The Honeylocust is a native of North America from the Leguminosae (Pea) family. It is a very popular tree for landscaping throughout the U.S. and grows well in large cities that may have issues with pollution and poor soils as it tolerates high pH, compacted and salty soils. It is also drought tolerant, making it a useful landscaping tree in desert areas. Honeylocust is a fast grower and can grow up to 70 feet high.

The native Honeylocust produces thorns along the trunk and some branches, making it less desirable for public and private landscaping. Thus, a thornless variety is available in most nurseries. Interestingly, the thornless Honeylocust is grow from cuttings taken from the upper branches of thorned Honeylocust.

The Honeylocust is most recognizable by its long dark brown bean-like pods that can remain on the tree long after the leaves have fallen off in winter. You can tell a Honeylocust is near as you’ll probably see a liberal amount of these pods scattered on the ground within close range of the tree. These pods can be a nuisance but if you consider that the leaves themselves are small and quickly disappear, this tree produces about the same amount of autumn cleanup as other species with a lot of leaf litter. Consider also that the seeds can be roasted and ground to make a coffee like drink. The leaves themselves are lanceolate and oblong and very small and create a nice filtered shade for your yard in the summer.

The Honeylocust has unfortunately been overplanted over the years which has made it more susceptible to disease. It’s a good idea to take a look around your area to see if there are a lot of them nearby in your surrounding parks, streetscapes and neighbors’ landscaping. If your area is inundated with Honeylocusts, it might be better to plant other trees suitable for urban areas to avoid insects and disease. This is particularly true in the Southern U.S. Ask your local nursery for advice for trees that are suitable for your region.

For pruning and maintenance, it really depends on what cultivar you pick from your nursery. Some have a central trunk and require less maintenance while others have several main trunks and need a bit more work during the first several years of growth. If you have trouble finding a tree with a central leader, you’ll want to train your tree to have a central trunk with the branches spaced out along the trunk and growing upright. The ‘Skyline’ cultivar is a reliable low maintenance selection.

As far as pests and diseases, you’ll want to watch out for the Mimosa webworm and pod gall midges, which appear as reddish galls on the tips of the branches. These are problems that have become more and more common with the Honeylocust. Spider mites, leafminers, and bagworms may also affect your tree. The ronectria canker is a disease that will damage the trunk and main parts of the tree and is fairly common. You can avoid most of these issues by regularly fertilizing your tree and cleaning up any excess leaf litter.

Check out the Trees of Reed College website for more information about this tree and others found on their campus.

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The Vanilla orchid, (Vanilla planifolia Jacks. ex Andrews, Vanilla fragrans, Vanilla vanilla) is the source of natural vanilla flavoring. It is native to Mexico and the Caribbean and is now cultivated in tropical areas throughout the world. Madagascar is now the largest producer of vanilla in the world.

In the U.S. vanilla can be grown in USDA zones 10a, 10b, and 11 (Sunset zones 23-24), areas closest to the equator.

In general, vanilla is an easy orchid to grow, but very difficult to get to produce pods. It is actually considered one of the most labor intensive spices in the world.

It’s good to let vanilla dry out slightly between waterings. The flowers will bloom only when the orchids are very large and will only last about two or three days.

If you want your vanilla to produce a pod, you’ll need to pollinate it by hand once they bloom or it will die off very quickly. Moreover, you won’t get flowers for at almost two years, and sometimes three!

The vanilla orchid likes partial shade and plenty of water. Maintain temperatures about 55 degrees or your orchid may suffer from shock. See this site from the University of Florida for more orchid growing tips.

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Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage) is a classic plant for your xeric or perennial flower garden. It features unusual silver-colored foliage and lovely lavender flowers springing out among the fern-like leaves. Russian Sage is a member of the mint family (Labiateae) and can actually be a good replacement for lavender in areas where lavendar is too cold to grow. Likes the sages, Russian Sage does have a light and appealing scent, but it is not appropriate for cooking or aromatherapy. Oddly, it is not technically a sage, which are Salvias, and it is not from Russian. The plant was named after a Russian botanist and is native to Central Asia.

A typical plant grows to be a small shrub at about 3-5 feet tall. It does well in hardiness zones 3-9 and will start to produce blooms by mid summer. Plant your Russian Sage in full sun and check your soil to make sure it drains well. Remove your plant from the pot, and place it in the soil roughly the same depth that it was situated in the container. You can plant Russian Sage from spring to early fall. Make sure you plant before any risk of frost.

By fall, you may notice that the branches will get a little woody. To promote good growth and more flowers, Russian Sage should be cut to within several inches of the soil in the spring. Picking off the dead flower heads throughout the growing season can stimulate continuing production of flowers. Remember to mulch around the base of the plant to help retain soil moisture.

Russian Sage’s subtle colors work great mixed in with Apache Plume and cactus to create a natural desert-like landscape. You can plant them in large numbers for a dramatic effect, or just one or two scattered in your landscaping. Blue fescues or other ornamentals grasses planted at the base of your Russian Sage look great as well.

Russian Sage is virtually maintenance free with no real pests or diseases to worry about. As mentioned above, keep the soil from getting too wet to avoid root-rot. Your plant may get to be a bit woody and can droop if left to grow too tall. Prune or stake your plant when appropriate.

We recommend this site provided by the Wisconsin’s Master Gardener Program as a good site to learn more about Russian Sage and how to grow it.

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Having a beautiful purple lilac in my family’s home garden while I was growing up gave me a special fondness and appreciation for this spectacular flowering shrub. The arrival of the fragrant and colorful flower buds always meant that spring was on the way and the joys of summer were not far behind. The lilac that we planted when I was a kid running around the garden is still going strong, some 30 years later! Now I hope my own kids can enjoy this wonderful plant when they visit their grandparents. In fact, lilacs can actually live for centuries, making this plant a great investment!

Lilacs require a bit of patience to get established, but are well worth the effort and the wait. They typically flower their second year after being transplanted from the nursery. Lilacs vary widely in color and size and they will give you a broad palette to work with in your garden. In your local nursery you can find lilacs that will provide pink, purple, white, yellow, sky blue, red, and bicolored flowers. Lilacs can reach between four and fifteen feet in height.

You should plant your lilac in full sun and in well-draining soil. Planting in the fall is recommended if you’ve purchased a fairly mature plant from a nursery. Transplanting in early spring also works, but your lilac will doubtfully produce blooms that same year.

When transplanting, it’s always a good idea to mix in a good dose of organic compost to the soil before you backfill. If you need info on composting, we recommend this excellent site: Guide to Composting. http://www.compostguide.com/ You’ll also need to pay close attention to the soil pH to grow a healthy and strong lilac. A slightly alkaline soil with a pH of 6 to 7 is appropriate for growing lilacs. You should call up your local agricultural extension service if you need help with soil-testing or altering soil pH. Mulch with a good quality bark mulch to help with weeds and retain soil moisture.

To preserve a healthy lilac, you’ll need to put in a little effort in maintenance and pruning. After the flowers are spent, make sure to cut off the old blossoms and prune back the branches to keep your lilac from setting seed. This way, your plant will have more energy to produce blooms the following year. Frequent pruning is necessary also to maintain the plant’s shape. Cut off a third of the most mature stems to the ground. New stems will sprout and the plant will generally be healthier. Most sources recommend this type of pruning for a period of three years to achieve a full renewal of the plant.

Depending on what part of the country you live in, you should be on the lookout for some common pests that could affect the health of your lilac. The oyster-shell scale, the lilac borer, and powdery mildew fungus are all common problems, but if you catch them and treat them in time, you should have no troubles. This article about lilacs fromHarvard University’s Arnold Arboretum http://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/plants/lilac_care.html gives some great advice on how to deal with these problems.

As lilacs have a short blooming time, it’s good to have other shrubs or plants nearby in your garden that will follow the lilac with more beautiful blooms. This site on organic flower gardening http://flowergardeningtips.com/ has great tips on planning your flower garden and what kind of plants to use for some spectacular effects. Enjoy gardening with your lilac and enjoy creating wonderful memories!

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