May 1, 2025
Death of a Flower
Most of us prefer tulips in a vase when they are closed or just partly open, rather than splayed outwards, wide open, just before the petals fall. Though perhaps, opening wide, is their last defiant gesture of farewell.
April 17, 2025
Our Native Sidalcea
The scientific name Sidalcea is actually a combination of two related plant forms, “sida” and “alcea,” because it resembled both the mallow and the hollyhock. Common names are miniature hollyhock and prairie mallow. Other common names in the past were checkers and checkerbloom because of the alternate placement of the flowers on the stem.
April 3, 2025
Cimicifuga
Native Americans taught the colonists to use Cimicifuga to treat fevers, lumbago, rheumatism, and snake bites with a medicine made from the roots. Its common names became bugbane and black cohosh.
March 27, 2025
Sudsy Saponaria
The name “Saponaria” is from the Latin word for soap. It was used by the ancients, who crushed the leaves and used them to scour cooking vessels.
March 13, 2025
Flower Anchors
If you have a garden, you probably enjoy displaying your flowers in your home. I have many small vases and bottles with narrow necks, so that I can pop just one or two flowers into them. When I come indoors after my morning walk, I usually bring what I call my "Flower of the Day." It is the flower that has really caught my eye that I want to look at close-up.
March 6, 2025
Microwave Drying
You may like to try drying your end of summer flowers in your microwave.
February 27, 2025
Drying Flowers
The best way to air-dry most flowers is to hang them upside down in bunches in a dry dark place for 1-3 weeks. Take the leaves off the stems and bind 6-10 stems together tightly with rubber bands.
February 13, 2025
Pretty But Useful
Even as early as the 15th century in England, a time when gardens focused mainly on plants used in medicines and for cooking, there were a few plants grown because they produced beautiful flowers.
January 30, 2025
Poisonous Plants
An important rule for gardeners to tell children, as well as others, is that nothing growing in the garden should ever be eaten without permission.
January 23, 2025
Amusing Quotations
I have avoided dealing with some pressing but boring tasks today by reading some amusing quotations about gardens and gardening. Here are some you may enjoy.
January 16, 2025
Nicholas Culpeper
17th-century physician and herbalist Nicholas Culpeper studied medicine at Cambridge University. One of his early remedies was digitalis from foxgloves used in treating heart disease.
January 9, 2025
Beth Chatto
Beth Chatto began her garden in the 1960s on an unwanted wasteland in Essex, England. As an ecologist, she knew how to select plants that are adaptable to any conditions, and she shared her knowledge of ecological principles with many visitors.
January 2, 2025
Evergreen Holly
During the holidays, it is satisfying to be able to pick a vase of holly with bright red berries to decorate our homes. It is also a welcome gift to present to neighbors and friends.
December 26, 2024
The Winter Garden
Stripped of its lush spring and summer growth, the winter garden nonetheless has a charm of its own. It is all about contours and shapes and the way the ice and snow transform items and add sparkle.
December 19, 2024
Perfumed Gifts
If you are wondering what to buy as a holiday gift for a gardening friend, you can order a fragrant shrub now to be delivered next spring.
December 12, 2024
Gifts for Gardeners
If you are looking for a holiday gift for a gardener, now is the time to order online, and a notification of a spring delivery date will be sent to your lucky recipient before the holidays.
December 5, 2024
Hellebore Flowers
In early spring when there are no garden flowers available, I am so grateful when I look under the leathery leaves of my hellebores and find flowers to pick for the house. It is a wonderful joy.
November 27, 2024
Zealous Spreaders
There are some plants that are so aggressive in the way that they spread in a garden bed that they are called over-zealous and invasive.
November 21, 2024
Dividing Plants
Many perennials like to be divided in the fall, especially if they have outgrown their space or have ceased blooming well.
