Professional Gardening Tips
GODETIA Satin flower (Named for C. H. Godet, Swiss botanist) Closely related to the Evening primroses, the Godetias are deserving of greater attention. The flowers open wide and are of a satiny texture. Varieties may be had in rose and white, scarlet, dark crimson and pure white. Usually a deeper color is found near the center of the flower, as […]
PERILLA Perilla is mentioned here because in years past it was a great favorite as a foliage plant. The leaves are dark purple and have a metallic luster causing the plant to resemble a Coleus. It grows about 1/2 feet tall. The pinkish flowers, in form like those of Catnip, are inconspicuous. Perilla frutescens is the species but there are […]
ARTEMISIA Wormwood (Named for Artemisia, the wife of the mythological Mausolus) One species of Artemisia, A. sacrorum, is annual. It is also called Russian Wormwood (Summerfir). The plants grow fully 6 feet tall. The leaves are very finely divided, lacy and are either a deep green or gray. The flowers are very minute, but in mass give a greenish yellow […]
GYPSOPHILA Babysbreath (Name derived from gupsos, gypsum; phileo, to love, meaning that it prefers limestone soil) This is one of the smallest, daintiest flowers of the garden. Two species are commonly grown: Gypsophila elegans and G. muralis, both of which grow 1/2 feet tall, and bear tiny white, pink, and rose-colored flowers upon fine, wiry, much-branched stems. Where to plant. […]
PETUNIA (Named from petun, the Brazilian name for tobacco, to which Petunia is allied) Everyone has some room for Petunias because they are the most profuse flowering of any annual. Few other annuals produce so many of such large flowers. The colors have been improved to such an extent that there are now varieties to please us all. Recently nearly […]
BROWALLIA (Amethyst) (An interesting story is told of the naming of the Browallia. Linnaeus was greatly pleased and elated with the ability of Bishop Browall as a botanist and accordingly named a species for him, Browallia elata, but at a later date he changed his opinion of the bishop and also the name of the plant to B. demissa) The […]
HELIANTHUS – Sunflower (From helios-sun; anlhos-flower) The Sunflower is bold, he is tall, has a lot of bluster and bravado about him, but he is not coarse; no, he does not intrude upon us. We like to have him look over our fences; we like to watch him looking down toward his feet to see how tall he has grown. […]
PHACELIA (Named from the Greek for cluster; refers to clustering of flowers) The best known sort is Phacelia campanularia, the Harebell Phacelia, which bears Gentian-blue, bell-shaped flowers with contrasting white stamens on one-sided curved racemes. The plants grow 9 inches tall and are somewhat hairy. They remain in bloom for a long time, the flowers being produced in one-sided curving […]
When Shakespeare mentioned the Marygold he meant Calendula officinalis, which for wealth of bloom, is without a rival. As the plants self-sow, many persons have them in their gardens year after year. Flowers from such chance seedlings are often small and single so that some persons have tired of them, but were they to purchase seed of some of the […]
HUNNEMANNIA – Goldencup (Giant Yellow-tulip poppy) (Bush-eschscholtzia) (Named for John Hunnemann, an English botanist) An aristocrat among the Poppies, the Goldencup, bears a difficult botanical name, Hunnemannia fumariaefolia. The buttercup-yellow flowers are like those of California-poppies except that they are more crinkled, and of greater substance, furthermore, the plants are upright. The leaves are glaucous and thick, but finely cut. […]