Description: Like any other garden tender, I yearn for flowers that display vibrant color through every season. The usual path to this achievement is to either plan a complex collection of bulbs, ...

A garden does not need to have coconut trees or exotic fruits to feel tropical. Sometimes, all you need is the right plant with large, bright, textured petals to shift the mood. And Lavatera (Malva ...

FOR anybody who lives close to the coast, the sea mallow is a familiar sight. It thrives a yard or less from where the rock is exposed, rooted deep in the last of the sandy soil, its downy leaves and ...

Lavatera is an annual that deserves a place in more flower gardens. You probably won't find flats of lavatera plants for sale in spring, but it's easy enough to start your own from seed. Just sow the ...

Q:Our tree mallow, which we have had for years, is being damaged by something we haven't seen before. From a distance, it looks like rust, but up close it appears to be a psyllid insect or a mite. We ...

This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's ...