Plant Gardens 101

For the past year I’ve been compiling a list of Public Gardens for a gardening website I run. These gardens all look like fantastic places to visit, but what are the most popular? I’ll continue with this list for the Southeastern region of the United States. The Southeastern states are states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and also Washington DC.

The most popular public gardens (based on online chatter) in the beautiful Southeast are:

10. Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, Virginia
9. Botanical Gardens at Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina
8. Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Birmingham, Alabama
7. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida (more…)

A is for Amaryllis, a big bulb which produces big showy flowers in red or white or pink and which is often given as a gift at Christmas time.

B is for Bonemeal, which many flowering bulbs enjoy having mixed into their soil when planted – but which may attract bulb eating creatures such as rodents.

C is for Crocus, the tiny flowers that are the harbingers of spring and which come from corms and not true bulbs.

D is for Daffodil, the common name of the genus Narcissus, and which are the yellow and white trumpets that sound the true arrival of spring.

E is for Eremurus, a genus commonly know as foxtail lilies or desert candles, and which have large stalks topped with plumes of beautiful flowers.

F is for Fritillaria, a genus of varied flowers which hang down from droopy stems which sometimes have an intriguing checkerboard pattern on them.

G is for Gladiolus, a genus that produces large flowering stalks in vibrant colors including pink, red, yellow, and white. (more…)

A is for Aloe, which is one of the most commonly known succulent genus, and which includes the burn healing Aloe vera.

B is for Black Rose, common name for Aeonium arboreum, whose clusters of dark leaves do have a rose like shape.

C is for Cactus, the prickly king of the succulent plants.

D is for Dracaena draco, also known as the Dragon Tree, which is very slow growing but also long lived.

E is for Euphorbia, a large genus of plants many of whom are succulents, and includes Euphorbia milii or the Crown of Thorns.

F is for Fire Sticks, or Euphorbia tirucalli, which many thin stems topped with red, making them look like sticks glowing with fire. (more…)

A is for Alyssum, which makes a carpet of tiny blooms in whites, reds, and pinks.

B is for Begonia, which have dainty pink, red, or white flowers.

C is for Celosia, which have velvety red and orange plumes.

D is for Dahlia, which produce huge flowers in purple, red, pink, orange, or yellow.

E is for Everlasting, which annuals are not – they only bloom for one year. (more…)

For the past year I’ve been compiling a list of Public Gardens in the United States for my gardening website. These gardens all look like fantastic places to visit, but what are the most popular?

The most popular public gardens (based on online chatter) in the USA are:

20. New Orleans Botanical Garden in New Orleans, Louisiana
…a tie for #20…
20. Cleveland Botanical Garden in Cleveland, Ohio
19. Beaumont Botanical Gardens in Beaumont, Texas
18. Memphis Botanic Garden in Memphis, Tennessee (more…)