Gardeners know the real name of the daffodil is Narcissus. But do you know the story? In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a young man so handsome the Gods forbade him to view his own image. One day, he got involved wih a nymph named Echo, and couldn’t resist a quick glimpse of his face in a [...]
Flowers have been used for almost everything in history, but one of the grand stories is the one of the Hyacinth. It was always popular, but made world famous at the French Court by none other than the beautiful mistress of Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour. She was a highly educated beauty and always more than [...]
Do you know the history of the tulip? How about the daffodil? Unless you know all about Tulipomania, Clusius, and the stories about a goddess named Echo and a handsome youth named Narcissus, you’ll enjoy our article on the history of these two flowers. The perfect conversation starters for spring. Click here.
Everbody loves lavender, and Lavender “Munstead”, the best for the US, is a best-seller every year with our perennials, now on sale. There’s all kinds of detail on growing it on the site; click here for the details. But all you need to know is that lavender is really a desert plant–do not put it into [...]
Well, Martha’s favorite hollyhocks were so popular, now it’s an iris. Our choice of spring-planted irises this year is really wide, including the magnificent Siberian shown at left called “Roanoke’s Choice.” From the Siberians, Japanese, and Louisiana irises we have this year, we’ll choose one free root for every perennial order from now on. Your [...]
These are the famous old hollyhocks called “Chater’s Mix”. As you can see, they’re fully double, and the plants often top out at over 6 ft. We’re giving three of them (one of each color) free with all our perennial orders, so I was clicking around the web the other day to see exactly what [...]
This is the time of year any gardener who’s familiar with the native woodland flowers starts dreaming about spring. For over 20 years in Vermont, we tended a 2-acre woodland garden, and this flower, The Great White Trillium, was the mainstay of our bloom. You can have a look at our own woodland wildflower garden [...]
Since we’re wildflower enthusiasts, we’re not as fixated on the “new” as most gardening sites, but who can resist the latest and greatest? Right now, there is a new info page on our site called “What’s new” showing just 20 of the new things in our Perennial and Spring Bulb Departments, now on sale for spring. [...]
Every year, there are new ones–Orientals, Asiatics, and new crosses of the crosses. One of the most startling that’s new to me this year is “Salmon Star.” It brings a whole new color to orientals which have always been mostly red, pink and white. On the site this year, we have more lilies than ever, [...]
Have you seen them? We have an expanded selection of “Tree peonies” in this year’s perennial sale, now on the site. As lovely as regular peonies are, these really make them ordinary. I’ve personally grown tree peonies, and I remember how exciting it was to see them bloom the first spring. They are really like no [...]
