Book Review: The Complete Flower Arranging Book
Karen Whether you are a novice or experienced flower arranger, The Complete Flower Arranging Book by Susan Conder, Sue Phillips, and Pamela Westland, will add to your skills and increase your…
Plant Profile: Blue Throatwort (Trachelium caeruleum)
Native to the western Mediterranean, this tender evergreen perennial is commonly grown as an annual in temperate climates. It forms a clump of stems bearing narrow, dark green to reddish…
Plant Profile: Sacred Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)
The sacred lotus, also known as Indian lotus, is an aquatic perennial native to tropical Asia and Australia. It is one of two extant species in the Nelumbonaceae family and…
Book Review: Tussie-Mussies: The Language of Flowers
The Victorian art of creating a bouquet of flowers with a message has an age-old appeal. Receiving flowers from an admirer is always fun but how much greater the pleasure…
Plant Profile: Noble Fir (Abies procera)
Noble fir is the largest of the firs in terms of height, diameter and wood mass and perhaps that is why it earned its common name. Native to the mountains…
Plant Profile: Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens)
An evergreen native of the Pacific-northwest, California and western Nevada incense cedar is an excellent ornamental tree that can be used in the garden to add a stately ambiance even…
Plant Profile: Pittosporum (Pittosporum tobira)
This broadleaf evergreen shrub native to China, Japan, and Korea, is a tough adaptable medium-sized shrub that can be used in a variety of ways in mild climates. Upright with…
Plant Profile: Rosa ‘Gemini’
The rose ‘Gemini’ has long pointed buds with large outer petals that reflex at the tips as they unfurl to form a flower with creamy white center surrounded by a…
Plant Profile: Myrtle (Myrtus communis)
This upright evergreen shrub grown in the Mediterranean area since ancient times is especially popular in the coastal gardens of California and hot areas of Arizona. It is bushy, fine-textured,…
Plant Profile: Rose ‘Black Magic’
‘Black Magic’ is one of the most popular dark red exhibition and florist roses. The almost black color of the pointed buds becomes slightly redder as the high centered flowers…