Poisonous Plants
Daphne, a shrub with tiny clusters of fragrant flowers, is poisonous as well as having sap that is a skin irritant. Just a few of Daphne's brightly colored berries could kill a child.
Jan 30, 2025•2 min
Focus on Flowers
Focus on Flowers is a weekly podcast and public radio program about flower gardening hosted by master gardener Moya Andews.
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Episodes
Amusing Quotations
I have avoided dealing with some pressing but boring tasks today by reading some amusing quotations about gardens and gardening. Here are some you may enjoy: Barbara Spindel wrote recently, "Gardens have been sites of transgression ever since Eve and the serpent."
Jan 23, 2025•2 min
Nicholas Culpeper
Nicholas Culpeper was the son of an English clergyman, and he studied medicine at Cambridge University in the 17th century. When he began to practice, he gave plant medicines at minimal cost to his impoverished patients.
Jan 16, 2025•2 min
Beth Chatto
In the 1960s, Beth Chatto started her garden on an unwanted wasteland in Essex, England. She was an ecologist and knew how to select plants that are adaptable to any conditions.
Jan 09, 2025•2 min
Evergreen Holly
During the holidays, it is satisfying to be able to pick a vase of holly with bright red berries to decorate our homes. It is also a welcome gift to present to neighbors and friends.
Jan 02, 2025•2 min
The Winter Garden
Stripped of its lush spring and summer growth, the winter garden nonetheless has a charm of its own. It is all about contours and shapes and the way the ice and snow transform items and add sparkle.
Dec 26, 2024•2 min
Perfumed Gifts
If you are wondering what to buy as a holiday gift for a gardening friend, you can order a shrub now to be delivered next spring. There is a wonderful, scented viburnum that I have in my garden...
Dec 19, 2024•2 min
Gifts for Gardeners
If you are looking for a holiday gift for a gardener, now is the time to order online. You will, of course, have a delivery date of next spring when it is safe to plant, but a notification of the spring delivery will be sent to your lucky recipient before the holidays.
Dec 12, 2024•2 min
Hellebore Flowers
There are so many new varieties of hellebores now available, and these plants make perfect gifts for gardeners. In early spring when there are no garden flowers available, I am so grateful when I look under the leathery leaves of my hellebores and find flowers to pick for the house. It is a wonderful joy.
Dec 05, 2024•2 min
Zealous Spreaders
If you prefer not to use strong pesticides, there are other ways to get rid of unwanted aggressive and invasive plants.
Nov 27, 2024•2 min
Dividing Plants
Many perennials like to be divided in the fall, especially if they have outgrown their space or have ceased blooming well.
Nov 21, 2024•2 min
Potpourri
Making potpourri from flowers is an easy dried-flower craft. It smells lovely and makes a great gift and looks pretty in bowls, baskets, and jars, reminding us of summer.
Nov 14, 2024•2 min
American Marigolds
The Aztecs who first inhabited South America domesticated the plant that we now call marigold many years before any Europeans ever set foot in the area that we now call Mexico.
Nov 07, 2024•2 min
Magical Powers
Since the beginning of time, it seems that humans have ascribed magical powers to flowers.
Oct 31, 2024•2 min
Our Native Rudbeckia
Rudbeckia hirta is the botanical name for our bright yellow black-eyed Susans that light up our gardens in late summer and fall.
Oct 24, 2024•2 min
Our Native Lilies
One of our native lilies is the spectacular Lilium superb , spelled “superbum,” (but it is not pronounced as it is spelt). Its petals recurve, so a common name is Turk's cap.
Oct 17, 2024•2 min
Our Native Physostegia
The Latin name “Physostegia” refers to the calyx, which covers their seed pods. “Physa” means bladder and “stege” means a covering. Common names are false dragonhead and obedience part because the stems can be bent up and down and sideways without breaking.
Oct 10, 2024•2 min
Our Native Solidago
When goldenrod is in bloom, it indicates that fall is in the air. It does not cause hay fever (That is ragweed!), as the pollen of goldenrod is too heavy to be dispersed by the wind.
Oct 03, 2024•2 min
Our Native Lobelia
The lobelia family is extremely diverse but there are two American natives that are hardy perennials: Lobelia cardinalis and Lobelia siphilitica.
Sep 26, 2024•2 min
Wild Petunia
Many years ago, I bought a perennial plant at a nursery, and after I planted it, found that there was a ride-along plant in the pot.
Sep 19, 2024•2 min
Our Native Liatris
There are few flowers like liatris in the flower world, as the blooms open on top of the stalks first, and the ones on the bottom open last.
Sep 12, 2024•2 min
Heuchera sanguinea
Heuchera is the botanical name for coral bells .The one that is most frequently found in our gardens is Heuchera sanguinea -- tiny bell-shaped flowers on 15-inch stems dangle above mounds of deep green leaves. The flowers are bright red, which explains why “sanguinea,” which means blood red, is in the name.
Sep 05, 2024•2 min
Eupatorium purpureum
Our native Eupatorium purpureum, commonly known as Joe Pye weed, flowers in late summer and fall, producing tall clusters of fluffy purple flowers.
Aug 29, 2024•2 min
Groundcovers
Ground cover plants are a bit like area rugs in our homes, as we can mix and match them or plant many of the same type of plant to cover bare patches.
Aug 22, 2024•2 min
Helenium
In a cultivated garden, helenium looks best with other yellow or bronze flowers that bloom in the fall, and they light up a flower bed as the growing season draws to a close.
Aug 15, 2024•2 min
Gaura
If you especially enjoy delicate, airy types of flowers, then you should grow Gaura to enjoy in your garden and in flower arrangements.
Aug 08, 2024•2 min
Tickseed
Coreopsis is from the Greek word koris meaning bug and opsis meaning resemblance to. This is because the seeds of coreopsis took like small ticks.
Aug 01, 2024•2 min
Queen Anne's Lace
Farmers do not care for wild carrots that grow in their fields and on roadsides and produce thousands of seeds that produce more plants.
Jul 25, 2024•2 min
Native Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea flowers well from mid-summer to early fall and combines well with most other flowering perennials.
Jul 18, 2024•2 min
Vita's White Garden
Vita Sackville West's white garden at Sissinghurst in England is world famous. Here is her own description of the plants in it.
Jul 11, 2024•2 min
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