Best Climbing Roses with Strong Fragrance
Karen Climbing roses can produce a huge visual display in the garden and some are also fragrant so can add to the sensory experience. The ratings of the American Roses Society…
Plant Profile: Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus)
Carnations are short-lived herbaceous perennials native to the Mediterranean where they grow in pockets of soil in limestone formations. The grey-green foliage is linear and evergreen. The flowers are produced…
Botanical Latin: Cordatus
Cordatus (cor DA tus) from the Latin word cor, cordis meaning heart. Cordatus is a specific epithet used with generic names of both plants and animals to suggest that some…
Plant Profile: Rose ‘Sombreuil’
The creamy white flowers of this Tea-Noisette are sometimes tinged with pink and are carried in small clusters (usually three), or singly. They are quartered, quilled, sometimes have a green…
Book Review: Planting: A New Perspective
A changing gardening aesthetic has embraced a naturalistic approach to garden design and Piet Oudolf is at the fore of the movement. In the book, Planting: A New Perspective, Noel…
Spring Blooming Perennials with Blue Flowers for the Front of the Border
Introduce an element of calmness and serenity by including plants with blue flowers. The color blue is known to lower the pulse rate and body temperature, reduce stress, and create…
Plant Profile: Vipers Bugloss (Echium vulgare)
Viper’s bugloss is an herbaceous biennial native to Europe and parts of Asia where it grows in dry lean soil including waste areas and sand dunes. It has been introduced…
Clerodenrums for the Garden
Clerodendrums are shrubs, lianas, and small trees growing three to thirty nice feet high/long and native to subtropical and tropical regions in Africa and southern Asia. They belong to the…
Plant profile: Chinese Aster (Callistephus chinensis)
Chinese asters are cool weather annuals or biennials native to China and Korea and members of the aster family, Asteraceae. They are not true asters, however, and belong to a…
Book Review: Plants Can’t Sit Still
The first sight of Rebecca E. Hirsch’s book, Plants Can’t Sit Still, tells you that it is unique; the title is thought provoking, the colors lively, and the words dance…