Plant Profile: Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus and A. dracunculoides)
Karen For me, tarragon is an illusive herb; it comes and goes in my zone 7 garden with a mind of its own. I keep replacing it, but lose it rather…
How to Select the Right Mulch
There are many reasons to use mulch and many kinds of mulch from which to choose. The mulch you select should be related to the purpose(s) you have in mind…
Plant Profile: Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
We bought our first trumpet honeysuckle vines when we wanted to attract hummingbirds to our yard and we were not disappointed. It acts like a hummingbird magnet and we can…
Plant Profile: Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
This evergreen shrub is native the Mediterranean area where it grows on dry rocky hillsides. It is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae, that also includes beebalm, basal, and…
How to Make a Thanksgiving Table Arrangement
When Thanksgiving rolls around I am often able to collect a considerable amount of foliage and other plant material from the garden to make an arrangement. I always have grasses…
Botany for Gardeners: The Leaf – Photosynthesis
The leaves of the plants I grow in my garden add both color and texture but of course the plants don’t grow leaves for my benefit. Most plants have leaves…
Plant Profile: Firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea)
For bright orange colored berries in the garden during the fall and winter you can’t beat firethorn. The berries (actually a fruit related to an apple) can persist into winter…
A Visit to Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai, China
A visit to Shanghai can be daunting when you figure that there are 24,000 people per kilometer not counting the huge tourist population. Since the city is wall to wall…
Plant Profile: Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)
The culinary herb, chives, is a bulb-forming herbaceous perennial native to temperate areas of Europe, Asia, and North America. It is a member of the Amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae , and…
Butterflies in the Garden: Black Swallowtail Butterflies (Papilio polyxenes)
This year was a great year for butterflies in our area and many mornings I counted 10-15 butterflies in my garden at one time. Most of these were tiger swallowtails…