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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Here’s the thing about gardening: it’s never done. So now 2015 is winding down, the year in which I thought my garden would …
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The weather outside is still a tad frightful, but the sunshine and the longer daylight this past week seem to have triggered ...
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Something was wrong. I could sense it. How? That’s my job. My name is Begonia. Rex Begonia. I’m a detective. A garden ...
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It helps to go out and look at your garden every day. After a Saturday morning spent hacking out purple violets with the ...
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Where I grew up, it was common for us, whenever we were in a town, to drive around looking at the different neighborhoods …
questions
I have a large variegated sedum with pink flowers that I have had for years. I noticed that it has started to send up some all-green shoots. Why is it doing this and how can I keep my plant variegated?
Must I mulch my garden and, if so, when is the best time to apply it? What are the best materials to use?
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?
