Your Backyard Garden Information Source
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 […]
BUXUS — Boxwood (Bux’us). Evergreen trees and shrubs, found wild in the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, which belong to the Box family, Buxaceae. They are of neat habit of growth and have small, leathery leaves. The Box has no value as a flowering shrub because its blooms are small and dingy in color; but turners and engravers make […]
From the Latin ligula, a strap, referring to the strap-shaped ray florets (Cornpositae). A genus of about 80 species of herbaceous perennials, formerly included in Senecio but now placed in their own genus. These handsome members of the daisy family from the temperate zones of the Old World grow best in damp situations. In recent years they have been […]
Commemorating Alexander Macleay, 1767-1848, Secretary of the Linnean Society (Papaveraceae). This genus, sometimes listed under the synonym Bocconia, consists of two Chinese species of perennial herbaceous plants very valuable in the garden. Their most outstanding virtue is their great height (8 feet or more) which lifts their large airy heads of tiny petal-less flowers and unusual rounded and lobed leaves […]
There’s fully as much difference between the older and the modern delphiniums with their long, gorgeous spires, as there is between old-time roses, gladiolus, peonies, and dahlias, and the newer creations. If you’re a beginner, and close to a supply of the modern hybrids, buy not old plants (one year or over), but strong, young plants. If plants aren’t available […]
ASPLENIUM—Spleenwort (Asple’nium). Ferns which are great favorites for cultivation out of doors and under glass. The cultivated hardy kinds are natives of North America, the others grow wild in tropical Africa, India and other countries. They belong to the Polypody family, Polypodiaceae. Asplenium is derived from a, not, and splen, spleen, and refers to the medicinal properties these Ferns were […]
STRELITZIA — Bird of Paradise Flower (Strelit’zia) 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, several together within a large bract, on stems 3 ft. or more high in spring. It is a native […]
Commemorating John Tradescant (died 1637), gardener to Charles I (Commelinaceae). A genus of 60 species of hardy perennial and greenhouse plants from North America and tropical South America. The hardy varieties are commonly called spiderwort, flower of a day, Moses-in-the-bulrushes, or devil-in-the pulpit. According to some botanists the garden plants grown under the name T. virginiana belonging to a hybrid […]
The pears grown in England is the European Pear which derives from Pyrus communis, native of the temperate parts of Europe and the western part of southern Asia as far as the Himalayas. In America some varieties are grown which are hybrids between the European Pear (as represented by `William’s Bon Chretien’, known in America as ‘Bartlett’) and Pyrus serotina, […]
Besides ice dams on the roof and piles of snow in the driveway, horticultural injury is a fact of life during northern winters. Surprisingly, there are many ways that otherwise long-lived plants may meet their demise in between growing seasons. Direct injury from exposure to cold temperature is the most obvious, and as a result, most gardeners and homeowners pay […]