Peace Lily Pruning Peace lilies are known for their big white bracts, the part we think of as a flower that is actually a modified white leaf surrounding a cluster of tiny flowers on a stalk. After this “flower” has bloomed for a while, it will naturally start to turn green and droop. This is normal, and it just means the flower is spent. You can clean up the appearance of the plant by deadheading....
Home gardening became a patriotic act of determination and faith to help us recover from a staggering era that affected the entire global population. Sound familiar? So, here’s a question. Do your kids know what a Victory Garden is? This might be the perfect time for a fun project with your kids that can create a sense of balance during these historically stressful times. It can also serve as a valuable history lesson about how we can rise up and thrive when times are hard....
Can Olives Grow in Zone 8? If you love olive trees and live in a zone 8 region, you may be asking: can olives grow in zone 8? The U.S. Department of Agriculture designates areas as zone 8a if the average coldest winter temperature is 10 degrees F. (-12 C.) and zone 8b if the lowest temperature is 20 degrees F. (-7 C.). While not every olive tree variety will survive in these regions, you can succeed at growing olives in zone 8 if you select hardy olive trees....
Rose Plants That Resist Drought Many of us have either had to or are currently dealing with drought conditions in the areas we live. Such conditions make it tough to have a garden due to the lack of an abundance of water to keep our plants and shrubs well-hydrated. After all, water is a life-giver. Water carries the nutrition to our plants, including our rose bushes. That being said, there are roses that we can focus on that have been tested in various growing conditions to see how they perform....
What is Hedge Parsley? Hedge parsley (Torilis arvensis), also known as spreading hedge parsley, is a weed that is native to southern Europe and thrives in many parts of the U.S. It tends to grow in pastures and fields, on the edges of forests, and in disturbed sites, like roadsides and gardens. The hedge parsley weed grows about 2 feet (61 cm.) tall and has toothed, fern-like leaves and narrow, rounded stems....
Some of those old garden rose bushes, such as Peace rose, Mister Lincoln rose, or Chrysler Imperial rose are still on the market at many online rose companies. However, there are some heirloom rose bushes that are not only older rose bushes but perhaps did not sell all that well in their day or have just gotten bumped out of the way due to the passage of time and new varieties becoming available....
Seven Son Flower Info What is a seven son flower? Native to China, seven son flower (Heptacodium miconioides) is classified as a large shrub or small tree with a vase-like growth habit and a mature height of 15 to 20 feet (3-4 m.). Tiny, white, sweet-scented flowers provide contrast against the dark green foliage in late summer to early fall, followed by cherry red seed capsules that are even showier than the blooms....
When to Prune Hibiscus When to prune hibiscus usually depends on where you live. However, most hibiscus pruning occurs during spring. For the most part, hibiscus plants can be lightly pruned in late summer or early fall, but no hibiscus pruning should be done during late fall or winter. One of the downsides to waiting later in the season to prune is that plants may not develop as many branches and they will put out fewer blooms....
How to Display Houseplants Let’s explore various ways of arranging houseplants on your walls, ceilings, and floors. Displaying Potted Plants on Walls There are many interesting ways to display potted plants on your walls: Create a living wall with numerous hanging plants placed on a bookshelf or even on a mounted wall shelf. Choose trailing plants such as spider plants, pothos, philodendron, and hoyas. As they grow and trail, you will be creating a living green wall....
Looking to start or expand on a monarch waystation in the spring? You can get a head start now with your fall cleanup. Simply collect the fallen leaves from your yard and place them in a bin. (You can easily build one out of discarded wooden pallets). Allow the leaves to sit and “cook,” and with a little time you’ll have a nutrient-rich mulch for your native plants, an incredible substance called “black gold....
When to Divide Daylilies Daylily division should be tackled every three to five years for optimum health. If you never divide them, the plants will not grow as vigorously, and you will see fewer and smaller flowers each year. Newer varieties of daylily grow more slowly. You can wait longer between divisions for these. The times of year to do the dividing are early spring and late summer to fall. If you do the division toward the end of the growing season, you can wait until the temperatures cool, but don’t wait too long....
Is Feeding an Aloe Plant Necessary? Aloe plants are succulents and, like pretty much all of their close relatives, they need very little attention in order to thrive. In fact, one of the worst things you can do for an aloe is look after it too closely, and root rot from over watering is one of the leading causes of aloe demise. So, does the same hold for fertilizer? Yes and no....
The History of the Holly and the Ivy In fact, the history of holly and ivy at Christmas is quite an interesting one, dating all the way back to the Romans. In those early times the leaves were believed to have protective powers. Over the centuries, the symbolism of holly and ivy Christmas decorations would continue to change, representing both prosperity and abundance. Some avid gardeners may be especially interested to learn more about how to grow Christmas holly, as well as how to grow English ivy....
Chinese Vegetable Gardening Perhaps some of your family hails from China and you grew up enjoying many of their traditional veggie dishes. Now you’d like to bring some of those fond memories home by growing them in your own garden. Growing most Chinese vegetables isn’t complicated since they generally have similar growing requirements as their western counterparts. The major exceptions are water vegetables, which require conditions not found in most western gardens....
Containers In Summer: How To Keep Containers Cool Instead of dark pots that retain heat, use light-colored pots that reflect sunlight and keep planters cooler. Terracotta, concrete, or thick, glazed ceramic will keep cool potted plants more efficiently than plastic. Double potting — putting a smaller pot inside a larger pot — is an easy tactic to keep planters cool. Be sure both pots have drainage holes, and never let the inner pot stand in water....
Growing Hedges Made of Edible Plants By making the hedgerow productive, it now is useful for more than one purpose. The food forest hedge can be staggered to incorporate more plant material, thereby increasing its sustainability. The variety of plants should keep the incidence of disease low, while attracting many beneficial insects to the hedge, as well as the whole yard. Use edible hedges to separate garden rooms, provide a privacy screen or shade, create a living fence, or hide ugly structures....
Foraging is a popular activity which has experienced a resurgence in recent years. Many wild plants can produce nutritious and tasty recipe ingredients. Just as the bees enjoy the nectar of blooming plants, we can also utilize that in homemade recipes. Make some dandelion jelly, or enjoy the flavors of a clover jelly. There are plenty of wild flowers to harvest and turn into scrumptious preserves to adorn our tables....
How to Plant Centipede Grass Centipede grass can be grown from centipede grass seed, sod, or plugs. Which method you use depends largely on what you prefer in terms of cost, labor, and time to established lawn. Planting Centipede Grass Seed Centipede grass seed is the cheapest, but has the most labor involved and takes the longest to an established lawn. The first step to starting centipede grass seed is to till the area where you would like the centipede grass seed to grow....
About Jack in the Pulpit Seed Germination After jack in the pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) flowers are pollinated by insects crawling into the spathe or hood of the plant, the spathe withers and small clusters of green berries appear. The berries continue to grow and change hue from green to orange by August and then to a brilliant red by September. This fire engine red is the signal to harvest the berries for propagation....
Propagating African Violets from Seed You can propagate African violets from seed, but it does require a couple of specific conditions. To sprout these tiny seeds, it’s good to use a light soil mixture of peat, vermiculite and greensand. A bit of Epsom salt can help to lighten the soil even more. It’s important that you have a warm space, so make sure your room temperature is between 65- and 75-degrees Fahrenheit (18-24 C....
