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Hydrangea Paniculata

Hydrangea Paniculata

The panicled Hydrangea may be slow to leaf out in the spring, compared to other popular shrubs for the northern garden. Once it gets started, however, Hydrangea paniculata puts on an everchanging show until the snow falls… and beyond. From a mass of lush dark green foliage, the shrub blooms with loose cone-shaped clusters of [...]

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The Poetry of Plant Names

The Poetry of Plant Names

In a treasured old copy of The English Garden magazine I revisited recently, Helen Gunn wrote: There is a general feeling, mostly unspoken, that English names are low brow and folksy. Latin implies education and expert knowledge, no matter if it also sounds affected. She doesn’t deny that it is sometimes very useful to have [...]

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Virginia Creeper for Autumn Color in the Garden

Virginia Creeper for Autumn Color in the Garden

For autumn colour in the garden, it’s hard to find better than the rich burgundy-red foliage of Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). We grow this versatile vine on a rustic cedar trellis (that’s it in the photo) to screen the view of our house from the neighbouring barnyard — but it also looks beautiful when grown [...]

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Tea and Coffee for Roses?

Tea and Coffee for Roses?

Someone told me to pour cold leftover tea and coffee into the potted geraniums. So, is the caffeine supposed to give the plants more energy to grow flowers? I seem to remember hearing something about putting used tea leaves around under rose bushes, too… must look into this… Updated 28/11/2005: Yes, I finally checked this [...]

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Garden Mulch in Autumn

Garden Mulch in Autumn

I was just out in the garden, starting in on the sad autumn clearing up in preparation for winter, half-thinking about getting started on the mulching. But already the mice are starting to find nice homes for themselves in the flower bed, among the dying leaves of the daylilies and in the leftover summer mulch. [...]

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