When to Start Planting Seeds A variety of factors influence when to start seeds. Your zone, the type of plant, the last day of frost, days until maturity, and more will inform the planting time. If you want to get a jump on the garden, it is also useful to understand when to start seeds indoors. Seed packets will give you some of this information, while online tools such as freeze maps can fill in the gaps....
Read on for information about recognizing, preventing, and controlling gladiolus scab. Scab on Gladiolus How do you know if you have gladiolus plants with scab? The initial symptoms are small dots on lower leaves. These develop into round, water-soaked spots initially a pale-yellow shade. Over time they darken to black or brown. Scab on gladiolus has entered the second stage of the disease when the shallow lesions look sunken, with raised margins that have the texture of scabs....
How to Grow Carrot Tops First off, a word of caution; when we say you can grow carrots from carrots, we mean the plant, not the root vegetable. The orange, kid-friendly vegetable is actually a taproot, and once removed from the plant, it can’t regrow. Make sure you explain this to your kids before your project begins. Otherwise, if someone thinks they’re growing real carrots from carrot tops, they’re likely to be disappointed....
About Taro in Planters Taro is a perennial tropical and subtropical plant, also known as dasheen. It is native to south and southeast Asia but has been cultivated in many other areas, including Hawaii where it has become a dietary staple. The tuber of taro is starchy and a little sweet. You can cook it into a paste known as poi. You can also make flour out of the tuber or fry it to make chips....
Creating a Bog Garden Under a Downspout For those with excess runoff, rain gardening is an excellent way to optimize growing space that may have been thought unusable. Many native plant species are specifically adapted for and will thrive in locations that remain wet throughout the growing season. Creating a bog garden under a downspout also allows water to be reabsorbed into the water table more slowly and naturally. Managing the water from a downspout is a great way to reduce water pollution and the impact it can have on the local ecosystem....
If you are having a party or a sit-down dinner for the holiday, you might want to consider using Halloween flowers and plants as table decorations. Of course, the pumpkin is the rock star of Halloween, so it will feature in most Halloween centerpieces for tables, but there are plenty of other creative options. Read on to learn more. Halloween Table Plants Everybody knows that Halloween colors are pumpkin orange and dark as night black, but you won’t necessarily have to select Halloween flowers and plants in these colors for table decorations....
Cold Hardy Tropicals for the Landscape Winter hardy palm trees and tropical plants add interest and color to the landscape and require very little maintenance once they are planted. Some good choices for winter hardy palm trees and tropicals include: Needle Palm – The needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix) is an attractive understory palm that is native to the Southeast. Needle palms have a clumping habit and deep green, fan-shaped leaves. Needle palms can withstand temperatures down to – 5 F....
When to Prune Hemlocks If you find that you need to prune your hemlock tree, the best time for trimming hemlocks is either in spring or early summer. At this time, the tree is getting ready for or is already in active growth and will recover quickly from any hemlock pruning that needs to be done. In fall and winter, hemlocks are preparing to go dormant and are hardening themselves to be able to withstand the cold of winter....
Choosing which hobby farm livestock to raise will depend on the needs of the owner. Determining what are good hobby farm animals will help create a hobby that is both rewarding and enjoyable. What are Good Hobby Farm Animals? Choosing animals for hobby farms will depend on many factors. Among these considerations are location, size, needs, prior experience, and time that can be dedicated to care. In selecting animals to have on a hobby farm, many suggest starting small....
Harvesting Honeysuckle Vines You can make a wreath out of most types of vines. You can also make a wreath from twigs, but vines are perfect because they are long and flexible. If you happen to have a lot of honeysuckle growing wild in your yard or neighborhood, it’s an obvious choice for wreathmaking. There are many uses for honeysuckle vines, including wreaths, baskets, and garlands. Fall and winter are the perfect times to harvest honeysuckle vines....
Vivipary Facts and Information What is vivipary? This Latin name literally means “live birth.” Really, it’s a fancy way of referring to seeds germinating prematurely when they are still inside or attached to their parent fruit. This phenomenon occurs frequently on ears of corn, tomatoes, peppers, pears, citrus fruits, and plants that grow in mangrove environments. You are most likely to encounter it in tomatoes or peppers that you’ve bought in the grocery store, especially if you’ve left the fruit sitting out on the counter for a while in hot weather....
Risks of Under Watering Plants The ultimate risk of too little water for a plant is death. Like animals, plants need water to function to thrive, and to live. Some of the most important reasons plants need water include: Maintaining rigidity and the ability to stay upright Engaging in photosynthesis to create energy and food Moving nutrients from the soil up the stem Several factors determine how much you need to water plants, including the plant type, the climate, soil conditions, weather, and location....
My Pitcher Plant Has No Pitchers! How to get pitchers on pitcher plants? Be patient, as pitcher plants take time to develop the first pitcher. Oftentimes, if the plant looks healthy and the tendrils are developing, a little time is all it needs. You’ll probably notice pitchers before you know it! How to Get Pitchers on Pitcher Plants If your plant doesn’t seem to be thriving in addition to not developing pitchers, the following tips will help with fixing pitcher plant problems:...
Identifying Leaf Miners While there are several different kinds of leaf miners, for the most part, their looks and plant damage is similar. Leaf miners tend to be non-descript, black flies. The flies do not directly cause damage to the plant; instead, it is the larva of these flies that causes the problems. Most of the time, this pest is identified by the leaf miner damage. Frequently, it appears as yellow, squiggly lines in the leaves....
As plants get settled into summer, June garden tasks are many and varied. Read on for a regional to do list as well as tips for western gardening in June. Western Gardening in June June garden tasks in the West range from harvesting to planting to protecting your garden. While there may be regional differences, most gardeners on the west coast will have the same basic list. Let’s start with strawberries, one of the tastiest fruits coming ripe in summer....
Kumquat Tree Info Kumquats grow on evergreen trees and are native to China. They reach heights of 8 to 15 feet (2 to 4.5 m.) and have a vase-like or rounded canopy. In spring, you’ll be treated to showy, fragrant white flowers. The trees are self-fertile, so you’ll only need one to produce fruit. Growing kumquat trees is easy. They need full sun and tolerate any soil pH and most soil types as long as the soil is well-drained....
Preserving Carved Pumpkins By nature, an organic container will eventually break down. Keeping pumpkins from rotting after you have gone to all the work to make them into planters is a tricky proposition. Many crafters are simply happy to have them for a month and then plant the whole thing in the ground when the container begins to discolor and get soft. If you want yours to last longer though, location and a little care can extend the life of your container....
Mikania Plant Info This bushy vine (Mikania ternata) is a showy wonder, having leaves that are green with a rich purple tint and fuzzy hairs that make it look like plush velvet. Growing mikania plush vine can be tricky until you give it the right conditions. Mikania houseplants have their own requirements and only do well if you pay attention to them. Once you learn how to grow mikania plush vine plants, you can add another bit of color to your indoor gardening....
Grass paths in gardens are pleasant to walk on and wonderful for separating areas of “wild space.” If you are wondering how to make a grass path, you’ll find there is lots of room for creativity. Read on for some cool garden pathway ideas. Grass Paths in Gardens The main problem with a classic lawn is that you have to eliminate all plant species but one to keep the area uniform....
My Venus Flytrap Won’t Close Probably the biggest reason your Venus flytrap does not snap shut is that it’s exhausted, sort of. The leaves of the flytrap have short, stiff cilia or trigger hairs. When something touches these hairs enough to bend them, the dual lobes of the leaves close, effectively trapping the “something” inside in less than a second. There is a lifespan for these leaves, however. Ten to twelve times of snapping shut and they cease to function as trapping leaves and remain open, functioning as photosynthesizers....
