-
April Tree of the Month-Crabapple
If one could bottle up the scents of childhood, for me, it would be the lingering smell of melting tinsel against C7 Christmas tree bulbs, The sharp scent of Bactine on scraped knees,…
-
April Shrub of the Month-Burkwood Viburnum
Burkwood Viburnum, Viburnum x burkwoodii is what we call a “hybrid” in the plant world. If you aren’t a botanist or horticulturalist, that little “x” in the botanical name is the clue that…
-
A Visit to the Shoenberg Arid House
It might have been a cool, wet spring so far, but things are hot and dry down at Missouri Botanical Garden. Hot as in “arid,” unlike the typical St. Louis Summer known for…
-
Garden-Lou Spotlight on Lynette Dowell
When you work with microorganisms in a clinical laboratory all your life, you need to find balance from such a sterile, fluorescent-lit workspace. Lynette Dowell, a retired medical technologist, worked in microbiology all…
-
February Shrub of the Month-Bowling Ball Arborvitae
Plants can be beautiful. Plants can be ugly. Plants can be everything in between. Thuja occidentalis ‘Bobozam’ MR. BOWLING BALL, aka Bowling Ball arborvitae, is one shrub that, to some people, goes from…
-
February Perennial of the Month-HUSH PUPPY Fountain Grass
The longer you garden, the more “problem plants” you encounter. This is, unfortunately, how most budding gardeners learn. We see a plant that we MUST HAVE, and before we know it, it becomes…
-
January Perennial of the Month-Elliot’s love grass
Winter is a great time to analyze structure and form in a garden-the “bones” in a sense. Winter interest plants shine this time of year, and one of the top perennials for winter…
-
November Perennial of the Month-Reed Grass
It’s the time of year when our gardening design focus changes from flowers and succession of blooms to winter interest that will have to last for the next four to five months. (Insert…
-
October Perennial of the Month-Anemone
One of the most popular perennials for late season are anemones (Anemone spp., hybrids, and cvs.) or windflowers. Often called Japanese anemones, this perennial usually comes in pink or white blooms that seem…
-
A Garden-Lou visit to the new Oertli Family Hardy Plant Nursery with Derek Lyle
Imagine being a world-class botanical garden with staff collecting rare and endangered plants and seeds from all over the planet to conserve and protect them for future generations. Imagine that same garden with…
