Book Review:Making the Most of Your Allotment
Karen Just because you live in a city doesn’t mean you can’t grow some of your own vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers. Christine and Michael Lavelle’s book, Making the most of…
Growing Plants from Seed: Cucumber (Cucumis sativa)
Cucumbers are in the same family as squash and melons but do not cross with them. Different varieties of cucumbers, however, will cross pollinate with each other and if you…
Plant Profile: Colewort (Crambe cordifolia)
A native of the Caucasus, this herbaceous perennial is a member of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), along with radish, broccoli, and cabbage. It forms broad mounds of cabbage-like wrinkled, heart-shaped…
Botanical Latin: Hebe
Hebe (HEE bee) Greek hebe meaning youth; named for the Greek goddess of youth Hebe is the name of a genus in the plantain family (Plantaginaceae) and are closely related…
Plant Profile: Golden Trumpet (Allamanda cathartica)
Golden trumpet is a tropical evergreen vine native to Brazil where it grows over other plants in mangrove swamps and other wet areas. They can be grown outside in warm…
Book Review: In Your Garden
The famous creator of Sissinghurst Garden, Vita Sackville-West, wrote a weekly garden column for the Observer for fifteen years between 1946 and 1961. In You Garden is a collection of…
Plant Combination: Oriental Poppy (Papaver orientalis) ‘Turkenlouis’ and Hybrid Sage (Salvia x sylvestris) ‘May Night’
Not for the timid, this bold combination is full of intense color and is sure to grab attention in late spring to early summer when it comes into bloom. The…
Plant Profile: Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Comfrey is coarse perennial herb native to Europe and Asia where it inhabits rich moist soils. It is a member of the borgage family (Boraginaceae) along with forget-me-not, lungwort and…
Shakespeare’s Garden: Nutmeg
Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) is a small evergreen tree growing up to 43 feet native to Blanda islands that are part of the Moluccas, or Spice islands, of Indonesia. It has…
Plant Profile: Bishop’s Hat (Epimedium stellulatum ‘Wudang Star’)
Also called fairy wings and short root barrenwort, this herbaceous perennial is a member of the barberry family, Berberidaceae, and native to the Wudang Mountains of central China where it…