Growing Plants from Seed: Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)
Karen Lettuce is one of the most successful crops for the home gardener. There are four basic of types of lettuce. 1. Leaf lettuce such as ‘Black Seeded Simpson’ and ‘Oakleaf’…
Plant Profile: Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica)
Heavenly bamboo is a semi-evergreen to evergreen shrub growing 3-8’ tall and a member of the barberry family, Berberidaceae, that also includes heavenly barberry, Oregon grape (Mahonia), and barronwort (Epimedium).…
Garden Plants for Flower Arrangements: Trumpet Gentian (Gentiana acaulis)
This evergreen herbaceous perennial is native to the mountains of southern and central Europe where it can grow in full sun but have cool roots. This is a very demanding…
Plant Profile: American Liverwort (Hepatica americana aka Anemone americana)
Known as one of the earliest flowers to bloom in the spring, American liverwort is a herbaceous perennial and member of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, that also includes columbine, hellebore,…
Book Review: Garbage Helps Our Garden Grow
Linda Glaser’s book, Garbage Helps Our Garden Grow, follows the activities of a family as they create a compost pile for their vegetable garden. They put in everything from Dad’s…
Poisonous Plants: Fool’s Parsley (Aethusa cynapium)
Fool’s parsley is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant native to Europe, western Asia and northwest Africa but was introduced into North America where it has naturalized in sunny moist…
Plant Profile: Mousehole Tree (Myoporum laetum)
Mousehole tree is a evergreen shrub or small tree endemic to coastal areas and lowland forests of New Zealand but was introduced into the US as an ornamental and is…
Beneficial Insects and how to Attract Them: Dragonfly
Dragonflies belong to a group of insects that have very small antennae, very large eyestwo pairs of transparent wings, and colorful elongated bodies. There are over 3000 species of dragonfly…
Plant Profile: Beach Naupaka (Scaevola sericea var. taccada)
Also known as beach cabbage and sea lettuce, beach naupaka is a dense, spreading evergreen shrub growing 3-10’ tall and native to beaches and tropical coastal habitats such as salt…
Book Review: Embroidery pour le Jardinier
Embroidery pour le Jardinier presents over one hundred designs by Sylvia Blondeau, a French artist who specializes in craft and illustration. The designs are simple, modern, and suitable for a…