LADY’S MANTLE Cottage gardens are full of frothy plants–low growing specimens with masses of small flowers that make a habit of surging beyond their boundaries. Like the froth on a lapping wave, they encroach gently on walkways or adjacent areas, softening hard lines and creating a feeling of abundance. Low-growing salvias, annual California poppies and … Read more
THE ADVANTAGES OF HEIGHT It is winter. The garden catalogs tantalize me with pictures of eternal sunshine and flowers. The view outside my windows depresses me as I watch the gray branches whipping back and forth in the intermittent wind storm that has besieged us for the last three weeks. If I were more virtuous, … Read more
CROTON The word “croton” or the Latin binomial, Codiaeum variegatum, might not ring a bell, but if you frequent garden centers or indoor plant merchandisers, you have probably seen the tropical specimens that go by those names. The flowers are insignificant, but the foliage is gaudy–large, leathery, semi-upright leaves in shades of bright yellow, green … Read more
SUPERMARKET HELLEBORES Plants can grow in all kinds of unlikely places. Tiny alpine specimens find footholds in rock crevices. Cacti bloom in the desert. Now, it seems, hellebores grow in supermarkets. Innovations arising from globalized plant breeding efforts have moved us forward another step–I think. At this time of year, the supermarkets’ plant and flower … Read more
HOLIDAY CACTUS Some plants are instant gratification items. In December that category usually includes poinsettias and, sad to say, the beautiful, floriferous cyclamen. The problem is that both are greenhouse-grown and forced into bloom for the holidays. Keeping them healthy and bringing about rebloom is a long-term proposition and not many people are willing to … Read more
