About Princess Flowers Princess flowers are large purple flowers that attract hummingbirds and butterflies to the garden all season long, blooming in abundance from May through the first frost. Botanically called Tibouchina urvilleana, blooms will appear throughout the year on the princess flower plant, with heaviest flowering from late spring and on into winter in tropical areas. Hardy in USDA Zones 9-11, allow plenty of room when planting princess flower. If you’re already growing princess flower and find it is becoming overcrowded, pruning is appropriate....

How to Propagate Lantana Lantanas grown in the garden are often hybrids, so propagating lantana plants from seeds may not result in offspring that are similar to the parent plant. To collect the seeds, harvest the small black berries when they are fully ripe and remove the seeds from the berries. Clean the seeds and allow them to dry for a couple of days before storing them in a sealed container in the refrigerator....

They are also prone to rotting if ranunculus bulb storage is not done properly. Learn how to store ranunculus so you can enjoy their brilliant colors and prolific displays of tissue paper-like blooms. When Do You Dig Ranunculus Bulbs? Bulb and tuber storage is not necessary in some zones, but if you have a tender variety, it would be a sin not to try and save them for the next year....

What is Stenting? Propagating rose bushes through stenting is a quick process that comes from Holland (Netherlands). Stemming from two Dutch words – “stekken,” which means to strike a cutting, and “enten,” which means to graft – rose stenting is a process where the “scion” (a young shoot or twig cut for grafting or rooting) material and rootstock are joined together before rooting. Essentially, grafting the scion onto an under stock then rooting and healing the graft and rootstock at the same time....

Reasons for Glyphosate Alternatives Roundup and other herbicides containing glyphosate are effective system herbicides that kill many types of annual and perennial weeds and, if used as directed, are not supposed to harm nearby plants. Although the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims that Roundup is safe when used as directed, there are growing concerns about the herbicide’s toxicity, and with good reason. Studies indicate that glyphosate may be harmful to the environment and to aquatic life if it reaches streams and waterways....

How to Get Rid of Salt in the Soil Unfortunately, there are no soil amendments that one can add to our gardens to get rid of high concentrations of soil salts (aka: soil salinity) and few chemical additives. The surefire way for soil salt reduction in the garden is through good drainage that will allow salts to be washed out of the soil. While adding certain amendments to the soil will not by itself reduce or clear up soil salinity problems, amendments can help with the soil’s drainage and in turn, leads to helping in reversing soil salinity....

About Separating Seeds from Chaff Before we get to the definition of chaff, a little background on the make-up of cereal crops such as wheat, rice, barley, oats, and others is helpful. Cereal crops are made up of the seed or the grain kernel that we eat and an inedible hull or husk surrounding it. Seed and chaff separation is imperative because in order to process and eat the grain kernel, the inedible hull needs to be removed....

When to Plant Chard in Spring Whether you want a late season crop or early taste, planting of Swiss chard is nicely adapted to spring or summer sowing. This beetroot relative is similar to spinach but has a more refined flavor. It also has numerous cultivars in various hues, making it an attractive foliage plant in the garden and on the dinner table. If you know how to plant Swiss chard in the spring, you can have the early harvest you desire and still have time to plant a fall crop too....

Methods for Sterilizing Soil for Seeds and Plants There are several ways to sterilize garden soil at home. They include steaming (with or without a pressure cooker) and heating the soil in the oven or microwave. Sterilizing Soil with Steam Steaming is considered one of the best ways to sterilize potting soil and should be done for at least 30 minutes or until the temperature reaches 180 degrees F. (82 C....

Dasheen Plant Info Dasheen (Colocasia esculenta), as mentioned, is a type of taro. Taro plants fall into two main camps. The wetland taros, which you may have encountered on a trip to Hawaii in the form of Polynesian poi, and the upland taros, or dasheens, which produce a multitude of eddos (another name for taro) that are used like potatoes and an edible mammy. Growing dasheen plants are often called “elephant ears” due to the shape and size of the plant leaves....

Teaching Garden Curriculum Ideas Children learn through play. The best way to allow them to do this is by providing them fun and exciting hands-on activities that also stimulate all of their senses. If you want to get them curious and learn about gardening, give them fun activities related to just that. Activities can include, but are certainly not limited to, things like sensory play, special snacks or cooking activities, outdoor games, arts and crafts, and so much more!...

The gardener above is talking about two peach trees in her backyard. She’s not alone in her complaint. Many backyard gardeners consider their peach trees to be strictly ornamental because of the poor crop they produce. What these gardeners may not know is how to thin peaches on a peach tree to improve quality and size. Reasons for Peach Tree Thinning Each piece of fruit that remains on a tree must get its share of nutrients from the parent tree....

How to Propagate Houseplant Cuttings You don’t need anything more than some clean flowerpots, a sharp knife, and some cutting compost. A few short sticks might come in handy to support the new cuttings as well. You have to be sure you provide a lighted place with an even temperature of 55 to 64 degrees F. (13-18 C.); more for tropical plants. You can grow more than one cutting in each pot as well....

If you are wondering how to transplant a tree from the woods, read on. We’ll give you lots of great tips on the timing and the process. Transplanting Maple Trees from the Woods If you wish to transplant deciduous trees, like maple seedlings, from a nearby wooded area, the very best times to act are spring and fall. The idea is to wait until the tree has entered dormancy or is just finishing its dormant state....

Can I Prune Baptisia? Nobody goes out in nature and prunes plants, so it would stand to reason that native species are built to grow just fine without pruning. This is the case regarding false indigo pruning. Cutting back Baptisia is not necessary, but if you like to maintain a perfectly manicured landscape, there are three instances where it might be suitable to prune the plant. Baptisia will die back to the ground in most regions, so clean-up pruning in fall is not necessary....

How to Plant a Vegetable Garden Beginners should start small and plan the garden accordingly. It’s often helpful to make a sketch of the chosen layout as well as a list and location of selected vegetables. When choosing vegetables, pick ones that are more easily grown, suitable to your area, and only those you actually will use. Generally, it’s recommended that your soil be prepared during the fall and left in a semi-rough state until spring, when it should be worked into a more suitable condition for growing plants....

Choosing Trees for Containers Not all trees are suited to containers, so think carefully when choosing both the container and the tree. When planting a tree in a container, you should consider the conditions that you have in your space. Is it sunny or shady? Is it windy? How easy will it be to provide the tree with water? Many fruit trees are available in dwarf form. These trees need plenty of sun, but not beating sun, and plenty of water....

About Kiwi Plants for Zone 7 Today, kiwi fruit is available at almost every grocery store, but when I was growing up kiwis were a rare commodity, something exotic that we assumed must come from a far-off tropical land. For the longest time, this made me think that I would be unable to grow kiwi fruit, but the fact is that kiwi fruit is native to southeast Asia and can be grown in any climate that has at least a month of 45 degrees F....

Oak Tree Varieties There are dozens of oak tree varieties in North America. The varieties are divided into two main categories: red oaks and white oaks. Red oak trees Reds have leaves with pointed lobes tipped with tiny bristles. Their acorns take two years to mature and sprout the spring after they drop to the ground. Common red oaks include: Willow oak Black oak Japanese evergreen oak Water oak Pin oak...

Why Grow Drought Tolerant Climbing Plants? Growing drought tolerant vines satisfies several criteria. The most obvious being their need for very little water; they aren’t a cacti though, and do require some water. Often hand in hand with lack of water is oppressive heat. Growing drought tolerant vines creates a natural arbor of shade that is often ten degrees cooler than the surrounding, sun-drenched landscape. Vines that can handle drought can also be planted right up against the house, again lending a curtain of greenery while cooling the inside temperature....