The Chinese Money Plant – Pass it On
Most of us tend to hang on to our money, but when it comes to plants, we’re different. People love to pass on plants a friend admires, and that is how the popular…
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Why Do the Same Plants Sometimes Have Different Names?
One of the most confusing things to ordinary gardeners is the names of plants. It can be difficult to choose a plant when you find it listed with different names, making you think…
Mutiny on the Bounty Might Never have Happened – the Astounding Story of Breadfruit
The stories of how so many of our garden and food plants were found, and arrived, might sound like dry, boring history – but it isn’t. the incredible tales of explorers bent on…
What To Do When You Can’t Water Your Garden
With drought and heat everywhere, many gardens are suffering. Towns are restricting or banning watering with hoses or irrigation, and suddenly gardeners find themselves in a new world. It is very likely that…
Everything You Need to Know About Gardening – A Guide to Our Blogs
The end of the year is always a time for reflection, and I am reflecting on my writing over 300 blogs on our site. No world-record, but enough to mean finding your way…
Dwarf Crape Myrtles Fit in Every Garden
There is no question that crape myrtles are among the most colorful of summer-blooming plants – that’s something that has been agreed on for 250 years, since the first plants arrived in Charleston,…
Rose of Sharon – Some New Takes on an Old Favorite
There was a time when the arrival of a new plant was a great event. When that happened in Europe around 1600, when a new, remarkable bush began to appear in gardens, one…
The special Story of a Special Plant, the Pillar Hibiscus
The Hardy Hibiscus, or Rose of Sharon, is a shrub that’s familiar to many gardeners. It was once wildly popular but then fell from favor, returning recently with many new varieties. For long-blooming…
Climate Change and Your Garden
Much of the world has been looking in alarm at recent events in Texas. No lights, heat or water for days for millions of people doesn’t sound like America. We can point the…
Ping Lim – a Rose Breeder for Today
Older generations of gardeners who love roses might know the name Sam McGredy. One of the most famous rose breeders of the last century, Irish-born Sam, who was the fourth breeder in his…
Nothing Says ‘Holidays’ like a Citrus Tree
I’m fortunate. I spent years living in zone 3, but today when I look out my window I see golden balls hanging from a green tree in my small yard. No, I haven’t…
Plastic Plants are Taking Over
I was in a store recently and spotted a tray of nice-looking cacti over by the window. I was pretty surprised to find, when I checked them out, that they were made of…
June in the Garden
It is not for nothing that ‘June is Bustin’ Out All Over’ was such a hit song. After all the uncertainties of spring, by now the garden is really moving, and in many…
May in the Garden
Wow, spring is really here! In warmer zones it’s almost summer, but everywhere there are flowers to enjoy, and it’s a great time to be outside, before the full heat of summer arrives….
Black-Leaf Crape Myrtles – A New Look For An Old Favorite
Crape myrtles have been favorites with southern gardeners for a very long time. Their resistance to heat and drought, combined with vibrant flowers produced over a long period, have made sure of that….
An Update for the PG Hydrangea
Travel in late summer through the colder states, especially in the north-east, and everywhere – in parks, private gardens, and even cemeteries – you will see a bush with large white flower heads,…
Garden Plants for Holiday Decorating
The ideal garden is one for all seasons, and that includes the most important one of all – the Holiday Season. Many people decorate a spruce or fir in their garden with lights…
The Fiddle Leaf Fig – the Latest Indoor Hit
Flip through the pages of any interior décor magazine these days, and the chances are you will see a tall plant, with large leaves, being used as an accessory to the latest furniture…