Category: Plants

Posted on in Gardening, Landscaping, Plant Profiles, Seed Starting, Veggies

All-America Selections

Tithonia_Mexican Sunflower_DBG_LAH_7143-001As the seed catalogs pile up on my nightstand, the choices become overwhelming. It’s hard enough to choose which flowers and veggies to grow this coming year. But then there are page after page of cultivars to choose from.

This isn’t a new problem. As is true today, the 1930s was a time when plant breeders were creating a lot of “improved” flower and vegetable cultivars. Were they really better than the old standards? With all the new choices, how could home gardeners know which were the best? (more…)

Posted on in House Plants

Just Call Them Holiday Cactus

Thanksgiving Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata)
Thanksgiving Cactus (Schlumbergera truncata)
Easter Cactus (Hatiora gaetneri)

Is it a Christmas cactus or a Thanksgiving cactus… or perhaps an Easter cactus? If you’ve always wondered which is which, here’s the best explanation I’ve seen yet. It’s accurate (as I would expect), funny, and a thoroughly enjoyable read. I thought, why try to rewrite this and mess with perfection? I found this article on my favorite gardening blog, that of the Garden Professors.

A Cactus by Any Other Name: A Case of Mistaken Holiday Cactus Identity

And if you’re wondering how to get these babies to rebloom every year, see my post from 2009, “Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera sp.).”

Posted on in Plant Profiles, Surviving Winter, Xeriscape

Ephedra in the Garden

Ephedra equisetina_Bluefir Jointstem_ColoSpgs-CO_LAH_5027

It’s only November, but when it comes to gardening in a cold weather climate, it may as well be winter. From the first sudden freeze, now months ago, the leaves have been brown. For those of us who have gardened in more mild conditions, we crave green, especially evergreen shrubs, but the choices are severely limited. There are the ubiquitous junipers and other dwarf conifers. Yuccas. Firethorn (Pyracantha). Perhaps some Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia) if you have a sheltered spot so the leaves can avoid desiccation. Even my supposedly evergreen Cotoneaster is brown. But there’s one often-overlooked shrub that stays green all winter—even if it doesn’t exactly have noticeable leaves.

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Posted on in Botany for Gardeners

Mallows

Who doesn’t like marshmallows? Floating in your cocoa, shaped into a peep, or toasted over a campfire and smashed into a s’more, we all love the squidgy sweetness. I have always wondered where the name came from. What’s a mallow, and what is it doing in a marsh?

Turns out, Malvaceae is yet another family of plants, and one that most gardeners will recognize.

Malva hyb.

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Posted on in Gardening, Landscaping

Black & White

Black coleus & White zinnias_DBG-CO_LAH_7679r

Normally, when we visualize a flower garden, we think color—yellow coreopsis, purple catmint, bright red tulips. Or, you could be more subtle, with a refreshing look in myriad shades of white. But how often do you see a garden full of flowers in monochromatic black and white? Yet, that’s one of the combinations offered last summer at Denver Botanic Gardens. And surprisingly, the results were beautiful. (more…)

Posted on in Botany for Gardeners, Plant Profiles

Deadly? Or Delicious?

Devil’s Trumpet (Datura sp.)
Devil’s Trumpet (Datura sp.)

Eating just a few leaves or berries will leave you writhing on the ground. Your mouth dries, your pupils enlarge, and you run a fever. Within minutes, you gasp as painful cramps turn into vomiting and diarrhea.  First your pulse races, then it slows, as does your breathing. Your head pounds, and then the hallucinations start. You’ve become paralyzed.

But soon, none of that matters any more—because you’ll be dead.

Happily, if you do manage to get to a hospital in time, there’s a good chance you’ll recover, although the symptoms can last up to three days. Eating an unidentified plant is never a good idea, but if it happens to be one of the more dangerous members of the nightshade family, it could be fatal. (more…)

Posted on in Gardening, Landscaping

Bulb Crazy

Bulbs in box 2019-10-010

I did it again. Last spring, in a fit of gardening fervor brought on by the first flowers of the season, I put in an order for more spring bulbs, to be delivered in the fall. With my yard full of crocuses, glory of the snow, and miniature irises—and not much else—it was easy to see where those new bulbs should be planted.

Now it’s October, and I just received delivery. Yes, my box of bulbs arrived just ahead of our first snowstorm of the season. Now I have to plant them. Today.

What was I thinking?

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