Galtonia candicans, also known as the summer hyacinth, isn’t well known by most home gardeners. But this stunning South African flower is beloved by everyone who does know it. Topped with striking clusters of white flowers and offering a sweet scent, Galtonia candicans blooms in the late summer. It can be the perfect finale in … Read more
The colorful, Spring-flowering iris is one of the easiest plants for the average homeowner to grow. Its colorful, prismatic hues are a delight for all to behold, while its culture is well within the scope of any beginner. Hybridizers have extended the period of bloom to produce a much longer season than hitherto imagined. If … Read more
Our old garden had garnered, over 15 years, a nice casual collection of 55 hybrid tea roses and a half dozen climbers. Then we moved and left them all behind. We were in the new place for seven years without planting or growing a single rose. Suddenly last year we had to have roses and … Read more
Question: I have heard of miniature daylilies. Can they be used as a border on garden paths? Michelle, Morganton, NC Answer: Michelle, most people think of the modern daylily hybrid as a bright, colorful, robust, and vigorous perennial requiring a lot of space, but you can have daylilies in miniature, too! These daylilies “diminutives” began … Read more
The discovery of the Regal Lily (Lilium regale) in 1903 and its introduction into cultivation a year later stimulated great interest in lilies. Its discoverer, E. H. Wilson, wrote and talked about it. Stocks of bulbs were produced rapidly from seeds, and as it performed well in gardens, it soon became a common garden plant. … Read more
Catharanthus roseus, more commonly known as vinca rosea or periwinkle, is an evergreen shrub that produces glossy green leaves and beautiful blooms in shades of pink, white, or purple. Though it’s native to Madagascar, this easy-to-grow plant is a popular choice for gardens worldwide. There are many reasons to love periwinkle, but one of the … Read more
Hydrangea (hy-DRAN-jee-ah) is a climbing woody shrub belonging to the genus Hydrangea and from the Hydrangeaceae or the hydrangea family. It has over 75 flowering species and more than 600 cultivars available worldwide. The genus name Hydrangea came from the Greek words “hydro,” meaning water, and “angos or angion,” which means a vessel, jar, or … Read more
Nobody will deny daylilies have beautiful flowers, and few would quibble over the statement that their foliage has landscape merit. But to get the best landscape effect from daylilies, we should not think of them entirely in terms of their bloom. Like woody plants, their landscape value is based on the length of time they … Read more
The star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum, includes many species, none of which are native to this country. Hence, they are known to readers only in the cultivated state. The genus belongs to one of the largest and best-known groups of flowering plants – the lily family, numerous species of which are grown in the home, the … Read more
For many years the strain of bulbous iris called “Dutch” iris has been limited to three or four colors in which blue was dominant. One of the most popular and widely used of these was WEDGWOOD, a light blue-flowered variety with narrow yellow signals on the falls. Its adaptability to greenhouse forcing made it a … Read more