History – even horticultural history—repeats itself. Proof of this is found in return popularity of the geranium, African-violet, day-lily, and small and decorative gladiolus, which, having fallen out of grace with gardeners, achieved new favor when breeders offered improved iris varieties. The same is true of the spuria or butterfly group of iris, one of … Read more
None of the essential perennial flowers I know require more care in selection than the modern iris. There are many thousand named sorts and several hundred new varieties on the market yearly – some perfect, some good, and some bad. Catalogs, lists of 100 best, society ratings, and other methods do not give the amateur … Read more
Nothing makes me feel more like an artist than a bag of spring bulbs. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocus, and all the fascinating little ones—scillas, snowdrops, and chionodoxas—are like paints for my brush, or rather my trowel! I’ll plant generous quantities this fall so next April and May my garden will be full of spring. It’s … Read more
To most people, the name bellflowers mean campanulas, but the late L. H. Bailey expanded the term to include, too, those other members of the family whose flowers are also bell-like the ring bellflowers, such as (Symphyandra), the lady bell (Adenophora), the trailing bellflower (Cyananthus), the balloon-flower (Platycodon), the grassy bellflower (Edrianthus), the bonnet bellflower … Read more
Are you one of the gardeners who has heard about hybridizing or breeding iris yet feels that the process requires more know-how or skill than you possess? If so, read on. This is for you. Of course, there is a very complicated and highly skilled side to producing new iris varieties, but that is the … Read more
Dwarf irises have an indispensable place in our gardens. Their low height, early bloom, hardiness, and modest cultural needs make them favored members of the iris family in which they fill the gap for plants of dwarf stature. We have long associated dwarf iris with rock gardens, neglecting such ideal situations as perennial borders, terraced … Read more
Hybridizers and commercial horticulturists are constantly offering us new strains and improved varieties of old favorites in the hardy plant field, but not so often do we see a worthy native species routed out and given it’s full due by gardeners. We have such a plant in Iris dichotoma, often called the vesper iris because … Read more
A true, tuberous lily that climbs by coiling its tendril-like leaf tips tightly around remote support. Gloriosa Lily flowers are frilled and wavy, the petals curved back sharply to show off the spectacular stamens. The colors are brilliant red and yellow, changing as the flowers age. The average height of the climber is three or … Read more
The Resurrection Lily – Lycoris squamigera is one of those plants touched with enchantment. Like larger daffodils, its leaves appear in early spring, die, and disappear by the first of July. Then, usually in August, as if in obedience to a wizard’s command (so rapidly do they develop), naked flower stalks, 2′ to 3′ feet … Read more
I am convinced that a hobby helps to complete our enjoyment of life, and to me, there is no more safe, sane hobby than a garden, for the love of gardening is a seed that, once sown, grows to an increasing and enduring source of happiness. Flowers are precious things to be cherished in our … Read more