Painted from specimens in Kew's Herbarium, Rachel Pedder-Smith's Herbarium Specimen Painting is an 18-foot masterpiece of botanic illustration, and a tapestry with hundreds of narratives that depict a history of plant evolution and scientific discovery.
A fan of grafting and citrus fruits, I've been pursuing the legendary Tree of Many Fruits for some time now, and have yet to find one. Now I could have one in my backyard. Like many of my favorite trees, it hails from Australia. James and Kerry West, farmers in New South Wales, have been cultivating "fruit salad trees," each of which produce several kinds of fruits.
A black-eyed Susan amped to the max. Heads of narrow, quilled golden petals look like a cheerleader’s pom-pom. Blooms summer through fall, 18 inches tall. Hardy to Zone 5a.
Lilac blue with a cream face, deep-purple blotch and clutch of whiskers, Viola Sorbet Marina Babyface is sweet beyond belief, and fragrant too. Forms a mound 6 inches high and up to 10 inches across; flowers are an inch or more wide. Very frost tolerant.
