Climbing leaf-losing shrubby plants, from Brazil, which belong to the family Nyctaginaceae. They are cultivated outdoors in the far South and in colder climates in greenhouses. The slender woody stems are furnished with small, ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, green leaves and […]
Growing Guide for Bergenia Plant
Named for Karl August von Bergen, 1704-60, German botanist (Saxifragaceae). These hardy perennial herbaceous plants with large evergreen leaves were at one time called megasea, and were at another time included with the saxifrages. The flowers which come in early […]
Growers Guide for African Violets
African violet is perhaps the only full-blown paradox that can survive on a windowsill. On one hand, it is a celebrated show plant, with new cultivars eagerly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts. It has its own organization, the African […]
Planting Clematis
Every gardener is familiar with the extraordinary effectiveness of vines in a proper setting, but most of us become discouraged after bad luck. The daintier vines have a habit of developing some unknown illness and dying back unexpectedly, while those […]
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 […]
Growing Pansies
Pansies are annual garden flowers (blooms for only one year, then dies) that are usually the first you find for sale in stores in spring. Pansies have been around for many years and are popular, being easy to grow and […]
Columnar or Fastigiate trees
Columnar or Fastigiate trees To the botanist, the word fastigiate means ‘with parallel, erect, clustered branches’. It has become more widely used in a more generalized sense for trees with narrow crowns. All those mentioned are derived from natural sports […]
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 […]
Growing Guide for Geranium Plant
How to grow Geranium From the Greek geranos, a crane, because the seed pod resembles a crane’s head and beak (Geraniaceae). Crane’s-bill. A genus of hardy herbaceous summer-flowering perennials with lobed or cut leaves, widely distributed over the temperate regions […]
Gardening Guidance for Delphiniums
Hardy perennial and annual plants of varying heights which bloom in June and July chiefly; the original species or wild types from which the modern beautiful varieties are descended are natives of California, Siberia, Syria, India and other countries. Delphinium […]