Growing and Collecting Cacti

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 grower. Some of the larger types may not flower in this country owing to the lack of intense sunshine, but […]

Growing Guide for Ornamental Brassica

The students have returned to school, your mailbox is crammed with a new crop of seed catalogs, the leaves are falling, and the days are getting shorter. Drive by your local garden center or roadside stand and the displays are filled with ornamental kales and cabbages. Autumn has arrived. Long after the first snowfall and frost have erased most traces […]

Growing Guide for Turnip Rutabaga

Turnip Rutabaga Garden rutabaga, such as ‘Bronze Top’ and ‘Purple Top Improved’ often replace winter turnips. Rutabaga are hardy, and the large roots may be left in the ground until Christmas at least. You can also lift the roots in October, cut off the foliage and store the swedes indoors in dry sand. Rutabaga do best in an open, sunny […]

Sempervivum tectorum – Royanum Hens and Chicks

Evergreen succulent with a mat-forming growth habit, that bears rosettes of pointed, thick leaves, many times with bristly margins, or covered with a web of white hair. Royanum has yellowish-green, red-tipped leaves. Star-shaped, reddish-purple flowers are held in flat cymes on the terminal ends of hairy, upright stems. The rosettes die after flowering but are replaced by new rosettes on […]

Heuchera – Perennial Plant, How to grow

How to grow Heuchera Named in honor of Professor J. H. Heucher, 1677-1747, a German professor of medicine, and a botanist (Saxifragaceae). Alum-root. A genus of hardy perennials with dainty, small, bell-like flowers in loose panicles which are produced over a long period, blooming on and off from spring through to autumn. The leaves are evergreen and the flowers are […]

Potted Shrub Roses for Instant Color

Do you have small space to plant or little time to garden? Then look no further than a shrub rose. A potted Star® Landscape Shrub Rose blooms from spring well into fall frost with little care for year-round color and non-stop blooming Shrub roses look beautiful cascading from a hanging basket or spilling over the sides of a container, either […]

ASPIDISTRA ELATIOR – Parlor Palm, Cast Iron Plant

A particularly tough house and greenhouse plant with long, broad, evergreen leaves. It is a suitable plant for planting outdoors in shady places where winters are mild. Even at New York City it has been known to live outdoors for several years, but the winters there are too severe for it to thrive. It is a native of China and […]

Heirloom Vegetables and Tomatoes

In the 70’s, my father would pack all of us in the station wagon, and drive for what seemed an eternity to visit my relatives. I was pretty young, but I can remember two details quite vividly. My brother getting me to ask, “Are we there yet?” and, visiting my Grandparents. My Grandma was an avid cook and gardener. While […]

Salvia – Sage, Perennials Guide to Planting Flowers

Saliva – Sage LIGHT BLUE SALVIAS. Salvia Azurea grandiflora. This species is one of great beauty, bearing light azure colored flowers in great profusion upon tall, slender spikes. The plants grow from 3 feet to 4 feet tall and bloom from August until frost. S. farinaceaclosely resembles the former species, except that the calyx ; enclosing the flowers is a […]

Alyssum – Madwort, Basket of Gold, Perennials Guide to Planting Flowers

Alyssum – Madwort, Basket of Gold, Gold Dust, Goldentuft, Rockmadwort The various Alyssums have been known for a long time as one of the best, if not the best, edging plant for borders of all kinds. They have been combined with Darwin Tulips, with Rock Cress (Arabis) and the False Wall Cress (Aubrietia), and also with shrubs, such as the […]