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 […]
Heirloom Vegetables and Tomatoes
What to know when planting a Pulsatilla plant
The name was first used by Pierandrea Mattioli, a sixteenth-century Italian botanist, and physician, and possibly means ‘shaking in the wind’ (Ranunculaceae). This genus of 30 species, distinguished from Anemone only by minor botanical differences, includes some of the most […]
Polemonium – Jacob’s Ladder, Perennials Guide to Planting Flowers
Polemonium – Jacob’s Ladder, Charity, Greek Valerian Jacob’s Ladder is a very ornamental and graceful flowering plant of early Spring and Summer. The flowers are blue, or white, flat or bellshaped, and are borne in spikes; the foliage is very […]
Herb Gardening – Harvest, Design, Storing Herbs
The form and size of interest determine the herb garden these plants hold for the individual. It can be a tiny border of commonly used culinary herbs such as mint, parsley, sage, and thyme or an elaborate garden designed to […]
Campanula – Bellflower, Canterbury Bell, Harebell, Peach Bell, Bluebell, Perennials Guide to Planting Flowers
There is hardly a group of flowers which possess such rare beauty as does the large genus of Campanulas. There are many sorts, some growing inches high and some from 4 feet to 6 feet high, but all have more […]
Lavandula – Lavender, Perennials Guide to Planting Flowers
Lavandula – Lavender Sweet Lavender is one of the well-beloved, fragrant plants of the old-fashioned garden. It was a favorite because of its delicate odor. Lavender (Lavandula vera) grows from 1 1/2 feet to 3 feet high, has downy, silvery […]
Platycodon – Chinese Balloon Flower, Perennials Guide to Planting Flowers
The Chinese Balloon Flower is very closely allied to the Campanulas. It grows erect and the stems are rigid. The flowers have five petals and open out rather flat, but when in bud they look like inflated balloons, from whence […]
Aconitum – Monkshood, Wolfsbane, Helmet Flower, Perennials Guide to Planting Flowers
Aconitum – Monkshood, Wolfsbane, Helmet Flower Under trees, in woodlands and even in semi-wild gardens, the Aconitums, when once established, enhance the stateliness and grandeur of a place as only a plant with tall spikes of cool blue flowers can. […]
Growers Guide for Spiderwort – Tradescantia
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, […]
AUBRIETA THE PURPLE ROCK CRESS
Fine Plants for Spring Bloom in the Rock Garden and at the Front of the Flower Border Hardy, perennial, more or less evergreen, low-growing plants which bear a profusion of bloom in early spring. They are invaluable in the rock […]