Native Plants as Groundcovers for Shade
Chuck Every garden seems to have places where a groundcover is needed. Often these places are problem areas due to such factors as shade, soil conditions, or slope. These places may…
Plant Profile: Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Karen To most gardeners dandelions are pesky weeds but to herbalists they are valuable plants. As early as the tenth-century, Arabian physicians mentioned the plant and by the sixteenth century British…
Book Review: Roots, Shoots, Buckets, & Boots: Gardening Together with Children
One of the great pleasures in life is sharing the love of gardening with children. Most of them naturally like the idea of digging in the dirt and delight in…
Characteristics of Old Garden Roses: Moss Roses
If your looking for something a little bit different, take a look at moss roses. Their sepals, calyces, and pedicels are covered with a growth that looks like moss. This…
Plant Profile: ‘Loraine Sunshine’ Oxeye (Heliopsis ‘Loraine Sunshine’)
This is one of those “WOW” plants mainly because of its unique and striking foliage. The coarse leaves are greenish white with green veins and add as much to the…
Native Plants with Bold Foliage for Moist to Wet Places
Wet soil can be a problem in any garden and finding plants with handsome foliage that will grow there in full sun can be even more difficult. There are, however,…
Plant Profile: Vibrant Dome Aster (Aster novae-angliae ‘Vibrant Dome’)
If you like ‘Purple Dome’ aster try ‘Vibrant Dome’ aster, a sport of ‘Purple Dome”. At 19” tall it is a great plant for the middle of border with its…
Book Review: The Private Life of Plants
Do you believe that plants can see, count, communicate, react to touch, and estimate time? David Attenborough’s book, The Private Life of Plants will make you into a believer. According…
Interesting Facts about Spider Mites as an Aid in Control
Spider mites can be serious pests of garden and greenhouse plants including trees, shrubs, vegetables and ornamental plants. The leaves of plants infected with spider mites first show small white…
Plant Profile: ‘Rozanne’ Cranebill (Geranium ‘Rozanne’)
With its long bloom time and heat tolerance, ‘Rozanne’ is one of the best cranesbill for the middle of the border, Its violet-blue flowers with their white centers appear in…