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Favorite garden books?

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I have a stack of gardening books that I keep handy in my living room.

I delve into the books for information to put into this blog or whenever I’m looking up a new plant and want to learn all about it before purchasing it, or in most cases after I’ve purchased it. Yes I’m an impulse plant purchaser.

I was wondering what kinds of gardening books my readers have at home? Here’s a list of what I have on hand:

  • Botanica’s Pocket – Annuals & Perennials
  • Ortho’s All about Azaleas, Camellias & Rhododendrons
  • 500 Popular Roses
  • 100 Easy to Grow native Plants for Canadian Gardens
  • The complete book of Garden Flowers
  • Readers Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening in Canada
  • Complete Guide to Gardening (Better Homes and Gardens)
  • Botanica – The illustrated A-Z of over 10,000 plants

I think I’ve got a good start to my collection. What do you have that I should be sure to get for myself?






What is a bulb anyway?

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Bulb, Corm, tuber, Rhizome! What does it all mean?

The term “bulb” is commonly used to refer to the thickened underground storage organ produced by some plants. However, many of what we call bulbs may be corms, tubers, tuberous roots or rhizomes.

You might think of a bulb as you would a chicken egg. The outside of a “true bulb” is a compressed stem (basal plate) bearing a growing point or flower bud and enclosed by thick, fleshy scales called bulb scales. Much like the egg’s shell protects the growing chick enclosed inside the egg.

Some true bulbs such as narcissus, amaryllis and tulip are protected from drying and mechanical injury by dry and membranous outer scales called a tunic. Other true bulbs such as lilies are called non-truncate or scaly because their outer scales are succulent and separate, giving the bulb a scaly appearance.

A corm is a solid mass of stem tissue with a basal plate on the bottom and a terminal shoot bud on top. In addition to the terminal shoot bud, axillary or lateral buds are produced at each of the nodes along the sides of the corm. In the event that the terminal bud should be injured or otherwise prevented from growing, these lateral buds are capable of producing a shoot. The solid stem structure of the corm is protected against injury and water loss by dry leaf bases that are similar to the tunic that enclose true bulbs. Gladiolus and watsonia are typical cormous plants.

Tubers such as caladium and gloriosa are thickened underground stems with many buds (eyes) present in regular order over their surfaces. Unlike true bulbs and corms which are covered with dried leaves or scales, tubers are covered with a tough skin. Tuberous roots such as dahlia and ranunculus are true roots and lack nodes and internodes. Buds are present only at the crown or stem end of the root.

Rhizomes are thickened horizontal stems growing along or below the surface of the ground. Underground rhizomes such as canna and calla produce roots on their lower surface and send shoots above ground.

The term bulb will probably always be used when referring to plants that produce underground storage organs.

A timely flower

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Four o’ Clocks
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Four O’ Clocks are one of my favorite annual flowers. I first planted these flowers four years ago in my garden after hearing stories from my parents of how lovely their Four O’ clocks were in their Winter Texas home. My mother kept telling me how nice the scent was so I decided I wanted to try it because I wanted a scented garden.

I purchased a package of seeds from one of the garden centers. The packages contain seeds for a variety of colours of Four O’ clocks so you have no idea what colour might grow where. That summer I had a couple of Yellow flowering Four O’clocks and a few White flowering ones. I quickly discovered that the white ones gave off a lovely scent – as I’m found of saying the scent is similar to Jasmine. I don’t know how many types of flowers I have now that smell like jasmine to me now, but I obviously enjoy and seek out that scent.

What’s interesting about Four O’ Clocks is that they are named for their blooming habit. The flower buds are supposed to open in the late afternoon, presumably as early as four p.m. however mine never open that early. Well perhaps at this time of year they are opening that early, but during the summer they tend to open at about 7 pm and once they are open their beautiful scent perfumes the whole garden.

Every fall I collect the hard black seed from the four o’ clock plants and I store them in a cool dry place. In the late spring I go out and plant them directly in the garden at the depth of approx 1/2 inch. Most years the plants are up and starting to grow by early June and I often have blooms by the end of June. This past summer though they got off to a slow start and I didn’t start having blooms until August for some reason. I must make sure that I have fresh seeds for next year.

The plants grow to approximately 2.5 to 3 feet tall and have a diameter of 2.5 feet or more. I find that mine need staking by the end of july as the plant gets heavy with it’s multiple branches of blossoms.

Four O’ Clocks are also known as The Marvel of Peru (Mirabilis jalapa). They are annuals in my area, but they are classified as perennials in USDA zones 7b to 11. 4 o’clocks form tubers that can be lifted and stored in cold regions to maintain a specific plant. These tubers are hardy to about 10F, or colder if well-mulched.

One other benefit of growing this plant, for me at least, is that they are toxic to Japanese beetles. I grow several rose plants and Japanese beetles love roses and tend to eat flower buds and leaves. I’ve only ever seen one or two Japanese beetles in my garden and I’m hoping that they are munching on my Four o’ Clocks and dying and therefore not living long enough to harm my roses.

Have a Great Sunday! I’m going to the In-laws today for our Canadian Thanks Giving dinner and get together but I’ll be home in the evening to visit my fellow Green Thumbers.

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

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