Dahlias for the Masses
Certain plants , whether they like it or not, become part of a wave of popularity. One day nobody grows them, and the next you can't find them in the nursery. That's the case with the dahlia, my favorite flower.…
http://americangardening.net/secrets-of-dating-after-50/
After 1880 advertising in newspapers and magazines meant more than simply information about a product for sale. From that time advertising, through its illustrations, sought to motivate the buyer to make a purchase, and even to create a need for the…
Inspiration behind this Blog
It does not seem possible that I have written 984 posts on this blog since its launch September 9, 2010. But that is the case. Here is a press release I wrote about the origin of this blog at that…
Hybridyzing Created High Expectations
Hybridizing became popular in the nineteenth century, especially when growers sought new plants for the garden. There was a side effect however. Horticulturist Lawrence Griffith in his book Flowers and Herbs of Early America makes the point that because of…
Alternanthera – an annual, once considered a weed
The alternanthera has always held a high spot among my favorite plants for bedding or edging. The popular garden writer Eben Rexford wrote in 1910: "Carpet-Bedding is not the most artistic phase of gardening, by any means, but it has…