Posts

Some chilies, such as jalapeños, start out green and fairly mild-tasting but turn red and get spicier as they remain on the plant. Growing hot peppers is the ultimate exercise in getting to know your neighbors — and I’ll tell you why later in this article. In the meantime, let’s learn a bit about growing chilies, and why you should consider adding some spice to your garden. Members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, most cultivars originate from Capsicum annuum, a plant native to Mexico....

These fast-growing vines are easy to cultivate and care for, but correct pruning is an important step in their annual maintenance. Clematis are beautiful, showy vines with gorgeous flowers, attractive seed heads, and a highly ornate climbing or sprawling habit. They bloom in spring, summer, or fall, depending on their group, and put on a magnificent floral show once established. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

It’s an opportunity for us to better appreciate the fleeting nature of beauty – and so Mother Nature can delight us with the great variety of her creative genius! Without fragrance, a garden just isn’t a garden. It’s the stuff memories are made of, and the faintest hint of scent can conjure up people, places, and times long since gone. It delights our senses, and tugs at our heartstrings. And what better place to find the scent of love than in a flower?...

Luckily, there are some steps you can take if they invade your lush garden plot. Everything you need to know about these chewing pests is laid out for you below. Spodoptera exigua Despite its common name – beet armyworm – pointing to one specific crop, no garden is safe from this pest. It will chow down on everything from corn to tomatoes to flowers. If only our kids loved as many different types of vegetables as the immature larvae of this hungry moth!...

The severity of the damage depends on when the larvae feed. It can range from the discoloration of the shell to the destruction of the kernel. Rhagoletis completa Walnuts have entranced societies for thousands of years with their beauty and shade – not to mention their delectable and extremely healthy nuts and valuable wood. However, there is a dark side to growing walnuts, and it comes in the form of a 1/4 inch long insect – the walnut husk fly (Rhagoletis completa)....

The bacteria genetically engineers plants to use their own DNA to make tumors. What you see as the gall is actually a tumor that your tree has grown. Rhizobium rhizogenes Does your apple tree have weird growths on it? Apples are prone to several different kinds of galls, but crown gall is the worst of them. This disease, caused by the bacteria Rhizobium rhizogenes (old name Agrobacterium tumefaciens), is likely to be fatal to your tree over time....

Two types happen to grow wild on a family member’s prairie ranch, and I count down to the flowering period every year, spending hours traipsing around the farm, gushing over the vivid colors, surprisingly delicate petals, and variety of pollinators they attract. Easy to grow and care for overall, sporting stunning blooms, and complete with their own prickly characters, cactus plants are perfect house and garden additions, and they’re very popular these days....

The succulents are an impeccable option for decorating a house. They are easy to maintain and very suitable to participate in many DIY projects for your interior and exterior space. There are so many species of succulents too. Therefore, you can enjoy beautiful combinations too. To successfully grow succulents, you just need to follow some simple rules. There must be well-drained succulent potting soil. However, there are a lot of succulent planter ideas given here in which the planters have less or no drainage....

By altering our cultivation practices and making simple modifications to a snake plant’s growing environment, us gardeners can force these popular houseplants to produce some cool-looking flowers. Snake plants aren’t exactly known for their flowers, much like Spider-Man’s costumes aren’t really known for their armpit webbing. But when both are on display – the former as a houseplant, the latter in the panels of comic books – the results are visually interesting, to say the least....

The familiar pink and purplish-red pendulous flowers may be the most common, but you can find fuchsia with long, tube-like blossoms in a single color as well. Fuchsia spp. Fuchsia is a genus of eye-catching, vibrant plants that bloom all summer long with glorious teardrop-shaped flowers in a variety of vivid colors. When you picture fuchsia, you may imagine a hanging basket on a covered porch festooned with pink and purple blossoms cascading over the edge....

Today we’ll learn about why daylilies are such excellent additions for your garden, and how to handle the handful of difficulties these flashy flowers can be prone to. We’ll take a look at a few cultivars I’ve had first-hand experience with as well. Hemerocallis spp. Daylilies and I go way back. Hardy, drought-tolerant, profuse bloomers: what’s not to like? Add to that their eagerness to spread and multiply, and you’ve got yourself an easy addition to your home and garden....

Bird of paradise is an evergreen tropical plant native to South Africa, but it’s grown in warm locales around the world. There are five species in this genus, and all may be referred to by the same common name. When I first moved to southern California from Montana to attend university, I was amazed by the diverse array of stunning plants: the pink sprays of bougainvillea, the purple flush of jacaranda trees, the orange-tufted, sharp-beaked birds of paradise....

That’s because bleeding hearts are positively ready and willing to reproduce with minimal effort on your part. Pretty soon, your yard will be overflowing with delicate goodness. If one bleeding heart is marvelous, a dozen are even better! If you aren’t fabulously wealthy, or you just love a gardening challenge, then learning how to propagate these cottage staples is a nice skill to have in your back pocket. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: it doesn’t even take that much skill really, and there are several different methods you can use....

ZZ plants are typically started from leaf cuttings, which means you can create many new plants from a single parent. Zamioculcas zamiifolia, or the ZZ plant for short, is an ideal houseplant for beginner gardeners. It can thrive without a lot of light or water, and it is easy to propagate and share. We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission....

But that shouldn’t scare you away. Once you learn how to treat these particular plants to the conditions they prefer, you’ll have a spectacular display. Ficus benjamina Who hasn’t fantasized about bringing a statuesque tree into their home? With its ability to grow tall and its traditional trunk and canopy shape, it’s no wonder the weeping fig is a valued houseplant. And it makes an excellent option to fulfill this desire – with one significant caveat....

Here’s what’s to come in this article: I love citrus fruit, but living in the Vermont mountains, I don’t often have access to freshly grown lemons, limes, or oranges. Fortunately, while perhaps not quite as impressive or fruitful as a tropical citrus orchard would be, it is possible to successfully grow citrus plants in pots indoors. Even here, in my USDA Hardiness Zone 4 climate, where snow coats the ground for practically half the year....

Here’s everything we’ll go over in this article: If the beautiful foliage and the crisp fresh air don’t lure you outside this fall, perhaps the enticement of a prolific autumn vegetable garden will do the trick. Autumn is a wonderful time to plant a productive veggie garden – if you plan it right. The changing seasons mean new conditions in the garden. From sun exposure to soil prep, air and soil temperature requirements, and differences in the amount of rain that your garden receives during the cooler months, there are a few factors to consider....

You want your plants to succeed, but how on earth can you do that if you can’t tell which way is up? Some bulbs are shaped in such a way that they practically hold up a neon sign telling you which direction to plant them in. “This way up!” they seem to scream. Others are far less clear, leaving you scratching your head about how to stick them in the ground....

There is an all-time rise in breathing issues and the simple solution lies in the power of mother nature. Have a look at the best Indoor Plants that Reduce Respiratory Problems. Check out the best bedroom plants for clean air here Indoor Plants that Reduce Respiratory Problems According to the American Society for Horticulture Science, plants also result in shorter hospitalizations, fewer intakes of analgesics, lower ratings of pain, anxiety, and fatigue, and more positive feelings and higher satisfaction about their rooms....

Regardless of what’s plaguing your plant, the first step is being able to notice early on that something is wrong. That’s why you should head out to your garden regularly and look over your plants. Zucchini are nothing if not prolific, and while you’re more likely to see a vine take over half your garden than you are to see one struggle and die, they still have their share of potential problems....