Gardenig in China. Tips & Guides

From minimalism to sci-fi fandom, this plant’s symmetrical, coin-like foliage, slender stems, and glossy, lush green hues satisfy all sleek decor needs.

Happy Friday GPODers!

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Bet you didn’t know you can eat orchids! These stunning blooms are just as lovely in a vase as they are on your taste buds. But not all are edible, and sometimes, not all parts can be eaten. So, let’s explore all there is to know about the most beautiful edible orchids and all their uses!

How to Grow and Care for Weigela Shrubs Weigela spp.

The topic of fruiting quince came up the other day when a friend shared just how productive his tree was shaping up to be this year. Everyone present enthusiastically chimed in with our own quince experiences, memories, and recipes. We all appeared to have had a grandmother with a quince growing in her garden, who would use the fall-gathered fruit for cooking, jellies, jams, to add oomph to apple pies and ciders, and for medicinal—sometimes even alcoholic—purposes! Though most varieties of quince need to be cooked to be enjoyed in our particular climate zone and are firm and astringent at harvest time, this fruit has an avid fan club and is adored for many reasons.

I heard a rustling behind me and turned to see a huge tortoise disappearing under a shrub! That was 25 years ago in South Africa. I was thrilled to see the creature but my fellow gardeners quickly loaded it onto a wheelbarrow bound for the veld (the open grassland) beyond the garden.

Cuttings are a popular and accessible way to propagate your plants. Whether you're an experienced gardener or just starting out, making your own cuttings can be highly satisfying. In this article, we'll explore the world of plant cuttings and provide practical tips on how to take cuttings from various plant species such as the pancake plant, hydrangea, monstera, and orchid. We'll answer frequently asked questions and share useful tools to make the process easier.

Flanking our waterways in great mops of silver green, the willow is the most poetic and mysterious of trees. In many cultures – including ancient Egypt and ancient Greece – it was associated with immortality, death, and the underworld; old English folklore states that if you sit beside a willow and shed tears, the tree will cry with you. In China, where the weeping willow hails from, it represents strength and resilience, reflecting the instruction in the Tao Te Ching to have a flexible attitude: 'A tree that won't bend, breaks easily in storms.' Being pliant and strong, willow is used for weaving, and its light weight and hardness make it the best wood for cricket bats.

China’s first batch of Idesia polycarpa tree seeds, sent into space by the Shenzhou-16 manned spacecraft have successfully bred in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.

“Impossibly unaffordable” are two words that Californians are probably less than thrilled to hear. In a recent report from Chapman University in Orange, California, and the Frontier Centre of Public Policy (FCPP) in Canada, that’s exactly how four California metros are described. The 2024 edition of Demographia International Housing Affordability shows San Jose, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego listed among the top 10 least affordable housing markets—not just in the United States, but worldwide. 

Sure, your home’s primary bathroom should reign supreme when it comes to renovation and makeover priorities. If you have more than one bathroom, it’s the one you’ll use the most, so, of course you want it to be comfortable, serene, stylish, functional… all those things. 

What kind of fruit is this?

How to Plant and Grow Scallions Allium fistulosum and other Allium species

How to Grow and Care for Heavenly Bamboo Nandina domestica

Paul Costello

The flowers of spider lilies emerge on bare stems between August and September. Named spider lily because of its long arched stamens, which resemble spiders legs, these flowers are exotic and bold, perfect for a late summer border.

Gardens are abuzz and harvest baskets are full. Here’s how to soak up the last of the season while prepping for the next.

Thrifting and antiquing are great ways to decorate on a budget while expressing your own, unique style sustainably.

Blazing saddles had nothing on this years blazing Lilies in pots and beds. My current go- too is the oriental ‘Black Beauty’

Rain Lily is the unexpected visitor you didn’t know you needed! Packed with symbolism and cultural significance, let’s uncover the rain lily’s meaning and explore why you should grow it at home!

A crack in a bridge in Tennessee over the Mississippi River could disrupt huge shipments of corn and soybeans from growing regions up north to transportation down south. 

While pruning a neighbor’s much neglected Hydrangea paniculata recently, I found myself musing on the history of this genus in American gardening, whose popularity has waxed and waned through the years. Grown throughout the country in its many forms and employed in countless ways, Hydrangea has found prominence in every style of garden. Often, hydran­geas have been taken for granted and left unattended, like this one I was pruning. Yet even among such disregard, this versatile ornamental lives on, winning over new generations of fans.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it will approve new formulations of the herbicide dicamba. 

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This year Chelsea Flower Show was full of interesting trees and shrubs with lots of dreamy woodland-edge planting in dappled light underneath leafy canopies. Native trees such as hawthorns, hazels and silver birch were the favoured choices in many of the show gardens, with a mixture of native and non-native ornamental plants selected for resilience and sustainability. In Ula Maria’s Forest Bathing Garden, white foxgloves, cow parsley and other umbellifers like Baltic parsley (Cenolophium denudatum) and valerian (Valeriana officinalis) were mixed with the simple shade-loving grass Melica altissima ‘Alba’ while Tom Stuart-Smith showcased intricate tapestries of interesting foliage in different shapes and textures. In other gardens, orange was a popular colour in many shades, from deep rusty orange irises to pale orange geums, especially in Ann Marie-Powell’s exuberant Octavia Hill Garden. As always, the Grand Pavilion is the ideal place to discover new and interesting plants showcased by some of the country’s leading nurseries.

The beauty of the brightly-hued daisy-like cosmos flower is undisputed, but is there something more to it? What sets this blossom apart in the far-reaching world of blooms? Read on to find out the meaning of the Cosmos flower and why everyone should grow it!

About 70 miles south of Jackson Hole, 2150 Robinson Lane is a sprawling property with a castle, fully outfitted with tunnels and towers—and it can be yours for the cool price of $14 million. It hit the market in April, and since then, all eyes have been on this extraordinary real estate opportunity. 

There’s nothing nicer than being outside on a beautiful late spring day, especially if it means you get a whole day away from your desk. Danielle, Carol, and digital editor Christine Alexander recently played hooky from their editorial duties and went on a horticultural adventure at one of New England’s great public gardens. Located in Boylston, Massachusetts, Tower Hill is filled with fun places to explore, including formal gardens, woodland trails lined with native plantings, and two conservatories. After exploring the grounds and chatting about some of the great plants they came across, Danielle and Carol sat down for a chat with Tower Hill’s director of horticulture, Mark Richardson. We hope this episode inspires you to get out and enjoy a field trip to a public garden near you!  

Welcome to an exploration of flowers that start with the letter “B”. From the stunning Begonia to the vibrant Bluebell, this list covers a wide range of flowers, each with its own unique charm.

Behr

It may take up to four years for these plants to start bearing fruits, but our selection of fruit trees are also excellent ornamentals with decorative foliage for your home! Read and bookmark this list of a dozen fruit trees that grow well indoors and in small spaces.

From crocus to clematis, each flower on this list manifests as a masterpiece by Mama Nature! Appearing in surreal pastels and extraordinary form, our pick of Flowers that Look Like Sketches is all the inspiration you need to awaken the Picasso in you!

The bamboo palm (Rhapsis excelsa) is an elegant evergreen fan palm. It has bamboo-like stems and fronds of long dark green leaves with blunt ends, making it an unusual, yet attractive, house plant. Several other house plants are also referred to as the bamboo palm, including Dypsis lutescens (also known as the Areca palm, golden cane palm or butterfly palm) and Chamaedorea seifrizii.

Typically, any usual flower comprises an average of three to six petals. Some plants produce clusters of small blooms fused into enormous flowerheads, while some are mutated, called double flowers, producing an abnormally large number of petals.