Focus on Flowers

Native Perennials 17.06.2021 1:59 ↓

Native plants are important to preserve native wildlife and the ecology of our landscape, but some natives will suit our particular climate and garden space better than others.

Pass-Along Plants 10.06.2021 1:59 ↓

Some of the best plants in my garden were given to me by other gardeners or came from plant swaps held by garden clubs.

Lesser Calamint 03.06.2021 1:59 ↓

Dainty and durable and deer resistant—just my kind of plant!

Cut Flower Favorite: Alstroemeria 27.05.2021 1:59 ↓

There are bound to be some times of the year when there are no flowers in our gardens, and that is when we just have to buy some! A good reliable flower to buy is the South American native alstroemeria.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow 20.05.2021 1:59 ↓

Brunfelsia is a long-blooming shrub from subtropical Australia, and it triggers lots of memories for me.

Angel's Trumpets 13.05.2021 1:59 ↓

The spectacular blooms known as Angel’s Trumpets grow on plants that are vase-shaped shrubs or small trees.

Flowering Tobacco 06.05.2021 1:59 ↓

Flowering Tobacco--for minimum effort, a gardener gets maximum results!

Thinking About Color 29.04.2021 1:59 ↓

It's is a good idea to think about color before you buy a bunch of news plants in springtime.

Righting Wrongs 22.04.2021 1:59 ↓

Springtime = Transplant, delete, cut back.

Lily-of-the-Valley Bush 15.04.2021 1:59 ↓

All Pieris shrubs are evergreen and are related to rhododendrons and mountain laurels.

Calycanthus floridus 08.04.2021 1:59 ↓

Calycanthus is a fine sweet shrub that also goes by the name of Carolina allspice.

Native Aronia 01.04.2021 1:59 ↓

Our native red and black chokeberry shrubs provide four seasons of interest and are drought tolerant once they are established in gardens

Native Spicebush 25.03.2021 2:00 ↓

Lindera is a host plant for the promethean moth and the spicebush swallowtail butterfly.

Siting Shrubs 18.03.2021 2:00 ↓

Shrubs are easy-care and long-lived stalwarts in our landscapes in all seasons of the year.

Avoiding Chaos 11.03.2021 2:00 ↓

How do we avoid a messy medley of too many plants creating chaos in the garden? I can tell you from personal experience that it isn’t easy!

Imports 04.03.2021 2:00 ↓

Now, only about 20% of our cut flowers are grown in California, Washington State, and Oregon, where most used to be grown for domestic sale.

Harvesting Flowers 25.02.2021 2:00 ↓

Where do our cut flowers come from? Often, South America. Workers in greenhouses cut each stem individually and immediately place each flower in a bucket of water...

Flower Longevity 18.02.2021 2:00 ↓

Refrigerated trucks and unheated holds of planes are cold, helping cut flowers from abroad to stay fresh during their journey to the U.S.

Valentines Flowers 11.02.2021 2:00 ↓

Over one-hundred million roses are purchased in the United States for Valentine’s Day each year, and nearly all are red and long stemmed.

Winter Landscapes 04.02.2021 2:00 ↓

What we see from our windows all through the cold days of winter is our garden’s architectural structure formed by the trees and shrubs that are the long-term residents of our gardens year round.

Henry Mitchell Says... 28.01.2021 2:00 ↓

For twenty years Henry Mitchell’s column “Earthman” was a weekly feature in The Washington Post.

African Violet Propagation 21.01.2021 2:00 ↓

African violets are quite happy growing in pots in many of our homes and are easily propagated.

The Duke Gardens 14.01.2021 2:00 ↓

Visitors are not charged to see the 55 acres of gorgeous organic plantings in the heart of this major research university.

Emily's Garden 07.01.2021 2:00 ↓

Emily Dickinson was a renowned poet, but during her lifetime she was known more for her gardening skills.

Flowers in Verse 31.12.2020 2:00 ↓

Here are few poems written, most of them, very long ago.