubs and vines and all may…
Weeds and Their Control: Orange hawkweed (Pilosella aurantiaca aka Hieracium aurantiacum )
Orange hawkweed goes by many names including devil’s paintbrush, king-devil, fox and cubs, and grim the colliar and is a herbaceous perennial in the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes…
Plant Profile: Red Alder (Rubrus rubra)
Red alder is a deciduous tree native to North America from southeast Alaska south to central coastal California with an extension inland across Washington and Oregon into northermost Montana. It…
Plant Profile: Poached Egg Plant (Limnanthes douglasii)
Also known as Douglas’s meadowfoam, this fast growing annual is native to grassy wet areas of California and Washington, and is a member of a small plant family, Limnanthaceae, consisting…
Book Review: Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine
First published in 1996, this updated version reflects the enormous growth and changes in herbal medicine that have occurred since it was first written. It combines information on the traditional…
Weeds and Their Control: Perennial Sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis)
Perennial sowthistle is a herbaceous perennial and a member of the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes daisies, yarrow, and lettuce. It is native to Europe and western Asia but…
Plant Profile: Indian Hawthorn (Raphiolepis indica)
Also known as Hong Kong hawthorn, this dense evergreen shrub is native to south China to Indo-China and temperate eastern Asia including Japan, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. It is…