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Witch Hazel Blooms in Late Winter
Witch Hazel Blooms in Late Winter In southern Ohio it’s a bit startling to see a tree in full bloom at this time of year. Pussywillow and Forsythia are still weeks from showing color, but the “Arnold’s Promise” witch hazel in our garden is ablaze with yellow. Witch hazel look somewhat like Forsythia, but instead of having long drooping shoots they are handsome, upright, vase-shaped shrubs on their way to becoming small trees. Witch hazel gets its name from the Old English term “wiche”,
Birch Trees – River Birch is Best
Birch Trees – River Birch is Best It’s hard to resist the distinctive peeling bark, dappled shade and constantly rippling leaves that make birch trees so easily recognized. Winter or summer, the brilliant white or coral-colored light pink bark stands out in the landscape. Birch is a vigorous, fast-growing, medium-sized tree which can be grown as either a single trunk or multi-stemmed “clump” tree and features white, salmon-cream or brownish bark which is constantly peeling to reveal a creamy
Pruning – Bonsai vs Topiary
Pruning – Bonsai vs Topiary Would you like “low maintenance landscaping” in your yard? You could probably reduce landscape maintenance easily, but you may have to change your ideal of beauty. What sort of landscaping appeals to you? We’ve all seen formal gardens where every plant is neatly trimmed to a perfect geometric shape, or where plants are trimmed in the shapes of animals or other objects. This is the art of “topiary”, or plant sculpture. Is this your ideal of a perfect
Pass On Your Love of Gardening and Plants!
Pass On Your Love of Gardening and Plants! As a child I spent many, many weekends at my grandmother “Oma’s” house. My Oma and Opa were my father’s parents, immigrants from Germany, solid working people who loved gardening and their grandchildren about equally. They lived in a cozy little house on a one-acre lot in the New Jersey suburbs near Philadelphia, a park-like setting that seemed absolutely huge and full of adventure to my young eyes and was. Among my treasures are
