Garden Design

May is a banner month for public garden plant sales. This year at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, curator Don Mahoney is growing the fragrant luculia shrub, for which, he says, “a local nursery had a waiting list 35 people long.” At the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, director of horticulture Dorthe Hviid has been dividing some of the garden's historic collection of daylilies, readying them for sale.

The British rose breeder David Austin has been breeding old-rose plants since 1961. These gorgeous and profusely petaled flowers had fallen out of fashion as cut flowers because of their short vase life, but in 2004, David Austin introduced eight varieties of old-fashioned roses that will last as cut flowers for a week to ten days. We take a look at the history of breeding these very romanitc flowers.

The Victorian language of flowers meant that you could express a wide range of sentiments with a simple floral nosegay. On Valentine's Day, the sweetest of holidays, we take a look at some popular flowers to include in a bouquet and how they speak the language of love.

Jenny Andrews sneaks a peek at the new plants featured at the Ohio Florists Association show