Plant Profile: Dyer’s Broom (Genista tinctoria)
Karen Also known as dyer’s greenwood, dyer’s whin, waxen woad, and waxen wood, this deciduous shrub is native to meadows and pastures in southern Europe and Turkey. It is a member…
Plant Profile: Common Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
Also called American witch hazel and beadwood, this deciduous shrub or small tree is native to woodland margins and stream banks of eastern North America from from Canada to Mexico…
Genus Genistas for the Garden
Genista is a genus of more than 144 species of shrubs and small trees in the pea family, Fabaceae, that also includes lupines, mimosa, and black locust. They are native…
Plants of Ancient Pompeii: Persian Walnut (Juglans regia)
Also called English walnut, this deciduous tree belongs to the Juglandaceae plant family that also includes pecan and hickory. It probably originated in Iran but was spread in pre-historic times…
Plants of Ancient Pompeii: Carrot (Daucus carota)
The carrot is a herbaceous biennial in the parsley family, Apiaceae, that also included celery, anise, and parsnip. It is probably native to Persia where it was cultivated for its…
Plant Profile: Winter’s Bark (Drimys winteri aka Wintera aromatica)
Also known as canelo, this evergreen large shrub or small tree is native from Tierra del Fuego to Mexico, and is a member of the Winteraceae, a primitive plant family…
Plants of Ancient Pompeii: Gallic Rose (Rosa gallica)
Rosa gallica is probably the oldest rose in existence. Native to southern and central Europe, it was first domesticated by the ancient Greeks and Romans and most modern roses can…
Plants for a Plant Zoo: Beebalm aka Bergamot (Monarda didyma)
Grow beebalm and introduce children to wildlife, butterflies and American history. Also known as oswego tea, this clump-forming herbaceous perennial is native to eastern North America from Maine to northern…