Spectacular Yellow Flowering Golden Chain Tree
The spectacular springtime show of yellow flowers gives Laburnum its common name Golden Chain Tree or golden rain. But the laburnum also has its dark side, for it is one of the most poisonous trees growing in the British Isles. Like so many of the more colorful trees that grow in Britain. This lovely tree is not native to...
Sculptural Plants – How shape and texture add a spectacular new dimension to the garden
The sculptural plants recommended in this article have mostly been chosen for the beauty of their flowers, foliage, fruit, or bark. But some plants have another valuable attribute: a Sculptural Plant's quality — that is, a dramatic, graceful, or otherwise interesting shape, or perhaps texture.
Sculptural Plants have several functions. It may be needed in the center of a...
ALDERS, Alnus species
ALDERS, Alnus species
Alders belong to the birch family Betulaceae and belong to the genus Alnus. Around 35 monoecious species of trees and shrubs are found in this genus. The leaves of alders are alternate, simple, serrated, and deciduous with a few exceptions. Usually, before leaves appear, the flower buds develop into catkins with elongated males and females on one...
Tabebuia and Handroanthus
Genus and Family: The genus Tabebuia is native to the Amazon rainforest and other tropical parts of Mexico and Central and South America. It included nearly 100 species of trees commonly known as trumpet trees, named so because of the shape of the flowers. In 2007, about 30 species of trees in Tabebuia were renamed Handroanthus when molecular studies...
Willows, Salix spp.
Origin and history: Willows comprise a large number of trees and shrubs, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. For this article, we will only cover some of the tree willows and their uses. As a result of their shallow root systems, tree willows are common riverside plants that help stabilize riverbanks with their large, shallow roots. Willow is the common name...
Pink Trumpet Tree Tabebuia heterophylla
The eye-catching Pink Trumpet Tabebuia heterophylla Tree grows at a reasonable rate from a slim pyramid when young to a broad silhouette, 20 to 40 feet tall. The palmately compound green leaves are evergreen throughout most of their range but may be briefly deciduous as the new leaves emerge. The showy display of pink or white, bell-shaped blooms appears...
Why Drunken Trees Behave in Mysterious Way
What are Drunken Trees?
Drunken trees are a stand of trees displaced from their normal vertical alignment. This most commonly occurs in northern subarctic taiga forests of black spruce under which intermittent permafrost or ice wedges have melted, causing trees to tilt at various angles. Some trees survive their soil eroding and continue to grow. Others collapse or drown as...
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea)
Description: The purslane plant (Portulaca oleracea) is a very common weed in moist, sandy soils. However, French gardeners have developed specific varieties for salads. It is also known as parsley or little hogweed.
According to scientists, Native Americans had already eaten the plant, and their seeds spread to other tribes. Currently, it is unknown how it reached the United States....
Cranberries Get You Bogged Down
In flood-irrigated fields between Port Orford and 10 miles north of Bandon, you may notice what appears to be reddish-tinged ground. Cranberries are small evergreen bushes that creep along the ground and send out runners that take root when you get closer. Pink flowers and deep red fruit bloom along upright branches 6–8 inches long along the runners.
For their...
Rhododendron calophytum – Magnificent Evergreen Tree
Rhododendron calophytum is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae. This is also known as beautiful-face rhododendron, which is growing to some 15 m high, with a spread of 10 m. This magnificent evergreen tree rhododendron is no plant for a confined space. It needs to be grown on the edge of a copse or in a...
World’s Most Beautiful Tree Tunnels Revealed
Well, when true nature branches out, it is nothing short of magical. Whether they’re formed unintentionally, naturally, or with a slight helping hand, “Mother Nature's" finest tree tunnels in Europe, America, and Asia are a sight to behold. From intertwined beech branches in Northern Ireland to blossom-covered streets in Japan, the most beautiful tunnels around, from maples to oaks,...
Top 25 Oak Facts You Should Know
Oak Facts
The oak tree is a deciduous tree that grows in temperate zones around the world, and it is one of the most important trees in the world. Oak trees are evergreen, which means that they keep their leaves all year round. They can grow for hundreds of years and live for about 500 years. The oldest oak tree...
The Strange Bottle Tree of Queensland
The strange Bottle Tree of Queensland is nature's wonderful gift. The Queensland bottle tree "Brachychiton Rupestris" also known as a narrow-leaved bottle tree, It is originally classified in the family Sterculiaceae, within Malvaceae, and is native to Queensland, Australia.
Its grossly swollen trunk gives it an astonishing appearance and gives rise to the name. Bottle trees can grow in...
The Facts of Halesia tetraptera
The common silverbell is also known as the mountain silverbell, Carolina silverbell, or Halesia tetraptera. The Carolina silverbell can be planted along stream banks, in shrub borders, against a background of large conifers, or as a single specimen.
However, it is not commonly found in American gardens. This species forms a rounded crown and has a low-branched profile, often with...
Birch (Betula alba)
Birch (Betula alba) is a graceful native tree that will refresh your life and fill it with excitement and passion. The bark of a tree will become whiter with age. However, the green summer foliage turns golden in autumn. The tree species is suitable for most well-drained soils though not shallow chalk. The Common Silver Birch, also known as...
The Whistler Tree in Portugal
The Whistler Tree is a more than 235 years old natural wonder in old cork oak from Águas de Moura, Palmela, Portugal. This cork tree is about 16.3 m (53 ft) tall and has a diameter of 14 ft.
In 2018, The Whistler Tree is voted European Tree of the year. It is also known as the monumental Cork...
The Black Sapote – Chocolate Pudding Fruit
The Black Sapote “Diospyros nigra” is a species of persimmon in the family Ebenaceae. It is also called “chocolate pudding fruit” and black snap apple. Black Sapote is a tropical fruit mostly grown in Mexico, Central America, The Caribbean, and Colombia. Sapote means soft edible fruit and has no relation with white sapote or mamey sapote. The tree can...
Gloriosa Superba – A Precious Medicinal Plant
Gloriosa superba is an important medicinal plant in Asia and Africa. It is used in diseases and is in high demand in pharma industries as this is a source of colchicines and colchicocides, which are very costly. Due to the unnecessary use of the plant for various medicinal purposes, the species is on the edge of extinction and is...
Ficus – Most Popular House Plant
One of the most popular houseplants is the weeping fig, also called Ficus benjamina”, normally just called “ficus”. Though related to the edible fig, it does not bear fruit, but it makes a beautiful display as an indoor plant. Thus, a bushy tree that might grow up to 50 feet in its native Malaya.
It can easily be kept...
Larch – An Evergreen Wild Tree
Larches look for the entire world like evergreen trees. Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Larch is also called Larix, is a long waving twigs that have tufts of small needles; they even have cones. But come fall those needles turn yellow and fall off just like the leaves of any deciduous tree.
And...
Magnolia Tree – A Handsome Ornamental Tree
The magnolias are handsome ornamental trees. The Magnolia Tree with its showy flowers, its dark green leaves, and its relatively small size. Magnolia Tree is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol.
They are generally thought of as southern plants, but...
Butcher’s Broom – The Fruits Grow on its leaves
The mysterious and rarely seen Butcher's Broom, or (Ruscus aculeatus), is a low-growing permanent shrub. It has hard, erect stems and very rigid leaves that lay off on a sharp spine. Thus, from the center of the leaves grow small greenish-white flowers. The flowers flourish in early spring and grow into red berries in autumn.
The small red berries...
The Grass Tree Xanthorrhoea glauca
The grass tree, also known as “Xanthorrhoea glauca," is a large plant in the genus Xanthorrhoea, mainly widespread in eastern Australia. The tree has many branches and its trunk can grow more than 5 meters tall. The grass tree is sporadically seen in large communities in woodland on the steep edges and sides of gorges. It is mainly in...
Coffee Tree – Combination of Foliage and Flowering Plants
Although it doesn’t produce coffee beans when grown as a house plant, the Coffee Tree, with its glossy green leaves. It is an ideal choice for a strong display of foliage. The Coffee Tree makes a dramatic feature on its own or in combination with foliage or flowering plants.
The Coffee Tree originally from Africa was introduced to Europe in...
Stevia rebaudiana – An Incredibly Versatile Food Ingredient
Stevia rebaudiana
No plant offers as much sweetness as stevia, and no plant produces as safe a sugar substitute for diabetics as Stevia rebaudiana. Stevia syrup is nothing short of fabulous, unlike the fresh and dried leaves. Stevia flowers are preserved in honey by Brazilian visitors to the Herbal Center gardens as a winter medicine.
The origins of Stevia can...