Find expert tips on germinating seeds, soil mixes, pumpkin growing, tree trimming and information on 30,000 plants
COLLINSIA (Blue-eyed-mary) (Innocence) (Named for Zaccheus Collins, a Philadelphia botanist) The visitor to the woods knows the Blue-eyed-mary, Collinsia verna, one of the daintiest of annual wildflowers. Gene Stratton Porter also loved it, she writes: When winter’s chill has scarce left earth And April winds blow “Hey down derry !” Comes gaily dancing down my hill Sweet, laughing, Blue-eyed-mary. She […]
Reminding one of a small, symmetrical evergreen, the Summer cypress is commonly seen in gardens. The plants grow quickly and make an upright, compact growth, producing numerous branches covered with fine leaves. There is an objectionable feature that must be mentioned. The plants, in the Autumn, turn a bluish-red, that combines with the colors of few other plants. The plants […]
RESEDA – Mignonette (Latin name Reseda means “to calm or appease,” and refers to the fact that the plant was employed by the Romans in treating bruises) The sweet fragrance of Mignonette, or Little Darling, is a luxury in any garden. “Its sweetness wins all hearts.” Some of the Mignonettes produce large trusses of bloom 8 inches long and 2 […]
CONVOLVULUS Dwarf Convolvulus (Dwarf Morning-glory) (Latin meaning to twine) These plants deserve wider acquaintance. They are not strictly Morning glories because the flowers are open all day in good weather. They also differ from the climbing sorts in that each flower is usually of three colors: The main part is either blue, pink, or purple; the center is yellow, and […]
LAYIA Tidytips (Named for Thomas Lay, naturalist) A California Daisy-like annual, Layia elegans, has yellow flowers with the rays often white-tipped. The plants are more or less hairy throughout. It grows about 12 inches tall. USE. The unusual white tipped yellow Daisies serve to distinguish this annual from most others. It may be considered a garden subject or cut flower. […]
LOBELIA (Named for M. L’Obel, botanist and physician of King James I) Clear blues are found among the annual Lobelias. The varieties of the Edging Lobelia, Lobelia erinus, the common species, are of two sorts-those which produce compact plants four inches tall, and trailing forms, which hang down for two or three feet over the sides of a pot. The […]
Sanvitalia procumbens flowers are much like tiny Zinnias, being golden yellow with very dark purple centers, some of them single and others double. The plants grow only 6 inches tall, or rather they are prostrate and spread over the soil instead of growing upward. They start blooming in June and continue until frost. USE. They may be used as edging […]
When you want lots of color quickly, flowers to cut by the armful and bloom all summer, you want annuals. For earliest possible bloom, sow seeds indoors, then transplant-or buy started plants in May. But you’ll still get plenty of flowers if you wait till the danger of frost is past and sow the seed of quick-growing varieties where you […]
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 long stems and tufted flowers of the annual Scabiosa (S. atropurpurea) are charming. The colors also are pleasing in all cases white, light pink, rose, fiery scarlet, pale yellow, azure blue, and deep blackish-purple. The stamens are light in color and in contrast with the petals appear like pins stuck into the flower, hence the name Pincushion flower. The […]