Snapdragons
Snapdragons growing in a traffic roundabout in Talpiot, a Jersualem neighborhood, are not like any I have ever seen before. They are uniformly tall, flawless, full-blooming plants and appear to be se...
Category Archives: Flowers
Phenology of Columbine & Early Summer Bloomers
When certain plants bloom, you know summer is here. The study of cyclical biological phenomena as predictors of seasonal change is an actual science known as phenology. Summer may come earlier in som...
Peruvian Lily
Imagine a plant that blooms most of the year in red, pink, rose, orchid, purple, maroon, burgundy, orange and yellow, yet needs little attention. Imag...
Allergenic Pollen Comes From Invisible Flowers
As if gardeners did not have enough to worry about … weeds, insect pests, diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses, snails and slugs, gophers, squirrels, deer, sloping terrain, hard soil, ba...
Nothing but Daisies
If you confined yourself to growing nothing but daisies, you could still see plenty of flowers 12 months of the year – and in every color of the rainbow besides. For years, marguerite daisies h...
True Blue Flowers Rarely Seen
Q: I have heard that blue is the rarest color among flowers. Nevertheless, I am determined to plant a garden of nothing but blue-flowered plants. I have already planted lobelia, plumbago and delphini...
Million Bells
Everyone seems to have a weakness for bellflowers. These small pink, blue and white flowers spill beautifully over a terra cotta pot, or bloom nicely in small flower beds. Calibrachoa (Cali-BRACK-oa)...
Loren Zeldin’s Garden
Loren Zeldin does not own a computer. “I would rather be in the garden in the sun than cramped up indoors in front of a little screen,” he said. Actually, Zeldin has nothing against compu...
From Dogwood to Black-Eyed Susan
Until last Sunday, nearly 15 years had passed since I had seen a dogwood tree. In 1984, I spent several months setting traps for fruit flies in South Central and East Los Angeles. If you recall, the ...
Carnations & Dianthus
A few years ago, I asked the corner florist for carnations. The only response given was a snicker. “Carnations? Aren’t they a little ordinary? We don’t even carry carnations anymore...
