Your Backyard Garden Information Source
PORTULACA (Rosemoss) (Sunplant) (Seven-sisters) When one visits an old lady’s flower garden, no matter how small it may be, Portulacas are generally seen encroaching on the wide walks and in other little out-of-the-way places where the dry conditions would support few other plants. The dazzling, glossy-petaled flowers are clear yellow, white, scarlet, crimson, orange, and rose. The double sorts are […]
NEMESIA (Name found in Dioscorides, an early botanical writer) The English have admired and grown Nemesias in their cool climate and all have admired them in places where they grow well. At Ohio State University they grown them in the greenhouse but find that our Summers are too hot and dry, except when they are started in the Winter and […]
These small, dainty plants from California are of a spreading habit and the leaves are pale green, deeply cut and slightly hairy. In Nemophila menziesi var. insignis, Baby-blue-eyes, the flowers are cup shaped, blue or white. The tips of the petals of N. maculata, the Spotted Nemophila, are spotted with deep purple, the rest being white. Most other Nemophilas found […]
OENOTHERA, Evening primrose, Sundrops There are many biennial and perennial Oenotheras but several are rather popular annuals. Oenothera drummondi. Drummond Evening-primrose. This annual, 1 to 9. feet tall, has bright yellow flowers. Like all Evening primroses it is four-petaled. Oenothera America is a large-flowered type with white flowers, which turn pinkish. USE. They are attractive border plants for sunny locations, […]
GAILLARDIA – Blanket flower (Named for M. Gaillard, a French patron of Botany) The bright, sunset colors of the Blanketflower are an asset in any garden. There are annual and perennial Gaillardias, and the various species have been blended to such a degree that it is difficult to say just which are which. Generally, the perennials are yellow and the […]
GODETIA Satin flower (Named for C. H. Godet, Swiss botanist) Closely related to the Evening primroses, the Godetias are deserving of greater attention. The flowers open wide and are of a satiny texture. Varieties may be had in rose and white, scarlet, dark crimson and pure white. Usually a deeper color is found near the center of the flower, as […]
GYPSOPHILA Babysbreath (Name derived from gupsos, gypsum; phileo, to love, meaning that it prefers limestone soil) This is one of the smallest, daintiest flowers of the garden. Two species are commonly grown: Gypsophila elegans and G. muralis, both of which grow 1/2 feet tall, and bear tiny white, pink, and rose-colored flowers upon fine, wiry, much-branched stems. Where to plant. […]
IMPATIENS – Balsam (Snap weeds) (Touch-me-not) (Name from Impatiens, refers to elasticity of seed capsules, which when ripe spring open) The Garden Balsam or Lady slipper (Impatiens balsamina) is an old-fashioned favorite which is again coming into its own. The double and semi-double sorts, well called Camellia-flowered, are practically the only ones grown. These plants are closely related to the […]
LAVATERA – Treemallow (Annual-mallow) (Named for the Lavater brothers, botanists of Switzerland) The name Mallow is applied to a number of plants of various habits, all of which bear flowers that resemble Hollyhocks. The common Layia elegans annual Lavatera is L. trimestris (rosea), with blossoms of a very bright shrimp-pink 2 to 3 inches in diameter. The white flowered varieties […]
LINUM Flowering Flax (From linon, flax) There are several annual Flaxes, including Linum grandiflorum (coccineum), the Scarlet Flax, about a foot tall, with wide-open, glossy flowers, and L. usilatissimum, the Flax of commerce which bears blue flowers, and grows 3 feet tall. Where to Plant. The Flax is truly beautiful and forms clumps in the border where the glowing flowers […]