Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wines: Gooseberry Wine
Karen Helen S. Wright, my paternal grandmother and author of Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wines, took quite a shine to gooseberry wine and includes eight in her book. She…
Plant Profile: Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas)
Male fern is a semi-evergreen native to Europe, Asia and North America where it grows in damp woodlands as well as rocky areas. The plants have a rhizome with a…
Plant Combination: Sneezewort (Helenium hybrid) ‘Coppelia’ and Menzies’ Burnet (Sanguisorba menziesii)
Enliven the mid-border of the late summer garden with this perennial combination of sneezewort ‘Coppelia’ and Menzies’ burnet. The show begins in mid summer when the burnet begins to bloom…
Plant Profile: Golden Thread-leaf Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera)‘Filifera Aurea’
Chamaecyparis pisifera is a coniferous evergreen tree native to Japan that has given rise to several garden worthy plants and ‘Filifer Aurea’ is one of them. It has reddish-brown bark…
Book Review: Container Theme Gardens
Container gardening is versatile and can be the perfect way to enhance your garden or bring color to a patio or balcony. Nancy J. Ondra’s book, Container Theme Gardens, gives…
Five Fabulous White Rambling Roses for the Garden
Rambling roses are not the same as climbing roses, although both kinds of roses will climb. Rambling roses have small flowers and usually flower only once where as climbing roses…
Plant Profile: Globe Artichoke (Cynara scolymus)
Globe artichoke is a herbaceous perennial thistle in the aster family (Asteraceae) that also includes daisies, dandelions, and sunflowers. It is native to the Mediterranean coast and grown for its…
A Visit to Gardens of the World, Thousand Oaks, California
Gardens of the World is located n Thousands Oaks, California five minutes from the 101 ,off Thousand Oaks Boulevard across from the Civic Arts Plaza. It is privately owned and…
Plant Profile: Weeping Butterfly Bush (Buddleja lindleyana)
This deciduous shrub is native to China but has naturalized in southeastern US where it can form substantial thickets by means of stolons. It has cinnamon colored trunks and dark…
Book Review: The Flower Workshop
Flowers brighten a room and lift our moods whether they are used everyday or for grand occasions. Have you ever wondered what makes some flower arrangements sing to you while…