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Different Kinds of Caraway Caraway has been used in food and as a medicine for centuries. The commonly cultivated variety has several cultivars but most remain unnamed. It is best to group the different kinds of caraway by their growth pattern, either annual or biennial. Technically, there are no listed named varieties. Annual caraway requires a longer growing season, while biennial types of caraway are grown in cooler regions. Biennial Caraway Plant Varieties Biennial varieties of caraway (Carum carvi f....

How to Protect Indoor Plants from Cats Protecting houseplants from cats is largely a matter of trial and error, and the following tips may or may not work for you and your kitty. However, they’re worth a try, and they may just be successful! Chunks of citrus peels on the surface of the soil are often effective houseplant cat deterrents. Most cats aren’t crazy about the aroma of citrus. Arrange a few large rocks in pots, with the rough edges facing up....

Aside from those great reasons to grow the plant, this tree displays beautiful, showy blooms. Sometimes, for growers, you may experience buddha’s hand dropping flowers. Let’s see how to best go about avoiding buddha’s hand losing flowers. How to Avoid No Flowers on Buddha’s Hand If you grow the Buddha’s hand among your other citrus trees, you’ll expect the blooms in spring on most of them before the fruits appear....

How to treat a fruit tree with brown rot fungus is of the utmost importance to the home gardener because the disease can and will occur again without proper precautions. Brown Rot Fungus Treatment For the home gardener, how to treat a fruit tree with brown rot disease is largely a case of prevention. For trees that are already infected, treatment with a brown rot fungicide is the only course of action....

How to Bring Plants Inside Without Bugs Follow these simple steps for removing insects from plants brought inside so your plants will be happy and healthy all winter. Plant Inspection Give each plant a visual inspection. Look under leaves for egg sacks and bugs, as well as discoloration and holes in the leaves. If you see a bug or two, hand pick them from the plant and drown in a cup of warm soapy water....

Tabletop grass does not have to cover the entire table and could be done in dishes or trays to add some garden greenery. Creating a Table of Grass Grass-covered tabletops are trending recently and it’s easy to see why. The startling green color, gently swaying blades, and even the smell of grass bring a much-needed brightness to a buffet, seated table, or outdoor picnic space. Tabletop grass can also be used to bring the outside indoors....

How to Hand Pollinate Almonds When almond flowers open in the early spring, the flowers should be pollinated as quickly as possible to ensure a good yield. Each almond flower has many stamens (the flower’s male parts) and one pistil (the flower’s female part). When the flowers are ready, the yellow, dusty pollen will be visible on the anthers, the kidney-shaped structures on the ends of the stamens. To achieve pollination, a pollen grain must come to rest on the stigma, the surface at the end of the pistil, of a compatible flower....

Candlestick Plant Info Candlestick senna, previously called candlestick cassia (Cassia alata), is described as a small tree or shrub, depending on which candlestick plant info one reads. When growing candle bush in the warmest of USDA plant hardiness zones, the plant may return for several years, allowing the trunk to develop to tree size. In more northern areas of the south, grow candle bush as an annual that may return following unusually mild winters....

Potential Diseases of Caraway Pests generally don’t attack and damage caraway, but there are some potential diseases that can inflict it. If you see sickly caraway plants in your herb or vegetable garden, look for signs that can help you diagnose the problem and treat it: Aster yellows. Leafhopper insects spread this disease, which causes yellowing in the flower heads and stems. Aster yellows also results in reduction in leaf sizes, malformed flowers, and failure to produce seeds....

Desert Willow Tree Facts The desert willow’s scientific name is Chilopsis linearis. It’s a small, delicate tree that usually doesn’t grow above 30 feet (9 m.) tall and 25 feet (7.5 m.) wide. This makes planting desert willow trees possible even for those with small backyards. With its many trunks, the tree presents a unique, graceful silhouette that is familiar in the Southwest deserts. The thin, drooping leaves can get up to 12 inches (15 cm....

Celebrating the Equinox – An Ancient Tradition The autumnal equinox marks the end of summer and the coming of darker nights and winter. Like the vernal equinox, which marks spring and new beginnings, the fall equinox marks the passing of the sun across the equator. In European pagan tradition, the autumnal equinox is called Mabon. Traditionally celebrated as a second harvest and to welcome the darkening days, it also served as preparation for the bigger holiday of Samhain, the first day of winter....

Soil Microbe Adaptation A group of microbes called Rhizobia are among the most important in nature’s soils and also in agricultural systems. These are adaptable to different regions in some situations. These form symbiotic relationships with a variety of plants, especially those categorized as legumes. Rhizobia helps these plants, such as peas and beans, get necessary nutrients. Primarily nitrogen in this case, most all plants need this nutrient to survive and grow....

What is Coastal Leucothoe? This is a small, easy maintenance bush that has a few specific requirements for optimum growth and development. Glossy, alternate leaves are toothed with sometimes serrated margins. Clusters of white, bell shaped blooms sprout in axillary racemes from leaf axles in spring. These are not showy. This weeping evergreen bush grows in a variety of Hardiness Zones and conditions. It can take the cold as far north as Zone 5, but will flourish when it’s afforded cold weather protection from wind and provided with a substantial layer of mulch in winter....

Different Calendula Plants Below are some of the more popular varieties of calendula that make great additions to the garden. Radio Extra: Tall plant with unique, cactus-like blooms of bright orange; one of the most unusual types of calendulas. Pink Surprise: Ruffled gold and yellow flowers, some with pink edges and dark apricot centers. A few blooms in the bunch may be true pink with gold highlights. Touch of Red: A mixture in shades of orange and red, all with red-tipped petals and mahogany red undersides....

Garden Pests in the South Insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts attack and literally drain the sap, fluids, and the life from happily growing plants. They have a beak (proboscis) that is modified to pierce plants. These insects include aphids, leafhoppers, scale insects, and whiteflies. The proboscis is used by the insects similar to the way humans use a straw. Similar damage is caused by insects with rasping/sucking mouthparts, like mites and thrips....

What are Darwin Tulips? There are hundreds of varieties of tulips, but Darwin hybrids have to be one of the most outstanding. They have large, delightful blooms in a myriad of colors and their sturdy stems stand up to wind and rain. These are one of the longer lived tulip varieties and are coveted as cut flowers. Growing Darwin tulips allows for years of intense color in the garden. These bulbs come in bold colors of red, yellow, pink, and ivory....

What are Lace Bugs? Lace bugs are tiny insects that grow no more than one-eighth inch (3 mm.) long. Small, clear cells cover their wings and thorax, giving them their lacy appearance. They feed by sucking the sap from the foliage of trees and shrubs, leaving them looking mottled, stippled, and discolored. Dealing with lace bugs can be annoying but the good news is that with effective lace bug treatment, you can rid them of the garden....

To get your feng shui on with your landscape design, you must consider some foundation planting tips, especially those regarding foundation plant spacing. Read on to learn how to space foundation plantings. Foundation Planting Tips Foundation planting originated during the Victorian Age to hide the high foundations that were in favor at the time. Today’s homes generally lack this unattractive feature, so the nature of foundation planting has changed. Foundation planting is often limited to lining the foundation of the house with rows of shrubs, often evergreens with larger shrubs planted at the corners of the house to camouflage the sharp lines of the building....

Since a majority of the plant’s nutrients comes directly from the air around them, air plants are frequently used in hanging arrangements or in decorative planters. Exploring air plant holder ideas can help growers to determine how to best display their air plants. For many creatives, the process of designing and making their own air plant hanger is both exciting and rewarding. DIY Air Plant Holder The creation of a DIY air plant holder is an easy way to arrange air plants in a way which is consistent with a home’s existing décor....

How to Make a Bird Feeder Making bird feeders can be as simple as using a pinecone and some peanut butter and as involved and creative as using toy building blocks. Here are some ideas to get your family started: Pinecone bird feeder – This is an easy project for little kids but still fun for everyone. Pick pinecones with plenty of space between the layers, spread them with peanut butter, roll in birdseed, and hang from trees or feeders....