We gardeners are human. When hot days come we want to sway in the hammock and just watch the garden bloom. No flowers are better suited to this resistance to work than the wild flowers that arrive at their peak of beauty in summer sun. Every color of the rainbow, every form and fragrance can […]
Archives for July 2011
Achimenes, Old Time Favorite Blooming into Popularity
The lovely and colorful Achimenes, profiting by the current wave of popularity of the Saintpaulias, sister genus of the valuable and interesting Gesneraceae, is fast taking a warm and roomy place in the hearts of the American flower lover and plant hobbyist. In this it is already outstripping the efforts of the trade to keep […]
Once Popular, Long Ignored – The Caladium
There are only a few good Summer-time pot plant subjects, and the fancy-leaved caladium is neither the last nor the least of these. The caladiums are a glorious, colorful tribe of hybrid tuberous plants, belonging to that great group of aroids, known to gardeners as “elephants-ears.” Indeed, many plant lovers in the lower South know […]
Fuchsias – Can They Be Trellis Trained?
Question: We live in California and wanted to know if Fuchsias can be trained and grown on a trellis? Ellen, Walnut Creek, California Answer: Ellen, are you making full use of those adaptable shrubs that can be used as pot plants, garden bushes, espaliers and often as groundcovers? Among them are Ribes viburnifolium, Correa speciosa […]
For Spectacular Patio Color – The Glory Lily
Gloriosa or glory-lily (Gloriosa rothschildiana) has been attracting considerable attention at the spring flower shows for years. These spectacular flowers of rich coloring are most satisfactory for cutting and last well. Like gladiolus they can be planted outdoors in spring as soon as the soil becomes warm enough to handle comfortably. These exotic flowers are […]
Happening In The Garden A Potpourri Look
Last winter I brought one of the frothy egg masses of the praying mantis into the greenhouse. Within three weeks 100 wee mantes emerged from froth, each with an appetite larger than its body. One tackled a sowbug 20 times its size the day it was born. The tussle was intense, but the mantis won. […]
The Pleasures of Outdoor Living
This charming corner of a city garden in San Francisco, located behind a Victorian house, is evidence enough of what thoughtful planning can achieve. At this time of year when leisure is sometimes made imperative by the weather, the importance and full meaning of a garden comes sharply into focus. Your garden and mine can […]
Flower That Outlived History
If Sternbergia Lutea had sat for its portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and if its descendents were painted today, the yellow faces would be identical. Gardeners have become so accustomed to new, improved varieties of plants, that it is a surprise to sec a flower that has remained unchanged for more than two centuries. To […]
August Garden Checklist – Now is the Time
Throughout the country August brings hot and sticky weather. With it, too, comes the full enjoyment and bounty of vegetables and flowers tended so carefully during the spring and early summer. Pick Faded Blooms To insure prolific bloom on annuals, keep removing faded blooms. If allowed to remain, blooming will decrease, as the strength goes […]
International Friendship Gardens
International friendship gardens, dedicated to international friendship and peace, are situated about 60 miles east of Chicago, near the out-skirts of Michigan City, Indiana. The estate in Trail Creek Valley is about equally divided between the gardens, the amphitheatre and bird sanctuary. These gardens are the result of dreams for world peace and friendship nurtured […]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 5
- Next Page »