This Gardening News column is from the online archives of The Star of North Augusta, a collection of more than 25,000 articles published from October 2007 to February 2022. Last month I wrote about ...

The ancient monkey puzzle tree has distinctive spiny leaves and intricate scaly branches. Its unusual features, scientists believe, evolved as a defense against towering, long-necked dinosaurs.

The majority of plants that qualify as horticultural oddities are modest in size: many can dwell happily on windowsills. Among notable exceptions is monkey puzzle tree, aka devil’s tree. Up to 80 feet ...