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Symptoms of Gardenia Cold Damage It is hard to resist the shiny, lustrous leaves and starry scented flowers of a gardenia. Even when you know better, sometimes the intrepid gardener will purchase one even if they are living in a borderline zone. That said, gardenia planted in the appropriate hardiness zones may also experience surprise weather and winters of unusual ferocity. Gardenia cold damage occurs even when there is no snow on the ground....

New Orchid Watermelon Info New Orchid watermelon plants are a type of icebox watermelon. Icebox watermelons are generally smaller, usually weighing less than about 10 pounds (4.5 kg.) The compact size of these melons makes them ideal for storage in refrigerators. When fully mature, New Orchid melons demonstrate distinctive green stripes and an inner juicy flesh that is a bright and vibrant orange in color. How to Grow a New Orchid Melon The process of growing New Orchid watermelons is very similar to that of growing any other open pollinated or hybrid melon variety....

What is Pear Decline Disease? Pear decline is a serious, often lethal pear tree disease caused by a phytoplasma called Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri. It is a mycoplasma-like organism without rigid cell walls. A tree is infected with this pear decline phytoplasma by insects called pear psylla. The pear psylla itself gets infected with pear decline phytoplasma from eating the foliage of infected pear trees. Once infected, a psylla stays infected and can transmit the disease to other host trees....

Fortunately, there are many gorgeous perennial plants for California that are low maintenance and drought tolerant. Read on for information on growing perennials for Western states in your California garden. Perennials in Western U.S. Gardens Just ask any gardener, the best perennials in Western U.S. gardens for long term are plants that are easiest to care for. In the end, low maintenance beats almost any ornamental feature. You may adore a particular plant and pay a high price for it in the garden store....

A permaculture fruit orchard design contains a variety of fruit trees and other plants that will look and act like natural ecosystems. This type of planting is sometimes called a “fruit tree guild.” Fruit Tree Guild Permaculture Transforming vacant land into an aesthetically pleasing and productive orchard is an appealing concept with many advantages. Planting trees benefits the environment by reducing urban heat, absorbing noise and carbon emissions, limiting water runoff, and creating habitats for wildlife....

How to Harvest Peas Both tender hulls and seeds of peas are edible. Tender, edible pods come from the early harvest. Learning how to harvest pea seeds and how to harvest pea pods is a matter of timing and which part of the vegetable you prefer to use. Sugar snap pea varieties should be tender, with immature seeds, when harvesting peas for pods. Snow peas are ready for harvest when pods are developed, before pea seeds appear....

Plant Propagation Calendar A plant propagation calendar itemizes what plants can be propagated each month. Some seasons are more conducive to softwood or hardwood cuttings, layering, or saving seeds. Fall plant propagation is generally done by softwood or hardwood cuttings. When to Take Cuttings in Fall As temperatures cool, you can start taking cuttings from tender perennials that are generally grown as annuals, such as coleus or geraniums. After a good frost, you can start dividing perennials and take hardwood cuttings....

Kousa dogwood trees begin life with an upright design, but their branches grow out horizontally as the trees mature. The result is an attractive canopy that will fill a large portion of the yard. Many people use them as a focal point by attaching small twinkle lights to the underside of the canopy, creating a magical look for evening relaxation. Kousa Dogwood Varieties There are a number of Kousa dogwood varieties, and the only basic difference is how each tree looks....

Caring for Pothos Plants Basic pothos care is very easy. These plants enjoy a wide range of environments. They do well in bright, indirect light as well as low light and can be grown in dry soil or in vases of water. They will thrive in nutrient rich soil, but do almost as well in nutrient poor soil. Pothos plants make a great addition to your bathroom or office because they can tolerate low light....

When to Prune Sycamore Trees It isn’t absolutely necessary to prune your sycamore, but there are some good reasons to do it. Pruning can help you shape the tree to look a certain way. As a city street tree, a heavy type of pruning called pollarding is used to keep sycamore trees smaller and with a dense canopy. Lighter pruning can be done for a degree of the same effect, but also to thin the canopy and to allow more air circulation to keep the tree healthy and disease free....

What is a Queen’s Wreath Vine? Queen’s wreath vine is a gorgeous tropical vine that looks somewhat similar to wisteria with its floppy lavender blooms. These clusters of foot long, star shaped blooms flower several times a year on this evergreen. Queen’s Wreath Info This vining plant is native from Southern Mexico through Central America and on into northern and western South America. It is also found in Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola....

Regional gardening varies from state to state. The U.S. is divided up rather informally into regions and sub-regions which can help simplify gardening rules. May planting in the northeast follows different rules than other locations because its climate and seasonal warm up are at odds with much of the country. But May still signals the beginning of the gardening season and there’s a lot to do to get ready. May Planting in the Northeast Sharpen your pruners, get out your shovels, and be prepared to combat weeds, because May is coming....

Southeast Regional To-Do List While this likely didn’t hold us back too much, some of us may have put off planting some of our warm season crops. If so, June is a perfect time for planting seeds and young plants for the upcoming harvest. Plant cucumbers, okra, melons, and any other vegetables and fruits that thrive in summer. Speaking of summer, we understand that those 90 and 100 degree F. (32-38 C....

Signs of Sweet Potato Feathery Mottle Virus Aphids are common enough pests on many varieties of plants, both ornamental and edible. These sucking insects transmit viruses into plant leaves through their saliva. One of these diseases is Sweet Potato Feathery Mottle Virus which causes sweet potatoes with internal cork. This is an economically devastating disease that reduces plant vigor and yield. It causes tubers that are inedible, but often the damage isn’t evident until you cut open the sweet potato....

Scarecrows in the Garden Garden scarecrows are not a new idea; they’ve been used in gardens for centuries. The original purpose of scarecrows in the garden was to frighten away birds, particularly crows, which caused damage to crops. The creators of scarecrows didn’t give the birds credit for soon realizing that scarecrows in the garden would not harm them. Today’s scarecrows utilize many features that can keep pesky flying fiends away....

What is Spirulina? Spirulina is a type of algae, which means it is a colony of single-celled organisms that produce foods by photosynthesis. Algae aren’t exactly plants, but there are a lot of similarities. Like our more familiar green vegetables, spirulina is nutrient dense. In fact, it may be one of the most nutritious of all green foods. Some of the spirulina benefits you may get from supplementing your diet with this green powerhouse include:...

Spur Blight in Brambles What is spur blight likely to do to your raspberries and other brambles? Nothing too nice. Spur blight infects both the leaves and the canes of brambles. Leaves are usually the first part of the plants to show spur blight symptoms. The outer edges turn yellow, then the leaves die. Since lower leaves are usually the first infected, it’s easy to view the damage as normal leaf senescence....

What is Star Anise? Star anise plants are fast growing evergreen trees, that occasionally grow up to 26 feet (6.5 m.) but usually smaller with a spread of 10 feet (3 m.). The fruit is a spice that smells a bit like licorice. The tree is native to southern China and northern Vietnam where its fruit is used heavily in the regional cuisine. The spice was first introduced to Europe in the 17th century and used whole, powdered, or extracted into oil....

Sweet Potato Soil Rot Info Sweet potatoes are a high source of Vitamins A and C, and are one of the largest crops in the southern United States. China produces half of all the sweet potatoes for global consumption. The root has become popular as an alternative to traditional potatoes because of the high nutrient and fiber content. Diseases of sweet potatoes, such as pox, cause millions of dollars in economic losses....

When to Pick Breadfruit Breadfruit can be found growing and for sale in extremely tropical regions. Breadfruit harvest depends upon the variety and location the tree is being grown. The tree fruits fairly constant in the South Seas with two or three main fruiting periods. In the Marshal Islands, the fruit ripens from May to July or September, and in the islands of French Polynesia from November to April and again in July and August....