While you may not recognize the name right away, odds are, you’re one of the many people who love succulents. After all, what’s not to love about them? Succulents are essentially another name for uniquely beautiful desert plants, like, aloe vera, snake plants, or jade. Indoor growing of succulent plants can be tricky, but with a few helpful tips, you can care for your plants properly.
If you’ve recently received or purchased a gardenia plant—with its beautiful dark glossy foliage, fragrant blooms, and several buds—you might have difficulty getting these buds to mature and open. If the air is dry, the buds have a tendency of not opening (and dropping off). The problem is that the average home is warm, with low humidity. A gardenia plant, however, requires high humidity.
The care and handling of fresh flowers depends on how they are to be displayed. The three most common ways to display are: simple cut flowers; cut flowers in a vase; and an arrangement of cut flowers in floral foam.
Let’s start with cut flowers just purchased. Keep them out of extreme temperatures when bringing them home. Hopefully, the flowers you bought were properly processed along the way from the farm to you. If you’re going to display your flowers in a vase, use a vase that has been cleaned with soap and water, then rinsed with bleach. Re-cut all the flowers to your preferred length, removing any foliage that would be below the water line. Cutting at an angle or under running water is a matter of your preference; there’s no proof that these methods make any difference.
Bulbs don’t seem to get enough credit. They’re easy to plant, easy to care for, and you’ll be able to enjoy their colorful bloom year after year. So why don’t more of us take advantage of them? If you’re looking to spruce up an entryway, patio, or sunroom, look no further than with a bulb container garden. And if you’ve never planted bulbs (or anything else for that matter), don’t worry – we’ve covered everything from buying to planting.
After all the time you spend caring for your plants, the last thing you need is a gang of reckless insects sabotaging your hard work. Here are our expert tips on how to remove bugs from plants (both indoors and out) so you can have a happy, healthy, pest-free garden!
Buzzing flies and gnats that cloud around your garden pose more of a nuisance to you than they pose a threat to your plants. But since their larvae feed on roots, you’ll need to shoo those flying pests away before their hungry little ones come along.
An ordinary store-bought insect spray that contains Acephate should do the trick. Just lightly tap the leaves of your plant so the flies or gnats can swarm into the air. Spray the solution into the air around your plant, and then mist it onto your plant and the soil surrounding it. Make sure to follow the directions on the bottle: Too much Acephate could damage your plant. Continue Reading…
Mixing up a fresh dish packed with herbs for dinner? Skip the trip to the grocery store and grow herbs in your own indoor herb garden, instead! Here are 8 herbs you can grow right from your kitchen!
Did you know that Lemongrass doesn’t even need dirt to grow? Simply buy a stalk with extra stem and place in water. Lemongrass can be used in cooking and for medicinal purposes.
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Garden roses come in several different categories such as miniature, climbing, and hybrid. There are many types of roses in each category. However, many questions asked about garden roses revolve around “pruning,” so I’m going to answer some questions around pruning as well as where to plant your roses, when to plant them, and how to care for them.
In the Northeast, the best time to prune is in the spring when forsythias are in bloom, and again in the fall 4 to 6 weeks before the first hard frost. The pruning is done in early spring to remove any damage that occurred during the winter months, as well as removing any old flowers. Always prune dead wood back to healthy tissue by removing dead, damaged or diseased branches. Healthy branches will be white or light green in the center. If you see any discoloration, spots or mildew on branches, it should be cut out. Removing spent or withered flowers encourages more future blooms; this is called “deadheading”. Since the time for pruning is over, now is a good time for planting. If you’re new to planting garden roses, let’s get started. Continue Reading…
A cucumber missing, tomatoes with bite marks, nibbles in your basil…after all of the time you spend growing and caring for your garden, the last thing you want is to come out and find it taken over by animals! For the critters that just can’t seem to stay away – we’re talking squirrels, birds, stray cats, raccoons, rabbits, chipmunks, deer, etc – you need to have a few tricks up your sleeve to ensure that all of your hard work doesn’t go to waste. Here are a few strategies that you may find helpful to keep these furry friends from messing with your garden, while still being animal friendly of course!
When your garden has small spaces that animals can hide or rest in, it becomes much more attractive to wildlife like squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks. As you plant, make sure you’re strategic with the designs you choose and avoid leaving any holes that smaller creatures can sneak into. Continue Reading…
Spring has officially sprung, and that means it’s time to start thinking about this year’s garden. But before you get too wrapped up in the plants and flowers that you’re going to grow outdoors, don’t forget that you can also freshen up your home by growing some of your favorites indoors too. As part of this year’s Spring cleaning routine, we encourage you to make room for one, two, or maybe even a few, houseplants. Then, use this guide to determine which species is best for you depending on the amount of light your home receives:
Nothing says “spring” better than an arrangement of bright, colorful tulips! The tulip is the third most popular flower, after roses and chrysanthemums.
Tulips originally were a wild flowers growing in Asia, and were first cultivated by the Turks as early as 1000 A.D.
These flowers were introduced in Western Europe and the Netherlands in the 17th century. They soon gained trading popularity, especially in Holland. The interest in them was huge and tulip bulbs were sold for unbelievably high prices. Fortunes were made (and lost) by trading tulip bulbs as a commodity, much like gold.
