Certain garden plants are grown more for the aromatic quality of their foliage than for the beauty of their flowers. Their flowers may be insignificant, and their leaves may not be particularly handsome, yet the plants are beloved of gardeners because of the scents given off by their leaves, sometimes in hot sunshine, sometimes when the leaves are brushed with […]

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These Popular and Easy-to-Grow Flowers Come in Many Types These attractive plants are invaluable as house plants, for the greenhouse, and for filling summer flower beds. Some kinds are grown for their ornamental leaves, others for their flowers; some bloom in summer, others in winter, while a few flower more or less all the year round. Begonias are found wild […]

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In addition to materials laid directly upon the ground or the plants, there are types of winter covering that involve building a shelter of burlap or similar material about the plants and wrapping the aboveground parts in hay, straw, paper and other protective materials. Evergreens, even kinds considered fairly hardy, are much more susceptible to winter injury than are leaf […]

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Protection Bulbs during the winter Some hardy bulbs such as Daffodils (Narcissi) may suffer damage from severe frost if they are planted late in beds or borders. They should, therefore, be planted as early as obtainable or be covered with 45 in. of straw, salt marsh hay, leaves, branches of evergreens or similar material. Hardy bulbs planted in grass sod […]

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In regions of cold winters, Roses need protection. Hybrid Tea and Floribunda bush Roses will withstand a temperature of about 12 degrees F. but are likely to be damaged by alternating mild and cold spells. They can be protected by mounding soil, buckwheat hulls, or peat moss around the base of the plants, covering them to a height of at […]

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In winter, low temperatures as well as too intense light, lack of water (when the soil has frozen the moisture in it cannot be absorbed by the roots), and wind may cause damage. Some harm is directly due to the effects of below-freezing temperatures on the tissues of tender plants; other damage is indirect, for example, the tearing and drying […]

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A mulch is a cover spread over the surface of the soil. Newly-planted fruit trees and shrubs were traditionally mulched with strawy manure immediately after planting. This practice continues to this day. The mulch protects the newly planted tree or shrub from frost damage in winter and from summer drought. At the same time, the rotting manure supplies the young […]

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The natural everlasting flowers are those with papery petals, often called immortelles, that can be dried and kept for indoor arrangements during the winter. The most common are helichrysums and other members of the daisy family including helipterum, ammobium, anaphalis and xeranthemum, all yellow, bronze, gold, pink and white and a packet of seeds can produce a lovely selection. The […]

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From the Greek physa, a bladder, an allusion to the inflated calyx (Solanaceae). A genus of 100 or more species of which the two most well-known are P. alkekengi, the Bladder Cherry or Chinese Lantern Plant, with its brilliant, flame-coloured, air-filled calyces, and P. peruviana, the Cape Gooseberry, which is a greenhouse species. They are annual and perennial herbaceous plants, […]

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The form and size of a herb garden is determined by the interest these plants hold for the individual. It can be a tiny border of commonly used culinary herbs such as mint, parsley, sage and thyme or an elaborate garden designed to house a wide collection of herbs. Many plants could legitimately be included in one of these large […]

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