Supporting Our Local Garden Clubs
The Beauty of Bloodroot
The garden truly awakens during the month of April. The once bare earth suddenly comes alive with a bevy of flowering bulbs and perhaps even a few spring ephemerals. Most gardeners understand how to effectively work bulbs into a garden, but many remain puzzled over the use of spring ephemerals. By definition, this group of plants emerge in early spring, flower, set seed and enter into dormancy by the start of summer, very similar to most bulbs…
March can be such a finicky month! Several years ago, there was a long warm spell followed by two nights of extremely cold temperatures. The result was a massive dieback of Hydrangeas and a resulting loss of blooms for that year! Some years we see snow storm after snow storm, while some years it is merely rain. So far it has been a cold winter with more snowfall than recent years…
Grape Hyacinths – Time for a Fresh Look
At no fault of their own, some plants develop a love/hate relationship with gardeners. They are very deserving garden plants, yet after years of being heavily used our interest in the plant simply dwindles. We also fail to take note of any new and interesting selections, as we peruse nursery lists. For me, Grape Hyacinth or Muscari, as it is known botanically typifies this problem…
February may still be in the midst of winter, but some plants are beginning to awaken! On warmer days, make it a point to walk through your garden, enjoying its beauty and giving thought to exciting new spring improvements. For major design renovations it is time to finalize those designs since March becomes busy with outdoor gardening activities. Early this month is also the time to complete the ordering of seeds, since many of the more popular varieties will soon, or already are sold out….
Sciadopitys – A Beautiful Plant That May Fool You
I cannot recall how many times I have failed to understand the very basic parts of plant anatomy, even when it appeared so obvious! For example, I once thought Asters had petals typical of most flowering plants. I was wrong. With Dogwoods, I mistakenly thought the showy flowers had petals and I was only partially correct in thinking Magnolia flowers had petals. Yes, it no longer comes as a surprise when I am wrong. However, I was totally surprised to learn the beautiful, glossy ‘foliage’ of the Japanese Umbrella Pine, botanically known as Sciadopitys verticillata is not true foliage at all!…
