Plant Profile: Garden Cosmos aka Tall Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)
Karen Garden cosmos is a half hardy annual native to Arizona, Mexico and Guatemala to Costa Rica and is a member of the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes daisy, yarrow,…
Name This Plant Game: Summer Blooming Annuals 3
Chuck This simple game tests your gardening knowledge by identifying five plants shown in photos from a list of possible names. Photos of each plant are accompaned by a clue describing…
How to Make a Basket Arrangement of Roses
At certain times of the growing season you may have an abundance of roses and what better way to enjoy them than to make a simple basket arrangement that you…
Plant Profile: Love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus)
Love-lie-bleeding is a very special plant and not just because of its melodramatic name. It’s red flowers grow in rope-like tassels 12” long or longer all over the coarse leaved…
Garden Journal: July 18, 2010
For weeks I complained about the lack of rain and finally it rained; now I am complaining about too much rain. The soil is soupy, there is standing water in…
Plant Profile: Pigsqueak (Bergenia cordifolia)
Native to Russia, this herbaceous perennial is a member of the Saxifragaceae family that also includes foam flower, coral bells, and astilbe. The plants form a rosette of shiny, heart-shaped…
Name This Plant Game: Summer Blooming Perennials 3
This simple game tests your gardening knowledge by identifying five plants shown in photos from a list of possible names. Photos of each plant are accompaned by a clue describing…
Five Favorite Ferns for the Shade Garden
The hot days of summer make the sight of soft green ferns especially appealing. The green color together with the light airiness of the fronds dispels the effects of the…
Plant Profile: Dwarf Chinese Astilbe (Astilbe chinensis var. pumila)
I used to think of astilbes in general as needing shade and moisture until I met this one. It thrives in shade and moist soil but it tolerates considerably more…
Garden Journal: July 11 2010
And the heat goes….and on…and no rain. We had to increase the irrigation system to include the areas where hand watering was not sufficient. Most of the perennials struggle to…