Your Backyard Garden Information Source
Ajuga – Bugle Flower For creeping over the soil in shaded places the Bugle Flower is excellent. Two sorts are commonly cataloged. Ajuga replans rubra has deep purplish-blue flowers and purplish leaves and is prostrate in habit; A. genevensis is more upright in growth and bears flowers varying in color from dull red to white and blue. There is a […]
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, […]
Potentilla – Cinquefoil, Five Finger Potentillas greatly resemble the Strawberry Plant, especially in the manner of growth and the foliage. This is a trailing plant which covers the ground rapidly and sends out roots as it goes along. The flowers are very showy, the colors are very bright, with reds, oranges and yellows predominating. These flowers are both double and […]
The grace of the Dicentras charms us whether in the woods or the garden. The Bleeding Heart, Dicentra (Dielytra) spectabilis is one of our most showy old-fashioned flowers which everyone loves. It grows from 2 feet to 4 feet tall and spreads out almost the same distance. The leaves, which are a light, transparent green, are very neat, exceedingly graceful […]
There’s fully as much difference between the older and the modern delphiniums with their long, gorgeous spires, as there is between old-time roses, gladiolus, peonies, and dahlias, and the newer creations. If you’re a beginner, and close to a supply of the modern hybrids, buy not old plants (one year or over), but strong, young plants. If plants aren’t available […]
The Wishbone flower is a gem. Those who have not tried this annual, nor seen it growing, have a pleasant surprise in store for them if they will raise a few plants. The flowers of Torenia fournieri are violet and lavender with a prominent yellow blotch on the lip. There is a less attractive white variety. In the center, the […]
How to grow Hepatica Hepatica (he-pat-ik-a) From the Greek hepar, liver, from a supposed resemblance of the leaves to that organ (Ranunculaceae). A genus of three or four species of low-growing hardy perennials, sometimes included in the genus Anemone and growing wild in woodlands over the whole of the north temperate zone. Species cultivated H. americana (syns. H. triloba, Anemone […]
SPRING PRUNING of established roses is always a gamble. If you prune too early, late spring frosts can kill all the canes. If you prune too late, some of the plants’ strength will be lost in the growth of the top shoots (spinach). You and you alone must be the judge of when to prune your roses. All roses must […]
I am lucky. Gardening has always been a slightly guilty pleasure for me. I used to think that it was because I never had enough time in the garden. Now I am positive that I would feel the same way even if I had all the time in the world. As a little more light and a bit more warmth […]
The days are getting noticeably longer, so I am reasonably optimistic about the prospect of spring weather arriving sometime soon. So optimistic that I believe that there may actually be a morning within the next couple of weeks when the weatherman does not predict “chance of rain mixed with snow, possibly heavy by nightfall.” When the season finally turns, I […]