Posts

If you live in Arizona, for instance, and see a hairy, pig-like creature, it is probably a javelina. They range wild in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and south throughout Mexico, Central America, and Argentina. These tropical peccaries survive on a variety of foods; however, javelinas in a garden can pose a problem, where the abundance of cultivated produce is extremely attractive. What is a Javelina? If you live in the southwestern United States, down into South and Central America, you may have experience dealing with javelinas....

Mulch and Pet Safety Mulch serves many purposes in the home landscape. It adds an attractive touch to flower beds, provides protection for plants, and helps keep the soil moist. Mulch comes in many different forms and colors depending on your budget and needs. However, if you are a pet owner, particularly an owner of a curious dog, it’s essential that you pick your mulch carefully. This is especially important for pets that spend a fair amount of time unsupervised outside....

Harvesting Lemongrass Lemongrass is commonly used to add flavor and aroma to food. However, it is typically the stalk that is most often utilized and edible. Since the stalks are somewhat hard, they’re normally crushed in order to allow the lemony flavor to come through when cooking. Only the tender part inside is considered edible, so once it’s cooked, it can be sliced and added to various dishes. This tender portion also tends to be located towards the bottom of the stalk....

When to Harvest Mushrooms If you buy a complete mushroom kit, the instructions will give a time frame for picking your mushroom harvest. This is really an estimate since, depending upon conditions, the mushrooms may be ready to pick a couple days earlier or later than the instructed date. Also, size is not an indicator of when to pick. Bigger isn’t always better. The general rule of thumb is to begin picking your mushroom harvest when the caps turn from convex to concave – turning down to turning up....

What is a Pinwheel Plant? The pinwheel plant is a multi-branched, shrub-like succulent and member of the Crassulaceae family. From Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Aeonium haworthii can stay outside year-round in USDA hardiness zones 9-11. It is cold hardy to about 28 degrees F. (-2 C.). In a container or otherwise in cultivation, it may only reach one foot in height (30.5 cm.) and 18 inches (45.5 cm.) across. Also called Haworth aeonium, it has red-tipped leaves and grows in dense mounds, showing off many stems of developed rosettes of blue-green foliage....

The consciousness of plants is a topic of study. How do plants learn, or do they? Do plants have memories like we do, or do they just get on with their innate needs? Humans have memories and we keep them for most of our lives. And our memories help us learn and evolve. Plants may have similar impulses that help them survive. Can Plants Learn? Out of all the characteristics a botanist or plant scientist could study, whether a plant has a learning ability has long been at the bottom of the list....

About Peonies That are Red If you’ve only seen peonies that are soft, pastel shades of pink, you’ll be surprised by the difference a little color can make. While rose-colored peonies are lovely, red peony flowers will turn heads. Peonies that are red are all show-stoppers in the garden. If you decide to start planting red peonies, you’ll find astonishing color variation. Some red peony varieties are a bright blood red, while others carry orange, brown, or maroon overtones....

Heat Wave Gardening A handy tool to help navigate heat wave gardening is from the American Horticultural Society. They have created a Heat Zone Map containing 12 zones across the United States. Each zone indicates the average number of days each year that a heat event occurs – when temperatures exceed 86 F. (30 C.), the temperature when plants begin to suffer from heat. Planning a garden specific to your climate is the best way to combat gardening in a heat wave....

How to Grow Leucadendrons in Containers Plant leucadendron in a sturdy container filled with a loose, free-draining potting mix. Be sure the container has at least one drainage hole. A good quality, fresh potting mix without added fertilizer is preferable. Place the leucadendron in a sunny location. You may want to place the pot on a pedestal or other object to improve drainage because lucadendron hates wet feet. Potted Leucadendron Care Maintaining container grown leucadendrons is pretty straightforward....

Containers for Potted Veggies Suitable drainage is always important for the successful growth and health of all plants. So as long as you provide drainage holes, just about anything under the sun can be used for growing vegetables, from large coffee cans and wooden boxes to five-gallon buckets and old washtubs. Raising the container an inch or two (2.5-5 cm.) off the ground with bricks or blocks will also help with drainage, as well as with airflow....

Protecting Tulips from Deer You carefully plant your tulip bulbs in the fall and then wait all winter for the first tender green tips to poke out. Brilliantly colored flowers are the next anticipation, and you eagerly check the bed daily for the first buds. Oh, what have we here? The delicate green leaves have been shorn off at nearly ground level. The likely culprits are deer. Nursing has deprived them all winter and they are eating like lumberjacks trying to put the weight back on that they lost....

Problems with Primroses Your first, and most important, step to avoiding primula plant problems is planting them correctly. Many primula disease problems can be avoided by good cultural habits. Primroses do best in your garden if you plant them in a cool section that offers the plants lots of bright light. It is essential to preventing primula disease problems to select a site with excellent drainage, since the primula roots can be damaged in winter when soil is wet or heavy....

What is Devil’s Claw? The plant’s family is Proboscidea, likely because the pods may also resemble a large nose. Devil’s claw is a sprawling plant with slightly hairy leaves, much like a pumpkin. There are two main varieties. One is an annual with triangular leaves and white to pink blooms with mottled corollas. The yellow flowering type of devil’s claw is a perennial plant but has much the same characteristics. It also boasts hairy stems with a slightly sticky texture....

Ranunculus Buttercup Plants A colorful field of flowers livens up the landscape and is easy to achieve with Ranunculus plants. Ranunculus bulbs come in several sizes and are best planted 4 inches (10 cm.) apart. Using buttercups for the garden will reward the grower with an abundance of color and texture from early spring into the first month of summer. Buttercups for the garden come in an array of colors from white, red, and gold to orange, yellow, and pink....

More and more gardeners are discovering the bold statement that an entirely red garden has. If you need to bring life and warmth to a particular area of your landscape or simply want a dramatic focal feature, consider a red color scheme. Planning Red Gardens Red garden design is much like any other monochromatic garden design. Decide on the best location for your red garden where it can be enjoyed the most....

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....

Growing a garden provides the opportunity to season with organic ingredients just outside the door. It is not only a joy to produce one’s own food, but a frugal tip that can stretch the budget. For example, just one garlic chives bulb will produce tons of slender, green leaves to zest up recipes. Re-growing kitchen scraps is one easy way to keep flavor fresh in favorite recipes. Growing a Garlic Chives Bulb Growing garlic chives from seed will result in spindly little shoots eventually, but the wanted bulb will take a very long time....

Invasive Buckthorn The buckthorn shrub spreads rapidly. Each plant produces lots of berries that are eaten and spread by birds. Wherever it grows, it shoulders out native plants because it leaves out early in spring and holds its leaves late into fall. The tree may also produce chemicals inhibiting the growth of other species near it. Invasive buckthorn has been found to alter the ecosystems it lives in. Both its fruit and foliage are high in nitrogen and are broken down quickly by invasive earthworms....

Growing Avocado Trees from Cuttings Avocados can be propagated by planting seeds, rooting avocado cuttings, layering and grafting. Avocados do not produce true to the seed. Avocado propagating by cuttings is a more certain method, as propagating a new tree from avocado tree cuttings results in a clone of the parent tree. Sure, you can go purchase an avocado sapling, but avocado propagating by cuttings is certainly less expensive and a fun gardening experience to boot....

When a Rose Bush with Red Leaves is Normal The new foliage of many roses starts out a very deep red to nearly purple in color. From this new growth comes the forming of buds and future beautiful blooms. Every time we deadhead our roses (remove the old blooms), we will see this new foliage coming forth. Its rich and healthy coloration is truly a joy to see, as we know blooms will soon follow and we also know the bush is happy and healthy....