Beyond VioletAfrican violets are pushing the envelope when it comes to colors and flower forms. Ruffles, anyone?
When I was a child, I was totally mesmerized by the intense colors of the African violets that seemed to bloom continuously on my grandmother’s windowsills. I would stare in wonder at those jewel-colored blooms surrounded by collars of fuzzy leaves, fully convinced that only experienced gardeners of my grandmother’s reputation could get plants to bloom so gloriously indoors.
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Features
In a Chicagoland winter, we may or may not have snow. With snow, any garden can look good. Without it, we must pull out a few …
Columns
I’m not paranoid but it’s out to get me. It’s everywhere. It’s in my life, my dreams, my backyard, my garden.
Columns
My name is Mike Nowak and, as you can see, I write a column for this very, very, very esteemed magazine. It’s full color and ...
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The surprise is that there have been so few surprises. But maybe that’s just what happens when you plant a 5-acre “stylized ...
Columns
There’s a reason why tillandsias are called air plants. Just don’t call them airheads.
questions
I dislike staking perennials. Is there anything I can do to avoid it?
I brought a frangipani (Plumeria) back from Hawaii last April when it was just a leafless branch. It sprouted leaves and grew over summer. Now it is losing its leaves. How can I keep it growing over winter? Will it bloom?
I am interested in growing fruit trees in my suburban DuPage County yard. Can sweet cherries be grown here? Can you suggest varieties of apples, pears, peaches, apricots and plums that are hardy and disease resistant?
