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Enter your keywords:Posts Tagged ‘Houseplants’
Daylilies : Lovelier Than Ever
Mom’s old Daylily patch was indestructible yet ephemeral. The plants withstood our tiny, trampling feet, but the flowers came and went with the mid-July sun. In the morning, peachcolored buds opened wide, revealing orange petals and yellow throats. But by late afternoon they were gone - shriveled, twisted and rusty-brown. In a few weeks, the blossoms disappeared entirely.
Today’s Daylilies are just as tough as mother’s old ones. But their brief summer show has been extended. Each flower still lasts a single day, owing to both their common and horticultural name. (Hemerocallis in Greek means “beautiful for one day.”) However, instead of flowering for two short weeks, today’s hybrids start blooming in late June and last up to six weeks. Then, after deadheading and an application of fertilizer, some can launch an encore performance that stretches into late September.
A Tisket a Tasket :I’ve got daisies in my basket
There’s something pretty wonderful about having a variety of daisies in your garden. They are user friendly, cheerful and easy to grow. They look charming plunked in a vase - my apologies to real flower arrangers.
As children, all of us have delighted in picking a bouquet of daisies growing along the roadside or in an open field as a special present for our mothers. As adults, these flowers evoke great memories and bring a smile to our faces.
The Earth: Saving Seeds
When our pioneer forebears prepared for their westward trek, foremost among the few articles they could take with them were seeds. Carefully packed to protect against “varmints” and moisture, the seeds were a cherished possession, for they represented future food for family and livestock.
Today the pioneer mentality again becomes meaningful. If I wish to maximize the possibility of my food supply, I need to know more about the beginning and ending of the growing process; namely, seeds. I would like to give a broad sketch of how to select and grow a supply of vegetable seeds. Growing and saving seeds could provide a new challenge as well as a feeling of security.
The Earth: Protecting Your Garden
Springtime! Visions of strawberries, snow peas, tomatoes and other delights accompany me as I prepare the soil and begin planting. My anticipation is tempered, however, by the realization that I must plan now to protect my plants and crops throughout the growing season.
Gardeners are often filled with enthusiasm for growing, but find themselves disheartened and frustrated when their hard work is wiped out by circumstances beyond their control. Extreme weather (hot or cold, too much or too little rain), birds, and small animals can ruin a harvest in a fraction of the time it took to create. It’s important to look at some of the methods used to protect plants and produce from these unpredictable “enemies”.
New Varieties for 2000: The National Garden Bureau
Gardeners are looking for new plants every year. Here are new flowers and vegetables that will be featured in 2000 mail order seed catalogs, seed packets or as bedding plants at garden centers. The varieties are listed al-phabetically by class, with the seed source listed in parentheses after the description. The designation “R” means a retail seed company from which gardeners may purchase seed directly by mail order or also in stores that carry the variety in seed packets. A “W” designation indicates a wholesale seed company which does not sell directly to home gardeners, but these varieties should be available in catalogs or as bedding plants at garden centers next spring.
VIRGINIA ROUND-LEAVED BIRCH
Virginia is uniquely positioned to accommodate a great diversity of flowering plants. Its latitude, topography, and climate allow plants primarily adapted to northern climates as well as those adapted to southern climes to grow within its borders. Virtually all plants native to Virginia can be found growing in other states (plants tend not to respect political boundaries).
The Earth: Managing Your Energy Orchard
Here on our farm, my husband and I have chosen wood as our sole source of heat. Our house is kept warm and cozy by the wood stove in the living room. In an average heating season the stove consumes three cords of mixed hardwoods, all from our land.
Fortunately, we have about 30 acres of forest, so there’s never a shortage of firewood. Now, you don’t need to own 30 acres of woods to be self-sufficient in firewood. In most regions of the United States a woodlot of three acres is adequate. If available land is limited, firewood can be grown along roads, streams, edges of fields, stone fences, property lines or surrounding the house, as a windbreak or privacy screen.
Cut Christmas Trees: Selection and Care
A decorated evergreen tree can be a wonderful addition to the house during the holiday season, but when not properly selected and maintained it can also represent a potential fire hazard. You can have a beautiful and safe holiday tree if you follow a few simple suggestions.
Start Fresh
You can’t turn a dry tree into a fresh tree, so it’s important to start with a fresh tree. Most cut Christmas trees are harvested several weeks before they’re sold and they can vary a lot in freshness depending on how they have been handled.
Moments In Time: Ornamental Gardens
Creation of an extraordinary ornamental garden—one that pulls you to walk through its path—requires evaluation. What captures the attention? What creates the aesthetic intrigue? An artist or landscape designer follows steps to achieve a balance of interest sometimes so ingrained they defy explanation. But here is an attempt towards explanation. To cultivate a garden that even occasionally reveals a show-stopping design calls for a knack in combining elements. For me there’s this creative flash that empowers me and I’m lost for hours rearranging what I imagine may prove to be one of those combos. Of course its not pre-planned for me although there is a diary around that does have notations for sometimes the flash occurs when I can’t possibly drop everything and garden!.
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society: Gold Medal Awards
Each year, the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society, recognizes little-known and under-used woody ornamental plants of exceptional merit and promotes their use by granting them Gold Medal Awards. Since 1988 when the program began, Gold Medal Awards have been received by 46 plants. All of the previous year’s, as well as this year’s winners, are superb garden plants that have been selected for insect and disease resistance as well as minimum maintenance. This year’s winners include:
