Spring has sprung, and summer is around the corner. The poison plants are back, and this summer they promise to send two million Americans to the doctor’s office. The three most common culprits – poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac – are native to the Americas. European explorers hadn’t seen them before. Sometime around
Fresh raspberries are a delectable summertime garden treat. They are delicious in jams, cakes, custards, crepes, and many other mouth-watering culinary delights. Growing your own garden-fresh raspberries is enjoyable as well as economical. Raspberries are cultivated for their delicious sweet fruits. They are eaten fresh or can be frozen for later use. They are also
Peppers are an extremely popular plant to grow indoors or outdoors anywhere in the world whether you’re in a hot or a cold climate, there is always a chance you will be able to grow peppers successfully and get great tasting peppers. The choice of peppers in unbelievable at the moment, and with at least
If you dream about having a successful garden, you should have shrubs. Shrubs give a landscape design its overall structure. With a seemingly endless list of shrubs available to the gardener, choosing the appropriate one for your garden takes a bit of planning. This article covers some common, easy to grow shrubs. Many deciduous shrubs,
Remember the almost magical feeling of your grandmother’s garden, bursting with loads of colorful, fragrant blooms and magnificent foliage? There was always something going on in the floral garden; and nearly every plant had a specific purpose, whether it was for the kitchen, treating ailments, or keeping up appearances. Gardeners of the past created beautiful
Long stem roses are widely considered to be the most popular roses for all occasions. What many people think of as classic long stem roses are in fact Hybrid Tea Roses. A mixture between the Hybrid Perpetual and Tea Rose from China, these long stem beauties have long pointy buds with up to 30-50 petals
The Italian Bellflower is one of the best of all summer-flowering trailing plants. For generations it has been grown on windowsills and sideboards, its long grey-green stems tumbling down the side of the pot. During the summer these stems bear a profusion of small star-shaped flowers. The blooms are clustered at the tips of the
Some people just seem to have a green thumb and a real knack for growing fresh herbs to make gourmet meals. Using herbs grown in a kitchen window can enhance any meal. Most people think that methods to grow an herb garden are complicated but in truth, they are quite easy. The great thing is
Fuchsias occur in a wide range of colours, shapes and sizes. There are hundreds of named varieties of F. hybrida, with the familiar bell-shaped flowers hanging from the stems. These blooms may be single, semi-double or double, with colour combinations of white, pink, red or purple. A collection of these hybrids can provide blooms from
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is important perennial medicinal herb and native to North America, where the dried, powdered root was used by the Plains Indians as an antibiotic to cure rabies, snakebite and septicaemia. Purple Coneflower has traditionally been used to treat or prevent colds, flu, and other infections. Today it is used in homeopathic
Almost everyone loves grapes. These delicious low-calories fruit is small round berry that grows in clusters on a perennial and deciduous woody vine of the Vitis genus. Though the grapes are today cultivated all over the world, but they initially belonged to Mediterranean and European regions. These semi-translucent fleshed grapes are encased by a smooth
Asparagus is a hardy perennial plant. It rises to the height of five feet and up, with a vertical, branching stem, short slender tube like leaves, and greenish sagging flowers. The seeds, which are produced in spherical, scarlet berries, are black, somewhat triangular, and retain their germination powers four years. It is indigenous to the
