Your Backyard Garden Information Source
HELIANTHUS – Sunflower (From helios-sun; anlhos-flower) The Sunflower is bold, he is tall, has a lot of bluster and bravado about him, but he is not coarse; no, he does not intrude upon us. We like to have him look over our fences; we like to watch him looking down toward his feet to see how tall he has grown. […]
HIBISCUS (Abelmoschus) – Sunset Hibiscus (Goldenbowl H.) (Ancient name for the Marshmallow) Comparatively unknown to gardens, the Sunset Hibiscus, H. manihot, is the loveliest yellow tall annual. The plants grow 8 feet tall, the divided leaves, character of seed vessels and even the flowers remind us of the Okra. The flowers are soft yellow, 4 inches to 9 inches across, […]
CYNOGLOSSUM Houndstongue (From Greek cuon-dog; glossa-tongue, refers to papillae on seeds, which gives the texture of a tongue) Recently a lovely blue Forget-me-not-like flower has been introduced to our gardens known as Cynoglossum amabile and cataloged as the Chinese Forget-me-not. It may be described as a columnar Forget-me-not, growing 2 feet tall, with long sprays of deep, clear blue flowers […]
The Annual Delphinium is one of the best-known annuals, bearing long racemes of lovely colored flowers and lacy foliage. They have undergone great improvement in the color and the fullness of the spikes. The colors range from white to carmine, light pink, scarlet, light blue, and dark purple. There are two main types. Those varieties derived from Delphinium ajacis are […]
DIANTHUS – China Pink (Name derived from Dios-Jove; anthos, flower-Divine flower) Admiration for Pinks is universal. These annual forms can be distinguished from the perennial sorts in two ways: the flowers are without fragrance, and the leaves are broader. China Pinks, Dianthus chinensis, are wonderfully bright in color-crimson, rose, purplish-red, maroon, salmon and lilac. The flowers are both single and […]
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 perennial, but in the colder northern states, it is used as an annual although not as free flowering as the […]
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 later date he changed his opinion of the bishop and also the name of the plant to B. demissa) The […]
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 and single so that some persons have tired of them, but were they to purchase seed of some of the […]
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 assume a multitude of forms and colors. Previous to 20th century, the China aster was not considered a cut flower […]
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. SPECIES. Cornflower (Bachelor-button) (Frenchpink) (Bluebottle) (Keiserbloom) (Ragged-sailor) (Bluet). Cenfaurea cyanus. A popular blue, purple, rose or white sort. The double […]