Archive for February, 2008
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
SWEET PEA
Sweet peas have lovely flowers and a delightful fragrance, hence their name. The fact that they really are peas is something you notice as soon as the spherical seeds roll out of the packet. Sow them directly in the garden in mid-April. Plant the seeds at the depth of about half a little finger. Be sure to enrich the spot where they are to flower with stable manure or other plant food, because sweet peas love that. As they climb, most sweet peas use their tendrils to hold on to any support they can find. They usually grow over 6 ft tall and may completely cover a wire-netting fence with flowers. Fix threads for them to climb up against wooden fences and walls. There are also low-growing cultivars which creep along the ground, or remain short, and do not need any support.
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Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
Cool yourself outside your house in a stylish way by using the outdoor shower. Outdoor showers are perfect accompaniments at poolside or for the beach house. They’re also stylish with a Euro wave design that features rear wheels for navigation and stabilized base. Lower faucet lets you rinse sandy feet while the upper showerhead provides just the right force of water for removing chlorine and salt. Aluminum framing is covered in all-weather resin wicker.
The outdoor shower is definitely part of the trend of people bringing the outdoors in, with people now building outdoor bathrooms and even outdoor kitchens. Cooling down outside is the hottest thing in coastal home design. Consider these ideas when planning your outdoor shower.
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Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
HERB-ROBERT
Some wild plants are thoroughly welcome in a garden, and herb-robert is one of them. It grows as an annual or biennial and the seed that germinates in the autumn provides color for the garden in any winter that is not extremely cold. The handsome leaves are produced on red stems, which may grow up to 16 in tall. The pretty pink flowers, about V4 in wide, are borne from April until far into autumn. Actually, herb-robert has only one drawback: if the plant is bruised, it releases an unpleasant odor which gave it the name “Stinking Bob.” The plant self-seeds profusely, especially in places where vegetable matter decomposes in damp, partially shaded conditions and thus becomes more nutritive.
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Monday, February 25th, 2008
FIELD FORGET-ME-NOT
The field forget-me-not is one of our loveliest wild plants. It sometimes turns up spontaneously in fields, and spreads capriciously through a garden if you ever sow it there. Just pull the plants out of places where you don’t want them. They will, in fact, germinate only in loose soil, preferably after it has been dug over.
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Sunday, February 24th, 2008
PRICKLY POPPY
The 4-in wide white flowers of Argemone grandiflora have a lovely satiny sheen and ochre-yellow stamens with a striking, deep-red stigma disc. Their resemblance to species of papaver is striking except that the stems, buds, and especially the fruit of prickly poppies are provided with prickles which harden viciously as they ripen. The pointed, spiky, sea-green leaves have lighter veins and this pattern of veins differs from that of some other, closely related prickly poppies. In other respects, Argemone platyceras, Argemone polyanthemos, and Argemeno squar-rosa closely resemble Argemone grandiflora. The plants grow to about 20 in tall.
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