Book Review: Armitage’s Garden Perennials
Karen As more and more new cultivars and varieties of plants appear each year in nurseries, selecting perennials for the garden becomes increasingly difficult. A visit to a garden center can…
Garden Pests and Diseases: Preventative Measures
Problems with pests and diseases are constant problems in the garden. You can’t entirely eliminate them but you can do something to minimize them. Good garden practices go a long…
Plant Profile: Dalmatian Bellflower (Campanula portenschlagiana)
Dalmatian bellflower is a mound-forming herbaceous perennial native to the Dalmatian mountains in Croatia but widely grows in southern Europe. It is evergreen, vigorous, and low-growing so makes an excellent…
Primroses (Primula spp.) for the Garden
Growing primroses (Primula spp) is a great way to welcome spring. Their colorful flowers rising above their attractive rosettes of foliage brighten any place in the garden and are excellent…
Plant Profile: Rusty Foxglove (Digitalis ferruginea)
A native of southern Europe, the northern Mediterranean, Lebanon,the Balkans and Caucasus, rusty foxglove is a biennial or short lived perennial. Seeds planted in late spring give rise to a…
Botanical Latin: Angophora
An GO phor a from the Greek words aggeion meaning vessel and phoreo meaning to carry; refers to the form of the fruit. Angophora is a genus of trees and…
Book Review: What’s Wrong with my Fruit Garden?
Gardeners who grow fruits and nuts face special problems in their attempt to grow tasty and attractive produce. The book , What’s Wrong With My Fruit Garden?, by Deardorff and…
Edible Flowers: Capers (Capparis spinosa var. inermis)
Caper is a broad leaf evergreen creeping shrub native to the Mediterranean, East Africa, Madagascar, parts of Asia, Himalayas, the Pacific Islands, Indomalaya, and Australia where it grows on lean,…
Plant Profile: Leopard Plant (Ligularia dentata)
Leopard plant is a clump forming perennial in the daisy family (Asteraceae) and a native of Japan and China where it grows in moist sites. It has leathery, dark-green, kidney-shaped…
Shakespeare’s Garden: Narcissus
Narcissus is a genus in the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae) and also includes plants known as daffodils and jonquils. The narcissus that Shakespeare is referring to is probably Narciss pseudonarissus also…