Know Your Yellow Roses!

Posted on: 05 March, 2005

Author: Ken Austin

Yellow roses are beauties, aren’t they? Don’t they look beautiful on a sunny morning? Yellow roses say spring just their look and color. The yellow rose, while somewhat rare in its natural habitat, is becoming a popular item in the floral shop. Yellow roses might be what you are looking for, and if so, there are several ways to find the perfect yellow rose for your home or garden. Yellow roses are one of a number of different colored roses that are available in garden centers and even discount department stores. But, there are so many varieties to choose from...

Butterfly Gardening

Posted on: 04 March, 2005

Author: Jane Lake

Butterfly gardening is not only a joy, it is one way that you can help restore declining butterfly populations. Simply adding a few new plants to your backyard may attract dozens of different butterflies, according to landscape designers at the University of Guelph. Butterflies, like honeybees, are excellent pollinators and will help increase your flower, fruit and vegetable production if you provide them with a variety of flowers and shrubs. They are also beautiful to watch, and are sometimes called "flowers on the wing." - Begin by seeding part of your yard with a wildflower or butterfly seed mix, available...

Dendrobium Orchid Care

Posted on: 02 March, 2005

Author: Robert Roy

This month I am focusing our ... to the care of ... These are one of the most popular of retail orchid plants. They are a true epiphyte or air plant. There ... can gather and hol This month I am focusing our attention to the care of Dendrobiums. These are one of the most popular of retail orchid plants. They are a true epiphyte or air plant. There pseudopods can gather and hold water very efficiently. Generally there will be a hybrid phalaenopsis and dendrobium, commonly known as Dtps.PottingThis needs only to be done every two to three years...

Care of Cattleya

Posted on: 02 March, 2005

Author: Robert Roy

This month we are going to go into some detail about the care of cattleya orchids. These orchids are probably the easiest to care for and like all plants need water, light and fertilizer. Playing some nice music or talking to them doesn't hurt either. Most of the wild cattleyas grow in rain forests of South America, namely in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Mexico. They flourish in the Andes from altitudes near sea level to high altitudes of 9 - 10,000 feet. These orchids are truly epiphytes or air plants. So, they are used to being partly covered by the...

How to Grow Ginger

Posted on: 02 March, 2005

Author: Linda Paquette

Asian and Mid-Eastern dishes often have a subtle and distinctive flavor that comes from spicing the dish at the end of cooking with fresh ginger root. As these dishes grow in popularity, many grocery produce departments stock this pleasingly pungent root for use in homemade dishes. Your favorite grocer’s produce department is also the best place to find ginger root for growing. What we call fresh ginger root is actually the rhizome of the ginger (Zingiber officinale) plant. Choose a smooth, shiny root that has some buds beginning. These will look similar to the eyes of a potato. Your ginger...

Black Walnut Trees Produce A Natural Insecticide

Posted on: 01 March, 2005

The black walnut tree manufactures a substance that is anatural insecticide according to experts at the Texas StateUniversity in Austin. American black walnut tress contain a tannic acid chemistscall juglone. The reddish yellow substance leaches fromleaves, and some believe exudes from roots, or transfersfrom branches and foliage to the roots. Tree physiologistsagree that roots of other plants that come in contact withthose black walnut tree roots die--even other black walnutseedlings.Juglone is sometimes washed out of the still green walnutsduring late summer or even autumn rains. The growth ofplants 60 to 80 feet away are inhibited by the juglone. Thesubstance affects...

Geranium Plants

Posted on: 01 March, 2005

Author: Linda Paquette

The geranium that brightens your landscape with its brightly colored flowers may be one of two different species. If you successfully over-wintered your geranium, chances are it is an herbaceous perennial from the genus Geranium. However, most often the geraniums that delight us with their profuse blooms are from the genus Pelargonium. The geranium, which originated in South Africa, made its entrance to the European continent in the 1600’s and has been propagated and hybridized ever since. Today the geranium is still among the most popular of the flowering plants. The geranium is a very adaptable flower that is suitable...

Welcome To Michigan

Posted on: 01 March, 2005

Author: Barbara Baker

Welcome to Northern Michigan, the home of the beautiful Grand Traverse Bay. We have an abundance of natural beauty in our area. Traverse City is known for it’s cherry and apple farming, locally produced vintage wines, clean white sandy beaches, and a culturally active community. The summer is the reason why I live here. The water is clean and pure, you can see sandy bottom as far as you can walk. To me the beach is my safe place in my heart and in my soul. When I need to escape the pressures of everyday life I go to the...

Hummingbirds - Jewels of the Air

Posted on: 27 February, 2005

Author: Tammy Clayton

“Of all animated beings, the hummingbird is the most elegant in form, the most brilliant in color. The precious stones and metals to which our art lends polish are not compared to this gem of Nature, whose masterpiece the little bird represents. She has loaded it with all the gifts of which she has given other birds only a share... The emerald, the ruby, the topaz all glitter in its plumage, which is never sullied by the dust of the ground.” - Comte de Buffon (18th century French naturalist) Hummingbirds are the neatest addition to a garden. Many people try...

What is Compost Tea?

Posted on: 25 February, 2005

Author: James Ellison

Organic gardeners all know compost is fantastic stuff. But now, there's something even better and that's compost tea. If you start with a good compost you'll have a versatile elixir for all your garden needs. Compost tea helps prevent foliage diseases and at the same time increase the nutrients to the plant and shutdown the toxins hurting the plants. It will improve the taste/flavor of your vegetables. So why not give this tea a try either by buying it or brewing it yourself. You won't believe the results! Four ways that good bacteria work: Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com