Your Backyard Garden Information Source
Although the calendar may say spring, here in the north country, March only hints at the warmer weather to come. For gardeners this can be a frustrating month with late season snows, fluctuating temperatures, and mud limiting outdoor activities. One way to shorten the waiting period until the gardening season is to force branches of spring flowering shrubs like forsythia, […]
Two weeks ago I went to a wonderful lecture at the New York Botanical Garden. The speaker was Barry Yinger, a well known plantsman and author who specializes in Asian flora. The topic for the day was “New Japanese Plants for the Garden. Mr. Yinger, who also owns Asiatica, a Pennsylvania retail nursery, is one of those intrepid people who […]
A NORWAY MAPLE whose leaves are dark, glistening crimson throughout the spring and summer is horticultural news that opens all manner of opportunities for new landscaping effects. The form known as Schwedler maple has made an effort toward this rewarding goal, but its red changes to green with the arrival of summer. Finally, along comes the postwar variety Crimson King, […]
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 the Pacific Northwest, traditional Asian and Asian-inspired gardens have been popular for years. Can a national vogue for Chinese […]
Most Japanese Maple seeds ripen in the fall. Watch the tree and wait for the seeds to turn brown. The seeds are ready to be harvested when they are brown and can be easily removed from the tree. The seeds are attached to a wing, it’s best to break the wing off before storing or planting the seeds. Japanese Maple […]