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Why Dividing Shasta Daisy Plants is Good Daisies are one of nature’s messages of cheer and bonhomie that reaffirm our notion of the restorative powers of plants. The Shasta daisy is one of these harbingers of good will and has an easy-to-grow reputation with a wide range of tolerances. Can you divide Shasta daisies? Division is not only good for the plant but the best and fastest way to increase the numbers of these fun flowers....

Can You Trim a Cactus? New succulent growers may ask, “Can you trim a cactus?” Most cacti really don’t need any form of shaping unless they have a great huge limb that looks ready to tip the plant over. The major reasons for trimming cactus are to remove parts to root for new plants, remove offsets or pups for the same reason, reinvigorate a plant that has gotten too tall or too leggy, and to take off damaged material....

Learning how to plant indoor vegetables creates a year-round, safe and environmentally-friendly food source with the added benefit of lowering grocery costs. To help you get started on this journey to self-sufficiency, here’s our list of the 10 best indoor vegetables to cultivate at home. The 10 Best Indoor Vegetables Microgreens – When first learning how to plant indoor vegetables, consider growing microgreens. They are one of the easiest crops to cultivate and only take 2 to 4 weeks to reach a harvestable size....

What are Organic Pesticides? Organic pesticides for plants are considered to be those made from natural ingredients. That doesn’t mean they are free from chemicals, just that the chemicals are derived from botanical and mineral sources. They must still be used carefully, but the chemicals break down more quickly than commercial sources and are deemed less threatening. Chemicals assault the body at almost every hour of the day. They may come in the air, the food we eat, the products we use on our bodies, and even in our drinking water....

Some of us may have heard of microclimates outdoors, but you may be wondering are there microclimates indoors too? The answer is YES, so let’s discuss what this means and why it is important. About Microclimates in Your House When you decide where to place a certain plant, it is important that you give it the best location in your home. Humidity Various locations of your home can have drastically different humidity levels in the air....

Types of Trees and Shrubs for Winter Landscapes Nothing is more beautiful in the winter landscape than the numerous varieties of evergreen trees and shrubs, from broadleaf evergreens to conifers. Common evergreen conifers are found in a variety of shapes, sizes, and color variations, with varieties of gold, green, purple, and white available. Some of these include: Spruce Pine Juniper Yew Deciduous trees and shrubs may lose their leaves in fall; however, during winter this shedding allows some of their best attributes to shine through, revealing amazing structures, forms, and textures....

Roses are beautiful, but almost every rose owner has gotten their skin pricked by a rose’s notorious thorns. Stories, songs, and poems all contain references to rose thorns, but modern rose breeders have worked hard to create a thornless rose called a Smooth Touch rose. History of Smooth Touch Roses The roses known as “Smooth Touch” roses are a very interesting group of hybrid tea and floribunda thornless to nearly thornless roses....

Rose Hip Information Rugosa roses are known to produce an abundance of rose hips, these wonderful roses can be grown for the multi-purpose of enjoying their beautiful blooms set against their wonderful foliage as well as using the hips they produce. The old-fashioned shrub roses also produce wonderful rose hips and offer the same enjoyment. If the rose hips are left on the bush and never harvested, the birds will find them and peck out the seeds, eating these fine fruits as a great source of nourishment in the winter months and beyond....

What is Armillaria Root Rot? Armillaria affects many ornamental and edible plants. What is Armillaria root rot? The disease is found throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the world. Symptoms can be difficult to identify because the fungus responsible for the disease attacks roots deep in the soil. Once the disease has started to progress, it can be difficult or even impossible to arrest its effects. Armillaria stems from its mycelium harbored in the earth....

What is Calcium Nitrate? Diseases like blossom end rot are easy to control with calcium nitrate. What does calcium nitrate do? It provides both calcium and nitrogen. It is usually applied as a dissolved solution, allowing for quicker plant uptake but may also be applied as side or top dressing. Ammonium nitrate is a commonly used source of nitrogen but it interferes with calcium uptake and causes calcium deficiency disorders in plants....

What is Lily Mosaic Virus? Plants in the Lillium genus have several potential viral issues but the mosaic virus is extremely contagious and common. It stems from those pesky aphids, whose sucking feeding behavior passes the virus from plant to plant. Lily mosaic virus affects some lilies more than others, and breeding programs have helped to develop resistant varieties. Viruses are mutating simple organisms. They are very hardy and adaptable and can be found in some form in almost every plant and animal on earth....

What Type of Gardener are You? Don’t panic, there is no right or wrong answer. The beauty of gardening is that there is a place for everyone from the perfectionist to the newly initiated to the downright lazy. Your gardening personality is most likely an extension of your character traits, both good and bad, and shouldn’t be the same as the gardener next door. How boring life would be if we all gardened the same!...

History of Peaches with White Flesh For me, white peaches are the only peach. The delicate flavor and intense scent are a delight to the nose and palate. Peaches that are white tend to bruise more easily than the yellow but can be stored carefully for a short time. In most cases, they probably will be eaten so quickly it won’t matter. There are many varieties of white peach, each with different chill hour requirements and a variety of harvest dates....

Those of us who do not live in D.C. do not have to travel hundreds of miles and fight crowds of tourists to enjoy beautiful flowering trees like this. While unique, exotic flowering trees were once hard to get, today most of us have the leisure of just going to a local garden center and selecting from many ornamental trees. Even in cooler climates, like zone 5, there are many choices of flowering trees....

If you are wondering what trees can be planted in the fall, read on. We’ll give you a short list of our favorites. Is Fall a Good Time to Plant Trees? It is uncontested that the best seasons for tree planting are spring and fall. While spring planting works for many trees, there are more than a few good reasons to wait and plant trees in the fall. For one thing, fall temperatures range from moderate to cool and get even cooler still in winter....

When filled with potting medium, large pots can be extremely heavy and unmovable. Many glazed decorative pots may also lack proper drainage holes or do not drain well due to all the potting mix. Not to mention, purchasing enough potting soil to fill large pots can become quite expensive. So what’s a gardener to do? Read on to learn more about using Styrofoam for container filler. Using Styrofoam in Containers In the past, it was recommended that broken pieces of clay pots, rocks, wood chips, or Styrofoam packing peanuts be placed in the bottom of pots as filler and to improve drainage....

One of the biggest drawbacks is affordability, with many commercial aeroponic growing systems being quite costly. That’s why many people choose to make their own personal aeroponic growing systems. DIY Aeroponics There are actually many ways to create a personal aeroponic system at home. They are easy to construct and are by far less expensive. A popular DIY aeroponics system makes use of large storage bins and PVC pipes. Keep in mind that measurements and sizes vary depending on your own personal aeroponic needs....

How to Get Seed from Anthurium Anthurium flowers are both male and female with the female flowers coming first. This means that unless you have several plants with flowers in different stages of development and of different sexes, an individual anthurium is unlikely to produce fruit. With no fruit, you have no seeds. In order for anthurium propagation by seed to occur, you will need to solve this problem. Propagating anthuriums from seed begins with tricking your plant into producing that needed seed....

From lawn care to flower planting to fungicide spraying, there are plenty of chores ready and waiting. Learn more about South Central garden maintenance for April. April Gardening in the South-Central Region April gardening begins with lawn care. After a winter with low moisture and cold winds, it’s time for some TLC. As weather warms, more spring annuals can be planted. In Texas and Louisiana, they are moving toward summer annuals....

Planting perennials in drifts not only draws the attention of pollinators, but it is a pleasing arrangement to our eyes. Groups of the same plant provide swaths of color that are appealing. When we plant in drifts, the large groupings pop with color and bring in insects like bees. What is Drift Planting? Drift planting is the use of just a few species but massed in groupings. It often follows a color scheme, but may also be developed from a variety of sizes and flower types....