Wheat is technically a grass but is also referred to as a cereal grain. About twenty types of wheat grown from seven species are used for commercial and household purposes, including einkorn, emmer, durum, and spelt. The wheat plant is the same plant as wheatgrass; only the growing method differs, since grain needs a full […]
Dragon fruit cactus, also called pitaya, is an attractive, rapidly growing exotic houseplant that produces stunning, delicious, colorful fruit. Grown in a pot and given at least six hours of bright sunlight and warmth, it can fruit indoors, and it keeps producing through the winter when heat and light are adequate. The plant, Hylocereus undatus,
Alocasia Black Velvet (Alocasia reginula) makes a big impression in small spaces. Most plants in the Alocasia genus grow large, tropical, heart-shaped leaves that give the group its common name of elephant ears, but black velvet stays slow-growing and compact. Gardeners sometimes call it a jewel alocasia because of its diminutive size. The main attraction
N’joy pothos (Epipremnum aureum ‘n’joy’) is a compact, variegated pothos beloved for its white-and-green leaves and vining growth habit. A cultivar of the popular marble queen pothos, it has smaller, thinner leaves with more pronounced areas of variegation. The University of Florida discovered the plant in 2002, and houseplant growers have propagated it ever since.
Japanese cedar, known as sugi in its native Japan and botanically as Cryptomeria japonica, is an evergreen conifer and the national tree of Japan. Despite the common name, it is a cypress, not a true cedar, and it belongs to the cypress family Cupressaceae. The tree grows upright with a straight trunk, carries all-season visual
The common name passionflower applies to any of nearly 500 species of perennial vines in the Passiflora genus, though only a small number are grown as garden plants or houseplants. Blue passionflower (Passiflora caerulea), also called bluecrown or common passionflower, is by far the most common choice indoors, with blue or purple flowers that give
Perennial dianthus, commonly called pinks because of the fringed, pinked edges on its petals, returns reliably year after year in USDA zones 3 through 9. The low, mounded plants produce clove-scented flowers in white, lilac, red, and pink from late spring through fall, and they tolerate more neglect than most garden perennials. If you already
A strawberry pot turns a narrow patio corner into a productive garden. The tall, urn-shaped container holds plants in side pockets as well as the top opening, so a single pot supports a dozen or more strawberry plants in the footprint of a floor lamp. The same design grows herbs, succulents, and trailing annuals, which
Kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos spp.) is one of the most recognizable flowers to come out of Australia, sending up tall stems topped with tubular, fuzzy blooms in red, yellow, pink, and orange. The common name comes from the flower’s paw-like shape, and the long, sword-shaped leaves resemble daylily foliage. In USDA zones 10 and 11 the
Few ground covers match snow-in-summer (Cerastium tomentosum) for sheer spring impact. The hardy perennial blankets slopes and borders with small, notched white flowers in early summer, and the effect from a distance is exactly what the name promises: a fresh snowfall sitting on the garden. Its silvery, woolly foliage keeps the mat attractive for the
