Comprehensive Gardening Resource
From the Greek helein, to kill, bora, food; some species are poisonous (Ranunculaceae). Hellebore. Hardy perennials, often retaining their leaves through the winter, with thick fibrous roots. All flower early in the year and the flowers are long lasting. Most of them have handsome, leathery, divided leaves, sometimes spiny. They are natives of southern Europe and western Asia. Species cultivated […]
Asphodel – King’s Spear The classic Asphodel is rarely seen in gardens although its interesting, tall and stately spikes of yellow and white flowers are of interest to garden lovers. The Asphodels are variously cataloged as Asphodeline and Asphodelus; the former genus is erect and has leafy stems, the latter is stemless. In Asphcdeline lutea the flowers are sweet scented […]
Plume poppy, Macleaya cordata, Bocconia, Tree Celandine The Plume Poppy (Bocconia cordata, Macleaya cordata) is perhaps one of the most imposing plants of the hardy border, for it grows from 6 feet to 10 feet high. The general aspect of the plant is grayish-green in color with very large and deeply cut leaves. The flowers are not very conspicuous but […]
If you need an attractive low growing plant to use as a Border to conceal the scrappily base of rosebushes or to mask the water faucet on the side of your house, try oxalis. Or if you’ve a narrow park-way too difficult to mow easily or an area underneath an air vent in a house wall, oxalis will meet this […]
My mother, a woman for whom good taste meant a great deal, would not have approved of Sarah, our gray half-grown kitten. Sarah, for whom happiness and flatulence seem inextricably linked, is not always fit for polite company. Fortunately she loves to go out into the garden. Mother would also have looked askance at another denizen of my beds, the […]