Horticulture

Fads come and go. Many can be good, even if only briefly. A few might be bad enough to later stigmatize the object of the fad. For example, the formerly esteemed crape myrtle is now familiar as a mundanely common tree. Flashy bloom and...

All cacti are succulents. However, not all succulents are cacti. Actually, cacti are a very unique family. Their distinctive spines and thorns are very specialized leaves and stems. Such specialized leaves can not photosynthesize without green chlorophyll. Therefore, cacti rely on their succulent green...

Oleander that inhabits freeway medians is poisonous enough to be hazardous. Two tons of Buick cruising at 65 miles per hour past such oleander has more potential to be hazardous. The risk associated with toxic plants within freeway medians is as limited as their...

The weather this year has been a cold hot mess! Both the worst frost since 1990 and the worst storms since 1982 occurred in one winter. Then, cold wintry weather lingered into spring to inhibit spring bloom. Now, cool and mild weather of spring...

As you approach former Saratoga mayor Jill Hunter’s front door, you can’t help but notice her blooming backyard garden basking in the sun. Step inside, and her keen eye for plants is obvious. They are the center of attention. What else would you expect from someone...

Within the outdoor rooms of home gardens, shade trees are ceilings, shrubs and hedges are walls, and turf and ground cover plants are floors. That is why the selection of plants for such purposes is as important as the selection of paint and carpet...

Seed is the most familiar source of much of the vegetation that inhabits home gardens. It is the origin of almost all vegetables and most annual flowers. Some seed grows directly into its gardens. Some grows in nurseries to become saleable young plants. Seed...

Living Christmas trees require attention after Christmas. Some can only be contained for a few years, while others need to be graduated to the garden.

Halloween seems to be an appropriate time to bury early spring bulbs in shallow graves. The season begins about now, and continues until about the end of the year. Installation of new bulbs might initially be ungratifying. There is nothing to show after their...

Some of the earliest of spring flowers are done blooming. More are just beginning. Then, a few early spring flowers barely qualify as early. Their fresh color is especially pleasing after such an atypically wintry winter. Many are delightful cut flowers. A few that...