How to Grow Orchids on Your Windowsill
Learning how to grow orchids in your home is a beautiful hobby. Orchids have been recorded in history for centuries as a flower of love and commitment. Orchids are traditionally used in wedding bouquets and made into corsages for proms and homecoming dances. They are in special corsages for anniversaries and inaugurations and have stood the passage of time in preserving their beauty. Orchids are grown with special care and learning how to grow orchids takes patience and love.
The Windowsill
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on February 22nd, 2008 | Filed under Orchid | Comment now »Herbal History and Myths
Certain herbs and other plants have been known to have useful properties - as seasonings or preservatives for food, medicines or simply a pleasurable odor - for thousands of years. Along with that ancient knowledge sometimes comes ancient myths.
Tombs uncovered in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) as old as 60,000 years held remains of medicinal herbs preserved with the humans buried there. Over 5,000 years ago, Ancient Egyptians had acquired an extensive catalog of plants (many of them herbs) that could be used as laxatives, relief for headaches and other ailments. Thyme was used as far back as 3,000 BC in Sumaria as an antiseptic.
Coriander (the leaves of which are used to produce cilantro) has been used for 3,000 years or more. Hebrews used it to flavor meals. Roman soldiers brought it on campaigns to the region to use as a meat preservative.
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on January 15th, 2008 | Filed under Background Information, Herbs | 1 Comment »Making Landscaping Plans
One of the great things about landscape design is the flexibility it offers. You can make it very simple and get your feet wet so to speak. Later, you can re-do the area, or do another area in a more complex design as you gain more knowledge. It’s easy to get started, but you can never run out of things to try. Master designers who have been at the practice for years are still learning and experimenting!
Start with the basics. Consider the areas where you want shrubs, flowers, trees, walkways, a complete garden, a pond, a brick wall and so forth. Don’t feel overwhelmed, though. Keep your first efforts simple and easy to execute. Work your way up.
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on January 8th, 2008 | Filed under Landscaping | Comment now »Houseplant Diseases and How To Treat Them
Houseplants are living organisms and get attacked by other living things that produce diseases. Here are some common symptoms and tips on how to treat the diseases they indicate.
Your houseplant may be covered with a powdery substance that is easily removed with the hand or a cloth. That’s a sign of powder mildew, a very common houseplant disease. The powder may be white or brown and is usually on the top of the leaves. The condition occurs most often when the plant has received too little light or the soil is kept too dry.
The condition can be treated simply, just by physically removing the mildew with a cloth. But for a more thorough treatment and longer term protection, use a mildewcide. Then place the plant where it can get more sun and be sure to water properly.
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on December 30th, 2007 | Filed under Houseplants | 2 Comments »Annuals
Most flowers, and some non-flowering plants, can be divided into annuals, perennials and biennials. Biennials bloom only every other year. Perennials will lose their flowers, but then come right back the following year - often for many, many years. Annuals, by contrast, bloom one year and never again, typically dying out entirely.
As a result, annuals have to be freshly planted every year - hence the name. But as a kind of reward, they offer gardeners and landscapers the widest array possible of stunning color and style choices. Annuals are the brightest, the most intense and among the most beautiful flowers available.
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on December 8th, 2007 | Filed under Annual Flowers | Comment now »Winter Choices for Landscaping
Most gardeners who live in cold climates just pack up for winter and head inside. Watching the landscape through a window, they see stretches of snow covered ground, dead stalks and a few hardy evergreens. Not a bad view, actually!
But for the truly adventurous there are many choices of shrub or tree that can help brighten even those gloomy winter scenes, inside and out.
Holly has been popular around Christmas for centuries. With year-round foliage and colorful berries, it will bring life and color into your life. The bush tolerates cutting even in the dead of winter, so you can prune a few to hang on the door, or make a nice decoration for the dinner table.
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on November 29th, 2007 | Filed under Landscaping | Comment now »Winter and Your Herb Garden
Winterizing your herb garden isn’t difficult, but the actions you take will differ depending on the type of herbs you have planted. Just as with other plants and flowers, some are annual others perennials. That means they either die off with the cold weather or simply become dormant, to rise again the following spring.
Basil, for example, doesn’t do well in colder climates and will often not survive the winter. They can be grown indoors, or simply planted again next early spring. Sage and Thyme winter well on the other hand, though their leaves may wither and the stalks may appear dead. Try scraping the side of a sample and look for green material. That’s a sign that the plant is still alive and will blossom later in the season.
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on November 5th, 2007 | Filed under Herbs | Comment now »Orchid Growing Tips for the Indoor Gardener
There are few plants more beautiful and dramatic than the orchid. While orchid growing used to be limited to the rich of society, today’s wide selection and availability of these plants has allowed anyone to enjoy them within their own homes. And although many still believe that orchids are a difficult plant to grow, most indoor gardeners have found that with a few orchid growing tips under their belts, orchids can be an attainable beauty for just about everyone.
Tip #1: The Growing Medium
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on October 22nd, 2007 | Filed under Indoor Gardening, Orchid | Comment now »9 Favorite Herb Garden Tools
By Lee Dobbins
When beginning your herb garden, it is important that you have the correct tools. Having the correct tools will save you time and energy and allow you to enjoy our herb garden. When buying your tools, pay for quality, making sure that they are durable and will last you a long time. If you cannot afford all the herb garden tools at once, just start with the basics and add on, as you are able.
The recommended minimum tools to begin with are:
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on October 15th, 2007 | Filed under Garden Tools, Herbs | 1 Comment »Long Term Calla Lilies
By Victor Epand
While the lily plant grows with green leaves, the bulb is being recharged. The longer you can keep the lily growing, the better recharging and the bigger the bulb gets. You should continue to water the lily. Do not cut the stem back until the leaves fall off by them selves and the stem dies back. Sometimes, the stem will die back from disease, but most often you can get the lily to grow for a long time which is good. Do not cut the stem back before the lily stem has withered.
In your area, the temperatures may not be as low as to make the lily bulb “go to sleep” naturally and vernalize, cooling period which prompts the lily plant to bloom again. Therefore, if the lily has not started to show signs of going “back to sleep” nine months after flowering, you can put the pot ,and all, in a spare fridge set at a low temperature 33-35F. As low as you can without freezing. Gradually begin to withhold water.
Published by HART (1-800-HART) on October 14th, 2007 | Filed under Perennials | Comment now »