Book Review: The French Country Garden
Karen Most American can conjure up a picture of an English garden but how many can do the same for a French garden, especially a French country garden. Louisa Jones’ book,…
Garden Plants for Flower Arrangements: Red-Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria)
Also called torch lily, this herbaceous perennial is native to South Africa where it grows on damp slopes as marshy areas. Stiff, semi-evergreen, grey-green leaves up to 36” inches long…
Plant Profile: White Wood Aster (Aster divaricatus aka Eurybia divaricata)
A native of eastern US, white wood aster is found in open areas of the deciduous woodlands of the Appalacian Mountains from Maine to Georgia. It is a herbaceous perennial…
How to Care for Bonsai: Crabapple (Malus spp)
Crabapples are deciduous trees native to the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. They belong to the rose family, Rosaceae, that also includes almonds, firethorn, and lady’s mantle. There are…
Plant Profile: Rose ‘Clair Matin’
Small clusters of three to seven coral colored buds open to salmon colored flowers that slowly fade to pale pink with a mass of golden stamens. The flowers are slightly…
Book Review: Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt
It is easy for most of us to see the value of a flower or vegetable garden but do we ever think about what is going on beneath the plants…
Weeds and Their Control: Cleavers (Galium aparine)
Cleavers is an annual weed that goes by many names including scratch-grass, goosegrass, stickywilly, bedstraw, and catchweed. It is in the bedstraw family, Rubiaceae , a large and diverse family…
Plant Profile: Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccinea)
Scarlet oak is a long-lived deciduous tree belong to the oak family, Fagaceae, that also includes beeches and chestnuts. It is native to central and Eastern US where it grows…
Buphthalmum for the Garden
Buphthalmum are a genus in the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes goldenrod, daisies and lettuce. It includes two cultivated species, both clump-forming herbaceous perennials native to southeastern Europe. Their…
Plant Profile: Musk Mallow (Malva moschata)
Musk mallow is a short-lived herbaceous perennial native to Europe, southwestern Asia, and northwestern Africa where it is found growing on dry fertile soils. It has naturalized elsewhere and grows…