Archives for August 2011

Oxydendrum arboreum – The Sourwood Tree

Question: What can you tell me about the sourwood tree – Oxydendrum arboreum? Karl, Towson, Maryland Answer: Karl, the sourwood tree – Oxydendrum arboreum – has exceptionally good foliage from spring to fall, beautiful summer flowers and a dense pyramidal form (the maximum height is 60 feet although the tree is usually smaller) make the […]

Aluminum Greenhouse – Low Maintenance Growing

Aluminum greenhouses are nothing new to gardeners. In fact, they are being used quite extensively in many parts of the world. What makes an aluminum greenhouse different from steel and wooden houses? Simply, an aluminum frame means no rust, no rot, and no paint. Moreover, fungus diseases and insects cannot hide in aluminum. Also, the […]

Sapphire Berry – Blue Berries Of Special Brilliance

Blue berries of a special brilliance, hardly approached by those of any other hardy plant, make the sapphire berry particularly well named. This display is at its best in many sections of the country in September, although it may start somewhat earlier in the southern states. The effect of a well-grown specimen, with its branchlets […]

Flowering Philodendrons

I really enjoyed the philodendron article – Philodendron For Every Fancy – as we have a large philodendron hastatum – which flowered this spring. The plant is now seven years old and some 6 feet tall. The flower took three months to develop and then stayed open for only one day. It looked like a […]

Peruvian Lilies With 50 Inch Stem

I wanted to share my experience in growing Peruvian lilies as I found the article – Falling For Peruvian Lily blooms amusing. I have been growing Peruvian lilies for about five years and they have flowered regularly every year. I read that they shouldn’t be chilled in storage so I keep the bulbs in a […]

Trouble Blooming Your Wax Plant – 4 Readers Respond

Question: My wax plant – Hoya carnosa does not bloom, no matter what plant fertilizer or where I move the plant, it just will not bloom, any advice? C Wood, NY Answer #1: My wax plant, Hoya carnosa, is now five years old, having been started in water from a small three-inch cutting. It occupies […]

September A Great Garden Month

The September garden, it is true, cannot match the great burst of bloom that comes with the spring, from the first crocus, scillas and chionodoxas, on through the narcissus and tulips to the glorious splash of color the roses bring in June. Nevertheless there is much beauty around us – in some gardens actually more […]

Grape Ivy – An Ideal House Plant

Grape Ivy Living as I do in a house with a hot air heating system and its resultant dry atmosphere, any plant that will tolerate these conditions for two or three months is bound to be a favorite. One plant that will take a beating – hot or cold, wet or dry, sun or shade […]

The Northern September Garden – Walking Around The Landscape

The first damaging, frost sometimes arrives during the month of September. In and around New York City it may occur as early as the second or third week of the month, and those of as who live in valleys may be surprised by a frost even earlier than that. My neighbor whose place is on […]

How to Have a Border Full of Spring Flowers

Staging a continuous and satisfactory display of bloom in the perennial border poses the same kind of problem to the gardener as the presentation of a “hit” show does to a Broadway producer. The producer’s problem is to open the show with a magnificent display of color and song and then arrange things so that […]