Category Growing Tips

The Persian violet – Exacum EKS-uh-kum is known for large mounds of foliage, small delicate flowers, and pleasant fragrances.The Exacum plant is native to Yemen and belongs to the Gentianaceae family.The most popular of the Exacum plants is the Exacum affine. Other varieties include various shades of white, blue, lavender, and deep purple flowers.

The Nierembergia plant provides a splash of color for breaking through from the grayest days as the new greenery comes to life.Plus this petite bell-shaped flower can fit on a mouse’s lapel. They have USDA hardiness zones 7 – 10.The Nierembergia plants, purple robe or cup flower plants have tiny delicate paper thin purple, blue, lavender or white flowers with five soft corners.

Have you ever considered an indoor grow lights system for growing plants indoors? Did you think an indoor lighting system was only for the pros?Usually, to start indoor gardening or houseplants like african violets, veggies or flowering plants, you resort to purchasing seedlings from a local nursery.

Have you ever heard the term soil solarization? It’s a process allowing home gardeners to capture and use the energy from the sun as a soil pest control mechanism.Gardeners lay a clear plastic tarp, black plastic sheeting or clear polyethylene atop garden soil.The solar energy is concentrated on the top 12 to 18 inches of soil.

Dill plants (Anethum graveolens) fal-KAY-tuh grav-ee-OH-lens is found throughout the Mediterranean, Europe, and most kitchens.Dill is a popular kitchen herb people frequently grow for flavoring.However, gardeners also plant dill to attract beneficial insects like ladybugs, syrphids, small wasps and spiders.

The Bird Of Paradise Flower – exotic, colorful, tropical and frustrating.Of all the plants grown, few attract the attention that is paid to the Strelitzia reginae – the Bird of Paradise plant.It grows outdoors around the year in the most southern portions of our country.Further north, where freezing temperatures occur, the bird-of-paradise may spend the summer outdoors, but it needs the warmth of a sun porch, basement, or greenhouse the balance of the year.

The Voodoo lily (Sauromatum) is an interesting plant native to tropical regions, including parts of Africa and Asia.Sauromatum venosum, is known for its unique appearance and the unpleasant odor produced by the flowers, which typically last less than a day.Sauromatum pronounced saw-ROH-muh-tum means “lizard.

Leptospermum scoparium lep-toh-SPER-mum, sko-PAIR-ee-um is a flowering evergreen shrub belonging to the Myrtaceae family along with the bottle brush tree.It’s native to New Zealand and Australia, where it’s popularly grown outdoors for its unique, delicate flowers.Often cultivated for mānuka honey because of its antibacterial properties, produced when honeybees gather the nectar from its flowers.

Native to Europe, southwest Asia, and North Africa, Reseda res-EE-duh a genus of herbaceous plants has a long recorded history.The honey-like sweet fragrance emitted by its flowers is attractive to anyone near it.Since the name Reseda means “to calm or appease,” the ambrosial scent makes complete sense.

Acer Palmatum AY-ser, pahl-May-tum is a woody plant belonging to the family Sapindaceae and is native to Japan, China, Korea, southeast Russia, and eastern Mangolia.While the plant has been cultivated in Japan for centuries, it started to be grown in temperate regions around the world in the 1800s.

As evident from its common names, acorus gramineus ‘variegatus’ AK-or-us, gram-IN-ee-us, var-ee-GAY-tus is a plant with a grassy appearance and is native to Japan, Korea, and East Asia.A species of the family Acorus, the plant is seen growing in shallow water and wetlands in its native habitat.You may hear it called by its common name including:Grassy-leaved Sweet FlagJapanese Sweet FlagJapanese RushDwarf SedgeDwarf Sweet FlagGolden Variegated Sweet FlagVariegated Sweet FlagAcorus Gramineus ‘Variegatus’ CareSize & GrowthDwarf Sweet Flag is a compact, deciduous, water-loving rhizomatous perennial growing up to 11” – 12” inches in height.

Styrax japonicus STY-raks, juh-PON-ih-kuhs is a deciduous flowering tree species of the Styracaceae family.Native to Japan, Korea, and China, the plant features upward-facing ovate leaves and dark green-brown, olive-like fruits appearing after the flowering season and persist till late autumn.The color of the foliage does not usually change in fall, but when it does, it gets a beautiful yellow to red fall color.

Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella& 39; SKIM-ee-uh juh-PON-ih-kuh is a compact flowering evergreen shrub which produces red fruits and belongs to the Rutaceae family.This shrubby species gets its name from its place of origination i.e., Japan.The plant is also natively found in China and Southeast Asia.Skimmia is characterized by its compact shrub-like foliage dense branches with simple aromatic leaves.

Just as with any other hobby when you take up gardening, everyone will give you their very best advice. Even so, it’s important to understand that not all of the advice you get will be valuable or worthwhile.In fact some can be incredibly damaging. In this article, we will examine some common gardening myths and give you the information you need to sort truth from myth.

Good plant culture prevents many house plant issues, but every indoor gardener needs to know the trouble signs, and how to deal with them.Keeping house plant leaves clean helps prevent insect attacks.Two items mentioned throughout this article include:Naural Pesticide Neem OilSynthetic Pesticide MalathionBoth are good basic pest control products.

What are the best house plants to give as gifts? That is a question we get every holiday season as people attend holiday parties, visit friends and want to bring… “gift plants” to the party host.When giving plants as a gift there are a few things to keep in mind.Know the Person!Do they use flowers in their interior settings?

All plants need three major elements for proper growth – nitrogen, phosphorus and potash. If your soil does not contain them in the right quantities, the best growth is impossible.That is why soil pH testing is needed, so you can to provide the soil with the missing nutrients, in the right quantity.Nitrogen stimulates growth; phosphorus makes better flowers, fruits, seeds; potash aids the roots, stems, and stalks; counteracts brittle growth.

Many gardeners take it for granted that spring flowering bulbs planted in the garden will bloom when it is time and nothing will cause them to bloom earlier.There are, however, planting practices that will “force” flowering from a few days to three weeks or more. These practices are especially worthwhile for those tired of a flowerless winter garden and can hardly wait for the first spring bloom.

Every gardener knows that generous nitrogen feeding makes the lawn greener and plants healthier.They know phosphorus-deficient plants are puny and weak.Plants lacking potassium have mottled stunted foliage later develops tiny patches of dead tissue over the surface.But what about when the garden has:An ample feeding of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassiumA soil in good conditionFavorable weather… and still the plants are dwarfed or the foliage is distorted or the growing tips fail to elongate or the plant is discolored?

All seeds whether tiny or large, have the same germination requirements for them to grow healthy: air, water, and light. Most experts recommend using a soil-less mixture for starting seeds.A “soil-less” medium helps in reducing fungal diseases which might lead to the eventual death of the seedling.When you apply Epsom salt in the garden, the germination rates are likely to be higher because the seedlings will be much stronger.