How to Transplant Poinsettias in Containers Poinsettias are a holiday staple, but once the colorful, flower-like bracts are spent, they are just another houseplant. You can try to fool the plant into producing the colorful leaves the next season, but first, you have to keep the plant healthy. Some gardeners choose to save the potted plants indoors, especially in cooler regions. Can you transplant poinsettias outside? Absolutely, but there are some special requirements for this Mexican native to keep it thriving and lively....

Composting Bat Manure for Tea Using bat manure for compost tea is one of the most nutrient and microorganism rich options. Bat dung is harvested dry after it has been composted by guano beetles and microbes and is obtained from only the insect and fruit feeding species. It can be worked directly into the soil as an incredible rich, non-malodorous fertilizer or converted into an extremely beneficial bat manure compost tea....

Can You Compost Meat Scraps? A win/win scenario for a small amount of effort, composting is the natural decay of organic refuse within controlled conditions that enable tiny organisms (bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) to convert the refuse into rich, gorgeous soil. The question is what qualifies as organic matter suitable for the compost pile. Generally, folks think about grass clippings and fruit or vegetable trimmings, but how about meat? Meat is organic material, right?...

About Sowing Seeds in a Milk Jug Sure, you can recycle plastic milk jugs, but a better use for them is to repurpose them for milk jug winter sowing. This is a low-maintenance way to start seeds earlier than you thought possible. The sealed jug acts as a greenhouse that allows the seeds to germinate several weeks ahead of direct sowing. The plants are sown in their mini greenhouse outside, eliminating the need to harden seedlings off....

How to Make Natural Dyes from Food Prior to the invention of Rit dye in 1917, people dyed cloth with aniline dyes primarily supplied by Germany, but the advent of WWII severed this supply leading to Charles C. Huffman’s invention. Rit dye was a home dye that included soap that would dye and wash fabrics at the same time. Rit dye was not a natural vegetable plant dye, however, and included synthetic chemicals – including a fixative to help the garment retain the color....

Ornamental grass propagation is easiest with this method but some produce well with seed. Some notes on how to propagate ornamental grass will get you on your way to more free plants and a tumult of waving blades and gentle landscape movement. Ornamental Grass Propagation I have a little area I call my “Pointy Garden”. This is where all my ornamental grasses reside and provide an effective border and xeriscape ease....

Is Lemongrass Winter Hardy? The answer to this is that it really depends on what region you live in. As mentioned, the plant thrives during long, hot growing seasons and if you happen to live in an area with these conditions and very mild winters, you’ll undoubtedly continue growing lemongrass in winter months. Temperatures must remain consistently over 40 degrees F. (4 C). That said, most of us will have to take some precautions when preparing lemongrass for winter....

Interested in growing coniferous plants for the Pacific Northwest? While conifers native to this region fall into just three botanical families, there are plenty of choices. Pacific Northwest Coniferous Plants The Pacific Northwest is a region that borders the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Rocky Mountains on the east, and from central coastal California and southern Oregon up into the southeast Alaskan coast. Within this region lie several forest zones representative of the area’s annual temperature and rainfall....

Shade Plants That Come Back Every Year Perennial plants for shade tend to be relatively slow growing. Most perennials for shade need at least a little sunlight, which may be dappled through trees or reflected from a building. Selecting perennials for a shade garden may be easier than you think, as there is an impressive variety of beautiful, shade-tolerant perennials. Here are just a few, along with their USDA growing zones:...

What is Photosynthesis? Plants, just like humans, require food in order to survive and grow. However, a plant’s food looks nothing like our food. Plants are the greatest consumer of solar energy, using power from the sun to mix up an energy rich meal. The process where plants make their own food is known as photosynthesis. Photosynthesis in plants is an extremely useful process whereby green plants take up carbon dioxide (a toxin) from the air and produce rich oxygen....

Poisonous Plants for Cats There are numerous plants that are poisonous to cats. Since there are so many plants toxic to cats, I’ve chosen to split them into groups of the most common poisonous plants having mild, moderate, or severe effects. Mildly Toxic Plants to Cats Although there are many types of plants that can be toxic to cats, most may actually be found in or around the home. Here are some of the most common plants poisonous to cats with mild symptoms:...

What Causes White Pumpkin Leaves? The reason we have powdery mildew on our pumpkin leaves is due to a leaf-infecting disease that is very common. The name is, in fact, “powdery mildew” and is given to a group of diseases caused by related fungi. Each one has a different host, but they all share the same appearance – a grayish-white, powdery carpet that can be seen on leaves, stems, and flowers....

Identifying Thrips on Roses Thrips are extremely active, slender, brownish yellow, winged insects. They seem to favor the lighter colored blooms and will typically leave red spots and brown streaks on the petals. The flower buds are often deformed and typically will not open. The chili thrips will attack the foliage and basically the entire host plant. The amount of damage they can do in a very short time is astounding!...

At What Temperature Do Plants Freeze? When cold weather comes your way, your first thought will be at what temperature do plants freeze, in other words, how cold is too cold? There is no easy answer to this. Different plants freeze and die at different temperatures. That is why they are given a hardiness rating. Some plants produce special hormones that keep them from freezing, and these plants have a lower hardiness rating (meaning they can survive colder weather) than plants who produce less of this hormone....

Urban Garden Rat Problem I live in a large city, albeit in a suburb. The suburb is a microcosm of the city and, as such, is a reflection of the inner-city problems. So, yes, we get rats. We also have nearby greenbelts that are home to coyotes and streams home to river otters, but I digress. We are talking rats. Given that urban gardening and rats go hand in hand, what steps can be taken to prevent infestation or control rats?...

About Red Star Dracaena Plants The dark red, almost burgundy, sword-like leaves of Red Star dracaena (Cordyline australis ‘Red Star’) add an unusual flair when growing in a display. Surround it with blooms that peak from spring to fall in an outdoor bed or grow it as a focal point in the garden. Likewise, this plant makes a great addition to the home. Cordyline australis is a dracaena-like species. While this interesting plant goes by the name of dracaena or palm, it is neither – technically, the Red Star dracaena palm is a type of cordyline plant....

When to Start Companion Planting for Rose Bushes With hybrid tea roses, wait a couple years before doing any companion planting, as they need to get their root systems going well prior to adding any competition for water and nutrients. Truthfully, I would apply this same rule to all of the rose bush plantings as a good rule of thumb. Keep in mind that some companion plants can easily become overgrown, thus some maintenance to keep them under control will be required....

Unfortunately, bamboo is just one of many in a mighty long list of invasives that plague gardeners. Another royal pain in the rump is the royal empress tree (Paulownia tomentosa), also known as princess tree or royal paulownia. While getting rid of this extremely fast-growing tree may seem like a never-ending battle, there may be some things you can do to stem the spread of paulownia. Read on to learn more about royal empress control....

Avoiding Rutabaga Plant Issues Rutabagas (Brassica napobassica) are members of the Cruciferae, or mustard family. Rutabagas are a cool season crop, 40 to 60 degrees F. (4-16 C.) grown for their edible, thick, cream colored root and can be grown as either a spring or fall crop. Also know as Swedish turnips, rutabagas are milder and sweeter than an ordinary turnip. Like its cousin, the leaves of the rutabaga are also edible and may be grown for its greens as well....

How Many Seeds Per Hole? The size and age of the seeds to be planted figure into the equation. So does the expected germination rate for each type of seed. To learn the expected germination rate for each type of seed, it is normally found in the information on the back of the seed packet, or you may search the online. Age of the seed is a factor too. We expect seeds to be fresh when packaged, but after that our only indication of their true age is the expiration date on the packaging....