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Having so many plants with wort in their name, there should be a wort family of plants. Yet, lungwort is a type of borage, spiderwort belongs to the Commelinaceae family, and sleepwort is a type of fern. These are totally unrelated plants. So, what does wort mean? What are Wort Plants? Carolus Linnaeus, aka Carl Linnaeus, is credited with developing the plant classification system we use today. Working in the 1700s, Linnaeus created the format for binomial nomenclature....

My Elephant Ears are Taking Over! Fans of foliage plants should be well aware of the elephant ear’s charms. This tropical Arum is an excellent choice for pond edges, lightly shaded areas, and as screens for hiding unsightly items. These massive plants may grow up to 6 feet (2 m.) tall with leaves that span 2 feet (0.5 m.) in diameter. In some areas, elephant ears are considered invasive and some cautions should be taken to keep plants beneath free of debris....

How to Make a Rainbow Color Garden A color garden is created just like any other garden design. Select rainbow garden plants that grow well in your area and be sure those chosen share similar growing requirements when planted together. You can also grow different types of plants in containers for more flexibility. Help your child pick plant colors that will complement one another as well as the overall design to avoid looking too busy, and choose age appropriate plants too....

What is Soft Scale? Plants that are droopy, yellowing, or have developed sticky spots and black mold on leaves can be really alarming to find in your landscape or garden. These are plants that look to be on the brink of immediate death, but things aren’t always that straightforward. If your plants are sagging and looking terrible, it may not be a terminal plant disease, but soft scale insects to blame....

What is a Spiral Herb Garden? A spiral herb garden is a sustainable garden design ideal in creating microclimates to suit a variety of herbs and their needs. Many of the herbs hail from Mediterranean climates and need dry, sandy soil conditions while others thrive in cooler, moister soils. A spiral herb design is warm and dry at the top and cools and retains moisture at the base. Additionally, it makes great use of a small amount of space....

Growing Squash on Trellises One of the easiest ways to grow squash and other cucurbits is on a form or trellis. Most squashes are too heavy for the average trellis without extra support, but some, like the summer squashes and smaller gourds, are perfect for vertical growth. Squash trellising can be as simple as crossing a couple of boards and threading some twine across to support the burgeoning vines. I looked in the pile of wood left by previous homeowners and found old fence slats to make my squash form....

Winter Storage of Tender Bulbs in South Tender bulbs, which include most of the summer-flowering varieties (dahlia, caladium, gladiolus, tuberose, elephant ear, etc.) normally require lifting each fall to be over wintered indoors. In the south, winters are typically mild, so most bulbs can be overwintered in the ground. With adequate winter protection, the vast majority of these bulbs will continue to thrive and multiply year after year. This winter protection often involves generous applications of mulch, such as straw, shredded bark, or leaf mold....

What are Sugar Beets? A cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, sugar beet growing accounts for about 30 percent of the world’s sugar production. Most sugar beet cultivation occurs in the European Union, the United States, and Russia. The United States harvests over one million acres of growing sugar beets, and we use it all, only the E.U. and Ukraine are significant exporters of sugar from beets. Sugar consumption per nation is somewhat cultural but it appears to directly correlate with the relative wealth of the nation....

What is a Terrace Garden? Now that your interest in a hillside terrace garden has been piqued, you might be asking yourself, “What is a terrace garden and where do I start?” Terracing in the landscape creates mini-gardens and is an excellent option for homeowners with steep slopes where planting is otherwise impossible. Terrace gardens help prevent erosion by dividing hilly areas into smaller, level sections where water is more easily distributed and soaked into the ground....

By keeping the grass in the lawn and out of garden beds, edging reduces the amount of time spent on lawn maintenance. The ideal lawn edging can be mown over easily or can at least minimize trimming needs. There are numerous lawn edging options to choose from, and they can be decorative or inconspicuous within the landscape. Types of Lawn Edging Lawn edging is a great way to help define borders, creating a barrier between the lawn and other areas of the landscape....

When to Harvest Pumpkin Depending upon the variety, pumpkins typically take between 90 and 120 days to reach maturity. Hot, humid days can cause pumpkins to ripen early, as can any condition which causes the vines to die prematurely. Likewise, a warm fall allows pumpkins vines to continue growing, which can delay ripening. Aside from wanting pumpkins to display in the fall or for carving at Halloween, the ideal time to pick pumpkins is when they are fully ripe....

Gardeners in northern U.S. climates can also take advantage of cold-hardy vegetables by planting these winter vegetables as early spring or fall crops. In addition, coupling cold-season vegetables with techniques for extending the growing season can make one’s garden more productive throughout the year. To get you started, here’s our list of the 10 best vegetables for cold-weather cultivation. The Top 10 Winter Vegetables Beets – It’s best to direct seed these cold-hardy vegetables into the garden as they don’t transplant well....

Reasons for Planting Beneath Roses There are some rose bushes that have a growth habit of getting what is called “leggy,” which essentially means that for some reason the roses will shed all of their lower foliage, leaving nothing but their canes showing. The foliage and blooms are all up higher on the bush, making the lower portion bare and lacking a nice, eye-catching look that we like for our gardens....

Hot Water and Plant Growth You’ve probably heard a lot of really unusual home remedies for pests and plant diseases (I know I have!), but using hot water on plants is actually something that works quite effectively on certain pests and pathogens. Unlike various pesticides or home remedies, hot water baths for plants can be quite safe for the plant, environment, and gardener alike, provided you’re careful how you apply the water....

What is Rubber Mulch for Gardens? Any car owner knows that at one time or other the vehicle will need new tires. Add up new tires for the world’s population in a year and you end up with over one billion end-of-life tires. What to do with all those used tires has been an ongoing debate for decades. Today more attempts are being made to reuse the rubber from the tires, which on the surface seems like a great idea....

Watercress Cultivation Watercress is a perennial cultivated for its clean, slightly peppery tasting leaves and stems. Seen wild, it grows partially submerged in running water and flooded areas in moderately cool climates. If you have a water feature in your landscape, this is a great place to cultivate watercress, but don’t despair if not. Watercress can also be grown in consistently wet soil with a soil pH of 6.5-7.5 in full sun, or you can mimic natural conditions by growing watercress plants in a bucket or other container....

Kill Weeds, Not Moss Moss prefers shady locations. Weeds, on the other hand, need plenty of light to grow. Generally speaking, weeds growing in moss isn’t usually a problem. Pulling the stray weed by hand is easy enough, but neglected areas of the garden can easily become overrun with weeds. Luckily, there are moss-safe products for weed control in moss gardens. Mosses are bryophytes, meaning they don’t have true roots, stems, or leaves....

What is Ammonium Nitrate? Nitrogen comes in many forms. This major plant nutrient can be taken in by plants through the roots or from the stoma in the leaves and stems. Additional sources of nitrogen are often added to soil and plants in areas without sufficient natural sources of nitrogen. One of the first solid nitrogen sources produced in a large scale capacity is ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate fertilizer is the most common use of the compound, but it also has a very volatile nature, which makes it useful in certain industries....

Sometimes it’s amazing that anything manages to grow in the vegetable garden because there are so many things that can go wrong. Fungal and bacterial disease can spell trouble and are difficult to control. These diseases are further complicated when multiple diseases share a common name, causing confusion over treatment. Blackleg disease in vegetables can refer to a fungal pathogen that affects cole crops or bacteria that attacks potatoes. We’ll discuss both in this article so you can manage whichever blackleg plant disease happens to be troubling you....

Wingthorn Rose Plant Info A fine beauty of a rose dating back to the 1800’s, the Wingtorn rose (Rosa omeiensis syn. Rosa pteracantha) was introduced into commerce in 1892. Wingthorn was named by Rehder & Wilson from E.H. (“Chinese”) Wilson’s rose bush collections in China. Her pretty single white, slightly fragrant, blooms come in early spring and then are gone. However, the blooms are not really her main attraction, as she has large, bright, ruby red thorns that trail back into her canes and are truly reminiscent of wings....