Your Backyard Garden Information Source
Marigold (Tages was an Etruscan god, but perhaps the name is of another derivation) Even the name-Mary’s Gold-captivates us, and what could be more appropriate? The flowers of these old, old favorites are in some varieties veritably made of flakes of gold. How easy it is to be wealthy with Mary’s Gold. The Aztec (African) Marigold (T. erecla) has large […]
Garden Beds and Borders Annuals are probably most widely used for filling gaps in borders, on the rock garden and elsewhere, for they provide splashes of welcome color in a matter of months. A bed or border. devoted entirely to hardy annuals can make a splendid carpet of color during the summer months, but it does entail considerable work in […]
LOBELIA (Named for M. L’Obel, botanist and physician of King James I) Clear blues are found among the annual Lobelias. The varieties of the Edging Lobelia, Lobelia erinus, the common species, are of two sorts-those which produce compact plants four inches tall, and trailing forms, which hang down for two or three feet over the sides of a pot. The […]
Each year the National Garden Bureau (ngb.org/year-of) names plants of the year, with the annual flower (lives only one year) for 2019 being snapdragon. This upright flower is easy to grow, has multiple garden uses, and comes in a multitude of colors. Although snapdragons are winter-hardy in warmer climates (USDA zones 7 to 10, such as the mid-Atlantic states and […]
Where to plant. Blue flowers are rather rare among annuals. This is one of the reasons for the great popularity of the Ageratum houstonianum (mexicanum). The flowers are dainty and feathery, often delightfully fragrant, and usually completely cover the plants. There are attractive dwarf, tufted plants as well as tall, upright growers. The dwarfer sorts appear to produce much more […]
The rich colors of the Verbena have endeared it to us for years and years. Our mothers and their mothers grew it, and we have seen them use hairpins to get it to root along the stems. Most persons know its range of brilliant colors; the pinks are like those found in Trailing-arbutus, especially in the variety Miss Ellen Willmott; […]
The name Calliopsis is given to the annual forms of Coreopsis These wiry-stemmed annuals provide some of the brightest flowers of the garden in golden yellow, velvety crimson and polished mahogany. (Named from koreos-bug, opsis like, refers to seeds, which are said to resemble a tick) SPECIES Coreopsis drummondi (Goldenwave) has blossoms 3 inches in diameter, golden yellow with a […]
At last, the Zinnia has come into its own. Because it is of easy culture and does well for anyone, it has in the past been admired less than it deserves. Recently the seed growers of California have developed enormous flowers of unusual shapes and with excellent colors. We may now obtain clear rose, rich purple, golden yellows, the palest […]
There is a group of plants that the garden literature warns us against with such phrases as “spreads rapidly” or “tends to get weedy,” or “not for refined areas.” These plants gradually have been outlawed from the aristocratic seclusion of the perennial border. But they can take care of themselves once they have been given a start and may become […]
Peppers Peppers – Here is a complete listing of peppers to support your gardening/eating needs. Each page provides the pepper information to support the reference data below. The only negative issue is that you have to come back to this page to use the below reference notes to understand the pepper. The tables were too big to put on one […]