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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Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
Spring is a glorious season because you will see beautiful healthy plants in you garden swaying in the breeze of the wind and smelling the sweet fragrance of the your enchanting flowers and bouquets. You will love to see your garden with colorful flowers that are gracefully intermingling. This is the best time for gardeners that they sit and relax and enjoy their beautiful Spring garden.
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Friday, February 22nd, 2008
LARGE-FLOWERED HEMP-NETTLE
Galeopsis speciosa is undoubtedly the most beautiful of all our native hemp-nettles. The pale yellow, lipped flowers have an eyecatching purple spot. They appear on stems which may grow up to 39 in tall, especially if sheltered by wooded banks or the fringes of a wood, places where they like to grow. They also like acid, nutritive soil and, as a result of current agricultural methods, there is plenty of that about. Even so, the plant is only sporadically found to be growing wild.
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Thursday, February 21st, 2008
The compact growth and abundant flowers of this rock plant from southern Europe have now made it one of the most rewarding plants for containers and hanging baskets on balconies and patios. On closer inspection, the small violet flowers turn out to be striped and have a yellow and white spot in their throats. They are like snapdragons without lips and the plant is, in fact, closely related to the small toadflax (Chaenorhinum minus) that is also native to The Netherlands and southern counties of England. Its scientific name is derived from Greek: “chaino” means gape and “rhis” means “muzzle.” In botanical manuals, however, the generic name is spelt variously as Chaenorrhinum or Chaenar-rhinunt. The seed of Chaenorhinum origanifolium ‘Blue Dream’ rarely features in any catalogue, but you might also find it under Chaenorhinum glareosum ‘Blue Dream.’ Even so, you need not do without the plant, as it is cultivated on a vast scale. Commercial growers sow it as early as January to enable them to market sturdy, flowering plants by the end of May.
Plant them in the garden in very well-drained soil and in the sunniest spot you have available. When grown in pots, they do better in partial shade so that the soil does not dry out too quickly.
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Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
Diascias grow naturally in South Africa: the annual species in the low-lying, dry regions, and the perennials in the mountains, particularly the Drakensbergen, where they flower on rocky ledges or along the banks of brooks. The perennial species from the mountains are the types cultivated in our part of the world. They rarely survive northern winters, however, and stem cuttings are therefore taken in late summer, and root cuttings in autumn (these are kept frost-free). Alternatively, they are propagated by seed in early spring. If sown early, nearly all species and all culti-vars will flower by mid-summer of the same year. The only seed on sale is that of Diascia barberae.
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Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
The secret behind in making a beautiful flower garden is to know what flowers you are going to plant and the place where you are going to plant the flowers. For beginners well the best you will do is to start small so that you will be very successful in making a flower garden.
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Monday, February 18th, 2008
TUBEROUS BEGONIA
Many begonias come from tropical regions where there is little difference between the seasons. Tuberous begonias, which withdraw underground in unfavorable months, develop in regions where there is a significant difference between dry and rainy seasons, or cold and hot ones. They die down above ground, as do the species from the mountainous regions of Peru and Bolivia, from which the Tuberhybrida Group was derived. The cultivated varieties were created from numerous species that were intensively crossed, particularly since the 19th century. They include varieties with single flowers as well as those with fully double blooms, upright begonias, and trailing forms. There are examples in every flower color except blue. The colors are usually very pronounced and should be used only to add a bright touch or as a color zone in a flower-bed.
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