The Rock Garden – How to Dramatically Improve Your Yard

It’s a shame that so many people don’t make the most of their gardens. If you’d like to add something to yours, but don’t have any ideas how, building a rock garden might be the solution. Although this isn’t a functional addition to the garden, having a well constructed rock garden, along with flowers and other plants can dramatically increase the aesthetics of your yard.

Factors to Consider When Growing a Indoor Herb Garden

Growing an outdoor garden would be impossible especially if you have limited space but if you begin growing a indoor herb garden, you will enjoy the many benefits that usually comes with it. Not many gardeners become successful in indoor gardening but with the right knowledge, you may be able to succeed in this kind of undertaking. If others can do it, then you can you.

How to Take Care of Bulbs During Winter

Removing dead flower heads means that a plant’s energy is not wasted on the production of seed at the expense of increasing the size of the bulb. However, if you want to increase from seed you should allow the full cycle of growth to continue unabated. Many of the late winter bulbs and corms, including snowdrop, winter aconite, cyclamen and anemone blander, naturalize well by seed propagation.

Rose Oil – Comparable to Gold

Roses originated in the Orient, but nowadays, they have spread throughout the whole world and mainly appear in the temperate zones. The original species including wild rose is a total of 250 different types, mixed species and their rose essences reach thousands of kinds.

Planting and Watering in Borders and Containers

Cannas, begonias and dahlias are available in a wonderful array of colors and can be started into growth in late winter or early spring so that they produce a mass of flowers throughout summer. Cannas and dahlias should be planted into, and begonias should be placed on top of, barely moist compost and kept in a light, cool to warm place until growth begins at the roots.

Nerines As Autumn Bulbs

Autumn flowering nerines brings welcome color into our lives when chilly days make life outdoors rather less enticing. The frilly pink flowers are one of the main characteristics of nerines, making them a favorite for the garden as well as the conservatory and indeed an important part of the cur flower industry. Although they are often known as the lily, an island where they now grow in abundance, nerines actually originate from southern Africa.

Winter Care For Bulbs

Many of the summer and autumn flowering bulbs are available to buy at this time of year, including low growing to medium begonias, freesias and taller dahlias, lilies, crinums, merinos, and gladioli. Of these, lilies can be purchased in both autumn and late winter.

Autumn Bulbs Indoors

More commonly known as ginger lilies or garland lilies, hedgy originate in lightly wooded areas of Asia, where they revel in the summer warmth and moisture. They may be grown outdoors as late summer to autumn flowering container plants or as cool conservatory specimens, when their ebullient foliage and scented flowers can be fully appreciated.

Keeping the Tops of Your Softwood Cuttings Cool – Part 2 of 4

Using an intermittent misting system is one way of keeping the tops cool. As the mist lands on the leaves of the cuttings, it will immediately lower the temperature slightly. For some propagators, this is enough to keep the cuttings from getting heat stressed. Other propagators may find that they need to lower the temperature even more by other means, namely shadecloth or other shade producing structures.

Protection and Feeding Against Frost

All the hardy, autumn planted bulbs that have been given homes in grassland or borders should not come to any harm in frosty weather. Those such as merinos and crinums, which may be considered borderline in colder areas, will benefit from a mulch of dry leaves. Bulbs and other plants that are in containers are at far greater risk. Hanging baskets should be taken off their brackets if temperatures drop below freezing for any prolonged length of time.

Choosing What Culinary Herbs to Grow in a Home Herb Garden

This article mentions briefly how some culinary herbs are used in different countries and their cuisines. The reader, depending on her (his) personal preference, will be able to choose the culinary herbs to be grown in her (his) home herb garden.

Summer Bulbs Indoors

Many summer flowering bulbs, tubers and rhizomes are offered for sale as growing plants, often much earlier in the year than would be possible if they were grown on, at home, from their dry state. Begonias and lilies, therefore, are available from spring onwards, with dahlias following on soon afterwards. They are happy kept inside, in warm, light conditions, but do not put them in a position where they will be in full, direct sun, or the flowers will last for only a few days, not weeks.

Gloxinia As an Indoor Bulb

Although the botanical name for this group of plants is Shinning, the term gloxinia is better known among florists and flower arrangers. The plants are originally native to tropical areas of Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, where they have adapted to seasonal rainfall and periods of intervening drought, during which the tubers become dormant for a time.

Interesting Herb Garden Information

The writings of the ancient Egyptians and Chinese contain references to herbs and herb use. Many households in medieval times used herbs; the Bible even mentions herbs. There are many beneficial reasons for gardeners to grow herbs.