Trees are an essential part of life on earth. They shade our yards, provide wildlife habitat, filter our water, and clean our air. They also store car...Read More
It’s hard to surpass the beauty of a magnolia tree. With their lavish spring flowers, glossy leaves and red cones of fruit, magnolias are prized as ...Read More
May 12, 2022 Eve’s necklace may not be widely known among gardeners. But bees and other nectaring insects sure know it and love it. Formerly called ...Read More
April 27, 2022 In early April I visited Mayfield Park for the Trowel & Error gardening talks. Of course if you visit Mayfield Park you’re going ...Read More
Even if you aren’t familiar with water birch (Betula occidentalis), you may guess that this tree tolerates wet soil. And this is entirely true. Birc...Read More
Spring blooming trees say loud and clear that the world is waking up after winter. With the showy white, pink, or lilac flowers, they look like dancer...Read More
Trees with white bark are striking and different. While most trees are sheathed in some shade of brown or gray, these beauties range in color from glo...Read More
With a common name like the “cannonball tree,” you might expect something out of the ordinary, and you would be right. This tropical deciduous tre...Read More
With a tongue-twister of a botanical name like “Chrysophyllum oliviforme,” you can appreciate the urge to confer common names, and this tree has a...Read More
February 09, 2022 Paxson Hill Farm’s crossroads, where inviting paths branch in every direction A friend asked me how I find gardens to see when tra...Read More
February 03, 2022 Tulip Tree House, made from a hollow tulip poplar trunk Children’s gardens are popping up like toadstools at botanical gardens eve...Read More
Judging from its name, the mountain cabbage tree plant (Cordyline indivisa) may not look like one would expect. Rather than resembling a cruciferous v...Read More
Where do Engelmann spruce grow? The highest, coldest forest ecosystems in the west, those with long, cold winters and short, cool summers — these ar...Read More
Sweetbay magnolia is an elegant, pyramidal tree commonly seen in Southern gardens. The North American native is semi-evergreen to evergreen and blooms...Read More
Plants with white berries are truly unique. Red berries are striking, especially in winter. Black berries are elegant. However, white berries add some...Read More
What is it about a tree with big white flowers that wins a gardener’s heart so quickly? Elegance and romance are suggested, especially when the flow...Read More
Slender and graceful, birch trees are admired by many gardeners. The birch offers enchantment in all seasons. In spring, its bright green leaflets ope...Read More
Red twig dogwood is one of the more ornamental shrubs in the garden in winter. That’s not because of any winter-blooming flowers that decorate the b...Read More
Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia), is a small tree with leathery, lance-shaped leaves and white blooms that show up in spring and summer. This Austral...Read More
European mountain ash trees are not in the ash family, though there is a marked resemblance between their leaves. They are often called rowan trees. T...Read More