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Cascade blackberry (Rubus ursinus x idaeus ‘Cascade’) is a trailing blackberry hybrid with deep roots in the Pacific Northwest, where it was developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Station in Corvallis, Oregon, and released in 1950 as one of the first intentionally bred thornless trailing blackberries for home and commercial growers. Though newer cultivars have…
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Celeste fig (Ficus carica ‘Celeste’) is one of the most beloved fig cultivars in the American South, where it has graced home gardens, farmsteads, and family backyards for generations. Known by a handful of affectionate regional nicknames including Sugar fig, Honey fig, and Blue Celeste, it has earned its loyal following through a combination of…
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Cherry Brandy rudbeckia (Rudbeckia hirta ‘Cherry Brandy’) is a stunning departure from the familiar golden yellows that most people associate with black-eyed Susans. Its flowers open in a rich blend of mahogany, burnt orange, and deep cherry red, with petals that often carry golden tips and a warm russet flush toward the center, creating a…
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Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) is one of the most hardworking and versatile evergreen shrubs available to home gardeners, offering year-round foliage, fast growth, remarkable adaptability, and a polished, refined appearance that suits it to an exceptionally wide range of landscape applications. Its large, glossy, deep green leaves are handsome in every season, creating the kind…
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Chicago Hardy fig (Ficus carica ‘Chicago Hardy’) occupies a singular position among fruiting trees for cold-climate gardeners, offering something that sounds almost too good to be true: a genuine, full-flavored fig that survives winters well beyond the traditional boundaries of fig culture. Developed and selected in the Chicago area, as its name suggests, this cultivar…
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Chinese lanterns (Physalis alkekengi) is one of those plants that inspires genuine delight the first time you encounter it and a measure of caution every time after that. Its common name comes from the extraordinary papery orange husks that enclose the ripe fruit in late summer and fall, glowing like little paper lanterns in shades…
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Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are one of the most rewarding herbs a gardener can grow, offering a mild, fresh onion flavor, cheerful purple blooms, and nearly effortless care across a remarkably wide range of climates and conditions. Among the most cold-hardy herbs in the garden, they’re one of the first plants to push up fresh green…
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Chocolate Chip ajuga (Ajuga reptans ‘Chocolate Chip’) is a ground cover that earns genuine admiration for the quiet sophistication of its foliage. Where many ajuga cultivars announce themselves with boldly variegated or intensely colored leaves, Chocolate Chip takes a more refined approach, producing small, narrow leaves in a deep, chocolatey bronze-green that darkens to a…
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Chocolate mint (Mentha x piperita ‘Chocolate’) is one of the most charming and genuinely useful herbs you can grow, offering the classic cool, refreshing flavor of peppermint with a warm, rich undertone that genuinely evokes the combination its name promises. Rub a leaf between your fingers and the fragrance is immediate and unmistakable: bright and…
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Columbine (Aquilegia spp.) is one of the most graceful and distinctive perennials in the garden, producing flowers of such intricate, improbable beauty that they seem designed by someone with a fondness for architectural ornament. Each bloom is a layered construction of spurred petals and contrasting sepals that catches light from every angle and moves with…