November/December 2018

Horticulture

Horticulture Magazine

Horticulture2 min read
Editor’s Note
DOES THE END of the year find you reminiscing about days gone by? Most of us do it, and for us gardeners there are likely many plants and plantspeople mingled in among our memories. A few of the stories in this issue reflect as much. The photo on the
Horticulture2 min readEarth Sciences
Let It Lie
ON PURPOSE or unintentionally, many gardeners have left plants in their gardens over the winter. This is a good thing;everyone should consider doing so on a yearly basis. Scientists, specifically agronomists and soil scientists, refer to the plant li
Horticulture2 min readBotany
Short-term Sizzle
IN TALKING ABOUT foliage, gardeners often fixate on color. Plants with brightly colored leaves stand out against all the green at the garden center. Golden redbuds. Chocolate mimosas. Salmon box elder. But while these distinctively colored trees look
Horticulture3 min read
Not Quite Cucumbers
DO YOU LOVE cucumbers? If so you should get to know these three cucumber-like plants that are easy to grow and bear a long crop of tasty, bitter-free fruits. Cute, crunchy cucamelons are the most popular vegetable in our garden. Everyone loves the gr
Horticulture1 min read
Seasonal Checklist
• Prep! Vegetable gardeners who extend their season into late autumn and winter need to check their fabric and plastic covers for rips and holes. It’s a good idea to give these a quick wash if they’re dirty. Lay plastic covers on the lawn and use a m
Horticulture4 min read
The Rose
THAT YOU ARE READING Horticulture magazine shows that you have a great love for cultivating assorted plants. Some of us enjoy the more technical aspects of propagating and nurturing our flora. Others lovingly tend their gardens because they are a co
Horticulture4 min read
By Any Other Name
SURROUNDING THE SMALL village in north-central Michigan where I spent my youth are acres of farmsteads being reclaimed by natural forces, victims of changing agricultural practices and the poor, tired soils inherent to the region. Yet through the ope
Horticulture2 min read
New Intros
The award-winning Hollywood Hibiscus Collection showcases vivid, multi-day lasting blooms, compact habits, and five star performance in containers and landscapes. Rico Suave is one charismatic, disease and pest resistant tropical hibiscus with tri-co
Horticulture4 min readArchitecture
A GARDEN Evolves
The beautiful, seemingly prim and manicured gardens enveloping the 900-year-old, castellated Forde Abbey appear at first glance formal and regimented. This perhaps was once the favored garden design for the large, historic former Cistercian monastery
Horticulture6 min read
UP ON THE Mountain
The Mountain Top Arboretum, which sits at elevation 2,400 feet in Tannersville, N.Y., is the Catskill Park’s only public garden. Like the rings of its giant hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis), its growth and expansion has been slow and steady, culminating t
Horticulture4 min read
THE MOST Passionate Flower
I trace my awakening as a plant lover to an afternoon spent wandering the banks of the Tuckasegee River on my family’s property in the mountains of western North Carolina. I must have been about 12 or 13 at the time. We’d come up from Atlanta for a w
Horticulture1 min read
What’s In A Name?
Gardeners are certainly passionate about these jaw-dropping flowers, but the name is derived from a very different sort of passion: the “Passion” of Christ. Passionflowers, which are endemic to the New World, were unknown to Europeans until early Spa
Horticulture5 min read
A Bug’s Menu
Having spent six decades of my life as a gardener, with two-thirds as a research entomologist, I have been confounded by the choice between what gardeners refer to as native (or natural) gardening and what I grew up understanding as just plain garden
Horticulture4 min read
Poppies, PLEASE
Poppies are one of those flowers that are so finely put together, they don’t even seem real. The papery petals of their often-large yet always delicate flowers last only briefly. Although they resist being cut and brought indoors, poppies continually
Horticulture3 min read
CHEER FOR Coreopsis
In the language of flowers, coreopsis signifies persistant cheer. (More on what the word means in botanical nomenclature later.) These delightful natives of the Americas live up to this symbolism in glorious fashion. Equally at home in naturalized pr
Horticulture5 min read
Plants We Love
Karalee Petite Pink gaura, or wand flower, is a social butterfly in the garden for a few reasons. Its pink flowers look like butterflies, for one thing. Another reason is its habit; with its low foliage and taller stems of flowers, this perennial is
Horticulture2 min read
Pick A Poppy
The hundreds of worthy cultivars make it difficult to pick a favorite. Here’s a sampling to help you decide what will look the best in your garden. ‘Hungarian Breadseed’ (shown)—These grow at least 3 feet in height with large pods following beautiful
Horticulture1 min readArchitecture
Lauritzen Gardens
THE FIRST SECTIONS of Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha’s Botanical Center, were constructed and planted in 1995, but few visitors would guess that this destination is scarcely older than 20 years, or that many of its gardens are indeed much younger than that
Horticulture1 min readGardening
Lauritzen Gardens Favorite Tough Plants
This summer annual can’t be beat for maximum flower power and heat tolerance. High temperatures don’t phase it one bit; it just keeps blooming from spring right up until the first hard frost. Look for giant types like ‘Archangel’ for huge spikes of f
Horticulture2 min read
Wintering Under
WINTER WEATHER is hard on me, as a gardener. I was raised in the subtropics, so the winters where I live now are like a reverse Hell: ice and brimstone. My New Englander wife, Chris, insists we don’t have winter here in North Carolina, so I get no sy
Horticulture2 min read
Cultivate Your Garden
A SUMMER VIRGINIA rain provided relief after the driest July in memory. For weeks, I had watched the ground crack in the hot sun, the weeds extend their spindly probes and the flowers wilt with thirst. I dreaded the garden shovel and soon discovered

Horticulture

More Issues From Horticulture