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Fine Plants for Spring Bloom in the Rock Garden and at the Front of the Flower Border Hardy, perennial, more or less evergreen, low-growing plants which bear a profusion of bloom in early spring. They are invaluable in the rock garden and wall garden, as edging to flower borders, and as groundwork for taller plants in spring flower beds. Unfortunately, […]
Sooner or later, every gardener falls in love with a few select perennials. Perennials are flowering plants that live many years, but die back during their dormant season which is usually winter. When planted under the right conditions, perennials grow and prosper for years, often with little attention. Each perennial has a peak season of bloom, usually lasting from one […]
Purple Ragwort – SENECIO (Jacobaea) – Purple Groundsel (Latin from senex, old man, refers to gray pappus of seeds) In English gardens one finds a lovely dwarf annual listed as a Jacobaea, Senecio elegans, which grows less than 18 inches tall and is completely covered with double purple, crimson or white flowers, not unlike a double Cineraria of the greenhouse. […]
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 […]
From the Latin lupus, a wolf (destroyer), because it was thought that the plants depleted the fertility of the soil by sheer numbers (Leguminosae). Lupine. A genus of over 300 species of annuals, perennials, and subshrubs, mainly from North America, though there are a few Mediterranean species which, since Roman times, have been used for green manuring. This is surprising […]
Asphodel – King’s Spear The classic Asphodel is rarely seen in gardens although its interesting, tall and stately spikes of yellow and white flowers are of interest to garden lovers. The Asphodels are variously cataloged as Asphodeline and Asphodelus; the former genus is erect and has leafy stems, the latter is stemless. In Asphcdeline lutea the flowers are sweet scented […]
How often we are tempted to praise the beauties of some foreign flower while our excellent native ones pass by with little attention. There are many sorts of Eupatoriums and most of them can be found growing wild in our own country. The hardy Ageratum or Mist, Flower (Eupatorium or Conoclinium calestinum) has myriads of small, fluffy, azure-blue flowers which […]
The Chinese Balloon Flower is very closely allied to the Campanulas. It grows erect and the stems are rigid. The flowers have five petals and open out rather flat, but when in bud they look like inflated balloons, from whence the common name is derived. The flowers are both single and double. They are blue and white in color and […]
Anemones To say that the Japanese Anemone is one of the best fall flowers would be an understatement-it is the best. Here is a plant and flower with real charm, refinement, and sophistication. The plant grows from 1 to 5 feet- tall, is erect and stately. Foliage is glossy and brilliant. Flowers are more or less saucer-shaped and vary from […]
If you need an attractive low growing plant to use as a Border to conceal the scrappily base of rosebushes or to mask the water faucet on the side of your house, try oxalis. Or if you’ve a narrow park-way too difficult to mow easily or an area underneath an air vent in a house wall, oxalis will meet this […]