foetid, but fantastic: growing eucomis, or pineapple lilies

Looking to add some life to your home without having to put in too much effort? Why not try a succulent garden? These water-storing plants are perfect for those who want to enjoy the beauty of nature without having to put in too much work. Plus, they come in a wide variety of textures and colours, so you can easily find the perfect look.

Are you dreaming of an exotic garden full of flowers with hard to pronounce names that will awe your guests? An understandable dream. But most tropical green life are not meant to grow in the weather conditions that the UK offers.

The Pacific Bulb Society has a large report on numerous species.

Bromeliads are one of the most colorful plants you can adorn your rooms with. If you want the most stunning ones for your home, then check out these Best Bromeliads Anyone Can Grow Easily Indoors!

Commonly known as the Winter melon and Chinese watermelon, Ash gourd is native to Japan is found commonly throughout India. When touched, the fruit leaves an ash-like residue on hands. That’s the reason behind its interesting name! Here’s all you need to know about growing Ash gourd!

South Carolina is a very special place. From the coast to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, South Carolina has a diversity of climates and landscapes. The diversity of climates allows for different grasses to flourish. Warm season grasses such as zoysia, St. Augustinegrass, bermudagrass, centipedegrass, and bahiagrass flourish at the coast throughout the year, but those grown in the upstate go dormant in the winter. In the dormant stage, the grass turns brown and looks dead, but new growth will appear in spring. Cool season grasses, such as ryegrass and certain fescues, grow best primarily in the upstate but go dormant, or do not survive the heat of summer. Here too, the grass looks dead, with regrowth appearing as the weather begins to turn cool in fall and flourish through spring. Dormant grass still has live roots in the ground that require water, just not as much as when they are actively growing. Unless it has been uncommonly dry or windy, natural rain events are enough to sustain dormant grasses.

Want to add a bit of tropical pizazz to your late summer or early fall perennial border? Then ginger lilies (Hedychium species) are your answer. They are not true lilies but distant cousins of edible gingerroot and originate in Asia. Hedychiums are a sign of good fortune and health and are the national flower of Cuba. In Hawaii, they are often used in leis and are widely grown as a cut flower.

I remember the first time I saw a calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica). I was watching an old Katherine Hepburn movie, “Stage Door.” She swept into the room with an armload of calla lilies and, in her breathless voice, exclaimed, “The calla lilies are in bloom.” Ever since then, the classic beauty of calla lilies has fascinated me. The genus, Zantedeschia, was named in honor of the Italian botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi. The common name, calla, is derived from the Greek word for beautiful.

Pineapple lilies (Eucomis species) are one of my favorite summer flowering bulbs. These attractive perennial bulbs originate from South Africa, and the long, strap-like green or burgundy foliage adds a tropical and textural flair to the garden setting. There are more than 10 species of Eucomis, with new hybrids constantly being developed by breeders. The first pineapple lilies were exhibited at the Chelsea flower show in England in 1760. Eucomis ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ is one of the most well-known pineapple lilies with purple foliage and was introduced by Plant Delights Nursery in 1983.

What makes the gray fox special? Not rarity–though you don’t see them much, since they are neither nocturnal nor diurnal but crepuscular (meaning most active in the twilight of dawn and dusk). It’s their unusual claws. Thanks to hook-style claws that other dog relatives don’t possess, gray fox are one of only two canids who can climb trees. As in fruit trees, for instance, because these guys apparently like a fruit course with a summer meal of garden-fresh chipmunk. Amazing.I got so excited I quickly emailed Jennifer Rae Atkins out in New Mexico, who draws a lot of mammals (and has challenged herself to draw every one on earth, all 5,000ish mammals on the planet, which even at one a day means she’s got 14-plus years of her own version of doodling ahead of her). But Jennifer quickly researched and drew the gray fox, which you can see here. I love the little extra touch she added in the

Under normal circumstances, the bark on P. bungeana’s muscular trunk begins to peel off as the plant matures, and leaves behind a camouflage pattern of greens and yellows and tans. By pruning out some of its evergreen branches and opening up the structure of the plant, you can get a great view of the show from every angle, every day.Mine was really shaping up, getting to be a proper tree. And then HE showed up, the same male sapsucker who spent much of the winter in one of my older magnolias, the same guy who drums on the siding outside my bedroom to stake a claim to the territory in spring, to act really macho. In just a few days of visiting the pine, he’d opened up holes in a large section of the formerly

My clump of ‘Sagae,’ whose highly textural, blue-green foliage is suffused with a warm cream from the edges splashing inward, is probably 3 or 4 feet across now, heading for a maximum of about 6. This is a statement plant: big, bold, beautiful, about 30 inches tall. I treasure it, and was glad to be affirmed in my judgment by the CHO, Tony, who calls ‘Sagae’, the “finest and most dramatic variegated hosta ever introduced.”Another personal must-have would be ‘June’ (above), the month of my birth and also one beautiful hosta. I have to describe it as not just blue but nearly turquoise in spring, the creamy yellow centers heating up to chartreuse against a vivid blue. I’ve found ‘June’ to be a strong grower, clumping up to about 3 feet across, and have made numerous divisions from my original plants.  As summer heats up, the ‘June’ foliage darkens to deep blue with medium green here, but it’s good-looking