One thing a hybridizer must be is flexible. About thirty years ago, when starting my delphinium breeding, my idea was to follow the English method of selecting individual seedlings, which would then be propagated by cuttings and sold as named varieties. However, I had to revise my thinking as this method seemed to apply only … Read more
Glance out into the garden, down the path to the flower borders. Is your eye stopped by billowy mounds of pink, white, crimson, or rose—the grand show of peonies? This month this shrubby perennial, prized for its elegant flowers, enduring foliage, and incredibly long life, highlights many gardens. Years ago, when Paeonia Officinalis Rubra was … Read more
In the Northwest, over the last two decades, rhododendrons have become “everyman’s” shrubs. Gardeners in the Southwest are deprived of their beautiful flowers and the textural interest they create in the garden because they are not culturally suited to the area. The rhododendron family includes the azaleas (not treated here), and the species and named … Read more
The cultivation of the graceful water lily dates back to antiquity. Long valued florally, both the tuber and seeds of the waterlily have also been used for food. It was the favorite flower of one Chinese writer of the eleventh century, even though, since about 660 A. D., it had been fashionable to admire the … Read more
Violas make colorful carpet plants grown at the base of spring-flowering shrubs, such as lilacs and flowering quince, and among spring-flowering bulbs, such as tulips and daffodils, where their contrasting colors and delicate foliage provide a startling garden picture. They may, of course, be effectively employed in a flower border or a rock garden, but … Read more
Few perennials are easy to grow and propagate or more varied in their colors and heights than the many kinds of hardy asters. Available in a wide color range, from white to many tints and shades of pink, rose, red, purple, violet, blue, and lavender, they range from six inches to six feet. In diameter, … Read more
The curious blood lily flower (Haemanthus), is a member of the Amaryllis family, and native to Africa. Most bulbous blood lily species are usually without foliage when flower spikes appear. They are little known to gardeners despite their spectacular bloom. Haemanthus katharinae originates from South Africa province of KwaZulu-Natal. It’s globular bright salmon-red flower clusters … Read more
Question: We just moved from the east coast, where our Hemerocallis (day lily) always was a color treat in our landscape. Now that we have settled into the mid-west and are ready to start planting, can we include the day lily Hemerocallis as a part of our flower garden? I’ve always enjoyed different cultivars and … Read more
On a spring day back a year ago, I enjoyed a tour through one of the Deep South show gardens when our guide pointed toward a passage through a hedge and said, “Now we look at the Amer-gorillas!” I was prepared for anything since he had shown us the “high-biscuit” bushes earlier. But it was … Read more
Pachystachys lutea (puh-KISS-tuh-kiss LOO-tee-uh) is a tropical, evergreen shrub belonging to the genus Pachystachys and the Acanthaceae family, also referred to as the Acanthus family. The genus Pachystachys came from the Greek word “pachys,” which means thick, and the other word “Stachys,” meaning spike. Therefore, the Pachystachys means “with thick spikes,” referencing the plant’s flowering … Read more