Homeowners, especially those who live in new developments, are always looking for suitable trees that will be ornamental and provide some shade. The ideal tree, which combines hardiness, rapid growth, toughness, resistance to diseases and pests, attractive foliage, and desirable form, is hard to find. A tree may possess all the qualities but one, but … Read more
We listened carefully to the sage whisperings of the firs before we ventured into our woodland with saw and spade. Two years passed before my husband, and I could bring ourselves to the actual operation of digging out some of the lush ground corers so that paths could be staked out. Natives such as Vancouver … Read more
Almost every garden journal during the year contains several articles on soil, stressing the importance of fertility, texture, heat retention, water-holding capacity, and other factors essential to good plant growth. Important as the soil is to plant life, it is amazing to the average gardener to discover how little of the actual soil enters the … Read more
The Peace Rose has had an eerie history of timeliness in connection with world events. These various events have been recorded separately in Success with Roses, each as it occurred, but it is in the total sum to date that the full drama becomes apparent. Peace was christened during the Pasadena Spring Rose show in … Read more
The crested flycatcher is often more heard than seen, for although handsomely plumed, his soft colors blend well into his treetop surroundings. He sits motionless on some flowery branch and proclaims possession of his chosen territory, which he has ruled for successive seasons. But by careful observation, we may see him, the flash of reddish … Read more
Maybe you strolled onto your porch one late summer afternoon to find a cool breeze. Perched on a porch rail or table, you discover something that looks oddly like an animated baby string bean propped up with green toothpicks. As you move, it turns its triangular head toward you. You shift first one way, then … Read more
This old plant in English gardens has been treasured as a valuable and striking feature for the herbaceous border and for moist positions elsewhere. The writer’s garden grows in light soil, on a border facing west, in company with Iris kaempferi, another moisture lover. However, it is content with dryish conditions in our gardens—Monarda flowers … Read more
My affection for the annual Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, a native of California’s shoreline from central California south into Baja California and especially abundant on the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, was deepened when, at my last visit to the New York flower show, I found a pot-enthroned specimen of this ice plant heavily ringed around by an … Read more
Every summer, poison ivy causes much suffering, yet it can be controlled. The rash is caused by a volatile oil produced by the plant leaves. It is said that Indians immunized themselves to poison ivy rash by eating the leaves. I have had several cases called to my attention of people who were affected internally … Read more
Brown flowers subdue and chasten the flames of the garden; they tame the cerise and magenta; they mollify the madder and vermilion. But, although their beauty is retiring and gentle, their fragrance is unrivaled by brighter-toned flowers. It took a brown daylily to teach me the value of brown in the garden. Hemerocallis fulva Granada … Read more