Two days ago I saw the first goblet-shaped crocus blossoms just in front of the privet hedge by my driveway. They were little Crocus chrysanthus, early bloomers that are only about half the size of their later blooming, Dutch crocus relatives. They are amazingly powerful little plants, pushing up through the frozen earth, shrugging off … Read more
My house was built in 1882. Two years later, in 1884, botanist Luther Burbank (1849-1926) began to build a better daisy. Another seventeen years passed while Burbank crossed various daisy species. Finally, in 1901, he introduced a new ornamental plant named after one of California’s natural wonders. The Shasta daisy, Leucanthemum x superbum, was born, … Read more
