Ganoderma, Adenium, Gazania, Beaucarnea
While walking our dogs in the neighborhood, I saw something I’ve never seen before. It looked like a loaf of some kind of bread under a tree. Then I saw there were several other “loaves”. The bigges...
Category Archives: Advice
Titan Arums and Other Aroids
When it comes to indoor plants, one plant family (Araceae) is seen almost everywhere. Known as aroids or arums, members of the family including devil’s ivy or pothos, philodendron, Dieffenbachia, Ne...
Botanical Expeditions with Dan Hinkley
Imagine that you are the director of Heronswood, a fifteen acre botanical garden and, when you come home at the end of the day, you are surrounded by a six and a half acre garden of your own. Both ...
Bananas, Grapefruits, and Oak Tree Beetles
“I have banana trees that bloom and produce fruit of the ‘Ice Cream’ (also known as ‘Blue Java’) variety. I have heard that I should trim the flower off after a single cluster of bananas has formed o...
Flowers in the Dog Days of Summer
August 11 is the date when the dog days of summer, extending each year from July 3 until today, officially come to an end. These days are characterized by extreme heat along with the lassitude and i...
Tequila Farmers
“Is the life of an Agave lengthened if its flower stalk is cut off early? I noticed that the blue tequila agave farmers in Mexico keep them trimmed off.” Tom Gearhart, Valley Village That’s an excel...
Flamboyant Tree, Floating Row Cover
During the recent heat wave, something curious happened. A tree that had every reason to burn or at least get mildly singed emerged unscathed. But first let’s mention some horticultural favorites th...
Misting, Elephant Food, Angel Pelargoniums
A heat wave is like a brushfire. If it gets too intense, there is really not much you can do to blunt its force. Once a brushfire turns into a wildfire or major conflagration, all the prudent firesc...
Fastigiate Trees, ‘Starry Night’
There is something about fastigiate (fass-ti’-gee-it) trees. You either love them or hate them. Or so it seems. Fastigiate means columnar and I could not help but contemplate this arboreal for...
For Colorful Leaves, Consider Alternantheras
There was a time when if you wanted colorful leaves in partial sun to somewhat shady exposures, coleus was your only option. That was then, but Alternanthera is now. Alternanthera (al-ter-NAN-the-ra...
