In 1898, the United States became embroiled in the Spanish-American War. President William McKinley, eager to assess the relative strengths of the Spanish forces and Cuban insurgents, wanted to send a message to General Calixto Garcia, who was somewhere in the mountains of eastern Cuba. Col. Arthur Wagner, head of the Bureau of Military Intelligence,…
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If you haven’t discovered the source of Chanel No. 5 perfume, allow us to introduce you to the Ylang-Ylang Tree. Native from island chains of Southeast Asia into northern Australia, this tropical evergreen produces oils that are steam-distilled from its aromatic flowers to create the world-famous women’s fragrance. The story goes that Russian-born perfumer Ernest…
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In September we talked about the much-anticipated arrival of the dry season and offered a few suggestions for how to prepare—in a horticultural sense—for winter. Today we continue to address some of the conditions we will need to deal with to make our vegetable, fruiting, or ornamental plants perform at their best over the winter.…
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There are almost 900 Eucalyptus species in the world! Some are gigantic and others dwarf; some are water-tolerant and others xeric, but only one of them is native to the northern hemisphere. That species is E. deglupta, the Rainbow Eucalyptus. It is found on various Pacific islands, including Mindanao (Philippines), Seram (Indonesia), Sulawesi (Indonesia), New…
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In many parts of the United States, the copperleaf is a popular summertime landscaping element, a heat-loving annual bedding plant that disintegrates with the onset of winter conditions. But it’s really a perennial evergreen shrub, and we in southern Florida are fortunate to be able to grow it inground or in containers year-round, allowing it…
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