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Focus on Flowers

Focus on Flowers is a weekly podcast and public radio program about flower gardening gardening created and hosted by master gardener Moya Andrews between 2004-2025.

  • Red Hot Pokers belong to the genus Kniphofia (Kniphofia uvaria) and are also known as tritoma or torch lilies.
  • The common name "pinks” does not refer to the color but to the fringed edging of the petals that makes them look as if they had been cut with pinking shears.
  • In the lower Midwest, May is the month when we see lots of white flowers.
  • All types of marigolds last well as cut flowers, and they are excellent plants for children to grow when they begin gardening.
  • I would not be without my annual larkspur, which I have enjoyed year after year and some often self-seed and return, but in order to be sure, I always buy some seeds. I don't want to risk a year without it!
  • There is a large number of more modern hybrid cultivars now available, and some produce flowers in other shades such as white, rose, magenta, burgundy, and purple.
  • More and more gardeners are seeking information about sustainability.
  • A novice gardener once told me that she was only going to plant perennials, as they did not need any care. If only that was true!
  • Christopher Morley once said ‘April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks GO.'
  • April is known as the cruelest month due to the erratic weather and the possibility for freezing temperatures to creep back in and injure new plants.
  • Remember the danger of sudden spring frosts and wait to set out your tender annuals.