Search

  • … Masses of mauve to lavender blue flowers are produced in clusters of two from late winter thru to early summer on this tropical vine native to Central America. In tropical climates the vines can get huge, making spectacular displays …
    Type: Garden Guide Plant
  • … Rosy pink spikes shade to silver at the base of this warm season annual that thrives in full sun, moderate to dry soils, and moderate to low fertility. Protect young plants from bunnies and deer. Songbirds prize the small seeds …
    Type: Garden Guide Plant
  • … A stout barrel cactus from Argentina noted for brown to black thick recurved spines, dull green to blue green color barrel color and flowers that range from white to light pink. Grow in full sun, well drained soils and reduce watering in winter. …
    Type: Garden Guide Plant
  • … the Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden: Naranjilla (pronounced nahr-ahn- HEE -yah). It’s easy to see why. You can find this naranjilla ( Solanum quitoense ) in Bed #10 in the Growing Garden. This attractive plant has large, thick, green leaves, is about 10–12 inches long and 8–10 inches wide, with deeply serrated edges, and is completely … (which are not really hairs—in the botanical world they are called “tricomes” ) . It is native to Ecuador and other South American countries. There is more to notice about this …
    Type: Blog
  • … It’s time for a visit to the Dixon Prairie to savor late spring flowers and the pollinators visiting these plants. A standout plant, looking almost like a small shrub, is white wild indigo  (Baptisia alba).  This is the white-flowered cousin to blue wild indigo  …
    Type: Blog
  • … Fragrant elephant trees are native to the Sonoran desert of the Southwest, where the thick caudex (swollen trunks) store up water to survive droughts. The small grey-green leaves are produced once the heat of summer arrives and change to yellow, orange, and red in fall. In summer, creamy flowers change from greenish-brown seed …
    Type: Garden Guide Plant
  • … The foliage of Profusion crabapple emerges purple and fades to a bronzy green as the season progresses. Deep red buds open to purple-pink flowers, which are followed by deep red fruit that persists into winter. … are small flowering trees that provide a showy display in the spring landscape for 1 to 2 weeks. In addition to the eye-catching buds and flowers, their foliage, habit, and fruit …
    Type: Garden Guide Plant
  • … plants above the mounded, dark green foliage. Most foxgloves are biennial, meaning they have to grow one season and experience cool winter temperatures before they produce flowers. This … moist, well-drained soils and in partially shaded conditions. Deadhead the first year to prevent seed set and encourage a following season of flower. Allow the second year plants to produce and scatter their seeds to ensure future generations in your garden. All parts of the …
    Type: Garden Guide Plant
  • … or early autumn improves the overall health, disease resistance, and appearance of your lawn. To prepare your lawn, mow grass to 1 inch and choose a high quality grass seed. Make sure that the seeds make contact with the … You can use gas-powered vertical mowers, slicers, core aerators, spikers, or slit-seeders to create space for the seeds to make contact with the soil. These machines can be rented. …
    Type: Plant Info
  • … " The Anna Karenina principle states that “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” When we talk about rare species we tend to think of them as a collective group that shares similar traits, however, some argue that … in plant conservation" Botanic Gardens collections are playing an important role in helping to slow the extinction of plant species. A well-planned collection will represent the complete …
    Type: Staff bio