Butterfly Hummingbird – Garden Plan

Garden, Butterfly / Hummingbird – Garden Plan Create your own wildlife habitat. Three each: Mixed Monarda, Keys of Heaven, Red Penstemon, White Dragonflower and Wild Romance Aster; one Black Knight Butterfly Bush. Planting instructions included.     This collection includes: A BlackKnight Butterfly Bush (1), Graceful trusses smothered with dark purple flowers attract flocks of butterflies.           […]

How to grow Aster

From the Greek aster, star, describing the flower shape (Compositae). Michaelmas daisy. Among the most useful herbaceous perennials, most of the asters flower in late summer right into the autumn and are extremely hardy and easy to grow. They increase so rapidly, in fact, that many of them have to be lifted and divided about every second year. There are […]

Gentiana – Perennial Plant, How to grow

How to grow Gentiana Gentiana (jen-te-a-na) Named after Gentius, King of Illyria who first used the plant medicinally (Gentianaceae). Gentian. A large genus of hardy perennials. Most of those in cultivation are dwarf plants suitable for the rock garden, but a few are more at home in the border. Some of them are lime-haters. Species cultivated G. acaulis (now considered […]

FRESH ROSES – Gardening

There are some people for whom a rose is a rose. I am not one of them. There are some people who get tired of taking care of roses. I am not one of them either. I think it is safe to say that if I could gaze at ‘Buff Beauty’ in full bloom each morning, I would be quite […]

Glorious vines to delight the gardener

All gardens look wonderful with various perennials and low growing shrubs, but consideration must also be given for plants that provide height. When plants are grown at all the same height it looks like something is missing, yet when a vine, flowering or not, is placed into the garden, that feeling disappears. Vines can be grown along a fence placed […]

Roses have deep history and many styles to choose from

Roses have a deep history behind them as well as their beauty. There are fossils of roses dated 35-40 millions years ago and are thought to originate in Asia. The oldest fossils were found in Colorado, Oregon and Montana, with younger fossils found in Yugoslavia and Germany. The oldest identified rose is Rosa gallica, commonly called the French Rose, can […]

Growing and Care Bottle Brush Tree. Callistemon

CALLISTEMON—Bottle-Brush Tree (Calliste’mon). Tender evergreen flowering shrubs from Australia which belong to the Myrtle family, Myrtaceae. They are well adapted for growing outdoors in California and in similar mild climates and for greenhouse cultivation elsewhere. They have narrow, dark-green, leathery leaves, which are slightly aromatic when crushed. The flowers are densely packed in terminal cylindrical spikes resembling a bottle brush […]

ASPERULA — Woodruff Plant and Growing Information

Low-growing, annual and perennial hardy plants found wild in many countries and suitable for the rock garden and flower border. They belong to the family Rubiaceae. The word Asperula,from asper, rough, refers to the leaves. Planting and Propagation. These plants thrive in a well-drained, woodsy soil and may be planted in early fall or spring. The best method of propagation […]

The Primrose Path

The other day I was at my local mega-merchandiser’s 9,000,000-square foot store looking for a prosaic yet essential staple of the indoor garden—potting soil. Fortunately for me, othe really big bags were at the rear of the cavernous indoor nursery area. Trudging towards those distant sacks, I spotted a fully loaded merchandise cart bearing scores of potted primroses in an […]

Camellia shrubs Growing and care

How to Propagate and Grow These Amazingly Handsome Shrubs Evergreen shrubs and trees from China and Japan, belonging to the Tea family, Theaceae. They are adapted for outdoor cultivation in the milder parts of the United States, but in the North need greenhouse protection. Their beautiful flowers, single, partially double, or double, varying in color from white, through pink, to […]