By Terry Sovil on the September 2019 Edition Castor oil is a type of vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the castor bean plant. It has many uses in medicines and other applications. Less common is its use in gardening for a fight against pests but not harmful to plants. It is sometimes used to […]
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By Tommy Clarkson on the September 2019 Edition Family Pedilanthus tithymaloides ‘Variegatus’ Also known as Zig-Zag Plant, Christmas Candle,Redbird Cactus, Japanese Poinsettia, Slipper Spurge or Slipper Flower One seldom encounters plants with multiple names as diverse in their inferred representation/description! Those familiar with me are well aware of my great appreciation for the patient friendship and […]
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By Tommy Clarkson on the August 2019 Edition Beehive Ginger Zingiber spectabile Family Zingiberaceae Also known as Pinecone Ginger, Ginger Wort or Malaysian Ginger Yes, the Ginger with which we are all most familiar is that of the commercially available and edible one, Zingiber officinale. Then there is the more conventionally seen Red Ginger (Alpina purpurata). […]
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By Tommy Clarkson on the August 2019 Edition (Most who know me are aware that I write several regular columns for a variety of electronic and hard copy venues. This one is sort of a “Tommy’s Tips” by way of “Planting Roots” meets “Tommy’s Tummy”!) Upon seeing our wide array of different species of palms, no […]
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By Tommy Clarkson on the July 2019 Edition Ti Plant Cordyline Fruticosa Family Agavaceae Asparagabeae Also known as Cordyline, Hawaiian Ti Plant, Palm Lily or Tree of Kings Since writing about the more commonly seen, magenta colored and often simply called a Cordyline featured in Volume I of our “The Civilized Jungle” book series no few […]
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By Terry Sovil on the July 2019 Edition Sea Salt. Is Sea salt different from table salt? Yes, according to Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D from the Mayo Clinic. It differs in taste, texture, processing. Sea salt is from the evaporation of sea water, has little processing and leaves minerals. Table salt is mined from deposits underground, […]
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By Tommy Clarkson on the July 2019 Edition Hibiscus Family Malvaceae Also known as Rose Mallows (Regular readers of my weekly column, “Planting Roots in Mexico,” or those who’ve perused the first two volumes of our “The Civilized Jungle” series, are aware that, generally, I strive to write about specific species, not general genera somehow that […]
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By Tommy Clarkson on the June 2019 Edition Indian Rubber Plant Ficus elastic Family Moraceae Also known as Indian Rubber Tree, Rubber Fig, Rubber Bush, Asssam Tree or Snake Tree From a genus of no less than 800 species and a rather substantive group thought to be double that number by some botanists the strange growth […]
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By Terry Sovil on the June 2019 Edition Do you know the correct Spanish name(s)? I’m used to lime = green acidic fruit and lemon = yellow acidic fruit. But here, in Mexico, a lime is limón, and a lemon is lima, sometimes also referred to as a limón real. Outside of Mexico their names may […]
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By Tommy Clarkson the June 2019 Edition Aphelandra Squarrosa Aphelandra squarrosa Family Acanthaceae Also known as Saffron Spike (This beauty, most probably, originated in Brazil. But why/how I recall something else, most convolutedly related, is clearly yet another example of my particular thinking process of quirkiness! You see, before I completed US Army Officer Candidate School […]
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