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Flower of the Week: Columbine

Columbine is one of the most eye-catching plants in spring and summer gardens. Its vividly-colored, elegantly-curved flowers and lovely, clover-shaped leaves bestow an eccentric yet romantic charm upon this perennial herb native to Europe. As one of the genera in the Ranunculaceae family, which is full of beautiful species, columbine has plentiful cultivars and is superbly adaptable.

Eagle or Dove? The Origin of the Name

The plant’s genus name, Aquilegia, comes from the Latin word for “eagle” (aquila). Perhaps the initial person who named it took notice of the plant’s upward-warping spurs behind the petals and felt they looked like the talons of an eagle. The more commonly used name, columbine, comes from the Latin word for “dove” (columba), and an inverted flower does look like five converged doves.

A Bizarre Structure

Among the 60 to 70 sub-species of columbine, you’ll find bizarre-looking yet elegant spurs on almost all of them. This unforgettable look makes people wonder why the plant evolved to form such a strange structure.

Many animals feed on nectar, but the complex structure of spurs is a barrier that makes the nectar difficult to collect. In the foraging process, nectar feeders have to labor over the flowers back and forth. This actually increases the pollinating rate of columbines.

Dramatically Varying Spurs

Spurs vary dramatically among different species of columbines. In regards to the length of the spurs, A. ecalcarata is nearly spurless while A. longissima has spurs as long as 10 cm or more. When it comes to the shape of the spurs, A. vulgaris has curved spurs while A. viridiflora’s spurs are almost straight. Columbines’ various spurs are evolved to host different visitors.

White-lined Sphinx and Columbine

Besides the differences in floral color and orientation, each species of Aquilegia has evolved a unique spur structure to attract a specific pollinator. For example, A. viridiflora‘s short and straight spurs are fit for bees, spurless A. ecalcarata are best for hoverflies, and A. longissima‘s super-long spurs are accessible to hawk moths with a long proboscis.

Beautiful Flowers, Deadly Toxicity

Indigenous Americans enjoy eating various columbine flowers in small amounts and using them for condiments together with other fresh vegetables. It’s reported that these flowers taste very sweet and are safe to eat in tiny quantities. However, the seeds and roots of columbines are highly poisonous and contain cardiogenic toxins. If consumed for food, they could cause severe gastroenteritis and heart palpitations, even turning fatal in serious conditions. For this reason, it’s best to resist the impulse to eat columbines. To stay on the safe side, don’t even attempt to taste the flowers, as it’s hard to determine a safe amount for consumption.

Can I Grow a Decent Columbine?

Columbines love partially shaded environments and soil with good drainage. You can begin growing them from seeds or small seedlings. The best season for seeding is in spring. Cover the seeds with a thin layer of dirt and wait for them to sprout, then expect flowers the following year. Deadheading the faded flowers helps them blossom more.

Columbines’ native habitats are high-altitude mountains and prairies.

Leaf miners can often be found on the leaves of columbines, who leave behind graffiti-like spots. This type of insect larvae is not especially harmful, and some consider the random motley appearances of the leaves an interesting look. You can easily find the larvae by following the spots, but if you like the altered appearance, you can leave them on the plant. If you don’t like the look, just crush the larvae as you find them.

Size: 15 to 20 inches high, 12 to 18 inches wide

Hardiness: Zones 3 to 9

Sunlight: Partial shade

Soil: Sandy and loose, well-drained soils

Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer

Beat the Heat: Keys to Summer Gardening

Summertime heat can make gardening tough. Learn how to help you and your plants cope with the heat so that hot summer days don’t slow your gardening down.

Summer is an exciting time for gardeners: loads of blooms, fruits, vegetables, and the perfect weather for grilling, dipping in the pool and entertaining outdoors. While summer promises plenty of days spent outside enjoying your garden, it also means that you need to make adjustments to protect yourself and the garden from seasonal hazards.

Some special attention and preparation will help your garden survive peak temperatures, scorching hot sun, little rain, and damaging insects, and will keep you from getting burned out in the process. Fortunately, it doesn’t take much work to combat summer garden stressors, just a little strategy and know-how. The following tips will help you get your garden healthy, strong, and able to stand up to anything this summer throws at it.

Water Wisely

When the weather is hot and dry, it can be tempting to water your beds more frequently. Resist the urge! Watering plants shallowly too often can cause a host of problems, from weak roots to root rot and mildew. The best watering strategy is to water deeply twice a week so that the water penetrates deeply into the earth. This both encourages deep root growth and provides sufficient water for several days. Adding a layer of mulch to the surface of beds will help to retain soil moisture by keeping the soil surface cooler, preventing evaporation.

Potted plants are much harder to keep moist in the heat of summer. Move pots to areas with a little shade, or cluster potted plants together so that larger plants cast a bit of shade on the smaller plants beneath. You can also mulch potted plants with either a fine mulch, small stones, or gravel (aquarium gravel works especially well). Water both potted plants and planting beds in the morning, rather than in the evening, to make sure that the leaves dry off and are less susceptible to fungus and mildew. If a potted plant becomes too dry to absorb water easily, place the pot in a bucket full of water and let it soak for a couple of hours.

Nourish Plants Well

Summer is a stressful time for plants, but it is also a time of high growth. Fertilizing your garden a couple of times over the course of summer will help keep them healthy and strong. There are several ways to fertilize, including top-dressing beds with an inch of compost in the spring, broadcasting granulated fertilizer over the surface of your lawn and garden, and fertigating. Fertigation is a combination of fertilizing and irrigation, done by hand (adding liquid fertilizer to a watering can or using a hose attachment) or by adding fertilizer to an irrigation system. This method takes care of feeding and watering at the same time, and ensures that the vital nutrients your plants need are delivered directly to the roots.

Annuals and potted plants will benefit immensely from a foliar feeding routine with a bit of liquid seaweed fertilizer or fish emulsion. Seaweed in particular can revive plants that are suffering from heat stress and it can help to make plants more resilient to heat in the first place, preventing heat damage. Apply these treatments every couple of weeks to increase bloom size and frequency and to help plants beat the heat.

Get an Early Start

When summer is at its peak, the last thing you want to be doing at noon is working on your garden. It’s just as well that the best time to water is early in the day, too. Morning is the perfect time to assess your garden to make sure that all is well. Any drooping plants in need of water can get a nice, deep drink, and any leaves being attacked by aphids or other pests can be safely treated before the sun reaches its peak. Many plants will naturally droop in the hottest part of the day—it’s their way of conserving energy. Watering or treating leaves in the heat can burn leaves and damage plants, so avoid it at all costs!

Trim and Tidy

During the warmest months, all plants will go through a growth spurt, including weeds. Catch weeds and pull them when they are small and your plants will thank you—weeds steal the nutrients and water your plants need. While you’re at it, pinch away damaged, dead, or diseased growth on any of your plants to encourage strong, healthy growth. Summer is also an ideal time to shape shrubs or trees that are becoming bushy and unwieldy. Cutting off spent flowers, or deadheading, helps your plants direct their energy towards growing more blooms and will ensure a longer-lasting flowering season. Last but certainly not least, pinching herbs (and some ornamental plants) encourages strong, bushy growth. Pinch right above the join where two leaves come together, and two stems usually grow back to replace the one.

Protect From Pests

Everyone loves to hang out in the garden during summertime, including uninvited pests. Morning is the best time to garden in summer for many reasons, but one of the top ones is that early morning is the perfect time to catch insect pests off-guard. During a morning inspection, look at the undersides of leaves to check for pests. Aphids and insect eggs can be crushed by hand or sprayed with a little soapy water. The sooner you treat pests, the healthier your garden will be.

Care for Yourself

Gardening in the summer can be hard on you, too. If you must work in the garden past morning, wear sunscreen or a long-sleeved shirt and a hat. Even on an overcast day, it’s far too easy to get sunburned while you’re busy focusing on gardening. Drink plenty of water, and listen to your body so that you don’t get overheated. Getting an early start means that by noon, you’ll be ready to pull up a lawn chair in the shade, kick back, and enjoy the garden you’ve worked so hard for.

How to Add Non-Seeding Weeds into Compost

How to Add Non-Seeding Weeds Into Compost

Composting weeds is a great way to replenish your garden with nutrients that the weeds might have taken away. Of course, you’ll want to prevent them from sprouting in your compost and in order to do that you’ll have to follow some steps to make sure you’re not spreading weed seeds in your garden.

Whether you’re just starting out in the garden or are a seasoned green thumb, having your own compost is a great way to reduce waste and keep your plants happy. And while most people are more than happy to toss their food scraps into the compost bin, some are hesitant to throw weeds in there, too.

Considering how persistent and hardy weeds are, it’s natural to be nervous about adding them to your compost pile. But there is no better compost filler than the weeds that are already growing in your lawn and garden.

Benefits of Composting Weeds

If you’re still uneasy about composting weeds, consider:

Returning nutrients to the ground. One of the reasons why weeds are so hard to eradicate is their strong root systems. The roots absorb a huge amount of nutrients from the soil. By composting weeds, you are feeding the nutrients they have absorbed back to your plants.
Easy disposal. For proper compost, you need both green and brown materials. Weeds provide green material from their stems and leaves and brown material from their roots. Instead of taking time to bag up the weeds, you can place the whole plant into the compost bin, making for easy cleanup.
Reduce weed populations over time. While you’ll never be able to get rid of weeds entirely, removing the entire plant will reduce their population. If you pull up a plant before it seeds, you are also preventing future generations from spawning.

How to Make Compost With Weeds

When done correctly, composting should create a sterile organic material that basically acts as a natural fertilizer for your plants. Composting comes with its own set of challenges, but when you add weed to mix, you really need to be vigilant. Many gardeners have ended up with even more weeds than before, prompting them to stop throwing weeds into their compost heap.

There are two main methods of composting: hot and cool. Hot composting requires constant temperature monitoring and mixing. For beginners or amateur gardeners, it might be a bit too much work. However, the benefit of hot composting is that the compost will reach high enough temperatures to kill off any seeds and roots.

The cool composting method is more informal and relaxed. Instead of mixing, you add fresh materials to the top of the heap while the lower levels break down into compost. You can periodically remove the compost from the bottom of the pile as the fresh materials pile up on top. This takes longer, but it’s much easier. With that said, you’ll have to be more careful about how and when you add your weeds as the heap likely won’t reach the necessary temperatures to kill them.

Troubleshooting Tips for Composting Weeds

To make sure you don’t encourage more weed growth in your garden, it’s important to pay attention to when and how you add your weeds, especially if you plan on using the cool compost method. Remember, weeds are hardy so you really have to make sure that you’re following the appropriate steps to ensure they won’t germinate when you spread your compost. If you follow the tips below, you should be able to have a nutrient-rich and sterile compost:

Keep the right temperature. In an ideal hot-compost heap, the temperature can exceed 145 degrees F. At this temperature, most seeds and roots should die — yes, even weeds. The best way to know if your compost has reached the appropriate temperature is to use a compost thermometer. You should measure different parts of the pile to make sure the temperature is even throughout. If there are cold patches, then any seeds or roots in that area could end up surviving and spreading. You’ll have to turn the compost every so often to keep the materials aerated and to ensure they reach the necessary heat to kill seeds, roots, and seedlings. If you manage to get the compost to the right temperature, it should kill anything that is growing.
Harvest before seeds form. While this isn’t as important for a hot compost, it’s a step you should take if you plan on using the cool-compost method. Since the compost likely won’t reach high enough temperatures to kill off weeds, adding in weeds that have already seeded is basically a recipe for disaster. In general, early spring tends to be the best time to remove weeds from your garden as most of the plants will not go to seed until later. Dandelions, for example, take as little as eight weeks to go from seedling stage to bloom, and then just another week to go from bloom to seed, so you’ll have to work fast!
Pre-bake weeds. Most plants will be safe to add to your compost pile so long as you heat it to high enough temperatures to kill both roots and seeds. Even if you do decide to go the hot-compost route, you can always pre-bake your weeds for additional peace of mind. There are plenty of ways to do this. One way is to toss your weeds into a black bag and set them out in the hot sun for a few days. If you have a microwave, you can put the weeds in there and "nuke" them for a few seconds until they steam before you add them to your heap.
Let compost age. If you manage your compost pile well, it should be ready in as little as two months. However, if you’re dealing with weeds, you should probably let it go a bit longer, especially for the hot-compost method, to ensure the seeds and roots are truly dead. Compost can keep for at least a year, so there’s no rush to use it immediately. Take your time and look over your compost to make sure you don’t notice any seedlings popping up. If everything looks fine after a few months, go ahead and use it in your garden.

Weeds are the bane of many gardeners’ existence, but they can also serve as an excellent source of nutrients when added into a compost bin. Just make sure that you take the necessary precautions before you use your compost. Otherwise, you might have a dandelion or crabgrass outbreak on your hands!

15 Great Plants for Your Poolside Landscaping

These easy-to-manage, fuss-free plants will help to create a spectacular poolside display in your garden. Add vibrant greens and stunning silhouettes to accentuate your turquoise waters and skip the nuisance leaf debris that you might get with some ill-suited species.

Horseshoe geranium

Horseshoe geranium can be identified by looking for horseshoe-shaped patterns of color, or ‘zones’ within the leaves. The bright blooms are attractive to bees, butterflies, and birds and come in many colors, including red, pink, salmon, and more. These plants are easy to grow outside in your yard or indoors in containers.

Jade plant

Looking like a miniature fairytale tree, Jade plant is one of the world’s most popular succulents. Native to southern regions of Africa, it is well adapted to the dry warm air of modern homes. It grows slowly but lives for so long that plants get passed from generation to generation. It is toxic to dogs, cats, and horses, and even mildly toxic to humans.

Bird of paradise

The Bird of paradise is a bright, flowering plant. It is native to South Africa, where it is important to national culture, even being featured on the country’s 50-cent coin. The Bird of paradise has also become the official flower of Los Angeles in spite of its non-native status. In the wild, these flowers attract sunbirds as pollinators.

Bearded iris

The Bearded iris is a flowering plant that appears in many different colors. It is a popular garden plant because it’s easy to grow. Though their native lands are in Europe, Bearded iris es are often grown in Iranian cemeteries.

Tree aeonium

Tree aeonium (Aeonium arboreum) is a succulent subshrub species endemic to the Canary Islands. Tree aeonium is often grown as an ornamental plant in gardens. Because it is subtropical, this species has to be grown under greenhouse conditions in other climates. Tree aeonium is also known as the tree houseleek and the Irish rose. It grows naturally in shade and on weathered, volcanic soils.

Dwarf umbrella tree

Dwarf umbrella tree (Schefflera arboricola) is an evergreen, multi-stemmed shrub native to China. It is commonly grown as a houseplant or a garden plant in milder climates for its decorative palmately compound leaves. The leaves contain calcium oxalates, which damage internal organs when ingested. It shouldn’t be confused with the Australian umbrella tree, Schefflera actinophylla.

Foxtail agave

Foxtail agave (Agave attenuata) is an agave species native to the State of Jalisco in central Mexico. Foxtail agave is a popular ornamental species in gardens in subtropical climates. This species grows best in loamy soil protected from direct sunlight. This species may die if it is exposed to prolonged periods of frost.

Angel's trumpet

Angel’s trumpet is a showy and unique addition to any garden and is prized for its flowers which have a trumpet shape and a variety of colors including yellow, orange, white, pink, or red. Use extreme caution, however, as all parts of Angel’s trumpet are poisonous when ingested.

Sweet potato

While most assume that the Sweetpotato is a potato, it is not considered nightshade. However, sweet potatoes and potatoes both belong to the order of Solanales. Its culinary use is wide and can be fried, baked or boiled.

Tall kangaroo paw

As you might be able to guess from its name, the Tall kangaroo paw is a plant that is native to Australia. These plants can range in color from yellow, orange, red, pink, or purple. Interestingly, the flowers on the Tall kangaroo paw plant vary with the temperature, and are more vibrant in cooler temperatures.

Creeping jenny

The Latin name Lysimachia nummularia means like a coin, giving the additional common names of herb twopence or twopenny grass. The Creeping jenny works well as a groundcover and can be used in a bog garden.

Papyrus sedge

Papyrus sedge (Cyperus papyrus) is an aquatic flowering plant that’s originally from Africa. It was used by the ancient Egyptians to make papyrus, one of the earliest kinds of paper. For thousands of years, people have tied the stems together to build boats. Nowadays, it’s often used ornamentally. It’s close to extinction in the Nile Delta region’one of the places it calls home.

Chinese-silver-grass-Zebrinus

Chinese silver grass ‘Zebrinus’ is a Chinese silver grass hybrid also know as zebra-grass because of its unique striped yellow and dark green stems which have been carefully cultivated to differ from the plain green color of the parent plant. This is a versatile ornamental grass originating in East Asia. It’s popular with farmers because of its striking appearance and its resistance to disease and pests.

Chinese hibiscus

Chinese hibiscus is a small flowering tree. Its fragrant flowers are well known the world over, leading to many cultivated variants. Chinese hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia and is featured on Malaysian coins. Although the Latin name, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, means ‘the rose of China,’ it is not related to true roses.

Butterfly bush

Buddleja davidii, commonly known as Butterfly bush, is a fast-growing shrub native to East Asia. This vigorous plant is usually cultivated as an ornamental, due to its extravagant purple inflorescences. It carries the name Butterfly bush because its flowers are a valuable source of nutritious nectar for numerous butterfly species.

Why You Should Use Distlled Water for Plants

Distilled water has been proven to help your indoor plants grow better as it removes unwanted bacteria, chemicals, and more. If you want to keep your plants healthy, you can purchase distilled water at the store or you can distill it yourself at home.

Even if you’ve never owned plants before, you probably know they require three things to survive: sunlight, soil/nutrients, and water. You can always adjust the amount of sunlight your plant gets and change up the fertilizer/soil, but what about water? It’s all the same, right? Well, not quite. Not all water is created equal and that tap water you’ve been using for your plants might not be the best option.

What Is Distilled Water?

Most water that you get from the tap will contain chlorine in order to make it safe for human consumption. Unfortunately, it turns out chlorine isn’t so great for plants. While outdoor plants can handle some chemicals in their water as the rainwater will dilute them, indoor plants have to rely on the water you give them. These can build up in the soil and eventually kill your plant.

So instead of just pouring tap water on your plant, it’s important to first distill it. Distillation is the process of separating a liquid into the substances that make it up via evaporation. This process removes:

Once you complete the process, you are left with very close to pure water.

Making Distilled Water

It’s very simple to make distilled water at home so long as you have some space and don’t mind heating up the kitchen by boiling water. All you need to do is follow these steps to create your own distilled water:

Fill a stainless steel pot with a quarter inch of tap water
Put a heat-resistant glass bowl on top
Turn a glass lid upside down and place it on top of the bowl. Place ice on top.
Turn on the stove and bring the water to a boil
Once it starts boiling, turn it down to a simmer
Add more ice to the lid if it melts

Continue this process until you get the desired amount of distilled water. Essentially, this method allows the water in the pot to evaporate, but when it reaches the cold lid it will condensate. This condensation will then drip into your bowl giving you distilled water! Of course, if you don’t want to go through that process, you can just buy distilled water from your local grocery store. You can also let tap water sit out on the counter for 24 hours before using it on your potted plants as chemicals like chlorine and fluoride will dissipate.

Using Distilled Water for Plants

In a side-by-side comparison, plants that were watered with distilled water grew faster and stronger than those watered with tap. This is because many of the chemicals found in tap water can inhibit a plant’s ability to absorb nutrients from the soil.

With that said, distilled water isn’t perfect and you still need to consider a few factors if you want your plants to thrive

pH - perfectly distilled water should have a completely neutral pH of 7, but some plants prefer a slightly lower pH.
Nutrient deficiency - plants need magnesium, potassium, and calcium in order to grow. Distilled water will not contain any of these trace elements, so you will have to provide this through the soil through fertilizer. If you are creating a hydroponic garden, you have to be even more careful to add in the appropriate nutrients.

Once you’ve figured out what your plant needs in terms of pH and nutrition, it should be smooth sailing from there for the most part. You can water your plants as you normally would. Make sure not to under or over water as distilled water doesn’t have any remarkable properties that provide more or less hydration.

Conclusion

You might not need to water all your plants with distilled water, but it is something to consider, especially for the more delicate houseplants you might have. If nothing else, look into your local water supply for the pH, chlorine usage, and trace minerals and metals in the water. If your water is very acidic and hard, it might be worth it to go the distilled water route.

Of course, even if you have a great water supply, you might want to try out distilled water anyway. There’s no harm in testing it out on your indoor or outdoor plants, so you might as well try it out. Do an experiment to see if it actually makes a difference on your plants. Even if you don’t, you lose nothing by trying it out!

Flower of the Week: Bigleaf Hydrangea

Whether it’s planted in a garden bed or a patio pot, Bigleaf hydrangea is one of the most spectacular flowering shrubs that you can add to your landscape. With a long blooming season lasting from late spring into fall, and fragrant flowers in shades of blue and pink, Hydrangea macrophylla is a great choice for gardens large and small.

While bigleaf Hydrangeas can be challenging to grow successfully, their magnificent blooms make them a favorite of gardeners.

Two Different Forms

The two most common forms of bigleaf hydrangeas are Hortensia and Lacecap.

Hortensias have huge, showy mopheads of blooms, often in stunning shades of blue, and continue blooming throughout the summer and into the fall.

Flower of the hortensias

Lacecaps are more delicate in appearance, the clusters of blooms are flattened, with small flowerets in the middle, surrounded by larger, showier flowers that only last for about a month in summer.

Flower of the lacecaps

The History of Hydrangeas

Originating in the woodlands of Japan, Big Leaf Hydrangeas have been cultivated in that country for close to two thousand years, and have long been one of the most beloved flowers in that country.

Hydrangeas in Kamakura

They were introduced to Europe in the eighteenth century by Carl Peter Thunberg, an employee of the Dutch East India Company, and in the nineteenth century the English plant explorer Charles Maries brought back some more varieties of bigleaf hydrangea from Japan.

Carl Peter Thunberg on a Sweden stamp

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the French were in the grip of a hydrangea craze, and their efforts to breed better hydrangeas led to the popularity of hydrangeas throughout the Western world in the 1900s, with no signs of letting up today.

Hydrangeas in France

France is home to the Shamrock Garden Hydrangea Collection in Normandy, with 5 acres of hydrangeas, and in July and August, the island of Faial in the Azores has thousands of deep-blue hydrangeas in bloom.

Hydrangea Festivals

Hydrangeas feature prominently in Japan’s culture, where they are called Ajisai. Annual Ajisai festivals celebrate the blooming season of hydrangeas in June and July, and tea brewed from Hydrangea serrata leaves, called “amacha” or “tea from heaven”, is customarily drunk on Buddha’s birthday on April 8.

Floating hydrangea in Meigetsuin temple, Kanagawa

The Meaning of Hydrangea Blossoms

In its home country of Japan, the blue hydrangea symbolizes deep emotion and contrition. Legend has it that an emperor gave blue hydrangeas to the family of the woman he loved as an apology for neglecting her. Also in Japan, pink hydrangeas are a traditional gift on a fourth wedding anniversary. Meanwhile, in Victorian England, white hydrangea blossoms symbolized arrogance and coldness when given to women who rejected suitors.

The Best Hydrangeas

Hydrangeas are famous for their brilliant blue flowers, which depend on aluminum in acidic soil; otherwise, they revert to shades of pink and cream. There are hundreds of varieties available.

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Glowing Embers’ produces red-pink mopheads in summer. Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Penny Mac’ has deep blue mopheads from July to October. Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Bailmer’ produces magnificent blue mopheads from June through to October; it’s very hardy and will bloom on old or new wood, making it a great choice for beginners.

Glowing embers hydrangea

Blue or Pink? You Choose!

One of the most fascinating things about Hydrangeas is that you can alter the color of the blooms by adjusting the soil pH. If you want blue flowers, you need to give your Hydrangea acidic soil full of organic matter, as the soil should be kept moist but well-drained. The other key to blue blooms is aluminum in the soil, which can only be taken up properly when the pH is low. You can add aluminum supplements in either granular or liquid form to encourage brilliant blue blooms.

If you prefer your hydrangeas in shades of pink, you need to raise the pH, which can be done with lime.

Can I Grow Hydrangeas Well?

Hydrangeas require careful siting and soil preparation to get the best blooms possible. These plants originated as understory shrubs in the forests of Japan, so it’s best to give them some shade, especially in hot climates. They will thrive with morning sun and afternoon shade. It’s also a good idea to avoid a south or west exposure, as the buds might open too early in those warmer spots, thus risking getting nipped by a late spell of cold weather.

Only prune Big Leaf Hydrangeas immediately after their blooms have faded, as most varieties bloom on old wood. Avoid any pruning after August 1, since next year’s flower buds form in late summer and fall.

Small varieties of bigleaf hydrangeas are perfectly suited to container cultivation, where you can more easily control the pH of the soil. Larger varieties can be grown as single specimens, or as an informal flowering hedge.

Size: 1-1.5 m (3-6 feet) height and spread

Hardiness: USDA Zone 5-9

Sunlight: Morning sun and afternoon shade

Soil: Moist but well-drained acidic to neutral pH soil

Bloom Time: late spring to fall

Magic: Using Vinegar to Clean Flower Pots

Are your flower pots dirty? Do your terracotta pots have white residue all over them? Now there’s any easy way to clean them using common household white vinegar. Check out our homemade recipes and instructions on how to easily clean your dirty pots.

Being avid gardeners also means that we’re environmentally conscious. Most gardeners never throw out a pot but rather, we keep them to use them over and over again. This, of course, means that we have to clean them.

Why? Well apart from old dirty pots not looking very nice, it’s also bad for the plants. Old pots can harbor pests and bacteria that can be transferred to the lovely new flowers that we’re going to plant into them.

By not cleaning the pots before you use them, you’ll be subjecting new flowers to any numerous types of soil-borne pests and diseases. But, fear not. Cleaning old pots is super easy when you use a product that you, most likely, already have in your home.

This magic cleaner is vinegar! It’s quite likely that you already use vinegar for many other cleaning tasks in the home. Well, have you also considered using it in your garden? If you follow the simple steps below, you’ll soon have lovely clean pots that you can reuse over and over again.

Using Vinegar to Remove Calcium Deposits

Calcium deposits are those white substances that you see on pots that have been in use for some time. Primarily, these come from both your tap water and also the non-organic fertilizers that you may be using.

The calcium will build up over time and create a chalky or crusty white residue on your pots that appears almost impossible to remove. But, if you use vinegar, these white calcium deposits will just dissolve away.

Vinegar is an acid while calcium is alkaline. This means that these two substances are chemical opposites. Therefore, the calcium will react when it connects with the vinegar and you’ll end up with a nice clean pot.

Here’s What You Need to Do:

Brush off any dirt in and on the pot. It’s best to use a pot brush for this. Just give the pot a good going over with the brush to remove any loose soil and cobwebs.
Find a tub large enough to soak your pots in. This could be a clean garbage can, a plastic tub or bucket or even your laundry tub.
Fill the tub with 1 part white vinegar and 4 parts water. Add around 1 teaspoon of dish soap. Make sure that there’s enough liquid in the tub so that you can submerge the pots in it.
Put your pots into the tub and soak them for at least an hour. If your pots are heavily stained, you might like to soak them for 24 hours.
Remove the pots from the liquid and rub them lightly with a damp cloth. Magically, all the white calcium deposits should just wipe off.
Rinse the pots with clear water and they’re, once again, ready for planting into.

Using Vinegar to Sterilize Your Pots

The good news is that vinegar can also be used to sterilize your pots. This is extremely important to remove any possibilities of bacteria remaining on the inside surfaces of the pot.

You can use this method for both plastic and clay pots and it’s much more environmentally friendly than using bleach.

Here’s What You Need to Do:

Find a suitable tub or bucket to soak the pots in. Make sure it’s large enough to handle the pots you want to sterilize.
Remove any loose soil or debris from the pots.
Fill the tub with a solution of 1 part vinegar to 1 part water. This is a stronger solution and will sterilize your pots very well.
Immerse your pots in the vinegar-water solution and let them soak for about 3 to 4 hours.
While still in the solution, scrub the pots well with a brush. Don’t worry, the solution won’t affect your skin like bleach does. However, you can wear gloves if your skin is sensitive to acid.
Rinse the pots with clean water and place them out into a sunny spot to dry completely.

If Your Pots Have Really Stubborn Stains You Can Do the Following:

Using Vinegar to Revitalize Your Terracotta Pots

Terracotta pots not only look lovely but they’re also favored by many gardeners because it’s almost impossible to overwater them. This is because terracotta is porous and any excess moisture will evaporate away. This makes them ideal for growing succulents in. Plus, they look adorable when planted up with a colorful array of flowers.

However, terracotta does seem to develop those calcium deposit stains much more readily. Of course, this is due to the porous nature of the pot.

Therefore, if you have scored some old terracotta pots that have seen better days, you can revitalize them by using vinegar.

Here’s What You Need to Do:

Scrub off any residual dirt
Make up a vinegar and water solution using 1 part vinegar and 4 parts water.
Soak the terracotta pots in this solution for around an hour. Make sure that the pots are completely submerged.
Use a brush to scrub the entire pot to remove the white residue and stains.
Rinse the pots well with clean water to remove any vinegar residue.

Final Thoughts

Cleaning your plastic or terracotta flower pots is not a difficult task when you use vinegar. The vinegar will dissolve any calcium deposits and other stains and will also sterilize your pots.

Using the methods described above, you should have your flower pots nice and clean in no time. And, you can be happy in the knowledge that anything you plant in these clean pots will be nice and healthy.

Flower of the Week: Mimosa Tree

The mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) is a small deciduous tree that originated in Asia. It is distributed in a large area spanning from Iran and Azerbaijan in the west to China and Korea in the east. The trees were introduced to America in 1745 as ornamental plants, and soon found a home in the American South.

The mimosa tree is an ornamental plant with obvious pros and cons. It can tolerate barren soils, has unique and pretty flowers and leaves, looks gorgeous, and survives effortlessly. However, the branches are fragile and break easily. The tree requires frequent pruning and the fallen flowers are hard to clean up.

What’s more, there is another serious problem with mimosa trees: their reproductive rate via seed propagation is too fast. When confined within their original habitat, this simply adds to the weeding workload, but when the tree spread to America and other non-original habitats, its alarming reproductive rate made it a potentially dangerous invasive species.

"Mimosa Tree" or "Silk Tree"?

The mimosa tree’s leaves are pinnate and compound, quite similar to those of mimosa pudica’s, and they also close up at night and in the rain. This gave it the English name “mimosa tree”, despite the fact that it’s not a member of the Mimosa genus at all.

Real Mimosa pudica

But the most characteristic feature of its look is the blossoming flowers. At a glance, mimosa tree flowers resemble a big, fluffy piece of a down feather. When blooming in clusters, they look like red clouds and emit a delightful fragrance. Take a closer look, and you will find the flowers consist of bunches of gradient pink filaments. These are of course not the petals, but the stamina. Because of them, the mimosa tree is also often called the “silk tree”.

Want Something to Drink?

It might not have occurred to you that the two names of this plant refer to two drinks.

If you are a frequent bar patron, seeing the name “mimosa tree” likely reminds you of a cocktail called “mimosa”. It’s a cocktail invented in France, at Hôtel Ritz Paris in 1925, as the story goes. Mimosa, considered the perfect morning cocktail, is made from blending equal shares of champagne and freshly-squeezed orange juice. Some bartenders may add a little Triple Sec or Grand Marnier to the glass. The orange juice is there to guarantee your vitamin ingestion, while the bubbly champagne marks the start of a splendid day.

Of course, the name of the cocktail has not much to do with either the mimosa tree or mimosa pudica. The name was inspired by another leguminous plant called “mimosa” – Acacia dealbata, which is originally from Australia. Unlike the mimosa tree or mimosa pudica, Acacia dealbata’s velvet flowers are bright yellow. Rumor has it that the cocktail was so named because of its exactly identical color with that of Acacia dealbata’s flowers.

Acacia dealbata‘s flowers

“Silk tree”, on the other hand, is a distilled, alcohol-free beverage from Ireland. The famed BBC Good Food magazine once published a critical commentary recommending the best alcohol-free beverages in the world, and not surprisingly, this drink is on that list. The critic even said it outright, stating: “This was the best of the botanical drinks I tried.”

The ingredients of this drink, besides the secret spice recipe, include lemon peels and small berries. Take a sip and you can detect the obvious fragrances of cinnamon and orange peels in rich layers and a lingering note. It’s best to drink it with blended tonic water for a harmonious and delicious taste. It’s widely popular in Great Britain and Ireland.

Can I Grow Mimosa Tree Well?

Mimosa trees like warm, moist, and sun-filled environments. They’re quite adaptable to various climates and soils. They like soil with good drainage and can endure barrenness and drought, but aren’t very tolerant of waterlogging. They grow rapidly.

People usually plant mimosa tree seedlings in the spring. Mimosa trees like acidic soil, so mixing peat soil or leaf compost in the planting pit beforehand can improve the soil performance. Adult mimosa trees are rather drought-enduring. Therefore, in an area with normal precipitation, mimosa trees need almost no additional watering once a 2-inch-thick organic mulch is covering their bases.

Like many other leguminous plants, mimosa trees have a good nitrogen-fixing capacity. Therefore, they don’t require much fertilization. One application of compost in early spring will be sufficient to last a year. However, in dry weather, its branches could embrittle and break easily, and are likely to attract pests, too. Hence, broken and pest-infested branches need to be pruned off quickly.

Mimosa tree seeds have a high survival rate. They can be sown for propagation after soaking in warm water. The tree can also reproduce via cutting, using branches or the adventitious buds sprouting from the roots. Because of its strong reproductive capability, it’s considered an invasive species in some Southern US regions. Please consult local authorities before planting this tree.

Size: 5-12 m in height, 4-5 m in the spread

Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zone 6-9

Light duration: Full sun

Soil: well-drained soil, sandy, loam or chalk

Bloom time: Summer to early fall

How to Build an Automatic Irrigation System

Installing an automatic irrigation system will save you plenty of time and keep your plants well hydrated. With our easy step-by-step instructions, you can set up your watering system in no time.

Are you looking to install a DIY automatic sprinkler system in your yard? Grass, plants, trees, shrubs, and flower beds all need rain, sunlight, and minerals from the soil they are grown in. However, natural rainfall is not always consistent, and this is where a DIY underground automatic sprinkler system can save you time and money, and conserve water. This type of watering system allows you to direct water in the areas most needed and allows you to automate the watering schedule according to your needs.

Planning

When you are installing an automatic sprinkler system, you want to make sure you have 100% coverage, so there are no dry places in your yard. You can accomplish this by overlapping the spray pattern.
You can connect to an existing outdoor spigot or you can tap into the main water-service line. You may want to hire a professional to tap into the main water-service line.
Next, calculate the size of your yard and/or gardens with a tape measure or a surveyor's wheel. Create a diagram, plot the locations of the sprinkler heads, and mark them with survey flags.

Parts Required

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene pipe
A manual control system
A backflow preventer
Valve manifold
Timers
Valves
Valve boxes
Head styles
Sprinkler heads
Risers
Fittings or couplings

Installation Steps

To place your irrigation pipes you will need to dig a 6" to 8" deep ditch with the sides sloping at 45 degrees.
Make sure your ditches are level. If some of the sprinkler heads are lower than others, gravity will reduce the efficiency of the irrigation system.
To install the valve manifold, you will need to dig a little bigger hole and place the box in the ground. You will also need to attach the valve manifold to the main water-service line.

To run the PVC pipe, connect a 3/4" PVC pipe to the valve manifold and continue placing the pipe along the main ditch. You will want to use "tee" connectors for all pipes running off the main water-service line. Attach risers using 90-degree connectors at the location of each survey flag.
A Tip: When you are putting the pipes together, apply heat to the ends of the pipes. This will make it easier to connect the pipes.
To install the controller, you will need to connect the wires according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
You will need a pressure gauge to determine your working water pressure number. Attach the pressure gauge to an outdoor spigot and take a pressure reading in PSI (Pounds per square inch).

Maintenance

The most important part of your automatic sprinkler system maintenance is to keep a careful eye on what your system is doing so that you can catch things that need to be fixed or replaced.

25 Garden Plants That Make People Sting and Itch

Some plants just want to be left alone. The species on this list have evolved a variety of defenses aimed at making sure that nothing messes with them. Steer clear of these types of plants if you want to keep your skin intact or avoid a nasty rash!

French rose

French rose (Rosa gallica) is a flowering deciduous shrub native to central and southern Europe. It was one of the first rose species to be cultivated in Europe; French rose got its domesticated start with ancient Greeks and Romans, and was later used in medieval gardens. Today, this cold-tolerant flower’s numerous cultivars adorn gardens worldwide.

Tea rose

The first Tea rose was created in 1867 by Jean-Baptiste Andred Guillot, who operated his father’s nursery in Lyon from the age of 14. The Tea rose did not become popular until the Soleil d’Or was cultivated at the beginning of the 1900s in France.

Leatherleaf mahonia

Leatherleaf mahonia is planted as a hedge. Its evergreen leaves, edged with spines, can deter outsiders from intruding. In addition to its very distinctive foliage, it is also very recognizable by the large bunches of dark purple fruits it produces in summer. Birds eat these fruits and help spread the seeds, so this plant is widely dispersed and even considered aggressive.

American holly

Ilex opaca, commonly known as American holly, is a medium-sized evergreen tree, commonly found in southeastern areas of North America as an understory tree in humid forests. Its bright red fruits are poisonous to humans but are a very important source of food for numerous species of birds.

Great bougainvillea

The Great bougainvillea is best known for its bright flowers. It has spread around the world as a garden plant. This plant thrives in warm environments. The Great bougainvillea is a woody, climbing plant that winds its way around other plants as it grows. It also has thorns that aid in its climbing habit.

Flowering quince

Flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) is a deciduous shrub that’s native to China. Its edible fruit appears in autumn and is often used in jams and jellies. The plant can also be used as a privacy hedge that will attract hummingbirds in droves.

Common barberry

Common barberry (Berberis vulgaris) is a shrub with unpleasant-smelling flowers and red berries. The flowers can be used to create dye while the berries can attract birds and small mammals. Common barberry is used as a hedge in some countries, but it is susceptible to rust disease.

Pomelo

Pomelo (Citrus grandis) is a greenish, tropical and subtropical fruit originally that is larger than any other citrus fruit on the planet (thus the species name – “grandis”). Though it is the ancestor of the commonly cultivated grapefruit (citrus x paradisi), the Pomelo has a thick, hard-to-peel rind and doesn’t have a lot of juice. Nevertheless, it is commonly eaten in southeast Asia.

Mandarin orange

The Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) is a citrus fruit tree. It is famed for its Mandarin oranges, a commonly consumed fruit which can be eaten plain or used in salads. During the Chinese New Year, the fruit is considered a symbol of good fortune.

Trifoliate orange

A native to Northern China and Korea, Trifoliate orange is recognizable by the large 1.2 to 2.0 in thorns on the shoots and its deciduous leaves. It is also unique as a citrus plant because its fruit has a downy fuzz similar to a peach. The ripe fruit is very bitter but can be used to make marmalade.

Salmonberry

Salmonberry is a shrub growing to 40-160 inches tall. It is known for its fruit, which bears resemblance to a raspberry. This plant earned its common name due to the fact that these berries were traditionally eaten by Native Americans with salmon or salmon roe. The taste of the berries themselves is somewhat bland but depends on the climate and site of growth.

California blackberry

California blackberry (Rubus ursinus) is an edible berry indigenous to North America. Its genus name of ‘Rubus’ means ‘bramble,’ and the specific epithet ‘Ursinus’ means ‘bear.’ Larvae of the western tiger swallowtail butterfly love to munch on it. Native Americans ate it and also used it medicinally. If you have a creek bank that needs stabilizing, this plant will do it.

Jujube

Jujube or Ziziphus jujuba is also known as red date and Chinese date. It is a deciduous tree that is often grown for its small fruit. When immature, the fruit resembles a crisp apple. When ripened, the fruit wrinkles and resembles a date.

Russian olive

The name of Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) came from its resemblance to an olive tree. However, it’s not even remotely related. It is indigenous to central and western Asia, and is listed as a noxious weed in other countries including the US, where it was initially imported as an ornamental. Russian olive produces showy, fragrant flowers and attracts birds with its berry-like fruit.

Western jimson weed

Western jimson weed (Datura wrightii) is a flowering perennial plant in the nightshade family. It is commonly cultivated as an ornamental flower due to its good ability to tolerate drought. Western jimson weed is toxic to humans and pets, and could lead to convulsions and coma if ingested. Nevertheless, it was once used by several Native American tribes as part of a rite of passage.

Bird of paradise

Bird of paradise (Caesalpinia gilliesii) is a perennial evergreen shrub that will grow from 7 to 10 feet tall. It has attractive lacy foliage and showy clusters of yellow flowers that bloom in summer. Bird of paradise attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. It prefers full sun and moist, well-drained soil.

Prairie crabapple

Prairie crabapple (Malus ioensis) is a flowering, colorful tree with pink blossoms native to the United States. In summer the plant’s dark green leaves become purple and red. Wildlife eats the fruit of this tree.

Rugosa rose

This tall shrub is known for its hardiness, surviving in many climate zones and poor soil conditions. They produce large flowers from summer to winter and their hips attract birds (and are tasty to humans too!). With such beautiful flowers one might be surprised to hear that the Rugosa rose is considered an invasive species in some regions.

Lady banks's rose

Lady banks’s rose is a species of rose with pale yellow flowers which is popularly planted in gardens worldwide. The largest specimen of Lady banks’s rose (Rosa banksiae) in the world is in Tombstone, AZ. This is where the famous ‘Gunfight at the O.K. Corral’ took place. A clipping that eventually became the bush was sent over from Scotland in 1885, making this rose over 130 years old.

Wild cucumber

Wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata) is a sprawling, annual plant vine that grows wild across North America. Its vines can create a dense ground cover over large areas. Wild cucumber acts as a food source for many insect species and is susceptible to some bacterial plant diseases. Certain Native American tribes used to create beads out of the plant’s seeds.

Rattlesnake master

Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) is a herbaceous perennial plant species that grows best in full sunlight and dry soil. Rattlesnake master is drought tolerant and erosion resistant. The leaves of this coarse plant have been used by Native Americans to create both baskets and sandals. Monarch butterflies love the nectar from this flower, giving them nutrients to complete their yearly migration south.

White prickly poppy

White prickly poppy (Argemone albiflora) is a deciduous annual plant that can grow to be 1 to 3 feet tall. It is a single flowering plant with a cupped white flower growing at the top of its prickly stem. This species blooms from April to August. Its nectar attracts bees. White prickly poppy is toxic to humans.

Cardoon

Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) grows 3 feet to 6 feet in height, and 2 feet to 3 feet across. Its leaves are jagged, razor-sharp, and a silvery-gray color. Its flowers are blue or violet and thistle-like. It was first brought to the United States by Spanish and French settlers in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Screw pine

Screw pine (Pandanus tectorius) is a perennial tropical tree that is salt tolerant and grows in poor, salty or sandy soils. Screw pine is used to help stabilize soil conditions along coastal and beachfront properties. It also thrives in hot, windy areas and prefers full sun to semi-shade. Plants are dioecious with separate male and female plants. Male flowers are small, fragrant and short-lived. Female flowers are pineapple-like and are followed by fruit heads. Fruits are edible.

Ocotillo

Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) is a flowering plant species native to the southwestern United States. Ocotillo is most commonly found in the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Desert. While it grows in the same conditions as cacti, Ocotillo is not technically a cactus. This species yields branches which can be used for walking sticks, and its flowers can be turned into herbal tea. In cultivation, Ocotillo can be planted throughout the year in arid regions as a living fence.