AMERICAN GARDENER

The most common blue evergreen tree or shrub in the landscape is the Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens). The blue spruce, also commonly known as Colorado spruce or Colorado blue spruce, is a species of spruce tree native to North America in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) makes … Read more

The Norway spruce (Picea abies) is a coniferous evergreen fir tree native to the mountainous regions of Europe and Asia. The species was first described by Linnaeus in 1753 as Pinus abies, but it was later correctly named Picea abies by H. Karsten in 1881. Norway spruce was first planted in the UK for forestry purposes in the 1800s, … Read more

Baileya multiradiata is a North American species of sun-loving wildflower in the family Asteraceae. Desert Marigold can be found in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts, as well as in Texas. Desert marigold grows twelve inches tall and wide with fuzzy greenish-gray leaves and a compact, mounded shape. While a short-lived plant, it beautifies the landscape … Read more

Joshua trees aren’t actually trees—they’re succulents, a type of plant that stores water. In their dry ecosystems, however, they are considered trees of the desert. Joshua trees were named for the biblical figure Joshua by 19th-century Mormon settlers who felt the outstretched tree limbs guided them along their westward journey. Joshua trees usually have a … Read more

The Austrian pine (Pinus nigra) is also commonly referred to as black pine. This evergreen tree grows best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 8A. You can recognize the Austrian pine tree by its dark green, and rather long needles. Its shape resembles that of a pyramid — with a typical … Read more

The longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as “yellow pine” or “long leaf yellow pine”, although it is properly just one out of a number of species termed yellow pine. The historic range of … Read more

The Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is native to eastern North America and is an important horticultural species, often used in landscaping and as Christmas trees. It is a fast-growing tree, capable of adding 1 meter in height annually between the ages of 15 … Read more

Mugo Pine (Pinus mugo) is a species of conifer native to high elevation habitats in southwestern to Central Europe and Southeast Europe, that is, the subalpine zones of the Pyrenees, Alps, Ore Mountains, Carpathians, northern and central Apennines, and higher Balkan Peninsula mountains. It is also known as dwarf mountain pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain … Read more

Galanthus, or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 24 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leaves and a single small white drooping bell-shaped flower with six petal-like tepals in two circles. The smaller inner petals have green markings. They are commonly the earliest garden flowers … Read more