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For many people, winter means gray, cold days and much pining for warmer weather. However, not only can you grow some interesting plants in winter, here is one that will grow and bloom for you in winter! You won't have to worry about it in summer because it will be dormant then! Read on for more about this wonder . . .
I was amazed to find out how many illnesses can be helped with hibiscus. All of its parts are used, especially the flowers, which are so beautiful they can even heal the soul!
Ranging from tall forest trees to small shrubs suitable for a rockery, Acacias show great variation in everything but colour. Almost without exception the flowers are some shade of yellow. Here is a sample of the Acacias, mainly Australian many of which are superb garden plants.
When I first smelled a banana shrub (Magnolia figo) in bloom in a friend’s garden, I began an immediate search for one to add to my garden. Sometimes we humans, as enthralled as we become with fragrant plants, forget that they do not produce scents just to please our sense of smell. Scent serves an important biological function for plants by attracting pollinating creatures that are necessary for the survival of the species.
The birds in your neighborhood don't care if you spend $1 or $20 for the suet in the feeder. Here is the frugal way to make your own for next to nothing, plain or fancy! Why render the fat? A good question that will be answered if you keep reading...
Truly elusive, or surprisingly easy? What's the truth behind hickory syrup, and just what IS hickory syrup anyway? A lucky break gave me a head start on this topic, and now I can tell you about a recent food sensation -- hickory syrup.
Participating in seed swaps here on Dave's Garden sure has wonderful rewards. In a swap last season I received seeds for a plant called Job's Tears, Coix lacryma-jobi. A member of the Poaceae (grass) family, it is quite a fascinating plant.
When I was little, I watched the Perry Como Show on our tiny new black and white television set. His sponsors offered his audience a live palm tree, and I had to have it. I was only 8 years old, but that was the beginning of my love affair with Perry and his palm tree.
Pines are at their peak glory in fall through early spring. Deciduous trees have all lost their leaves, but pines of all shapes and sizes still add a monumental, evergreen beauty to the landscape.
Fall is upon us, and while you might be tempted to handle the chillier weather by curling up indoors with a seed catalog and a cup of peppermint tea, you should instead pull on those garden clogs. It’s time to get moving, literally...and by that I mean moving plants.
"You Supply The Caption" photo is a fun opportunity for Readers. A gardening related photo will be presented, and you, the Readers, will provide humorous captions. The wit available on Dave's Garden is some of the best around, so please join in the fun! This feature is not a "for compensation" article - just a way of saying Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy...now let's hear some funny stuff!
Most of you are familiar with Siberian iris but todays array of hybrids had humble beginnings. This article will introduce you to the wild Siberian iris species. While not as flamboyant as the modern hybrids, they have a certain grace that allows them to be included in any beardless iris collection.
There are two reasons to reduce, reuse and recycle. The first one is obvious: we are ruining the earth with all the items we thoughtlessly throw away. The second reason is the increasing expense of everything we buy. Now is the time to put to use all the great ideas our frugal friends have been using for years.
These are among the largest of the plants in the genus Philodendron, producing thick trunk-like stems and cord-like roots that can wrap around nearby trees or anchor to the ground like guy wires. Known also as "tree philodendrons", they are spectacular in the tropical landscape but can become unwieldy indoors . . .
Every day people send perfectly good natural insecticides and soil amendments to the landfill. Many of them are not gardeners and don’t really realize the gold they’re throwing away, but some of them are gardeners who just have not yet discovered the beneficial properties contained in kitchen wastes. I, too, was a doubting Thomas until solid evidence made me a believer.
Now is a great time to gather free mulch for your garden! Fall leaves (from your own yard or from the whole block), tree trimmings, old newspapers and cardboard boxes, and other reclaimed materials can be used to reduce weeds and enrich your soil.
As a child, I was given a small red poppy on the Sunday before Memorial Day during Sunday school. I wore that little plastic poppy all day Monday proudly. My grandfather explained to me the significance of the poppy and why there was such a thing as memorial day. I recall seeing veterans marching in a parade and each had a red poppy just like mine attached to their lapel.
My family calls me a pack-rat, and I guess that is what I am. The reason for this obsession is, once I find a use for something; I see it as a raw material, not trash. I collect as much raw materials as possible and keep a check on the recycle bins, just like our midnight marauding skunk, to see what I have to work with before I start a project.
These three Rs are very familiar, but have you really thought about what the words mean? They are not three words that mean basically the same thing. They are not some sort of environmental trinity of three equals. They are a hierarchy based upon the use of fewer resources and less energy. Recycling is good, reusing is better, and reducing is best.
I am the world's worst patient, and I am at my worst when I have a cold. Common colds seem to grab me at the most inopportune times, when the sun is shining and it's warm, when it's holiday time and company is coming, or when I have to make a presentation to a hundred people. Ahhhh, but I have some secrets about cold remedies, thanks to my great Aunt Bett, and truly they work!
The Europeans have a secret. They have a wonderful, healthful vegetable that for the most part, Americans do not use like they ought to. The common rutabaga is seldom seen at produce stands and grocery stores. It’s time that this vegetable is introduced to a whole continent of potential fans.
"Gardening?!! That's for women." That is what I was told by one of my NYC childhood friends when I mentioned my new hobby some years back. Though I cannot print my initial response, it did afford me the opportunity to consider gardening and gender.
Sometimes referred to as the "tree of life" or the "100 uses tree," Cocos nucifera is not only a common sight of any tropical shore, but indeed a highly useful plant. Let us get a closer look at this marvel of nature.
On Saturdays, the Writer's Group would like to say thanks by presenting a "You Supply The Caption" photo. A gardening related photo will be presented, and you the Readers will provide humorous captions. The wit available on Dave's is some of the best around, so please join in the fun! This feature is not a "for compensation" article - just our way of saying Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy...now let's hear some funny stuff!
Recently I described the more popular border-type bellflowers. In this article, I will intoduce you to uncommon yet equally desirable border bellflowers that are well worth trying to find!
I love Chinese food! Not the typical suburban fried “chicken balls” in psychedelic orange sauce but authentic, regional cuisines I learned about while living in Toronto’s original “china town”. We had a hard time finding a restaurant that served my familiar favorites when we moved to Atlanta, so I began growing vegetables I needed to make the food I loved. Soon I learned that many of these vegetables grow well in cool weather and are frost tolerant.
Nigella is one of my favorite biennials. Most people call it Love-in-a-Mist, but others refer to it as “Devil in the Bush.” I cannot imagine why this comely flower would be called such an uncomely name. For me, the first appellation is much more fitting. In spring its misty loveliness graces gardens throughout the country and beyond.
Tulips! In the Netherlands, they're everybody's favorite flower, the definitive harbinger of Spring. The speculative bubble of Tulip Mania may have burst centuries ago, but Tulipa mania is alive and well in the hearts of gardeners everywhere! With bulbs going on sale now, this is a great time to join in the excitement.
"Oh! You want to be careful with those pine needles," a garden visitor once warned me, as he spied the mulch in my salvia bed. "It'll bring your soil pH down to where it's too acid for those salvias."
I must be a creature of habit. I take my houseplants outside the first week in May, and I bring them back inside the middle of October. I have repeated this activity for at least the last fifteen years. The problem is, I really don't like houseplants.
The air is crisp, the sky is blue and you are surrounded by more brilliant colors than you could have imagined. Is it worth the trip? You bet it is. Buy a huge memory card for that camera and plan to stay at least a week. You'll need plenty of time to soak it all in before you head back home.
Senecio is one of the largest genera of flowering plants there are with thousands of species found all over the world. Though most are not, some are succulent plants with excellent drought tolerance and great plants for growing in pots and the landscape in a variety of different climates. It is this much smaller group of Senecios that will be discussed in this article.
