The Poinsettia remains a favorite plant for the holidays. Plants, like people, sometimes make a long journey from home to another area of the world. That includes the Poinsettia, a sun-loving tropical plant from Mexico. The story begins with an…
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting a private garden on three acres, south of Boston. The major plant in the garden is the hosta. You might call the owners in fact hosta collectors. Three hundred hosta cultivars add…
It is the start of summer where we gardeners face our summer garden tasks. Well, since I now live in a condominium, my 1 1/2 acre garden has shrunk to about six containers on the balcony. The major issue however…
You may wonder how plants from other cultures made the journey to your garden. Robert Fortune (1812-1880) was an English plant hunter who traveled the world in search of plants for the English garden. Mary and John Gribbin, in their…
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…