Independent gardening advice for real gardens, balconies and windowsills.
A growing reference library of gardening terms, techniques and climate concepts explained in plain language.
The wild clove or bayberry tree of the West Indies. In Jamaica it is sometimes called the black cinnamon. The refreshing perfume known as bay rum is prepared by distilling the leaves of this tree with...
A tropical plant, belonging to the myrtle family, which produces a pleasant rose-flavored fruit, known as the Roseapple, or Jamrosade.
The carob bean. This leguminous plant is a native of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. The seed pods contain a quantity of mucilaginous and saccharine matter, and are used as food for catt...
The name is intended to imply that the plant is as dangerous as Cerberus. The plant has a milky, poisonous juice. The bark is purgative; the unripe fruit is used by the natives of Travancore to destro...
The suwarrow of the Mexicans, a native of the hot, arid, and almost desert regions of New Mexico, found growing in rocky places, in valleys, and on mountain sides, often springing out of mere crevices...
A night-blooming cereus, and one of the most beautiful. The flowers when fully expanded are over a foot in diameter, having numerous radiating red and bright orange sepals and delicately white petals....
The wax palm of New Grenada, first described by Humboldt and Bonpland, who found it on elevated mountains, extending as high as the lower limit of perpetual snow. Its tall trunk is covered with a thin...
This belongs to a genus of palms native of South America. The plant is of tall, slender growth; the stems are used for walking canes, and the young, unexpanded flower spikes are used as a vegetable.
This palm is a native of the north of China, and is nearly hardy here. In China, the coarse brown fibers obtained from the leaves are used for making hats and also garments called So-e, worn in wet we...