Professional Gardening Tips
COLLINSIA (Blue-eyed-mary) (Innocence) (Named for Zaccheus Collins, a Philadelphia botanist) The visitor to the woods knows the Blue-eyed-mary, Collinsia verna, one of the daintiest of annual wildflowers. Gene Stratton Porter also loved it, she writes: When winter’s chill has scarce […]
CLEOME Spiderflower Cleome spinosa (pungens) (gigantea), grows 3 to 6 feet tall and is a most interesting garden subject. The four-petaled flowers are pinkish-lavender and white and are given a peculiar, airy appearance by the long-stemmed stamens and pistils, which […]
CHRYSANTHEMUM, ANNUAL (French Marguerite) (Crowndaisy) (Name derived from chrysos, golden; anthos flower, refers to fact that some species are yellow) The Annual Chrysanthemums are popular in England, but not well known here although they grow nicely in the United States. […]
CENTAUREA . Cornflower and Sweet-sultan (Name derived from a certain centaur that was famous for his ability as a healer) There is a vast array of Centaureas, both annuals and perennial. All of them have more or less thistle-like flowers. […]
Whoever has grown a few of the various Celosias has surely been charmed either by their beauty or their fantasy of form. Celosias are sometimes confused with Amaranthus, which, however, is coarser and of which the colors are not so […]
As the annual Asters differ from our wild Asters and were introduced from China, they should properly be known as China-asters, Callistephus chinensis. From a violet colored Daisy-like flower with a yellow center, the China aster has been bred to […]
When Shakespeare mentioned the Marygold he meant Calendula officinalis, which for wealth of bloom, is without a rival. As the plants self-sow, many persons have them in their gardens year after year. Flowers from such chance seedlings are often small […]
BROWALLIA (Amethyst) (An interesting story is told of the naming of the Browallia. Linnaeus was greatly pleased and elated with the ability of Bishop Browall as a botanist and accordingly named a species for him, Browallia elata, but at a […]
ARTEMISIA Wormwood (Named for Artemisia, the wife of the mythological Mausolus) One species of Artemisia, A. sacrorum, is annual. It is also called Russian Wormwood (Summerfir). The plants grow fully 6 feet tall. The leaves are very finely divided, lacy […]
ARGEMONE Prickle poppy (Mexican poppy) (Devils-fig) (Name derived from argema, a cataract of the eye; refers to supposed medicinal properties) These prickly-leafed, white and yellow Poppies are very interesting to grow. The white flowered sort (A. grandiflora) is really a […]