Posts

Kohlrabi Seed Starting Kohlrabi is a nutritious vegetable to add to the garden. It is a terrific source of potassium and vitamin C, containing 140% of the RDA for vitamin C. It is also low in calories with one cup of diced kohlrabi weighing in at only 4 calories, a great reason for propagating kohlrabi seeds! Starting kohlrabi from seeds is a simple process. Because it is a cool season vegetable, kohlrabi seed starting should take place in early spring or in early fall....

Steps to Using Garden Sculptures Well Most neighborhoods have that one yard that make the rest of us cringe. This is the home that includes a seemingly endless number of gnomes, metallic spheres, and concrete wildlife in an overly cluttered yard. To avoid being that neighbor, try these steps for including statues and sculptures in a way that looks just right. Start with a plan. Making a plan before buying or placing garden statues can be very helpful....

What is Jack Ice Lettuce? Jack Ice is a variety of lettuce that was first introduced by experienced seed grower, Frank Morton. Chosen for its ability to withstand cool temperatures, frost, and for its tolerance to heat, this crisphead lettuce offers growers bountiful harvests of tender green leaves in about 45 to 60 days from planting. Growing Jack Ice Lettuce Growing Jack Ice crisphead lettuce is very similar to growing other varieties of garden lettuce....

Common Lilac Varieties Horticulturists have cross bred the 28 species of lilac so extensively that even the experts sometimes have trouble telling lilac plant types apart. Even so, some species have attributes that might make them better suited to your garden and landscape. Here are some different types of lilacs that you might want to consider for your garden: Common lilac (Syringa vulgaris): For most people, this lilac is the most familiar....

If you don’t have space for a full-size bog, creating a container bog garden is easily done. Even small potted bog gardens will hold an array of colorful, fascinating plants. Let’s get started. Creating a Container Bog Garden To make your bog garden in a container, start with something measuring at least 12 inches (31 cm.) deep and 8 inches (20 cm.) across or larger. Any container that holds water will work, but keep in mind that larger bog garden planters won’t dry out as quickly....

What is a Cold Frame? Cold frames are used for hardening or tempering tender starts prior to transplanting and allowing them to acclimate to exterior conditions. Useful for growing cool weather crops in the very early spring, fall, and even winter, cold frames allow the home gardener to have access to fresh vegetables all year long. While hotbeds rely on an exterior heat source, such as soil heating cables or steam pipes, cold boxes (and sun boxes) rely solely on the sun as the heat source....

Growing Verbena for Tea Lemon verbena is a deciduous shrub that thrives in USDA zones 9 and 10 and can survive in zone 8 with protection. Native to Chile and Peru, the plant grows along roads where it can achieve heights of up to 15 feet (5 m). While not a “true” verbena species, it is often referred to as such. Lemon verbena does best in loose, well-draining soil that is rich in organic matter....

Melianthus Honeybush Information What is a honeybush anyway? It’s a lovely shrub often grown for its textured foliage. If your garden lacks texture, honeybush cultivation might be just the ticket. Unlike flowering plants, those grown for their foliage usually look better every passing week, and make their neighbors look better too. Melianthus honeybush information describes the shrub’s foliage as 20-inch (50 cm.), pinnately compound, saw-tooth margined leaves. What that means is that honeybush produces long, graceful leaves like giant ferns....

What is a Mini Tomato? Mini tomatoes, also called micro tomatoes, are cultivars genetically developed for their compact size. All parts of the plant– stem, leaves, and fruit– are smaller than typical garden dwarf varieties. Miniature tomatoes are ideal for growing in a sunny window, apartment balcony, or sunny porch step and growing these little beauties is a great way to introduce children to gardening. Growing Micro Tomatoes While there’s nothing wrong with growing micro tomatoes in your regular garden bed, they are best suited to container gardening....

What is Adagio Grass? Choosing ornamental grasses can be difficult due to the many sizes, forms and specific needs. Miscanthus ‘Adagio’ care is minimal, allowing the gardener to enjoy the beautiful plumes without spending a lot of time on the plant. Arching a graceful 3 to 4 feet (.91 to 1.2 m.), the lovely grass is a dwarf maiden grass. Mature plants can have dozens of airy plumes starting out pink and fading to white....

Aconitum Monkshood Info Growing 2 to 4 feet (0.5-1 m.) tall and 1 to 2 feet (31-61 cm.) wide, perennial monkshood is best grown as a background plant. The leaves of the monkshood plant are palmate, meaning hand shaped, with lobed “fingers” that often have toothed edges and vary in color from light to dark green. In late summer or early fall, it sends up showy spires of purple/blue flowers. Species of Aconitum monkshood with white or yellow flowers are available, though not as common....

What is Witches’ Broom in Blueberry Bushes? Witches’ broom on blueberry plants is caused by a rarely found fungal disease. This disease caused clusters of small branches to form at the base of the bush known as witches’ brooms. Although a fungal disease, the symptoms of blueberries with witches’ broom are more viral in nature than fungal. The year after infection, blueberry bushes afflicted with witches’ broom produce a multitude of swollen, spongy shoots with tiny leaves and reddish bark rather than the green found on healthy young branches....

Why Won’t My Naranjilla Fruit? Producing fruits commonly referred to as “little oranges,” these edible members of the Solanaceae family are native to South America. Prized for its use in desserts and flavored drinks, the naranjilla plant produces small, orange-yellow fruits on upright shrubs. Though it is possible to purchase the plants online, naranjilla plants are most commonly propagated by growth from seed. When grown from seed, plants may begin to bear fruit in as little as nine months from planting....

Help! My Pumpkin Plants are Wilting! There are several reasons for pumpkin plant wilt. The best way to figure out which one may be the cause of your wilting pumpkin plants is to rule out the simplest explanation first. Lack of water might be the reason for pumpkin leaves that are wilting. Although the large leaves aid in shading the soil and keeping roots cool, the plants still need water. During the heat of the summer, pumpkins need between 1 and 1 ½ inches (2....

Northern Sea Oats in the Garden Northern sea oats decorative grass is a versatile plant that performs equally well in sun or shade. The grass is loosely tufted and forms a clump. The leaves are dark green, long, and slightly pointed at the end, resembling bamboo leaves. The real attraction is the flower’s seed head, which is a wide, flat construction whose texture resembles wheat heads. The flowers are dangling panicles and the foliage turns a rich bronze in fall....

Native Gardening in the Pacific Northwest What are the benefits of native gardening in the Pacific Northwest? Natives are beautiful and easy to grow. They require no protection in winter, little to no water in summer, and they co-exist with beautiful and beneficial native butterflies, bees, and birds. A Pacific Northwest native garden may contain annuals, perennials, ferns, conifers, flowering trees, shrubs, and grasses. Below is a short list of native plants for Northwest region gardens, along with USDA growing zones....

Ornamental Sweet Potato Winter Care Ipomoea batatas, or sweet potato vine, thrives in hot, tropical climates and is an ornamental foliage plant often used as a foil for flowering displays. This heat-loving perennial will die back if the plant experiences hard freezes below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 C.). Yet, the tubers and even the plant in some cases, are easy to save for another season. Overwintering ornamental sweet potatoes can be done by heeling them in where temperatures don’t often stay chilly, bringing them indoors, or by harvesting and storing the tubers....

Painting with Dirt When using soil in art, try to get several varieties and different colors. You can collect in your yard, but you may also need to order soil online to get more range. Bake the soil in a low-temperature oven or leave out to air dry. Crush it with a mortar and pestle to get a fine consistency. To make art with dirt, follow these steps with the prepared soil:...

About Pecan Brown Leaf Spot Disease Pecan cercospora is most prevalent in neglected pecan orchards or in older trees. It rarely causes serious issues in healthy, mature plants. By the time you see brown spots on pecan leaves, the fungal disease is well advanced. Early signs can help avoid the disease getting a foothold in an orchard situation. The name of the disease gives some indication of the symptoms; however, by the time the leaves are that advanced, the fungus is well established....

Dogwood is both a native and introduced species across North America, especially the cooler climates. The plants may be trees or shrubs in form, but all of them offer extraordinary color and many of them flower. Many of the varieties are deciduous and provide a rich fall color display followed by bright green, yellow, coral, and orange revealed stems. They are quite winter hardy but are sensitive to mechanical injury and a variety of pests and diseases....