Your Backyard Garden Information Source
TRACHYMENE (Daucus) Lace flower (Name from trachus-rough hymen-a membrane;channels of the fruit) Some few years ago an old favorite annual given the pleasing name of Lace flower was introduced. It is Trachymene caerulea. It is beautiful but does not always succeed as well as the old standbys. The flower heads are made up of small azure flowers produced in umbels […]
What is a good Planting? The key to lasting landscape beauty lies in choosing the right plant& We’ve told you how to place plants to get a pleasant home grounds. Now your, final step is to decide on the plant varieties to use. Just any old plant won’t do: Each one must be suitable to your climate and to` the […]
The bold and hearty character of the Purple Cone Flower makes it a striking plant. The flowers are rosy purple with dark, stiff, quilllike centers touched with golden crimson. Echinacea purpurea is the common sort and is frequently listed in catalogs under Rudbeckia purpurea. Sometimes when plants are raised from seed objectionable muddy colors are obtained which are not worthy […]
Hardy Ferns – Shield Fern, Hay-scented or Gossamer Fern, Lady and Male Ferns, Royal Fern, Maidenhair Fern, Cinnamon Fern, Walking Fern, Climbing Fern Almost everybody has a spot in the garden around the home which is so shady that very few plants will grow there and consequently these spots are bare eyesores. Have you ever taken a walk through dense, […]
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 […]
Aster – Michaelmas Daisy The American who reads English books about gardens is thrilled by the love of the British for Michaelmas Daisies. He immediately hunts his own roadsides and delves into catalogs to acquire some of these lovely flowers. For the wild Asters are truly lovely and are an asset to any garden, many of which bloom at a […]
Scabiosa – Pincushion Flower To those persons who are familiar with the annual sorts of Scabiosa, we need only say that the perennials resemble the annuals, except that the perennials have shorter florets at the center, while in the annual sorts the flowers are made up of florets of more uniform length. Scabiosa caucasica is the commonest perennial with flowers […]
From the Greek aster, star, describing the flower shape (Compositae). Michaelmas daisy. Among the most useful herbaceous perennials, most of the asters flower in late summer right into the autumn and are extremely hardy and easy to grow. They increase so rapidly, in fact, that many of them have to be lifted and divided about every second year. There are […]
How to grow Gentiana Gentiana (jen-te-a-na) Named after Gentius, King of Illyria who first used the plant medicinally (Gentianaceae). Gentian. A large genus of hardy perennials. Most of those in cultivation are dwarf plants suitable for the rock garden, but a few are more at home in the border. Some of them are lime-haters. Species cultivated G. acaulis (now considered […]
How to grow Dipsacus (dip-sa-kus) From the Greek dipsao, to thirst, a reference to the water-holding cavity formed by the leaves united round the stem (Dipsaceae). Teasel. Biennial or perennial herbs, stiff, erect, rough plants with spiny or prickly stems and fruits, some of which can be found wild in Great Britain. The heads have long been used to tease […]