How to Care for Agapanthus Plants in Winter

The best part of living somewhere cold and snowy is that the wildflowers that bloom after winter bring me a sense of delight I can’t quite describe.Here in Alaska, it’s the wild roses, bluebel

Are you growing your own aloe plant at home? If not, this is your chance to add an attractive ornamental succulent to your houseplant collection that offers tons of utility as well, as part of your homegrown medicine cabinet.Those of us who spend a lot of t

Garlic is such a phenomenal bulb that there’s an entire California restaurant devoted to it. The original location is in San Francisco and it’s called, The Stinking Rose: A Garlic Restaurant.I’ve walked past its aromatic do

The first summer I lived in Alaska, my neighbors brought over a bouquet of enormous, lush pink flowers that I had never seen before. Set in vases against the green walls in my home, I could’ve stared at them for hours.I soon learned that peonies (Paeonia

Some say the plants in this genus are commonly called the peace lilies because the white spathe of their flowers looks like a flag of surrender.I think the combination of columnar central spadix an

When I first moved to southern California from Montana to attend university, I was amazed by the diverse array of stunning plants: the pink sprays of bougainvillea, the purple flush of jacaranda trees, the orange-tufted, sharp-beaked birds of paradise.It’s uncanny how much this flower resem

Johnny-jump-ups are one of my favorite flowers because they pop up everywhere, placing them among the easiest blooms to grow. They’re determined to flourish.Here’s an example: One year, I grew a container of t

While its primary common name makes it sound like this plant comes from the Caribbean island, Cuban oregano is a plant known by many other names as well, including Mexican mint, Spanish (or French) thyme, and Indian borage.Here’s the funny thing: Cuban oregano is not true ore

Boysenberries, Rubus ursinus x R. idaeus, are tasty hybrid berries that typically grow best in USDA Hardiness Zones 5-9.I’m in Zone 4, and it is admittedly audaci

The biggest pumpkins make for the best pie, right?Well… maybe not.Most cultivars are edible, and you can m

The other day, I brought my friend out to the garden and parted the vines of my ‘Howden’ pumpkin plant, revealing an enormous green fruit.“Wow!” said my friend. “That’s beautiful. It looks like a wat

Every spring, I hold my breath and watch the flower beds at the front of the house.The first year that I lived in my little red Alaska home