Fashion designer Elie Saab's Lebanese garden
True black plants are nonexistent in nature, but some of these sumptuous gems exhibit shades of the deepest purple. For contrast and sheer beauty, they’re intriguing additions to your garden or home.
Artist Frances Palmer, famous for her vases and pottery, is also a passionate dahlia gardener. May is a great time to plant dahlia tubers and Palmer gives step-by-step instructions, along with photos of her beautiful dahlia garden in bloom and her beautiful vases.
Amy Merrick, a Brooklyn-based florist and stylist (you might recognize her name from her popular "Living-In" posts for Design*Sponge) shares with us how she packs her Brooklyn apartment with flowers and plants, keeping herself surrounded with nature, even in the middle of the city. Check out the photographs of her plant-filled home!
The purple-leaf plum tree is blossoming, which means it's spring! It is a beautiful ornamental tree that bears edible fruits—perfect for summer foraging and winter preserves.
Australian plants are like the ultimate self-sacrificing mother: They give and give (certain trees can reach 20 feet in just a few years and flower for six weeks or more) but ask so little in return. (Fertilizer? Rain? If you insist.) Their fantastical forms, however—including sculptural, hairy, or waxy blooms in neon colors—are anything but matronly.
Glass gem corn was bred years ago by a part-Cherokee farmer and master seed-saver. Yes, it's real, and, as an heirloom, its seeds will grow true. Today, glass gem corn seeds are saved at Seeds Trust, who anticipate more available next month. Glass gem is an extreme iteration of corn's natural tendency towards different-colored kernels, as each kernel has its unique genetic set for color and size.
A dwarf form of Taiwan-native Cunninghamia lanceolata, ‘Little Leo’ forms a globe of soft, densely packed needles, looking like a pincushion. After 10 years, this rare conifer will still be less than 3 feet tall. Leaves are dark green during the growing season, taking on a bronzy, purplish cast in winter. Zones 7 to 9.
