Which bloom better roses planted in the spring or the fall? Many gardeners prefer the fall, but many still insist that spring is the proper planting time. There are always those whose first desire to grow roses may occur during the winter or early spring. For some their planting blood, does not begin to flow … Read more
Winter never lags if you have camellias in full bloom all season. We grow them in our greenhouse and on our glassed-in porch. Our 22’x24′-foot glass house was built many years ago and paid for itself almost at once with savings on winter vacations—with camellias in bloom, why go away! They like cool temperatures, so … Read more
For years, there was widespread use of Gloriosa rothschildiana in the florist trade. It was popular for corsage and bowl arrangements. It brought the arresting beauty of these exotic, tropical, African bulb-vine flowers to the attention of many thousands of American flower lovers. Many who might never have seen them outside of Florida and choice … Read more
A greenhouse will furnish the climate to order. In a warm house, the pattern of the tropics can be followed. Near the edges and in the “toe” of a lean-to, cacti and succulents will flourish in the heat and develop their beauty in form and color. The larger epiphytic bromeliads, aloes, and euphorbias are happy … Read more
One of the loveliest pleasures a rose garden offers is its appeal to our sense of color. Yet many gardens are less effective than they would be if the color were more carefully considered. Color Nomenclature: State of Confusion Certainly, color nomenclature is in a state of confusion so far as roses are concerned. Various … Read more
I’ve been an armchair gardener for a long time. That’s why I can’t help but snicker when I hear some of you guys worrying out loud about all those leaves you’ve got piled up and the hard job ahead of composting them. Easy Way of Composting Maybe it’s all in knowing how to do it … Read more
The viburnums comprise so many excellent shrubs from diversified environments that one can hardly begin to grow them all in one garden. Perhaps it would be better to say that a beginning should be made for every garden, for no other genus of hardy shrubs offers so much beauty and interest over such long periods. … Read more
Strawberries benefit from mulching with clean straw. Place, the covering over the plants so it settles to a depth of about 3” inches. If the wind blows strong in winter, hold the mulch with a chicken wire covering. Put mulch on strawberries after the first light frosts in fall, but before severe frosts. Applying mulch … Read more
Yews are one of the most satisfactory groups of needled evergreens for landscape use. Since there are 100 or more named varieties and goodness knows how many unnamed seedlings, we should select with caution the varieties we use. Many spreading forms get far too big for the average home unless we continually cut them back. … Read more
Clear warm days and crisp cool nights promote superb color and quality to roses and annuals that flower until cut down by hard frosts. Petunias, pansies, snapdragons, verbenas, lobelia, alyssum, annual asters, ageratum, cosmos, salvias, scabiosa, and browallias put on a final burst of bloom; dahlias do the same. The garden chrysanthemums practically alone among … Read more