The florists’ cineraria (actually, Senecio cruentus) dislikes dryness and warmth and insists on cool air (40° degrees Fahrenheit to 60° degrees Fahrenheit) and more moisture than you would dare provide for most pot plants. Mine seems to like my makeshift hotbed, which is warmed only by air coming out through a cellar window and must … Read more
Because they require little care and have a long blooming season, petunias are favorites for color and beauty in beds, borders, porch baskets or boxes, and bouquets. Seed catalogs list many single and double varieties — fringed, ruffled, starred, and eyed blossoms on tall, dwarf, miniature, compact, spreading, or trailing plants. When petunias are allowed … Read more
The amateur gardener should try growing potted chrysanthemums outdoors during the summer. The process is simple, and the results are gratifying, even with minimal care. Besides, there are several advantages to having chrysanthemums in pots. Advantages Of Potted Chrysanthemums They make lovely gifts when they are in bloom in the fall. I even know a … Read more
Many of us remember huge clumps of Bleeding-heart growing against the foundations of old country houses or snuggled up by front and back steps. But until the 1940s, there was a long period when its long, gracefully arched sprays covered with dainty pendant hearts tipped white were not seen. Bleeding-Heart: Dicentra Spectabilis Now Bleeding-heart (Dicentra … Read more
So wonderfully colored is the foliage of Amaranthus tricolor splendens (Amaranthus melancholicus) that it is called Joseph’s Coat, and rightly so, for it is as elaborate, brilliant, and arresting as the coat Jacob gave his favorite son long ago. In the Gulf Coast area, we grow this plant for what it does to a dull, … Read more
Yellow is the key color of spring in our gardens, with lavender running a close second. And what lovely effects can be achieved by combining them to bring out, by contrast, their varying tones! Forsythias And Daffodils In Cold Winter Nothing is more heart-lifting after a long cold winter than the forsythias and daffodils as … Read more
One of the most attractive and promising flowering pot plants to come to America in many years is the yellow-flowered Kaempferia decora, a plant known to botany for less than a decade and native to the grassy woodlands of Portuguese East Africa. Kaempferia Decora Roots of this new rare Kaempferia were sent to Europe from … Read more
Jasmines have much in common with their sturdy and robust relatives, the forsythias, and it is a loss for northern gardens that most of them are not reliably hardy. Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) survives below zero temperatures and proves a gratifying subject but is scarcely in the artistic class of some more spectacular species. Primrose … Read more
As a rule, the principal reasons for treating seeds with chemicals before sowing them are to prevent seed decay and damping-off of seedlings. During the past year, however, I have been treating different kinds of seeds for another reason—to give the young plants an added boost from the start. How To Treat Seeds This is … Read more
Among time most delightful of our spring wildflowers, hepaticas are, perhaps, the easiest to make happy in our gardens, in shady nooks and corners where soil holds dampness and the sun’s intense heat does not reach them. Thriving among or along the dark side of deciduous shrubs, they welcome the leaves that drift loosely over … Read more