Your Backyard Garden Information Source
In May gardening begins in earnest. April weather is too uncertain for many vegetables to be planted in the open and even early May cannot be trusted far. By the end of the month, however, practically the first planting of everything we wish to include in our program is in the ground. Tomato plants must be guarded carefully against frost, […]
The modern delphinium is one of the most spectacular and popular garden flowers. There are wide ranges of colors, several flower forms, and varieties of different heights. Hobby growers strive to produce the largest individual flowering spikes possible. PLANT RIGHT: Select a sunny location and a soil as deep which is rich as possible. In early Spring, set plants into well-prepared […]
Purple Ragwort – SENECIO (Jacobaea) – Purple Groundsel (Latin from senex, old man, refers to gray pappus of seeds) In English gardens one finds a lovely dwarf annual listed as a Jacobaea, Senecio elegans, which grows less than 18 inches tall and is completely covered with double purple, crimson or white flowers, not unlike a double Cineraria of the greenhouse. […]
Learn the August garden tasks for your gardening hardiness zone. Do you know what your hardiness zone? Once known, then find the required task. Zone 1 Sow seeds of wildflowers and fall veggies Aerate, dethatch and fertilize the lawn As first frosts threaten, pick mature green tomatoes to ripen in a dark, cool place indoors Purchase containerized trees and shrubs […]
Heirloom Vegetables and Tomatoes 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 me to ask, “Are we there yet?” and, visiting my Grandparents. My Grandma was an avid […]
Planting the vegetable seed There is no part of the garden work which calls for such nice judgment and careful attention as the sowing of seed. Most of the failures originate right here, and a large share of the blame devoted to the seeds and seedsman, if traced back to its original source, would be found to rest on the […]
Many of the older species had colourless flowers which may be the origin of the name, from the Greek a, no, stilbe, rightness (Saxifragaceae). A small genus of herbaceous perennials with feathery plumes composed of myriads of minute flowers in white, many in shades of pink and deep crimson. They are delightful waterside plants but they will grow in the […]
Armeria – Sea Pink, Thrift, Cliff Rose The Sea Pink is a low growing plant which derived its name from the fact that it grows along the seashore and is pink in color. There are other colors, such as red, deep rosy pink, lilac and white. It grows in dense, low clumps with numerous, narrow, grass-like leaves, all clustered at […]
LYCHNIS Campion (Rose-of-heaven) (Greek for lamp, referring to the flame-colored flowers of some species) The various sorts of Lychnis are generally considered to be perennial but several are annual. The Rose-of-heaven, Lychnis coelirosea, often cataloged as Viscaria oculala, is a lovely little annual with crimson, blue, purple, lavender, pink or white flowers. The five petals are slightly notched and the […]
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 gray foliage and long spikes of blue lavender flowers. It blooms from July through September and produces flowers very freely. […]