If our flowers are to remain alive and beautiful as long as possible, they must have a supply of food. A cut flower is essentially a flowering plant without roots, and therefore its only food supply is the sugars already stored in the leaves and stems. Since the plant produces this sugar during daylight hours, … Read more
Holland in the springtime provides visitors with a fabulous automobile drive along 100 miles of roadways lined with fields of blooming bulbs which include colorful tulips, hyacinths, and narcissus that literally fling their fragrances into the air. At first glance, the impression is that the sky, at sunset, has settled all over the Dutch landscape. … Read more
Temperamental plants may challenge the gardener, but those that come up and flower every spring with cheerful determination assure even the amateur of the thrill of achievement. Surely among the most delightful of these dependable plants are the spring-flowering bulbs. Many of the smaller kinds set out this fall will provide intimate pictures from the … Read more
As plants go, phlox is a truly American plant. To begin with, all the 50+ or so accredited species hail from this continent. The lone dissenter is from Siberia. Phlox belongs in the Polemoniaccae family, which means “flame.” The flowers are generally borne in panicles, cymoses, clusters, trusses, or heads, with rounded individual blooms, sometimes garnished with … Read more
Question: Will creeping Phlox do well in a shaded location? My elm trees shade the bed where I want to plant some perennials that would do well. Can you suggest something else that would be more satisfactory? KL, Kansas. Answer: Creeping Phlox (Phlox subulata) is quite versatile and will bloom under somewhat variable conditions. While it does best … Read more
Question: Which of the Spring flowering bulbs must be put in early, and which can wait until later? Answer: All the narcissi, species and varieties, and the small bulbs, such as crocus, snowdrops, scillas, chionodoxas, and grape hyacinths must be planted early – in September – or early October to make root development before cold … Read more