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Display Your Air Plant in Creative Ways

Are you looking for some fascinating ways to display your air plants? Air plants are incredibly versatile and work well in almost any display. Here are seven of the most impressive display ideas for your air plants.

Air plants are among the most interesting plants that you can grow. Rather than relying on soil as a growing medium, air plants gain all the nutrients they need from the air. This ability opens many options when it comes time to arrange and display your air plants.

Since air plants are so versatile, it is difficult to choose one way to display them. Air plants pair well with almost anything, leading to hundreds of display possibilities. Below are seven of the most impressive ways to display your air plants.

1.) Metal Plant Frames

One of the best ways to show off your air plant is to let it grow in a metal plant frame. These frames come in many different shapes and sizes and are attractive in their own right.

Adding an amazing air plant will make one of these frames look even better. Watch as your air plant weaves its way through the geometric patterns that the frame creates. The effect will be even more astounding if you can hang your metal plant frame where all can observe it.

2.) Ceramic Containers

Ceramic containers can be quite beautiful. However, there is a reason why these containers are not the best for most plants. The biggest issue is that many of the best-looking ceramic containers have no holes that allow water to drain from the soil.

Air plants allow you to ignore that challenge entirely. Since air plants do not need soil, you can consider a much broader range of ceramic containers to grow them.

3.) Gemstone Displays

A bright glittering gemstone can act as an excellent accent piece for your home décor. Adding an air plant is a great way to enhance your gemstone display to the next level. Your air plant will have no issue surviving right on top of your gemstone. As it grows, it will provide a pleasing soft contrast to the hard edges of the stone.

4.) Desktop Terrariums

One of the most difficult parts of creating a terrarium is finding plants that thrive in that environment. In those instances, air plants offer a perfect solution. Since these plants need no soil, it is very easy to add them to your terrarium and let them grow. Adding a small air plant to a terrarium can really enhance any desktop or shelf. Just make sure that the terrarium offers plenty of airflow for your plant to thrive.

5.) Hanging Terrariums

A standard terrarium is interesting enough, but what makes for an even bolder statement is a hanging terrarium. There is not much difference between those terrarium styles other than that one sits on a desk or shelf while the other dangles from the ceiling. However, hanging terrariums offer a bit more interest as you can place them in unique areas around your home.

6.) Tree Stump Base

If you want a more rustic vibe in your home, a small tree stump is a useful addition to your decoration scheme. You’ll be able to find many of the products online, or you can make one yourself using what you can find in your yard. Select a variety of wood that you like and looks nice in your living space. Then all you need to do is place your air plant on top of the stump to finish this look.

7.) Clear Glass Containers

This last option is one of the most fun. Unlike other plants, there is no reason you can’t grow an air plant in a glass container. The benefit of this planting option is that you can see through the glass to observe the root development of your air plant.

If you want to jazz it up, you can fill your glass jar with some pebbles or pieces of colored glass. Because your air plant does not rely on soil, it won’t mind spreading its root around those materials.

Final Thoughts

The unique growth habit of an air plant gives you many display options to choose from. Take some inspiration from this list to get started, or feel free to explore some other options. No matter the route you choose, air plants allow for incredibly creative plant arrangements and are sure to be of interest however you choose to grow them.

How to Grow Cacti Indoors

Cacti are perfect plants for those who want low-effort greenery in their home. However, cacti are unique from other houseplants and, therefore, have different needs. Here are some tips on how to care for your cacti indoors.

Cacti are perfect plants for those who want low-effort greenery in their home. These humble plants come in a variety of styles and often do better the more you leave them alone.

What’s involved with keeping a cactus alive? A cactus is quite different than the average houseplant and, therefore, has very different needs. Throughout this article, you’ll learn what differentiates a cactus from other plants and how to best care for cacti indoors.

What is a Cactus?

Cacti are a distinctive plant family known for being low maintenance and versatile for indoor growing. Most cacti require minimal watering, as they pull in moisture from dew and mist and store it within their tissues.

They tend to grow slowly and can often stay in the same pot without problem for years. Popular varieties for indoor growing include golden barrel, bishop’s cap, rat-tail, bunny ears, Turk’s cap, and star cactus.

All cacti are a type of succulent, but not all succulents are cacti. What sets cacti apart are cushioned growing points known as areoles that produce tufts of hair or spines. While some other succulent varieties have thorns, they don’t come from areoles, so they aren’t classified as cacti.

Forest Vs. Desert Cacti: What’s the Difference?

Most cacti are split into two categories: forest and desert. Forest cacti thrive in tropical regions, have thick, fleshy stems, and are often known for their blooms. The Christmas cactus falls into this category.

Desert cacti, in contrast, are found in dry arid regions and tend to have sharp needles. As a result, they are more sensitive to over-watering and need more direct sunlight than forest varieties.

While both types of cacti look different from each other and have different growth habits, they require similar indoor maintenance, except when it comes to watering.

Eight Tips to Successfully Grow Cactus Indoors

It’s possible to have great success growing cacti indoors in the right conditions. Here are eight tips that will help your cactus thrive indoors.

1. Get an Appropriate Container

Cacti will thrive in almost any container, so long as it includes drainage holes. Unglazed terra cotta works especially well because its porous nature lets water evaporate away from the plant roots, which reduces the risk of overwatering.

As cacti are slow-growing and usually don’t mind crowding, consider planting multiple varieties in a pot.

2. Stick with Cactus Soil

Standard potting soil won’t work for cacti because it will hold too much moisture. It’s best to buy specialty cactus soil or consider making your own. Good cactus soil contains one part coarse builder’s sand, one part loam, and one part peat moss.

Cacti are sensitive after repotting, so refrain from watering them for a few weeks to prevent any root damage.

3. Choose a Well-Lit Location

Cacti require at least six hours of light per day in order to thrive. Keep them on a south-facing windowsill for the best results, although east or west-facing windows will also work. It’s possible to supplement with artificial lights if your space doesn’t receive enough naturally.

4. Bring Them Outdoors in the Summer

Once the weather warms, your cacti will enjoy the opportunity to get outside for some direct sunlight exposure. Keep them indoors until the temperature consistently gets above 50°F (10°C) to ensure they don’t become stressed.

It’s best to transition the plants outdoors slowly by placing them in a shaded location for a few hours a day before gradually bringing them into direct sunlight. Make sure your cacti come back inside before there’s a danger of frost.

5. Water Carefully

Less is more when it comes to watering desert cacti. The easiest way to kill off your cactus is by adding too much water. Stick with a watering schedule to ensure you don’t get off track. Each time you water, make sure you add enough so that water seeps from the drainage hole on the pot’s bottom. Water the soil directly so that the cactus itself stays dry.

Always let the top two inches of soil dry again before you add more. This helps mimic the drought conditions cacti have evolved to thrive in. You will likely find you need to water more frequently on hot, bright days when the cacti are in active growth stages. Most cacti need only small amounts of moisture over the winter months.

Forest cacti are more forgiving of overwatering and should be treated similarly to other forms of succulents. Water the soil directly whenever it feels dry to the touch and gently mist the foliage whenever it looks dusty.

6. Monitor for Pest and Disease Problems

Even when grown indoors, cacti are susceptible to pest and disease problems. Overwatering or a poorly draining pot are frequent causes, as they lead to water buildup that rots the roots.

Inspect your plants regularly for insects and signs of eggs under the growths. The plants themselves tend to be sensitive to bruising, so any mishandling may lead to permanent blemishes. However, in most cases, these won’t affect the health of the plant whatsoever.

7. Maintain a Consistent Temperature

Cacti do best when kept at a consistent temperature throughout their growth period. Aim to keep them above 60°F (15°C) at night and around 10-15 degrees warmer during the day. During their dormant period, they can handle temperatures around 45-55°F (7-12°C).

If your indoor space seems too hot, keep the cacti next to a window, as the glass will keep it about ten degrees cooler than the rest of the room.

8. Fertilize Regularly

While cacti tend to be slow-growing, they appreciate regular boosts of liquid fertilizer during their active phase. Add a dose of specialty cacti or succulent fertilizer to your pot as directed by the manufacturer over the warmer months. It’s only necessary to fertilize in the winter if you can tell the plant is actively growing.

With proper care, a cactus adds charm to any indoor space. Learn the best ways to keep yours alive, and you’ll enjoy your cactus for years to come.

Flower of the Week: Sage

If you are attracted by the sage along the side of the road, you probably have taken the time to stop and enjoy its beauty. This perennial evergreen shrub is very easy to take care of. Not only can it be used in cooking, but it serves as an ornamental plant to spruce up the garden. Furthermore, placing potted sages on the balcony is an excellent choice as the finishing touch for the home.

The most common sage in horticulture is medicinal sage. Its scientific name is Salvia officinalis, but it’s also known as garden sage, common sage, or culinary sage. Sage originates from the Mediterranean region.

Medicinal sage has a long history in medicine and cooking. Nowadays, most sage plants are regarded as ornamental. In fact, it has a wide range of varieties with greatly differing sizes, leaves, colors, and other aspects. Bluish purple flowers are the most common, but there are also white, pink, and purple flowers.

As more varieties are cultivated, leaf colors like purple, rose, cream, and more mixed colors start to appear. The variety with purple leaves is called S. officinalis ‘Purpurascens’, while the variety with green leaves laced with yellowish-white stripes is called S. officinalis ‘Tricolor’. There is a variety that has white flowers called S. officinalis ‘Alba’.

Leaves of Tricolor Sage

Location

If you want to enjoy the royal experience while viewing medicinal sage, visit the Royal Botanic Gardens in England.

Founded in the 18th century, the Royal Botanical Gardens is a world-famous botanical garden established in Kew Gardens and Wakehurst. In Kew Gardens, there are many European-style garden pavilions and arcades from the 17th century, with many fragrant plants cultivated for the Queen of England to enjoy. Medicinal sage is one of them.

Sage in Kew Gardens

Medicinal sage blooms in summer and autumn. When you visit the Kew Gardens, you will be welcomed by a chill wind and an abundance of bluish-purple flowers. Stroll past ancient buildings, view flowers from the lens of royalty, and discover the history and legends that lie behind Salvia officinalis.

From Medicine to Food

In 1753, Carl Linnaeus officially named the plant Salvia officinalis. Like many popular medicinal plants during the time, its specific epithet is “officinalis”. The original meaning of this word is the traditional storage for herbs in the monastery.

Roman people call medicinal sage the sacred herb, and used it to ward off evil spirits and cure diseases. Around 800 A.D., Charlemagne highly recommended the medicinal sage during the Carolingian period, and planted it in the garden of the monastery.

Walahfrid Strabo was a 9th-century monk and theologist who mentioned medicinal sage as giving off a sweet scent in his book, Hortulus. In the 14th and 15th centuries, “cold sage sauce” appeared in Europe, being particularly popular in Italy and the Balkans.

In the British song “Scarborough Fair”, which has been passed down since the 17th century, the chorus mentions a series of edible herb names: “parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme” (although this part of the chorus was actually finalized in the 19th century).

Common Edible Herbs

The fresh leaves of medicinal sage give off a strong fragrance, making it a decent cooking ingredient. Once dried, it can serve as a seasoning that not only adds flavor but also removes the grease from meat dishes. Nowadays, Germans use medicinal sage to pickle sausages, while Italians mix it in meat dishes such as beef brisket. British and American cooks use medicinal sage and onion to flavor Christmas or Thanksgiving turkey and side dishes.

Can I grow medicinal sage?

Medicinal sage has a strong vitality and is easy to grow. As long as you give it sufficient sunlight, the right soil composition, water, pruning, etc., it will amaze you with its striking bluish-purple flowers.

Medicinal sage prefers a dry environment with abundant sunlight and good ventilation. It is not very picky about soil composition; it only requires sandy or deep loam. As an evergreen shrub, medicinal sage is slightly larger than regular evergreen shrubs. Hence, when planting more than one in an area, remember to leave 20 to 30 centimeters between each plant. Furthermore, it is drought-resistant and does not require frequent watering, so don’t forget to drain the pot if it is potted. After blooming, prune to encourage new branches to germinate.

Size: Up to 60 cm (2 feet) in height

Cold resistance: USDA zone 4-10

Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade

Soil: Sandy loam or deep loam with good drainage

Bloom time: Summer to autumn

How to Protect Plants From Late-Season Frost

An early frost can end your garden season before you had planned, but it doesn’t have to be that way. There are ways to protect your plants from a late-season frost to give them a few more weeks of growing time. Here’s what you need to know.

Changing seasons can be a challenging time for gardeners and plant growers. As the weather transitions from summer to fall, temperatures may start to drop without notice.

If you’re not ready to say goodbye to tomato season, you need to learn how to protect plants from a late-season frost. Here’s what you can do to keep vulnerable plants safe to enjoy a longer growing season than your local conditions might otherwise allow.

Why is Frost a Problem?

Frosts occur when air temperatures fall below 32˚F (0˚C) at ground level. It’s considered a hard frost when temperatures drop below 28˚F (-2˚C) for four consecutive hours. While many annuals can survive brief frosts with minimal damage, a hard frost will kill most of them.

Frosts are most common on clear, calm nights when there’s minimal cloud cover to reflect warmth to the ground and no wind to disperse patches of warm air. When the air is still, heat rises, so cold air settles around the base of each plant, where it causes the most damage.

Plants that spend too much time at freezing temperatures will have ice crystals form on them. This disrupts the movement of fluids and deprives tissues of water, so the frost-damaged portions will turn black and shrivel once they thaw.

If you see freezing temperatures in the forecast, it’s time to take steps to protect your plants.

Step-by-Step Guide to Protecting Plants from Frost

Late-season frosts can sneak up on you and prematurely end a successful garden season if you aren’t prepared. Here’s how to prep for chilly weather to give your plants the best chance of surviving without damage.

1. Choose Cold-Hardy Plants

If frost in the fall is a concern, decide in the spring to plant cold-hardy plants. Many varieties can tolerate more prolonged exposure to frost than others, so choose to prioritize the species less likely to disappoint you.

Some frost-hardy vegetable garden favorites include broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, peas, radishes, spinach, and kale. For the flower garden, consider marigolds, pansies, dusty millers, sweet peas, and sunflowers.

Best of all, most of these vegetable varieties actually get sweeter once the weather gets colder because a frost causes them to concentrate their sugars to protect the leaves.

2. Place Vulnerable Plants in Pots and Protected Spaces

You can better protect frost-prone plants by putting them in movable pots. When the forecast looks questionable, you can move them indoors or even to an elevated location so they aren’t overwhelmed by ground-level cold air.

For plants you want to keep in place, consider planting them near south- or west-facing structures like benches, walls, shrubbery, or fences. All the better if they are dark-colored, as they will absorb heat during the day and radiate it out during the frost event to keep them somewhat toastier.

Make sure you avoid planting in frost pockets. These are low depressions in the ground that trap cold air. They can cause significant frost damage, even when there isn’t a frost risk for other areas in your garden.

3. Water Before a Frost

When frost is in the forecast, it’s time to pull out the garden hose. Watering the night before the temperature drops ensures that the wet soil releases moisture into the air, keeping each plant a little more protected.

4. Cover Plants Before Nightfall

When you see frost in the forecast, it’s smart to cover at-risk plants before the evening. The earlier in the afternoon the better, as you want to trap stored heat around them for extra protection.

Make sure the cover goes down to ground level to insulate the plant against chilly evening air.

You have many coverage options, including:

The more layers you add, the more insulation for the plant.

Plastic or Fabric?

While gardeners use both kinds of materials for frost protection, your plants will do better with fabric. That’s because fabric better allows moisture to escape, so it doesn’t freeze on the leaves and stems.

If you choose to use plastic, take care that the material NEVER touches the plants. This will hold moisture against the plant tissue and is more likely to cause frost damage than not covering the plants at all.

Avoid this problem by using tall stakes or hoops to support the plastic in a tent, so the plant stays untouched. You can also cover plants with fabric and then add a layer of plastic on top for extra insulation on the chilliest nights.

Post-Frost Instructions

Remove the plant covers as soon as possible once temperatures rise above freezing in the morning — especially if you use plastic. This prevents heat from building up under the covers and stressing them further.

Cover in the early evening just before the sun goes down. Remove the covers in the morning, so the plants do not overheat.

5. Protect Plants with Homemade 'Water Bottles'

Give vulnerable plants a little insurance against frost by filling plastic milk jugs with warm water to place next to each plant with a cover thrown over the top.
They will emit heat all night to keep plants slightly warmer than they would be otherwise. Alternatively, fill up the jugs early in the day and place them in the sun to absorb heat.

If your plants are small, you can cover each one with a “cloche,” which is a removable glass or plastic cover that goes over each plant. The same milk jugs can serve this purpose — cut out the bottom and place each one overtop any small plants. Flowerpots will also work.

Prepare in Advance to Protect Plants from Frost

The first frost of fall might feel like the end of the gardening season, but with some advance planning, you can protect your plants for a few more weeks of growth.

Once you see your flowers blooming and tomatoes ripening far into the fall, you’ll be sure to appreciate the effort.

Lawn Care Tips for Fall

It’s easy to slack on outdoor projects once winter approaches, but that’s a mistake. Learn the proper steps for how to take care of your lawn this fall so you can ensure it will look gorgeous again in the spring.

As the weather starts to cool, you’re likely looking forward to a break from tending to your lawn.

However, ending your lawncare duties too early in the season may lead to problems for next year’s growth. There are a variety of maintenance tasks that need to take place in the fall if you want a gorgeous lawn in the summer. Below are twelve fall tasks that are necessary to keep your lawn happy and healthy for next spring.

1. Remove the Leaves

While a carpet of fall-colored leaves looks gorgeous on your lawn, they aren’t good news for your grass in the long run. Left untouched, they will take a long time to break down, blocking light and trapping moisture in the process. This slows down grass growth or even kills it.

Your best option is to rake the leaves and remove them or to mow them directly into the lawn. This breaks them down into smaller pieces, so they decompose faster.

2. Test the Soil

Fall is the best time to test your lawn’s soil. Doing so will take the guesswork out of what your lawn is deficient in so that you can add the correct nutrients in the spring. Healthy lawns should be tested every three to four years so you can stay ahead of problems, while problem areas should be tested yearly.

3. Feed the Grass

It’s smart to add fertilizer to your lawn just as the grass is recovering from a hot summer. Applying fertilizer in the early fall helps the grass rebuild its root structures before cooler weather hits. This results in healthier grass in the long run.

Consider also a late-fall application of nitrogen-based slow-release fertilizer to give the grass the energy it needs to take off again in the spring.

4. Spruce Things Up

Lawns take a beating in the summer months, especially if you use your grassy space to lounge and play.

There may be problem areas of your lawn that need extra attention now to prevent further damage. Treat these spots with extra fertilizer and grass seed to get them green again for next year.

5. Check Your Gutters

While not necessarily related to lawn care, fall is the ideal time to take care of the gutters that run along your home and garage. This lets you pull out any autumn leaves that are clogging them before winter storms roll through.

6. Keep Things Short

By late fall, you want to change your mowing habits to keep the lawn an inch or two (3-5 centimeters) shorter than you did for the rest of the summer. Doing so will help put the lawn in hibernation mode, so the grass slows its growth and stores energy that is better used in the spring.

If you leave the grass too long, it’s more likely to develop disease problems from the wet, cold conditions of winter.

7. Continue Watering

While it’s tempting to slow down on watering once the fall weather arrives, it’s best to continue giving your lawn an inch of water each week until winter. Any less, and the grass will become stressed just when it needs to store up energy for the winter.

Consider installing a rain gauge in your lawn so you can monitor how much moisture the grass is receiving through rain and other irrigation measures.

Note: If you deal with freezing winter temperatures, make sure you drain the water from your hoses and irrigation systems to prevent them from freezing and bursting.

8. Loosen the Soil

Lawns do best with regular aeration, so plan to loosen the soil under the grass once every couple of years. This prevents the soil from getting overly compacted with thick layers of roots and stems that choke out oxygen and nutrients from the ground and prevent water from soaking through.

You can use a core aerator to punch regular holes into the thatch and pull up plugs of soil to give it more breathing room. These plugs will quickly break down on the lawn’s surface, but the holes they leave behind work well for getting air, water, and more nutrients to the grass.

Note: Maximize the benefits of soil aeration by fertilizing your lawn immediately after.

9. Spread Seed

The denser your lawn is planted, the fewer issues you’ll have with weed seeds. Take advantage of the pleasant weather in the early fall to fill in thin spots and bare patches with fresh grass seed. This gives the seeds a chance to get established before the plants hibernate for the winter so you’re met with lush growth in the spring.

For best results, seed at least 45 days before the first frost is expected.

10. Control Weeds

Putting in the effort to remove weeds in the fall will pay off in a big way in the spring. Getting this done early helps to remove the weeds’ seed banks from the soil. Hand pull what you can, and consider using an herbicide to get the pesky areas under control.

11. Take Care of Lawn Pests

In the same way, you can treat your lawn for insects in the fall to prevent them from overwintering and laying eggs in the spring. A general insecticide should do the trick for most problem species.

12. Clean Up Your Lawn Care Tools

The last task for preparing your lawn for winter is to put away all your lawn care tools for the season. Take the fuel out of your lawnmower and wipe every trimmer and pruner down so that they stay dry and rust-free. Be sure to research winter maintenance guidelines for every power tool you own to ensure you store them safely.

Taking care of the lawn in the fall doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Follow these tips to guarantee you’ve covered every category, and your lawn will look fabulous again in the spring.

How to Create French-Style Floral Arrangements

Relaxed and informal yet captivatingly elegant, flowers arranged in the French style are fun to create on your own!

Unless you’re a florist, chances are you may have never heard of French-style floral arrangements. However, you’ve probably seen such arrangements in local flower shops or in a movie, TV show, or magazine. You’ll notice that flowers arranged in the French style have a certain je ne sais quoi: They tend to be a bit more relaxed and informal than your typical bouquets while still maintaining a captivating elegance.

France has a rich history of using floral displays in everyday life, from political stages to flower vendors on busy street corners. The modern French-style floral technique has an intentionally casual look and feel that comes from incorporating some slightly imperfect flowers into the mix, and keeping the varieties of colors and flowers that you use to a minimum. Of course, there’s more to it than that, so read on for tips on how to create a no-fuss yet chic French-style floral arrangement.

Focus on Your Flower Selection

It might sound obvious, but the flowers you select for the bouquet are very important. While you shouldn’t get wilted or dying flowers as part of the arrangement, don’t shy away from slightly imperfect flowers. The unevenness and imperfection can add charm to the bouquet. When deciding what flowers to use, look around to see what is blooming, and incorporate these into your bouquet.

You shouldn’t have more than three flower varieties — any more will distract people. When it comes to choosing what flowers to use, remember these three words:

Focal: Your focal flowers should be round, so think roses, poppies, or even tulips.

Textural: Add in some textural elements like branches with berries or pointy flowers.

Foliage: Add some greenery. Just avoid adding too much as it can make the bouquet look “weedy.”

Avoid Too Much Color

Don’t mix too many different colors as they can overpower and muddle your bouquet. Instead, try to go for a more monochromatic look by using varying shades of pink, red, green, yellow, etc. This gives the feeling of relaxed and intentional informality while also keeping your table cohesive. If you can’t find flowers in a monochromatic palette, look into other color schemes that might work. Some options include:

Analogous: This uses color combinations made up of those next to each other — orange and yellow, blue and purple, etc.

Complementary: Don’t be deceived by the name; complementary color schemes mean combining colors on the opposite end of the color wheel — purple and yellow, red and green, etc.

Triadic: Although this isn’t the easiest, it’s a great option if you want to go outside of one hue. This scheme combines evenly spaced colors on the color wheels — like magenta, green, and yellow.

Tetradic: Also known as a double-complementary scheme, this is made up of two complementary pairs such as red, green, purple, and yellow. This scheme is also known as rectangular colors as these colors can be found by creating a rectangle on the color wheel.

Prepare Your Flowers

Once you’ve gathered the flowers you plan to use, you should get them ready for the bouquet. Remove the leaves from the flowers for a polished look. If you’re using roses, make sure to remove the thorns as you don’t want anyone accidentally pricking themselves!

In addition to preparing the stems, you should take the time to pre-hydrate them. Cut the stems at an angle and let them drink water for half a day before you arrange them. This will ensure your flowers look healthy and are in full bloom.

Create Your Bouquet

Once you’ve prepped your flowers, it’s time to put the bouquet together. Start with your focal flowers, adding the largest bloom in the center and then the second largest at about 30 degrees. Turn the bouquet and then add a few textural/accent flowers of your choice to create an “X” shape. When making the bouquet, keep an eye on the balance of the color and shape. You’ll want to add your flowers all at the same angle to get that nice circular shape.

After you have a good handful, trim the stems a bit and then tie everything together with a ribbon. Starting from the back, wrap the ribbon around the arrangement as tight as possible a few times. Make sure that everything is bound tightly and no flowers are wiggling around. After that, make a small knot and then clip the strand short. For fresh flowers, you’ll want to put your tie a bit lower to give them room to bloom.

The French-style flower arrangement is a perfect option for everyone as all you need are some flowers from your backyard (or local farmer’s market), some textural elements, and a bit of foliage. You don’t need to use exotic or expensive plants for these arrangements. The French-style bouquet is a lot more relaxed and informal than your typical bouquet, making it an ideal option for those who grow flowers in their garden.

Designing Your Garden for Winter Appeal

Many people believe that gardens are destined to have no appeal in winter. This is not true. Through the use of plants, stonework, structure, lighting, and wildlife, your garden can be just as appealing in winter as any other time of year.

A typical image of a garden will likely show it in spring, summer, or fall. But those who live in colder climate zones know that their gardens must exist through winter as well. Still, many gardeners feel that winter is a time of year when their gardens are destined to have no appeal at all.

However, this belief proves to be far from true. As you will soon see, there are several ways that you can maintain the intrigue of your garden even during the most desolate months of the year. This article will give you a few tips to help you design your garden for winter appeal.

Choose Plants that Have Winter Appeal

While the most well-known plants often gain their popularity from springtime flowers or fall foliage, there are plenty of species that display prominent ornamental features in winter as well. If creating a lovely winter garden is your goal, your first step should be to seek out these plant varieties.

Evergreen Trees and Shrubs

Among the most obvious plant choices for gardeners designing a winter garden are evergreen trees and shrubs. While deciduous trees drop their leaves and take on a somewhat barren appearance, evergreens maintain lush foliage throughout the entire year. This foliage is not just persistent; it adds captivating colors and textures to your garden regardless of the season.

Although many people refer mainly to coniferous trees when they discuss evergreens, it is worth pointing out that there are many suitable broad-leafed evergreens you can add to your garden. Here are a few examples of some popular evergreen plant options for winter appeal:

Plants with Attractive Bark, Berries, and Flowers

Foliage is not the only feature that an attractive winter plant can add to your design. Many plants that lose their leaves make up for it with other eye-catching characteristics. At times, this winter interest comes from the plant’s bark, while in other instances, it is the long-lasting fruit of a plant that makes for its appeal. And while it seems unlikely, there are also a few species that hold magnificent flowers in the winter too.

These plants stand out in winter for their bold bark, berries, and flowers. Read through to find the unique quality that makes each of these species an excellent addition to a winter garden design. Remember that many of these plants also have visually appealing traits throughout the rest of the year as well:

Herbaceous Perennials

This third category of winter garden plants may interest only a niche group of gardeners. But if you’re in that group, you’ll love the way your summer perennials look in the dead of winter. While these plants are far past their former warm-season glory, their dried-out forms can have a charming effect in winter as they collect and hold light piles of fallen snow.

To achieve this design style, all you need to do is refrain from mowing your perennials at the end of the year. Instead, allow them the stand in place while they take on more muted tones. Some of the best plants to use for this purpose are below:

Incorporate Stonework into Your Design

Plants are far from the only garden element that can stand out in winter. Another prominent garden feature that can make a statement in winter is stonework. As is the case with evergreen plants, stonework maintains a consistent presence in your garden.

Let’s recognize that quality stonework is expensive and serves a primarily functional role in your garden. For that reason, ere on the side of not adding stonework for stonework’s sake. Instead, if your find yourself in need of one of these hardscape features, you can then take the approach of selecting materials that will add to your garden’s winter appeal:

As is true for plants, much of the wintertime appeal of stonework comes from how it interacts with the snow. In this instance, the rough textures of natural stone serve as small ledges to catch the snow on its descent.

Use Unique Garden Structures

Another way to add appeal to your garden in all seasons is to add some noteworthy gardens structures to your landscape. Such features help to shape the space of your garden and can come in many forms:

It is a common mistake for garden designers to neglect garden structures, focusing solely on plants instead. What you should know is that garden structures can be equally impactful when shaping garden space. They’ll usually look nice in winter as well.

Find a Way to Add Elegant Lighting

Landscape lighting is another often overlooked aspect of garden design. Adding lights to your landscape not only makes your gardens more attractive at night but also increases the nighttime safety of your property. Landscape lighting can look great in any season, and the options below are often some of the most impressive:

Attract Birds to Make Your Garden More Lively

The top challenge in designing a garden that looks fantastic in winter is upholding the liveliness your garden has in the other seasons. In the absence of deciduous leaves and most fruits and flowers, it is easy for a garden to look uninspiring in winter.

Thankfully, there is a way that you can add a burst of life to your garden, even in the deepest part of winter. The way to do that is to attract birds to your garden. Birds that live in your region in winter still need to find sources of food, and your garden could be one of them.

Try planting species that hold fruits for longer into the winter. These plants tend to be the only source of food for numerous bird species. As an alternative, you can set up bird-feeders in your yard.

Either way, make sure that the food you provide is healthy and clean to support the wellbeing of your neighborhood’s birds. In exchange for the food, you’ll get to relish the vibrant colors and activity that birds can bring to the landscape.

Flower of the Week: Black-Eyed Susan

Flower of the Week Black-Eyed Susan

Black-Eyed Susans bloom lavishly in the fall season. This arresting wildflower is highly identifiable by its bright yellow petals and dark center. One of the most common native wildflowers of North America, Black-Eyed Susan is a member of the large composite family. Thanks to its plentiful garden varieties and tenacious nature, the plant has earned an indispensable position in gardening.

Rich varieties of Black-Eyed Susans

Black-Eyed Susans were initially consumed by indigenous North Americans as herbal medicine. They’re now widely used for urban landscaping, gardening, and cut-flowers. They also have been cultivated into rich varieties, including single- or double-petalled, yellow- or salmon-colored, annual or perennial, dwarfed or giant species, etc.

A Black-Eyed Susan variety called ‘Indian Summer’

Some classic varieties, like “Indian Summer” and “Toto”, have even won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit. Chances are that among all these varieties, there is one that meets your aesthetic preferences and adds charm to your garden.

Who is Black-Eyed Susan?

Who is this Susan with a pair of Black Eyes? No one seems to have a clue. However, the plant’s name could trace all the way back to an ancient English poem, Black-Eyed Susan, by John Gay. Gay was a distinguished Victorian poet who described a farewell scene where a young lady named Susan sees her lover off to war.

Perhaps when the English settlers reached the New World and laid eyes on this ubiquitous flower, with petals like blond hair and centers like black eyes, this poem echoed in their hearts and brought about the name.

The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans

Originating from Mid and Eastern U.S., Black-Eyed Susans are present now in almost every state and are even the state flower of Maryland. The Preakness Stakes horse race in Baltimore, Maryland is also called the Run for the Black-Eyed Susans because the winning racehorse gets awarded with a flower tapestry supposedly made of Black-Eyed Susans draped on the neck.

In reality, however, the flowers used to make the tapestry are not Black-Eyed Susans, but Viking Poms — a relative in the composite family. Because Black-Eyed Susans have not bloomed by May when the race takes place, the nearly identical Viking Poms step in as the perfect substitute.

Black-Eyed Susan and Black-Eyed Susan Vine

These days, there is an indoor liana available in the European and U.S. markets called Black-Eyed Susan Vine. Despite the similar name, it is not related to Black-Eyed Susan at all.

Black-Eyed Susan Vine originates from Northern Africa and is a perennial climbing plant in the Thunbergia genus. The namesake is probably a result of its color combination, which is similar to Black-Eyed Susan with bright yellow flowers that have dark centers. Thanks to the fame of its namesake, Black-Eyed Susan Vine is more widely known and likely has higher sales than it would otherwise have.

Black-Eyed Susans Bring Life to Your Garden

Black-Eyed Susans are not only a pivotal addition to landscaping of various styles but also highly effective at luring many butterflies and bees. Their seeds are also many birds’ favorite food. The plants bring dynamics to your garden and form a more poised ecosystem.

Can I grow a decent Black-Eyed Susan?

Black-Eyed Susans are hardy, drought-enduring, and don’t require particular fertilizing. Abundant sunlight and soil with good drainage should help them grow better. They are likely to develop powdery mildew in a humid environment, but broad sunlight blazing and regular pruning of thick leaves should improve ventilation and reduce the chance of diseases.

Additionally, Black-Eyed Susans are extremely good at natural seeding. Unless you want them to propagate into a large colony, it’s best to pinch the flower heads before the seeds mature. Regular grooming of the flowers also helps the shrubs to blossom longer.

Size: 30-100 cm (12-40 inches) tall by 30-45 cm (12-18 inches) wide

Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zones 4-9

Sunlight: Full sun

Soil: Moist to dry, well-drained soils

Bloom time: late summer and early fall

How to Mulch Your Garden

Mulch is an important addition to any garden that not only provides beauty but also many benefits. This article provides you with everything you need to know about mulch–the benefits, the best types, and how to add it to your garden.

Are you looking to define your garden beds, suppress weeds, and support soil health at the same time? Then, it’s time to consider mulch. Few garden practices give you better benefits for your effort, and well-placed mulch will look great for seasons to come.

Below is everything you need to know about mulch–the benefits, the best types, and how to add it properly to your garden.

Six Benefits of Mulch

Mulch not only looks beautiful but also provides numerous benefits for your garden. Below are six ways your garden benefits from a bit of mulch.

1. Defines Garden Beds

A layer of mulch is one of the easiest ways to add order to your garden space. You can choose from various colors and styles to get mulch that complements the rest of your outdoor landscaping.

2. Keeps Weeds Down

A thick layer of mulch keeps weeds down by suppressing seeds in the soil, making them less likely to germinate. Those that do sprout will be easier to pull up.

3. Improves Soil Quality

As mulch breaks down, it adds organic material into your garden soil, which increases its nutrient content. The material also creates habitat space for beneficial soil microbes that support plant health.

4. Natural Insulation

Mulch protects soil from temperature extremes by keeping it warm in the winter, warming it faster in the spring, and protecting it from scorching summer temperatures.

5. Improves Water Retention

A layer of mulch reduces soil evaporation to keep plant roots moist on hot days. This minimizes the amount of watering you need to keep your plants happy.

6. Naturally Biodegradable

Mulch is made from organic material that usually breaks down after a few seasons in the garden. Not only is this a win for the environment, but it means you don’t need to worry about removing it from your garden beds once you want something new.

Best Materials to Use as Mulch

There are a variety of materials used as mulch on garden beds today. The best types of mulch are organic and porous, which helps it break down quickly. However, this means that you will need to reapply the mulch every few years. Great organic mulch options include sawdust, wood chips, and shredded leaves.

If you enjoy a pop of color, consider a dyed wood mulch. Most come in red, black, or brown. However, use caution about where you spread them, as dyed mulches might stain concrete and walkways if it gets too wet.

When to Add Mulch

While it’s possible to apply mulch at any time of the growing season, most people prefer to spread it in the spring before new growth comes up in their garden beds. This minimizes the amount of weeding necessary and ensures it can help insulate the soil to warm it faster. It’s also smart to apply mulch in the fall to protect plants from freezing winter temperatures.

How To Calculate Mulch Requirements

Before buying mulch, you need to calculate how much you need. The goal is to put down two to four inches of mulch (or 5 to 10 centimeters) through all planting areas. Coarser mulches, like bark chips, can be applied more thickly.

You can estimate how much you need by measuring the square footage of your growing space and calculating how many cubic yards or meters you need to cover it.

It’s possible to buy mulch by the bag, but it’s usually more cost-effective to order it in bulk if you have a big project.

Four Steps for Applying Mulch

Once you’ve found the perfect mulch, it’s time to apply it to your garden. Below are some tips to help you add mulch effectively.

1. Collect your Tools

While it’s possible to spread mulch with nothing but bare fingers, the process is easier with the right equipment. Gardening gloves, shovels, garden forks, a landscaping rake, and a wheel barrel will all make the job much easier.

2. Prepare the Garden Bed

Before applying mulch, make sure you thoroughly remove all the weeds and debris from the soil. You might want to scoop up and remove any old mulch if it doesn’t blend in with the new.

If you’re starting a new garden bed, it’s a good idea to create a barrier between the dirt and the mulch. This will prevent any weed seeds in the soil from germinating, and it might prevent the mulch from breaking down as quickly.

Once the bed is clear, smooth and level it with a landscaping rake.

3. Load and Spread the Mulch

Next, load the mulch into the wheelbarrow. Using a shovel or your hands, start to place small mounds throughout the bed. You want to avoid dumping large piles in one space because they are more challenging to spread.

Use your rake to spread the mulch over the bed evenly. Leave at least one inch of space between mulch and tree trunks or plants to prevent suffocating them.

4. Let it Settle in Place

After the mulch is spread, avoid watering it or water it lightly for the first 48 hours so it can settle in place without excessive moisture.

Once applied, mulch is easy to maintain. Inspect it regularly for weeds and pull them out as soon as you see them.

Weather elements like sunshine, rain, and even wind will fade your mulch over time, but you can turn it gently every few weeks to refresh the color. Consider keeping a few extra bags of mulch stored at home so you can reapply it when your space needs a boost.

Spreading mulch is an easy project if you take the time to make a plan and collect the right supplies. Get started on your garden mulching today, and you’ll enjoy a gorgeously landscaped space all season long.

Ten Ways to Use Autumn Leaves in the Garden

Leaves falling from your trees might feel like a burden, but in reality, they offer an invaluable garden resource. Here are ten ways to enhance your garden with autumn leaves before the next growing season.

As the weather starts to turn chilly, it’s time to think about fall garden projects. One task to take on is dealing with autumn leaves. If you simply bag them up for disposal, you’re wasting a valuable resource that benefits your garden in multiple ways. Some of these benefits include:

Add nutrients to degraded soil
Improve soil structure
Boost the soil’s microbial life
Increase the soil’s capacity to hold water
Insulate plants from chilly winter temperatures
And so much more!

Just keep in mind that using leaves as-is doesn’t offer much advantage. Instead, the best way to reap the benefits from fallen autumn leaves is to shred them first. This ensures they break down faster, so you aren’t left with a thick mat of half-decayed leaves by spring. Either running over them with a lawnmower or using a leaf vacuum mulcher will do the trick.

Here’s a closer look at ten ways to use autumn leaves this fall to benefit your plants and garden soil.

1. Make a Protective Ground Cover

Fallen leaves make an excellent natural covering that protects perennials from frosts and fluctuating winter temperatures. This strategy particularly works well for protecting herb gardens.

Toss a thick covering of shredded leaves over plants in the fall, and gently rake off what didn’t decompose once the weather warms in the spring. Consider using a broom to spread the leaves overtop fragile plants so they don’t break.

2. Make a Garden Path

It’s possible to use fallen leaves to form new paths through your garden. Lay them down thick where you want to kill vegetation, and the leaves will establish a path as they start to decompose. You can also add a layer of straw or wood chips on top to make the path more pronounced.

3. Improve Your Lawn by Mowing Them In

Fallen leaves offer lots of nutrients for your grass. The easiest way to reap their benefits is to leave them where they land and mow them into place. The bits of chopped leaves will decompose quickly and add valuable nutrients to your grass, which means you’ll need less fertilizer in the spring.

For best results, use a mulching mower with the bag removed. Set the mower height to about three inches (7.5 cm) and make several passes until the leaves are in small chunks.

4. Build a Potato Bin

Put your yard waste to better use by growing food! It’s possible to use shredded autumn leaves to grow lots of potatoes in a small space.

Build a cylindrical wireframe, line it with newspaper, and fill it with a mix of leaves and compost. You can plant your seed potatoes directly within it and pull out the leaves to harvest them when fully mature.

Best of all—you can dump the rotted leaves on your garden beds for a boost of nutrients.

5. Set Up a Worm Bin

Worms love living in fallen leaves. You can use your own supply to make a worm composting bin. Just use them in place of shredded newspaper to work as a comfortable burrowing material.

Provide them with plenty of food scraps and other kinds of organic material, and in time, you’ll have high-quality compost for your garden.

6. Insulate Outdoor Container Plants

If you have plants growing in containers that you don’t want to bring indoors, then autumn leaves can help protect them over the winter. Cluster the pots in a sheltered location and pile leaves as thickly as possible within each pot. Consider using chicken wire as a frame to keep them from blowing away.

7. Make Leaf Mold

When autumn leaves decompose, they turn into a rich, soil-like substance called leaf mold that makes for the perfect plant mulch.

Create your own by piling leaves high in a spot where they won’t blow away (consider making a cage from chicken wire to contain them). Thoroughly wet the leaves so they start to rot, and turn and rewet them a few times over the winter to speed up decomposition.

The resulting chunks of broken-down leaves can be spread over garden beds in the spring.

8. Mulch Your Asparagus Bed

For those growing asparagus, autumn leaves make the perfect fall mulch. Once shredded, you can apply them several inches thick along the base of each frond to protect the roots and slowly release organic material into the soil.

9. Mix Into Your Compost Pile

Dried leaves make for an excellent “brown material” for compost piles. They have a high carbon content that can balance out wetter materials to create better habitat space for beneficial soil microbes. Consider bagging some of your fall leaves to store until the weather warms so you can add them to your compost pile.

You can also add the leaves directly to a compost pile filled with vegetable scraps, grass clippings, and other green materials. Let it all sit over the winter, turning a few times over the weeks, and the pile should be close to fully composted by spring.

10. Form a New Garden Bed

Fall leaves can form the foundation of a new garden bed through a technique known as “lasagna gardening” or “sheet composting.”

The strategy is simple. Pile alternating layers of organic material like leaves, grass clippings, shredded newspaper, kitchen scraps, and even manure on top of grass or just tilled soil. Make sure you use newspaper or cardboard as the base to create a barrier between sunlight and weed seeds so they won’t sprout.

This mixture will slowly break down and nourish the soil while simultaneously suppressing weeds so you have a ready-to-plant space once spring arrives.

Put Your Fall Leaves to Use Today!

For the creative gardener, fall leaves are a stellar resource to improve your soil and get more value from every growing space. Consider following these ten suggestions so you can put this natural material to work!