Independent gardening advice for real gardens, balconies and windowsills.
Practical advice on growing food and flowers, improving soil, and making the most of small spaces. Start anywhere — the garden will meet you.
This Indian plant belongs to the myrtle family. It produces a good-sized edible fruit known as the Malay apple.
A native of South America. The flowers are very fragrant, and an essential oil, much used in perfumery under the name of jasmine oil, is obtained from this and other species.
An East Indian plant the seeds of which when crushed furnish an oil which is used in medicine.
The physic nut tree of tropical America. This plant contains a milky, acrid, glutinous juice, which forms a permanent stain when dropped on linen, and which might form a good marking ink. Burning oil...
The coquito palm of Chili. The seed or nut is called cokernut, and has a pleasant, nutty taste. These are used by the Chilian confectioners in the preparation of sweetmeats, and by the boys as marbles...
This plant belongs to the family of gingers. The root stocks have an aromatic fragrance and are used medicinally in India as well as in the preparation of perfumery. The flowers appear before the leav...
This plant is interesting from the circumstance of its being held sacred in Nubia, where the inhabitants celebrate their religious festivals under it by moonlight, and poles made of its wood are erect...
This is one of the species that yield the rhatany roots of commerce. In Peru an extract is made from this species, which is a mild, easily assimilated, astringent medicine. It acts as a tonic, and is...
An Indian plant of the family _Byttneriaceae_. The bark is employed in infusion as a sudorific and in cutaneous diseases, and its fibrous tissue is manufactured into cordage.
The lace-bark tree of Jamaica. The inner bark consists of numerous concentric layers of fibers, which interlace in all directions, and thus present a great resemblance to lace. Articles of apparel are...
A low-growing tree of the East Indies, which is cultivated to some extent for its fruit, which is known in Java and Malacca as lanseh fruit, and is much esteemed for its delicate aroma; the pulp is of...
A twining plant from Chili. The flowers are very beautiful, and are succeeded by berries, which are said to be sweet and eatable. The root has qualities closely resembling sarsaparilla and used for th...