Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wines: Red Gooseberry Wine
Karen In her book, Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wines (published in 1909), my paternal grandmother, Helen S. Wright, included 8 recipes for gooseberry wine. Although Grandmother did not specify…
Plant Profile: Perez’ Sea Lavender (Limonium perezii)
Also known as marsh rosemary and sea foam, this herbaceous perennial is native to the coasts of the Canary Islands but is valued as a garden plant worldwide. It is…
Plant Profile: Five Spot (Nemophila maculata)
Also known as five-spot baby or buffalo eyes, this trailing annual is endemic to California where it grows primarily in meadows and woodlands of the Sierra foothills. It is a…
Plants of Ancient Pompeii: Fig (Ficus carica)
Native to the Middle East and Asia this deciduous shrub or small tree is a member of the mulberry family, Moraceae, that also includes banyan, breadfruit, and Osage-orange. The edible…
Plant Profile: Teddy Bear Cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii)
Native to hot desert areas of northwestern Mexico, California, Arizona, and Nevada, the teddy bear cholla is a shrub or small tree in the cactus family, Cactaceae, and closely related…
Plant Profile: Russian Stonecrop (Sedum kamtschaticum)
Also known as orange stonecrop, this sprawling herbaceous perennial is native to northern China and along the Pacific coast of Siberia including the Kamchatka Peninsula. It is a member of…
Plants of Ancient Pompei: Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium)
Also known as wild cherry, and bird cherry, this deciduous flowering tree is native to Europe, northern Africa, and southwestern Asia, and is the main ancestor of the cultivated cherry.…
Plant Profile: Mezereum (Daphne mezereum)
Also known as February daphne, spurge laurel or spurge olive, this deciduous shrub is native to limestone soils in mixed woodlands of most of Europe and western Asia, north to…
Plant Profile: American Basketflower (Centurea americana)
Also called American starthistle, this annual is native to the southern central US and northeastern Mexico. It is a member of the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes daisy, yarrow,…
Plants of Ancient Pompeii: Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum)
The opium poppy is a herbaceous annual native to Greece and western Asia and is a member of the poppy family, Papaverceae, that also includes bleeding heart and corydalis. It…