DISCOVERED - Garden Guide
The Great History of Roses
It was roses, roses all the way.- Robert Browning What's in a name? That which we call a rose; By any other name would smell as sweet. - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 scene 2
Botanical Prints for Scientific Research and Collecting
Botanical prints have a wonderful dual purpose: they are lovely aesthetic pieces, akin to fine art, but also have the meticulous detail necessary for science.Botanical prints frequently reflect the preoccupations of society...
Tomatoes: Apples Of Love
Native to the Andean region of South American and under cultivation in Peru in the sixteenth century, tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum) have been grown for thousands of years. The Spanish introduced them to the European...
Quickly Grow a Natural Privacy Screen or Sound Barrier
The Perfect Fast-Growing Evergreen Screen
This week we are featuring an evergreen that is not only fast growing, beautiful and low-maintenance, but supplies the ideal privacy screen - 'Thuja 'Steeplechase.' 'Steeplechase' is a...
Gardening for Seniors and the Physically Challenged
Are you in a wheelchair, and long to dig in the dirt and make flowering beauty and grow far more zucchini than you can give away? Or are your knees just starting to age and even though you've loved gardening all your life,...
Modern Hybrid Canna Lily Improvement
Modern canna cultivars (varieties) began appearing 250 years ago with the collection of native wild cannas that are technically referred to by botanists as species. Canna wild species produced large leaves that were fast...
Lavender Oil
The use of lavender oil as a healer for many illnesses was discovered in 1937 by the French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse. Although skeptical about treatments by natural herbs, he was fascinated by the properties that...
A Review of Martha Stewart
I've never been one for cooking, entertaining company, or designing my home, so Martha Stewart is never exactly been on my radar before. Sure, I heard all about her insider trading scandal and subsequent imprisonment, who...
What are the Most Popular Rhododendrons?
The first Rhododendron to be classified and named was Rhododendron hirsutum. It was discovered by the 16th century Flemish botanist, Charles l'Ecluse. When it was introduced to Britain in 1656 from the European Alps,...
Palm Trees Suitable For Containers Used Outside And Inside Your Home Or Office
Dioon (Gum) Palm Tree - Dioon spinulosumGiant Dioon is technically a cycad of pre-historical origin, and the Dioon palm tree can grow up to 1 ½ ft. in diameter with a Dioon trunk growing twelve feet tall. The bright waxy-green...
The Best of the Yellow-Blooming Magnolias
The first magnolia tree was discovered in 1703 and was named for Pierre Magnol, a French botanist. Over the next 250 years dozens of species were discovered and hundreds of hybrids introduced, all with blooms in various shades...
History Of Olive Trees
Olive trees, Olea europaea, are the oldest fruit trees and certainly are one of the most important fruit trees in history. Olive tree culture has been closely connected to the rise and fall of Mediterranean empires and...
Kolkwitzia Amabilis 'Pink Cloud'
A Profusion of Blooms from Grandmother's Garden
My favorite deciduous shrub for mid-spring color is a plant that was widely grown in grandmother's times - Kolkwitzia amabilis, commonly and aptly named Beauty Bush. This plant...
A Few Gardens Built By The Moghuls
India today, comprises of several magical gardens built by the Moghuls. The first Moghul immigrant to India was Babur who ruled the kingdom of Agra from the year 1483 to 1530. Besides being a warrior he was blessed with a...
Decorative Concrete - The Beginnings
Concrete has been used in construction as a building material and as a decorative medium for over 2000 years. When the Romans discovered how to make their own stone it soon became used for both building and in beautification...
History Of The Discovery Of The Native American Palm Trees
William Bartram, the famous botanist and explorer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was commissioned by the English aristocrats to collect, identify and record the plant and animal life growing in the English colonies. The...
Water Gardens Exposed
Whether you are considering a water feature for your home or whether you build them for a living, this article is for you.There are increasingly greater numbers of people arriving at the startling revelation that water...
Red Rose History
Evidence suggests that the red rose is nearly 35 million years old. The most commonly available roses belong to two broad categories: the Oriental species and their hybrids, and the European or Mediterranean species and their...
Small Backyard Mini-Ponds are Low on Maintenance and Easy to Install
Do you have a space in your backyard you would like to fill with a water feature? Most home-owners would like a large pond, but don't want it so big that a child or dog could fall into. You also probably don't want to dig a...
Tomatoes: Apples Of Love
Native to the Andean region of South American and under cultivation in Peru in the sixteenth century, tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum) have been grown for thousands of years. The Spanish introduced them to the European...