Home & Garden category, Page 4

Lemon Coral sedum celebrate the flowers

A funny thing happened on the way to May: I have what looks to be a million tiny yellow flowers. It happens every year for about four to six weeks, but no one talks about it. Some even look away. Lemon Coral sedum was the 2019 Proven Winners Annual of...
Sunflowers: Popular, native and, for some, newly meaningful

The annual sunflower (Helianthus annus) has a long history in North America, with evidence of its cultivation for food, ceremonial and medical use by Native Americans dating back to at least 1,000 B.C. Sunflower seeds are said to have been brought to Europe by Spanish explorers around the late 16th...
Pennsylvania garden centers, landscapers begin phasing out newly banned plants

The latest round of plants added to Pennsylvania’s noxious weeds list reads like a directory of popular landscaping options. Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), callery or Bradford pear trees (Pyrus calleryana) and Ravenna grass (Saccharum ravennae; Tripidium ravennae) have been staples of urban and particularly suburban landscaping for decades. All three...
Want kids to love gardening? Give them a job, seeds, a pass

Gardeners are made, not born. If you want your children to become enthusiastic gardeners, take steps early to get them going down the proverbial path. It isn’t difficult, but it might require an adjustment to your attitude about children in the garden. The first step is to pique your child’s...
Phipps Conservatory spring show awash in ‘sunshine and rainbows’

Even though the Western Pennsylvania landscape is still a bit drab, the glasshouse at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is bursting with color. This year’s Spring Flower Show: Sunshine and Rainbows opens Saturday in the historic glass house in Pittsburgh’s Oakland section, one day before the vernal equinox. The display...
Phipps Conservatory unveils long-term ‘Tropical Forest Hawai’i’ exhibit

Nature, history and culture intertwine in “Tropical Forest Hawai’i: Aloha ‘Aina,” a new long-term exhibition in the Tropical Forest Conservatory at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh. The major redesign of the 12,000-square-foot, 60-foot-high space is the result of a multi-year process of research and planning that took Phipps...
Growers will share ‘joy of orchids’ at annual show in Upper St. Clair

Beautiful, exotic blooms aren’t the only draw at the Orchid Society of Western Pennsylvania’s annual orchid show. This year’s two-day event also will include a silent auction, an hourly raffle of orchid plants and orchid-related items, a sales area, a repotting table and educational opportunities. Show hours will be noon-8...
Pa. bans sales of Ravenna grass and 2 species of buckthorn trees

While spring gardening might not be foremost on residents’ minds during a snowstorm, the state announced Friday it will ban plant sales of certain pampas grasses and two varieties of buckthorn. The state Department of Agriculture added three species to the state list of noxious weeds, which are non-native invasive...
Showy amaryllis makes a perfect Valentine’s plant or gift

Easter has lilies. Thanksgiving has gourds. Christmas has poinsettias. And Valentine’s Day should have amaryllis. For the uninitiated, amaryllises are big bulbs that can produce among the biggest and showiest flowers a gardener can grow indoors (maybe outdoors too). Best of all, water and a bit of light is all...
Holey leaves and vines! A look at houseplant trends for 2022

After the houseplant heyday of the 1970s, the penchant for potted green companions faded with all but the most dedicated plant parents. But over the past decade, as many young adults began filling their homes — and social media feeds — with indoor plants, a cross-generational audience started to take...
Phipps Conservatory orchid, bonsai show highlights prized collections

An orchid that recently was awarded the American Orchid Society’s Certificate of Cultivation Excellence is among specimens displayed in “Orchid and Bonsai Show: An Ocean of Color,” running through March 6 at Phipps Conservatory. “Plants receiving this award represent the highest level of orchid culture,” said Adam Haas, interpretive program...
Resolutions for a generous and green new year in the gardenVideo

Something miraculous happens to gardeners at this time of year. I don’t know what triggers it. Perhaps it was the sight of Christmas trees and lights, or the presence of all those poinsettias. Whatever the cause, by January, gardeners have let go of last year’s gardens and start to dream...
Pots and perches to show off your houseplants in style

Houseplants have been keeping a lot of us company during the pandemic, and the good news is there’s a plant for any home, big or small, well-lit or not. There’s also a virtual jungle of stylish containers in which to show them off. “I love incorporating plants into our interior...
Most herbs don’t thrive on winter windowsills, but this pair does

Windowsill herb plants would seem a perfect antidote to winter’s visual and culinary blandness, except that such plants rarely do as well as billed. The ideal windowsill herb thrives despite dry air and relatively low light conditions to offer intense aroma and flavor. And it should be a pretty plant...
Ginkgo grew with dinosaurs, and is still worth growing

There are some trees whose showiness does not end once they’ve lost their leaves in autumn. Some trees have an attractive bony framework that is then revealed. Ginkgo tree, for instance. Leafless, a ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) tree, soft and green in summer, appears as if each main limb knows where...
Phipps Conservatory brings ‘Sparkle and Shine’ to winter flower show

Holiday decorations shine, sunlight on snow sparkles and Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens both sparkles and shines with the return of the winter flower show. “Sparkle and Shine” is the theme for the extravagant “Holiday Magic! Winter Flower Show and Light Garden,” running through Jan. 9 at the facility in...

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