Professional Gardening Tips
Aubrietia – Purple Rock Cress, False Wall Cress – Arabis Early in the Spring, our eyes search for color in the garden. We grow the Rock Cress (Axabis) for white, Golden Alyssum for yellow, and Aubrietia for purple, rose, and […]
The growing and collecting of cacti has been a popular hobby in this country for many years. Their varied shapes and colors together with the colored spines make them fascinating and their spectacular flowers are an added interest for the […]
Cactus, Hardy – Opuntia, Echinocactus The Cacti, as everyone knows, are plants with thick, fleshy stems covered with spines, for usually there are no leaves. The Opuntias, which are perhaps the most common ones grown in the northern states, have […]
The pea is a vegetable which helps the soil, has an interesting history, is easy to grow, and is a more versatile food than you might know. It is loaded with helpful vitamins, protective phytonutrients that provide antioxidant and anti-inflammatory […]
STRELITZIA — Bird of Paradise Flower A group of tender perennial plants, only one of which is commonly grown. This is Strelitzia Reginae, which has large ornamental leaves on long strong petioles (leafstalks), and bears brilliant orange and purple flowers, […]
Lately, I have noticed that the mail-order garden supply catalogs are full of Asian-themed garden accessories such as pots, traditional bamboo fences, and stone lanterns. This seems to go along with the trend toward Asian-inspired minimalism in home décor. In California and […]
Peas There are dwarf and taller pea varieties. Although plants of the short, dwarf varieties may be grown without supports it is the custom to provide all garden peas with supports of some sort. Twiggy brushwood of the height the […]
Approximately 180 species of gladiolus are available to the gardener. Originating from South Africa on rocky slopes, marshy areas and grasslands, they are also found growing in the Mediterranean, Asia and Central Europe. The latin name “Gladiolus” means “small sword”, […]
Hardy perennial and annual plants of varying heights which bloom in June and July chiefly; the original species or wild types from which the modern beautiful varieties are descended are natives of California, Siberia, Syria, India and other countries. Delphinium […]
Succulent plants are the camels of the vegetable world, storing up food and water to be used not on a rainy day, but during a period of prolonged drought. This may last for a few weeks or, in extreme cases, […]