LuAnn Johnson

No one has been able to discover the identity of the Susan who gave her name to this easily grown garden perennial.

One spectacular lily is Lilium superb, spelled “superbum,” but it is not pronounced as it is spelt. Its petals recurve, so a common name is Turk's cap.

The Latin name “Physostegia” refers to the calyx, which covers their seed pods. “Physa” means bladder and “stege” means a covering.

When goldenrods are in bloom, it indicates that fall is in the air...and they do NOT cause hay fever (That is ragweed!), as the pollen of goldenrod is too heavy to be dispersed by the wind.

The lobelia family is extremely diverse but there are two American natives that are hardy perennials: Lobelia cardinalis and Lobelia siphilitica.

Fantasias were a popular instrumental genre during the lifetime of Thomas Tallis. They had a sense of fancy with a free structure centered on short melodies passing through each part. Join us this week on Harmonia as we take a deep dive into the fantasias of Renaissance England.

Many years ago, I bought a perennial plant at a nursery, and after I planted it, found that there was a ride-along plant in the pot. It was a wild petunia.

There are few flowers like liatris in the flower world, as the blooms open on top of the stalks first, and the ones on the bottom open last.

Coral bells flowers from spring into fall if it has moist, rich soil. Plant masses of coral bells in the front of your borders and water them well.

This hour on Harmonia, we’ll dig into the music collection of “Dr. Rainbeau,” an early music lover in the nineteenth century who collected manuscripts and books of old music. Tune in to learn the true identity and the unusual musical tastes of this quirky antiquarian!