by Meg Lynch, Editor

Is there a category at the county fair for Smallest Sunflower? I think I have some contenders!

These are a dwarf variety, so they are supposed to be short. Not quite this short, though. The seed packet said they'd get to about three feet tall. Mine are eight inches, tops. It's my own fault, I think. I did not sow the seeds until the middle of July; mid- to late June would have been better. I also didn't water them at all. So, sure, they're shrimpy, but I'm happy they're actually blooming!

Another curious thing—they're facing the wrong way. I had imagined them facing the street for most of the day (sunflowers wheel their faces around to follow the sun). These little guys are firmly facing my house. Maybe it's a good thing that they're too short to be seen from the road, after all—passers by would just see the backs of their heads.

8/31/2007 3:56:54 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2] 

by Meg Lynch, Editor

I wasn’t really thinking when I decided to experiment with different plants and different colors in my front-yard mailbox garden this year. Don’t get me wrong—I am all for trying new things, especially plants. But doing it at my mailbox is something like experimenting with body art by putting a temporary tattoo on my forehead. Of course, I could just scrub that off once I realized it wasn’t for me. But I couldn’t bring myself to tear out the plants I soon learned do not look good together, so they’ve been out there front and center, looking bad all summer. At least most of the duds are annuals, and I am happy with the few perennials I put there.

This photo shows three keepers. They did great despite receiving very little supplemental water and not much rain. (As evidenced by the wilting impatiens and dead grass.) The orange-flowered shrubby plant is perennial Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’, which has been blooming since early July and is just starting to wind down now. The common name is sneezeweed.

The low plant in the foreground with the pale pink and purple flowers is Coreopsis ‘Limerock Dream’, also perennial, blooming since mid-July and still going strong. Common name, tickseed.

The flowers of both these plants continue to look interesting even as they fade and go to seed.

The purple-flowering groundcover next to the street is annual ‘Oriental Nights’ alyssum, which I started from seed. I’d plant it again next year. 

I won’t show you the other side of the mailbox. I planted a row of sunflowers across the back and they are just starting to bloom . . . sort of. I’ll post a photo later this week. 

See my other notes on my mailbox garden.

8/29/2007 9:28:18 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

by Meg Lynch, Editor

Here are two happy houseplants that I wish I knew more about. Can anyone help?

Neither came with much information. The top plant came labeled Pilea 'Aquamarine', but I haven't been able to find details about it in any of my books, our office library, or on the Internet. It is a nice trailing plant with small round leaves and tiny pinkish flowers.

The bottom level plant came with no tag. I know it's some kind of rhizomatous begonia. At first I thought it was the iron cross begonia (B. masoniana) but the markings aren't quite right. It has very rough leaves. Recently it has sent up dainty white flowers, which have lasted for a couple weeks.

These plants are in a bright sunroom. The lower level of the plant stand seems to be the perfect spot for the begonia—it prefers filtered or indirect light.

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8/24/2007 4:56:14 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

by Meg Lynch, Editor

You've got to hand it to these sunflowers. I took this photo at lunchtime today, on a residential street just behind the Massachusetts statehouse. It looked to me like these plants could only be getting half a day of full sun at the most—it's a narrow street, with four- or five-story buildings on both sides. It seems like someone pulled a brick or two out of the sidewalk to make the world's smallest sunflower patch. That's a pretty determined gardener—and some determined sunflowers.

8/17/2007 4:45:07 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [3] 

by Meg Lynch, Editor

Does this image ring a bell with you? It's just one of several spots where I save my favorite magazines. Besides gardening I'm into cooking, knitting, and sewing. I save related magazines for recipes and projects to try in the future. I like reading National Geographic and Smithsonian, but it takes me a while to get through them, so they usually end up in the basket until a rainy day or a trip comes up. 

We've heard from plenty of readers who save their past issues of Horticulture. Usually they ask us to remind them when a certain article ran because they want to reference it for a current project or task, or they just want to reread it.

Storing and referencing old issues of Horticulture just became much easier. We've put 10 years' worth of issues on one DVD-ROM (like a CD-ROM, it runs on a computer). The articles were scanned right from the magazines, and we organized them to let you search through them a few different ways.

I know it's hard to part with past issues of magazines—and I know it's hard to find the space to save them. Finding that particular article somewhere in the stack can be a challenge too. Our DVD should help!

See highlights from each year, how the disc works, and purchasing info.

8/15/2007 11:52:02 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2] 

by Meg Lynch, Editor

Horticulture's offices are a few blocks away from Boston's Christopher Columbus Park. I popped down there late last week to get a glimpse of the harbor and see what was in bloom.

The beds of impatiens looked nice, and the ornamental grasses in the gardens near the docks are starting to come into their own. But I spent most of my time in the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Garden, a lovely collection of rose bushes within a wrought-iron fence. The plaque outside the gate, dated July 20, 1987, dedicates the garden to all Gold Star Mothers (mothers who have lost a son or daughter in the service of our country). 'Touch of Class', a popular hybrid tea rose, was in full bloom (right).

Here are some of the other roses I saw blooming:

'Peace':

'Garden Party':

'Betty Boop':

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8/7/2007 5:00:21 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1]