We had several winners for last week's Mystery Monday. Kate, Pat and Sarah all named it as a Schefflera. This specific one is the common houseplant Schefflera arboricola (extra points to Pat for the species). It's called Dwarf Umbrella Tree or Octopus Tree. I have a lovely variegated one at my house. Congrats!

Your clues for this week:

1. Though it's not related to citrus, this is called a lime tree in Britain.
2. In America, it's called by a name that includes a word that can be a musical instrument or a fish.
3. These are highly perfumed when in bloom.
4. I just found out tonight that the pale honey made from this tree has sedative qualities.

Good luck to you!

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As a proud garden geek, I enjoy telling people about random horticulture facts. One of my favorites is to say that many of the fruits that are called berries aren't truly berries according to botany. For example, raspberries and blackberries are really aggregate drupes and strawberries are receptacles, with the true fruit being the small seeds (called achenes).

Blueberries also fall into the category of berries-that-aren't-really-berries. They are a false berry called an epigynous berry, where other parts of the flower such as the petals develop and ripen along with the fruit. On the blueberry, you can see the sepals at the end of the fruit.

Blueberries are a common fruit grown in many gardens. On May 8th, 1999, Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman declared July as National Blueberry Month. In honor of that, I've picked some delicious blueberry recipes:

• Lemon Blueberry Pancakes
• Eastern European Blueberry-Almond Cake
• Mango Blueberry Muffins with Lime-Almond Glaze
• Blueberry Sorbet
• Blueberry Ketchup

Check out my blueberry profile so you can start growing your own luscious "berries". One important fact to remember is that they really like acidic soil, so you will need to choose a spot with a low pH or make your soil more acidic.

What's your favorite way to eat blueberries?

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Congrats goes to SuzOH. Last week's shrub was Salix integra 'Hakuru Nishiki' - the Hakuru Nishiki Willow. Very distinctive and beautiful, indeed!

Your clues for this week:

1. This is often kept as a houseplant. That's why I chose it this week - I am so happy to get my own specimen back from the person who was watching my plants.
2. Common names may make you think of weather gear or a sea creature.
3. The genus was chosen to honor a 19th century German botanist.

Can you name this week's Mystery Tree? Have you ever had one?

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Last week's tree was guessed correctly by John. It's a fruit called a limequat. This one was a cross between a Key lime and a kumquat. There's also lemonquats and orangequats. The calamondin is a cross between a sour mandarin and a kumquat. Congrats, John!

Clues for this week:

1. Notice the pink? Those aren't flowers - the leaves on this shrub can be shades of pink, green and white
2. The bark turns red in the winter, so you will continue to have color year round with this shrub.
3. This plant is dioecious.

Can you name one of the prettiest shrubs out there? Good luck!

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