Recently my sister on the West coast has begun container gardening with hostas. She has several varieties of hostas, each in a container. I gave her the beautiful Hosta 'Liberty' [above] for her birthday. I grew it in my garden…
Twenty years ago I began my research on James Vick, the nineteenth-century Rochester, New York seed merchant. The more I read about him, the more interesting he became as a Victorian writer, horticulturist, and marketer, all rolled up into one…
Yesterday someone pointed out to me a wonderful trait in a sunflower. When the sun shines on it, over time the stem goes tall and the flower turns toward the sun. Flowers can do amazing things. Have you ever heard…
I just finished reading Judith Taylor’s wonderful garden history book Visions of Loveliness: Great Flower Breeders of the Past. She tells a fascinating tale of nineteenth century plant hunting and breeding that changed the practice of horticulture both in Europe and the…
Just received this picture of the newest geraniums from Calliope Geraniums. [below] This image caps a long history of this plant, often called pelargonium. Garden historian Judith Taylor in her book Visions of Loveliness says, "In 1863 [French flower breeder]…