The ceropegia are an interesting family of plants from Africa and, to a lesser extent, Asia and Malaya. Their name is from the Greek words meaning wax and fountain. It seems incredible that they belong to the same family as the milkweeds (Asclepiadaceae) until one sees the long, pointed seed pods and the winged seeds. … Read more
With summer waning and the long winter months looming ahead, you’re no doubt anxious to start the seed collected from catalogs over the summer. For fortunate gardeners like myself, a greenhouse presents no problem other than gathering enough soil to last the winter, for we can plant our seed anytime. Greenhouses are inexpensive as hobbies … Read more
If you can grow an African violet successfully without getting the urge to start a collection, you ought to be psychoanalyzed. You’re different!” We are normal people. start with one lone saintpaulia, but six months later, we have a dozen sturdy plants, which we proudly rooted in water. After a year, the house begins to … Read more
Orchid hunting is usually synonymous with steaming jungles, not a Maine forest. But like their tropical cousins, some of our own native orchids have to be hunted down in their natural habitat, as garden cultivation is difficult and often unsuccessful. Only by seeing them in their natural setting can one fully appreciate their beauty and … Read more
After spending most of the summer fighting bugs and insects and praying for rain to grow vegetables that are fit to eat, some of our gardeners like to store surplus vegetables. When I was a youngster at home, stored vegetables made up a large part of our food supply. Among those items that seemed to … Read more
Among the cultivated orchids the dancing ladies or dancing dolls are probably the daintiest and loveliest. Belonging to the genus Oncidium, they have long, graceful sprays of bright golden yellow flowers, which vary in size from less than an inch to several inches across. The large lip of each blossom resembles a full, swirling skirt, … Read more
Few houseplants are more iconic than Chlorophytum comosum (kloh-roh-FY-tum kom-OH-sum), better known as the spider plant. This plant is known for its white flowers, arched foliage, and almost spider-like appearance, lazily hanging over the edges of its container. This makes them one of the favorite indoor plants to grow. Most commonly seen spilling out of … Read more
During the past 10 years, the African violet has been the only house plant to gain more popularity than gloxinia. A recent popularity poll made it the number two house plant in the country, a distinction that this most spectacular member of the gesneriad family richly deserves. Gloxinias were discovered in 1785 and named in … Read more
Here is August, with sizzling sunshine and buzzing cicadas. While some greenhouse fans are fumigating and painting to make ready for the next season, some maintain a jungle atmosphere all summer for their tropical exotics. With some shade and high humidity, many plants grow well even with high temperatures. These include anthurium, crinum, hibiscus, fuchsia, … Read more
Are you an incurable window shopper like me? Some windows I manage to walk by – slowly, I admit, but flower shop windows stop me! Because I live in a large city, almost wherever I walk, I can feast my eyes on displays of flowers. It is in just such a way that I have … Read more