Gardens in Art: Parterres
Karen If you have visited colonial gardens such as those in Williamsburg you may have noticed the low beds edged with boxwood often with a tree in the center. In the…
Plant Profile: Seckle Pear (Pyrus communis)
Seckle pears are a great dessert treat if you can find them. They are not easy to locate but are unusual and well worth a search. The fruits are borne…
Plant Profile: White Fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus)
This native of woodland edges, stream banks, and roadsides from Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Missouri south to Florida and west to Texas, is a small deciduous shrub or tree with a…
Gardens in Art: Introduction
Have you ever noticed that many paintings include gardens? The garden is usually the background for some person or activity that is featured in the foreground but sometimes the garden…
Plant Profile: Rock Soapwort (Saponaria ocymoides)
A native of the European Alps, rock soapwort is a low growing plant that scrambles over rocks and trails over walls. It’s semi-evergreen foliage forms dense mats and can be…
Planning a Garden: Identifying Problem Areas
Gardens serve many purposes and one of them can be to solve problems. If you have a neighbor with junk in their side yard, a miserable view, or an air…
Plant Profile: Winged Sumac (Rhus copallina)
Native to Eastern United States, winged sumac is also called flame sumac and a tough shrub or small tree that is found on forest edges, old fields, meadows and roadsides.…
Flowers for Arrangements: Nerine (Nerine bowdenii, sarniensis)
Nerines, also known as spider lilies and Guernsey lilies, are a natives of South Africa where they are highly valued for their autumn flowers. Related to amaryllis, kangaroo paw and…
Plant Profile: Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea hybrids)
There are few homes near my southern California garden that do not have at least one bouganvillea vine blooming most of the year. The bright colors can be garish but…
Planning a Garden: Step One
Beautiful gardens rarely happen by accident. They are usually the result of a lot of thought and planning as well as many hours of physical work. Considerable expense is often…