Plant Profile: Queen’s Tear (Billbergia nutans)
Karen Also known as friendship plant, this evergreen tender perennial is a bromeliad native of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay where it grows as an epiphyte in low trees and as…
Book Review: Claude Monets Gardens at Giverny
Thoughts of Monet’s garden at Giverny brings up images of a Japanese bridge and water lilies. Do you envision the water lilies and bridge in the spring? In the winter,…
Plant Combination: Hosta’ Royal Standard’ and Purple Leaf Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum’Tamukeyama’
This hosta and Japanese maple combination is lovely for a partially shady spot that depends upon foliage. It combines a contrast in color with a contrast in texture for a…
Plant Profile: Himalayan White Birch (Betula utilis var jacquemontii )
The Himalayan white birch is a deciduous tree admired for its very white paper-like bark, considered whiter than even the European white birch. Native to the Himalayas, it is a…
Birds in the Garden: Plants that Attract the Mockingbird and Catbird Family (Mimidae)
The Mimidae are American birds and include the thrashers as well as mockingbirds and catbirds. They are also known as mimic thrushes but this name applies best to the mockingbird…
Book Review: Chelsea Flower Show: The First 100 years, 1913-2013
The Chelsea Flower Show is not the biggest flower show in the world but it is probably the most prestigious and influential. Brent Elliot’s book, Chelsea Flower Show: The first…
Growing Plants from Seeds: Asparagus
Planting asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is an investment in time, money and space and growing it from seed is more difficult way to propagate it by division. Asparagus is usually grown…
Plant Profile: Barberry (Berberis temolaica)
Found in Tibet in 1924, this barberry is relatively unknown. It has gracefully arching stems that are whitish gray at first, turning purple to shiny brown as they mature. The…
Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus) for the Garden
Burning bush, a deciduous shrub native to central and northern east Asia, is grown primarily for its outstanding red fall coloration which gives the plant its common name. The species…
Plant Profile: Berberis linearifolia ‘Orange King’
A native of Chile where it grows in woodlands 100-2000 feet above sea level, this vigorous evergreen shrub is upright and stiffly branched. The oval to lance shaped, shiny dark…