We all know the sweet pea is an old-fashioned flower, still loved by many. The first sweet pea arrived in England in 1699. At the start of the twentieth century it was a most important flower to include in the…
You may wonder where plants get their names. The source could be from anywhere. There just has to be agreement on the name. In the case of the 'dahlia', the name originated from Anders Dahl, a former student of Linnaeus…
Why is it that right now you see chrysanthemums for sale everywhere? The colors are pretty steady. Yellow, orange, white, red, and purple, sometimes with combinations in the colors, seem to dominate. The chrysanthemum has been part of our flower…
What I like about gladioli is that they are tall and showy. Brent Elliott writes about them in his book Flora: An Illustrated History of the Garden Flower. He says, "The first South African gladioli were introduced into England by…
The French philosopher Michel Foucault once said, "The garden is the smallest part of the world and the whole world at the same time." The garden teaches, supports, disappoints, surprises, and gives us pleasure at various times. For some the…