The saguaro cactus is among the slowest plants you can grow. Learn to start one from seed, grow it in a pot, give it the right care, and buy it legally.
Sassafras is a striking native tree with three leaf shapes, fiery fall color, and aromatic roots, but it suckers fast and carries a safrole caveat.
Sandalwood is a prized fragrant tree, but it is a slow hemiparasite that must tap a host plant’s roots and takes 15 to 30 years to harvest. How to grow it.
Rutabaga is a dense, sweet fall root that improves after frost. Learn how to grow rutabaga from seed, thin and water it, dodge brassica pests, and store it.
Sagebrush dies fast from rich soil and overwatering, unlike most shrubs. Learn how to grow this silvery, aromatic native of the western high desert.
Sago palm care looks easy until overwatering rots the roots or a curious pet finds the deadly seeds. Here is how to grow Cycas revoluta safely.
Russian sage rewards you with months of lavender-blue bloom for almost no effort, but it loves to flop. Here is how to grow it, prune it, and keep it upright.
A rosemary plant is famously tough, yet most die within a year from overwatering. Get the soil, sun, and drainage right and it thrives for years indoors or out.
A rubber tree (Ficus elastica) is a bold, easy indoor plant, but it drops leaves and rots when light or watering is off. Learn care, pruning, and propagation.
Rubber plant care is more forgiving than it looks. Learn the right light and watering, plus fixes for drooping, yellow, or dropping Ficus elastica leaves.
Rose mallow is a hardy, North American hibiscus with dinner-plate flowers. Learn how to plant, water, prune, and overwinter it for blooms every year.
Rock rose is the carefree, drought-tolerant shrub for the hot, dry corner where nothing else grows. Learn how to plant, water, prune, and troubleshoot Cistus.