Plant Profiles: Posts on Individual Plants
Perennial Flower Articles
| Latin Name - | Common Name | | Latin Name - | Common Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iris | Iris | Mertensia | Virginia Bluebells |
| Thymus, sp. | Lemon Thyme | Convallaria majalis | Lily of the Valley |
| Lilium | Lilies | Lamium | Dead Nettle |
| Clematis | Clematis | ||
How To Transplant Peonies
May is the time when Peonies begin to bloom, and we start wondering “How to plant this beautiful plant in MY garden?” Why plant a peony? It is full of fragrant bloom for spring and the foliage remains beautiful all season. This herbaceous plant is offered for sale in the spring, and that is when people usually buy the plant in containers to plant in their gardens. If this is you , and the season is spring, surf on over to the articles about Peonies in my Garden, it will tell you all about how to plant them in spring. Peonies In My...
read moreFancy A Forsythia?
The Forsythia Shrub, Is It For You? It is the season for forsythia in the sun and shadow days of April showers. Mine is blooming full and fair this year, with its shining golden presence in the midst of verdant green of mid-spring. But with Ohio’s late propensity of frosty weather it isn’t always dependably showy. This spring, however, exhibits just why forsythia shrubs are so popular. The pleasing color of yellow catches the fleeting sunlight that breaks through April shower’s fast moving clouds, and almost sings in the...
read moreHow To Train Pyracantha
Pyracantha is a stiff, thorny, strongly upright shrub, and one of the best ways to grow it is as an espalier or trained into an upright shape. Even though older branches can get quite stiff, the plant as a whole is pliable -especially the new growth, so starting early and keeping up with the training will produce a very attractive landscape feature. Pyracantha Shrubs are: Evergreen to semi-evergreen in zones 7 and south. Hardy further north, in zones 5 and 6 depending on variety. It suffers from winterburn for me. Member of the rose family,...
read moreAnnuals For Your Garden: Nasturtium
Lovely Summer Nasturtiums Tropaeolum majus are a favorite for a Child’s Garden because their seeds are large, easy to handle, and germinate fairly quickly – 10 to 14 days. They were beloved in Grandma’s old fashioned gardens and Monet lined his garden walk at Giverny with them. Nasturtiums are not only pretty, but used as a companion crop, an edible addition to salads, and as an herbal medicine. They should be on every cottage gardener’s “flowering annuals for the garden” list. Important Things To Know...
read moreA Garden of Simples, Growing Medicinal Herbs
The Medicinal Herb Garden A “Simple” was an herbal plant grown on its own as a medicine. “Simple” being a term from the melding of two Latin words, Singula plica: a single purpose. Although there were always remedies compounded for ailments, the housewife of olden times was able to use simples for common remedies often needed in daily life in her home and with her domestic animals. Increasing milk, treating a fever, calming a queasy stomach… Make no mistake about it, the seemingly benign view we have of...
read moreAnnuals For Your Garden: Nicotiana
Nicotiana For Summer Evening Fragrance Nicotiana, Flowering Tobacco, is an annual flower that scents the night air and comes in the most delicious colors for a summer garden. I grew it from seed for the first time long ago in my city garden. I had read of its fabled fragrance, and that appealed to me. Trying Nicotiana sylvestris, which grew quite tall and had milky white flowers, and a mix of Nicotiana alata in a subtle range of rose and pink tones, I have grown these flowers every year ever since. Nicotiana is one of my must-have annuals. In...
read moreAnnuals for Your Garden: Dahlberg Daisy
Thymophylla tenuiloba, The Dahlberg Daisy A tiny annual plant that goes by this big name is one of the plants that I like to use every year. It make a fine fringe along a path or a lacy spill of golden flowers in a container. Nothing is better for a Fairy Garden, and it even pops up between the flagstones, occasionally proving hardy enough for this Ohio zone 5 climate. 3 Important Things To Know About Dahlberg Daisies Native to Texas, hardy in Zone 11; grown as an annual elsewhere. Can self-seed, although not reliably in Ohio Late to bloom...
read moreFragrant Flowers: Mignonette
For years I had planted mignonette, one of my favorite flowers, but then I couldn’t find a source for the seeds and it has not been grown in my garden for at least seven years now. In vain, searching through racks of seeds in my local stores for either “Reseda odorata”, the proper Latin botanical name, or its commonly known Mignonette. No plant joy. I looked online a couple years ago and ordered some Reseda seeds, but they were not the fragrant type -probably Reseda alba, and that was so very disappointing. Because fragrance...
read moreAnnuals for Your Garden: Calendula Officinalis
Calendula Officinalis Called “Poor Man’s Saffron” and “Pot Marigold” the proper Latin name of Calendula officinalis tips you off to the fact that this was a plant which was accepted as an important medicinal plant, belonging in a monastery necessary storeroom. The genus label was so called because the flower was reputed to be in bloom on the calendsthe first days of each month of every month. Who says learning the Latin nomenclature of a plant had to be boring? History and botanical details, but on to the plant...
read moreVegetable Gardening Tips
Your Vegetable Garden Soil Did you know that most vegetables grow better on an alkaline soil? If you have an acidic soil (one that has a pH of 6 or lower), liming is an important part of creating a successful vegetable garden. How to lime a garden? Apply lime at a rate of around 6-12oz per square yard. You don’t have to be exact, just measure out a couple of filled trowel scoops. Quite acid soils will need applications each year, more neutral soils like mine could use some liming every two to three years, or so. Don’t work heavy...
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