Few flowers hold greater delight for the flower arranger than the Christmas rose. Many are how it can be used in the house — with the smooth green of laurel or hemlock when flowers are newly open and sparkling white, with golden false-cypress when stamens are fat and yellow, with lustrous leucothoe and mahonia as … Read more
It is, of course, the Christmas rose, the perennial whose beauty is further enhanced by a legend that is as delightful as the plant. We are told that when the Three Wise Men traveled to Bethlehem, they came across a young girl tending her sheep. When the shepherdess named Madelon heard the story of the … Read more
When the last chrysanthemum finally succumbs to a hard freeze, most of us bid goodbye to garden bloom until the snowdrops and crocus wake up in the spring. But the Christmas rose, white and waxy as orange blossom, blooms bravely despite ice, snow, and freezing winds. Lashing sleet may cut and bruise the pearly blossoms, … Read more
Peek into the gardens of landscape designers and expert gardeners, and you’re sure to see at least one of the hellebores. Why? Simple. These long-lived perennials have handsome evergreen leaves. Several varieties unfold lovely flowers during the bleak winter months, and their culture is easy. Give hellebores a permanent, partially shaded home in deeply dug … Read more