Book Review: Planting: A New Perspective
Karen A changing gardening aesthetic has embraced a naturalistic approach to garden design and Piet Oudolf is at the fore of the movement. In the book, Planting: A New Perspective, Noel…
Spring Blooming Perennials with Blue Flowers for the Front of the Border
Introduce an element of calmness and serenity by including plants with blue flowers. The color blue is known to lower the pulse rate and body temperature, reduce stress, and create…
Plant Profile: Vipers Bugloss (Echium vulgare)
Viper’s bugloss is an herbaceous biennial native to Europe and parts of Asia where it grows in dry lean soil including waste areas and sand dunes. It has been introduced…
Clerodenrums for the Garden
Clerodendrums are shrubs, lianas, and small trees growing three to thirty nice feet high/long and native to subtropical and tropical regions in Africa and southern Asia. They belong to the…
Plant profile: Chinese Aster (Callistephus chinensis)
Chinese asters are cool weather annuals or biennials native to China and Korea and members of the aster family, Asteraceae. They are not true asters, however, and belong to a…
Book Review: Plants Can’t Sit Still
The first sight of Rebecca E. Hirsch’s book, Plants Can’t Sit Still, tells you that it is unique; the title is thought provoking, the colors lively, and the words dance…
Weeds and Their Control: Dallis Grass (Paspalum dilatatum)
Dallisrass, also called sticky heads, is a coarse textured, tufted, perennial grass native to Brazil and Argentina where it grows in moist disturbed sites such as pastures, lawns, and golf…
Plant Profile: Alpine Wood Fern (Dryopteris wallichiana)
Alpine wood fern is a semi-evergreen or deciduous perennial fern native to the Himalayas, Hawaii, Mexico and Jamaica where it grows in woodland settings at high elevations. It has a…
Flowering Shrubs for High Altitude Gardens
The short growing season and cold temperatures of the mountains offer challenges to flowering shrubs as they must grow and produce flowers and seeds in a short time as well…
Plant Profile: Peachleaf Bellflower (Campanula persicifolia)
Peachleaf bellflower is an herbaceous perennial native to the mountains of Europe, North Africa, and Asia where it grows in meadows and woodland edges. It forms a evergreen basal rosette…