Flower of the Week: Garden Phlox

Flower of the Week

Flower of the Week:

Garden Phlox

A profusion of riotously-colored garden phloxes (Phlox paniculata) blooms lushly from summer through early fall, refreshing our hearts and minds with a gentle fragrance. You are likely to find hummingbirds and butterflies dancing among the flowers, as well as many beautiful birds, all lured by its nectar and refusing to leave the sea of blossoms, turning the garden into a fairyland. Bring garden phlox home and let these sweet-scented colorful fairies make your daily life dynamic and wonderful. 

Garden phlox, a perennial herb, is originally from the Mideast US and eastern Canada, where people call it many local names, such as summer phlox, fall phlox, or perennial phlox. It likes warm habitats where sunlight is abundant with some shade. Its flowers bloom in clusters on conical inflorescences with five symmetrical lobes, looking exquisite and smelling fragrant, all making it an important ornamental flowering plant. 

A Gardening Plant That Came Home With Flying Colors

In the early eighteenth century,  Europeans first discovered garden phlox’s potential. Garden phloxes were first shipped from Virginia to Europe, gradually gaining popularity in the early nineteenth-century British and mid-nineteenth century French markets. Later, many improved varieties of this plant found their way back into the US market. 

Garden phlox were briefly forgotten and left in obscurity from 1940 to 1980, but people rediscovered interest in it shortly after. Nowadays, thousands of differently shaped and richly colored varieties have been cultivated. 

The Color Palette of Your Garden

Garden phlox blossoms in a rich assortment of colors, including elegant white, passionate red, delicate yellow, lively orange, gentle purple, and adorable pink, etc. 

Horticulturists particularly prefer garden phlox, and have selected and cultivated many varieties for garden planting that boast a charming array of colors. Many such varieties have won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit, such as the white-and-purple alternately-colored Velvet Flame, the light-and-dark-pink confluently-colored Miss Pepper, and the uniquely lavender-ash-colored Grey Lady, among others.

The varieties are not only vividly colored but also charismatically named. There are Peppermint Twist, with a pink and white color combination, Sherbet Cocktail, with delicate alternate pink and yellow colors, and Ending Blue, with graceful white-striped violet flowers. All of these dynamic-looking blossoms exude captivating scents that make you feel you’ve fallen into a sweet fairyland dream. 

Garden Phlox in American Literature and Art

In 1916, famous American horticultural author Louise Beebe Wilder mentioned garden phlox in his first well-known book, My Garden. She wrote, “This plant is a native, and with true American perspicacity and enterprise has forged his way from magenta obscurity to the most prominent place in the floral world.”

American artist and naturalist Mary Vaux Walcott, known to the world through her watercolor paintings of wildflowers, is called the “Audubon of botany.” In 1934, she painted garden phlox, helping to popularize it. The collector of this original painting donated it to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1970, giving the public a chance to see this renowned art piece in person. 

The Garden Phlox Mary Vaux Walcott painted.

You Should Check This Place Out

If you are interested in enjoying various garden phlox varieties, check out the Chicago Botanic Garden. 

The Chicago Botanic Garden is a huge 385-acre botanic museum, consisting of 26 sub-gardens with interlaced scenes, encompassing multiple lakes, islands, and forests. From 2001 to 2009, Chicago Botanic Garden conducted a periodical observational experiment on 78 varieties of garden phlox, and you can still see these delicate fairies around on a summer or early fall walk through the Garden. 

Can I Grow Garden Phlox Well?

Garden phlox is tenacious and strong. Provide its preferred temperature, soil, and water conditions, and with a little bit of care, you can enjoy its visual and olfactory double delight at home. 

Garden phlox likes warm, moist, well-ventilated environments. It loves basking in ample sunlight but also needs some shade in hot summers. Being intolerant of heat and drought, it requires frequent watering. Don’t water it from the top-down, nor let the water stand. It’s best to use loose, fertile, neutral, or alkaline sandy loam with good drainage. 

Prune off flowering sprays after buds sprout in the spring and after flowers are spent in the fall to promote more gorgeous blooming next year. Pay attention to prevent powdery mildew and root rot. 

Size: Height up to 1.2 m

Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zones 4-8

Light Duration: Full light to half shade

Soil: Loose, fertile, neutral or alkaline sandy loam with good drainage

Blooming Time: Summer to early fall

Clean Your Houseplants with These 6 Useful Tips

Houseplant Care

Clean Your Houseplants with These 6 Useful Tips

Houseplants do require some maintenance on a regular basis to thrive and grow. Keeping them healthy is easy with these expert tips. It’s important to keep the leaves clean so that your plants can breathe. Follow our tips for healthy, happy houseplants.

Just like the plants growing in your garden, your houseplants need regular maintenance too. When they spend their entire life indoors, plants tend to gather dust and other debris from the air. Some leaves will die and drop down into the pot, and flowers will also die once they’ve given you a magnificent show.

Here are some basic maintenance tips for houseplants that you should incorporate into your cleaning routine.

Remove Spent Flowers and Foliage

You spend time deadheading and pruning your garden plants, so you need to do the same for houseplants. Regular deadheading is important for flowering houseplants because it can encourage further flushes of flowers.

It’s also a good idea to remove any leaves and stems that are turning brown or are about to fall off. Remove any foliage that has fallen onto the soil in the pot as well, as this decaying plant matter may encourage pests and diseases.

You can also give your houseplants a light trim with a pair of garden pruners to keep them compact and shapely.

Dust Your Houseplants Regularly

Like everything else in your house, your plants will collect dust. Therefore, it’s important to remove this from the leaves. The leaves are your plant’s lungs and if they’re covered in dust, your plants will have trouble “breathing”.

For a quick dusting, you can use a feather duster but be very gentle as you don’t want to damage your plant. Don’t do this with ferns though as you may dislodge the spores into the air.

For delicate plants and those with furry leaves, you can just use a soft toothbrush to remove any dust on the leaves.

Wipe Down the Leaves for a Deeper Clean

It’s a good idea to periodically wipe down the leaves of your houseplants for a deeper clean and to remove any residue that’s settled there. This can be as simple as using a damp dishcloth.

Just place your hand under the leaf to support it and wipe down from the stem outwards. Remember to wipe the undersides of the leaves as well because this is where pests may hide.

For a more thorough clean, try mixing a little dish detergent with water and then wipe this mixture over the leaves. This approach works really well for houseplants with large leaves. However, it’s not the best if you have delicate plants such as ferns or African violets with furry leaves.

Also note that you should never use a leaf shine product on your houseplants. These products contain oils or waxes, which will clog up the pores in the leaves. As a result, your plants will be unable to breathe and eventually suffocate.

Give Your Plants a Shower

For delicate plants or those with furry leaves, you can actually give them a shower. After all, this is what your outdoor plants get every time it rains.

Remember to use tepid water. Your plants don’t like either hot or cold water. Placing them in the shower for a few minutes with the door closed also creates a little humidity. Most houseplants actually love this.

Make sure, when doing this, that the soil doesn’t wash away. You don’t want to clog up your drain with potting mix. To avoid this from happening you can:

  • Place a shallow tray under your plants when you’re showering them.
  • Or, place a piece of toweling fabric over the drain hole to catch any soil before it goes down the drain.

After showering your plants, you should leave them to drain fully and make sure the leaves are almost dry if you’re placing your plants in a sunny spot. This is because if there’s water left on the leaves and the sun hits them, it could cause the leaves to burn.

Before placing your plants in the shower, make sure that the pot has drainage holes. This way, any excess water can easily drain out of the soil and won’t cause any water-logging for the roots. You might like to add some additional slow release fertilizer as most of the nutrients in the soil may have leached out with the water.

If you have plants in pots without drainage holes, such as succulents, do this instead:

  • icon_number_1@3x Put your hand over the top of the pot to stop the soil falling out.
  • icon_number_2@3x Then, turn the pot on its side and only place the foliage under the shower.

This will avoid the water getting into the soil and drowning the roots.

Give Your Houseplants a Spell Outside in the Rain

If the weather is mild and you’re expecting a light shower of rain, you can place your houseplants outside for an hour or two. Rainwater is an amazing tonic for your plants and they will really appreciate it.

Therefore, if it’s not too hot or cold or windy, if you can, place your houseplants outside in the rain for a short time. Remember to let them drain before bringing them back inside.

Top Up the Potting MIX and Add Some Fertilizer

While you’re giving your houseplants a good clean, you might like to top up the potting mix as well. Over time, the mix will settle in the pot and this will lower the level of the mix. It’s perfectly fine to just top this up a little.

While you’re doing this, add a little slow-release fertilizer. These slow-release pellets will provide the roots of your plants with nutrients as and when they need it

On the other hand, if your plant has been in the same pot for a long time, you might want to consider repotting it into a larger pot. Most houseplants will really benefit from this and will put on a flush of new growth as a result.

If your plant has become very root bound, you should gently tease out the roots a little and you can even trim off any that are really long. Once your plant is in the new pot, it will grow new little roots that are better able to take up the nutrients and water in the soil.

Final Thoughts

Just like the plants growing in your garden, your houseplants need a little maintenance from time to time. You should trim off any spent flowers and remove any brown foliage.

Also, make sure that you regularly remove dust from the leaves of your plants to keep them growing healthy and strong.

And finally, consider repotting your plants every so often so that they can put on some lovely new growth. If you take good care of your houseplants, they’ll reward you with beautiful lush foliage and stunning flowers to brighten up your home.

How to Control Common Houseplant Pests

Houseplant Care

How to Control Common Houseplant Pests

There are a number of pests that can infect your houseplants from time to time. These are mostly sap-sucking insects and fairly easy to control. Have a look at these five different pests that might be infecting your houseplants and how you can easily control them.

Although pests on houseplants aren’t as prolific or common as the pests you might find on your plants outdoors, they do still occur. And when they do, you want to control them as quickly as you can to avoid any damage or them spreading to other plants.

Wherever possible, it’s a good idea to use organic controls for your houseplants to limit the amount of chemicals that you spray in your home. In saying that though, we’ll be discussing both eco-friendly controls as well as chemical controls so that you can have the choice.

Here are 5 common pests that you are likely to find on your houseplants.

1. Aphids

Although more common on your outdoor plants, aphids can make their way inside and feast on your precious houseplants. Aphids are sap-sucking insects that generally attack new growth. They’re quite small and can be green, black or gray in color.

You’ll usually find them on the undersides of leaves or on new flower buds. Because they tend to congregate in large clusters, they’re very easy to spot. Aphids also exude a sticky honeydew type substance that is easy to spot on the lower leaves.

If left uncontrolled, leaves and young stems will start to turn yellow and new growth will become distorted.

Treatment

Aphids are fairly easy to control with a spray made from dish detergent mixed with water in a spray bottle. Spray the plant liberally making sure to cover the aphids with the mixture. What this does is coat the aphids so that they die.

Leave the mixture on the plant for around 5 minutes and then wash it off. You can do this in the shower or even under some running water in the sink. You may have to repeat this a couple of times to ensure you’ve removed all the aphids.

If you need something a little stronger, you can use a proprietary product that contains pyrethrin or neem oil. You’ll usually find this in convenient spray bottles at your local garden center.

2. Mealybugs

Mealybugs, like aphids, are sap-sucking insects. They’re small, white and look slightly furry. Mealybugs also cluster together and are really easy to spot. At a quick glance, they look like there’s some cotton wool on your plant.

If you don’t get rid of them, the leaves of your plants will eventually turn yellow and drop off.

Treatment

You can easily dislodge the offending mealybugs by spraying them with water. In the shower is best. If there are only a few, you can gently scrape them off, wearing gloves of course.

Otherwise, you can use the same dish soap spray method that we discussed for controlling aphids.

For a chemical control, look for a product that contains natural fatty acids or a surfactant.

3. Red Spider Mites

Red spider mites are one of those houseplant pests that are quite difficult to control. They’re actually related to spiders and do, indeed, spin tiny webs all over your plants. However, they feed on the sap of the leaves. The tiny webs are there to protect an entire colony of spider mites.

You should be able to see the webbing on your plants if there are red spider mites present. However, the most prominent symptom of a red spider mite infestation is that the leaves will start to look mottled with tiny brown dots. This is actually a form of necrosis in the leaf.

Treatment

Because red spider mites hate water and humidity, placing your plants in the shower once a week will gradually reduce their numbers. Make sure you use tepid water. On the days between showering, mist your plant daily to increase the humidity around it.

If you have a very large infestation that you can’t get under control, it is possible to purchase predatory mites that feed on red spider mites. These predatory mites are known as Phytosieulus persimilis.

If you want a chemical treatment, choose a houseplant insecticide that contains a surfactant or natural fatty acids such as white oil.

4. Scale Insects

Scale is another insect that can be a little difficult to control. In fact, if you have scale on your plants, they may not look like insects at all. This is because these insects have an outer shell that is quite hard and adheres the insect to the plant’s leaves and stems.

Initially, these look like tiny brown nodules on the stems and leaves of your plants. Scale also produce a sticky, honeydew substance that will stick to your plant. This eventually turns black and looks just like a sooty mold.

Treatment

Scale insects can simply be rubbed off if there are only a few. But, because the young are mobile, you’ll have to be vigilant for a couple of weeks to ensure that you get them all.

Another thing you can do is dab a little alcohol onto each scale insect with a cotton swab. The alcohol will dissolve the insects. Alternatively, using the soapy spray that you use on aphids will soften the hard shell of the scale insects. Then you can simply wipe them off with a damp cloth.

If you’re after something a little stronger, try an insecticide containing permethrin or malathion. However, don’t use these chemicals on ferns because of their sensitivity.

5. Fungus Gnats

Fungus gnats are those tiny little fly-like insects that you often find on fruit that’s been sitting around for too long. They’re actually not harmful to your plants but they are a nuisance to have in the house.

You’ll find fungus gnats flying around your plants, but their larvae exist in the soil just under the top surface. They feed on organic matter and love moist soil.

Treatment

To encourage fungus gnats to leave your plants, make sure that you remove any dead foliage that’s ended up in the pot. You’ll also want to let the surface soil dry out. Consider watering your plants from the bottom instead until the gnats have disappeared.

You can also use yellow sticky paper that you can buy from your local garden center.

If you want to use a chemical control, try a spray containing Pyrethrin. You’ll have to do a follow up spray once the larvae emerge from the soil.

Final Thoughts

Houseplant pests are not as common as the ones that you might find on your plants outdoors. However, they do need to be controlled if you find them.

Most houseplant pests are sap-suckers and can easily be controlled with a spray containing dish detergent and water. You might need to apply this more than once but you should eventually rid your plants of these pests.

Zodiac Flowers: Gemini

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Zodiac Flowers: Gemini

Did you know that there are 4 Gemini birth flowers? Lavender for charisma, lily of the valley for openness…read on to learn all about these flowers and how to grow them if you’re a Gemini!

If you were born between May 22 and June 21, then you’re a Gemini. Gemini is represented by the twins, ruled over by the planet Mercury, and represents the element of air.

Geminis are excellent at gathering information, making social connections, and exploring the world with childlike wonder and curiosity. You’re likely to be quite talkative and pick up languages and social customs with ease. But because you adapt so well, others may feel that they never know who you actually are. Is what they see really you or what you’re pretending to be? You may contribute to this problem by being evasive.

Here are 4 Gemini birth flowers and their meanings!

Lily of the Valley for Openness

Lily of the Valley symbolises simplicity, innocence, and openness, like seeing the world with child-like curiosity or nurturing your beginner’s mind. This describes the strength of Geminis to a tee. When you’re able to see like a beginner, you can expand your horizons beyond what you thought was possible.

In the language of flowers, Lily of the Valley means a return to happiness or humility. With your gift with people and ability to learn and adapt, you could become quite arrogant — but that’s unlikely to make you any friends. Use Lily of the Valley as a reminder to keep some humility along with pride in your abilities.

To grow this reminder in your garden, you don’t actually need much. They love partial shade and moist soil, but get along with full sun to full shade, or even dry. Plant in the late fall.

As all parts are toxic when ingested, take care when using it as a floral arrangement around pets and children. They’re a pretty adaptable flower, working well with many other flowers or as a simple arrangement on its own.

Lavender For Charisma

You never see one lavender flower alone. Even one stem contains many flowers, and a lavender plant keeps growing more stems. Like lavender, you’re rarely alone as you’re great at making friends. You’re both full of charisma and charm. There’s nothing that says “I got to go there” like a lavender field at sunset.

Representing silence and serenity, this flower also reminds you that even though you love being surrounded by friends or studying the world, you still need time to relax by yourself. Once you’ve rested and given your mind time to process, you’ll be even better at your pursuits.

To bring lavender into your garden, pick up seedlings from a garden centre or challenge yourself by growing them from seed (the difficulty may appeal to you as a Gemini). If you have mild winters, you can plant them directly into a garden bed, but they also thrive in containers.

As a cut flower, you can either use fresh lavender flowers or dry them for a bouquet that will last for years.

Daffodil for Hope

Like Lily of the Valley, daffodils represent rebirth and new beginnings as its one of the first perennials to bloom in the spring. It symbolises your beginner’s mind and the childlike wonder and curiosity you have as a Gemini when facing the world.

Their bright white, cheery yellow, and orange hues brighten up the garden wherever you go, just as you brighten up your friends’ day.

In China, they’re believed to bring good luck and prosperity. Cancer research organisations use the yellow daffodil as a symbol of hope to find cures. (The ability to learn quickly, taking a fresh look, and processing that information into real-world uses would certainly come in handy for that.) There’s even a variety called Gemini Girl!

To bring cheer and good luck to your garden, plant these perennial bulbs in the fall in clusters. When winter passes, they’ll pop right up.

Plant one of these 4 Gemini birth flowers for yourself or brighten up your favourite Gemini’s day with a bouquet.

Chrysanthemum for Cherishing

As a Gemini, you’re great at making friends and talking with a lot of different people. And while some may claim that having too many friends means those relationships must be superficial, that doesn’t have to be true. Chrysanthemums represent long-lasting and truly meaningful friendship.

Chrysanthemums also represent positive energy. Giving a bouquet of chrysanthemums will cheer up a despondent friend. Likewise, Gemini are full of childlike joy and delight, seeing the wonder in everyday minutia and bringing joy and ease to relationships. In North America, they represent longevity and love, and are a great flower to give friends suffering or recovering from illness.

To bring this cheerful energy to your garden, either start them indoors during the winter or direct sow in mid-September to October. In mild climates, with a little winter insulation, they will come back year after year.

For a bouquet, you can go with just chrysanthemums or match them with roses and lilies, or other large flowers.

Flower of the Week: Sweetpea

Flower of the Week

Flower of the Week:

Sweetpea

Despite the name, sweetpea is not just an aromatic pea, but a member of the genus Lathyrus in the Leguminosae family. As a hugely popular ornamental plant, sweetpea has large, bright, richly colored flowers that are distinctively fragrant. The plant blossoms each year in late spring and early summer for several weeks. 

With its thin, weak stems, sweetpea is an annual climbing plant that requires fences or lattices for support when planted. Nonetheless, artificially selected sweetpeas have long, straight stalks and make good cut flower material.

A Beautiful Flower From Italy
Although native to southern Italy, Sicily, and the Aegean islands, sweetpea  began showing up in European gardens in the late 17th century. The early history of its cultivation is very mysterious. Francisco Cupani was a Sicilian monk and botanist who brought sweetpeas to the attention of Europe when he sent seeds of various colors to the Netherlands and England. When it first hit the market, there were divergent theories about where it came from, with Malta, Sri Lanka, China, and even South America mistakenly identified as its original habitat. 

After two centuries of cultivation, a very large number of sweetpea varieties have been developed. Some were adapted to growing in the garden, and others were more suitable for use as cut flowers. At the end of the 19th century, Scottish breeder Henry Eckford greatly enriched the strains of sweetpeas. He cultured more than 150 varieties of sweetpeas in his garden in Wem in Shropshire, England, including the revolutionary large flower line.

Since then, Eckford’s extensive exchanges with the American horticultural community made California one of the centers for sweetpea cultivation. California sweetpea seeds of various colors were not only sold to various parts of the United States, but also supplied in large quantities to the British market. 

The Pursuit of Yellow

Sweetpeas are available in a wide range of pastel colors, including blue, orange, pink, white, and have many two-tone and even multi-colored varieties, but there has never been a yellow strain. Horticulturists have been as ardent in their quest for yellow sweetpeas as they have been for blue roses, but have had little success.

In recent years, horticulturists have attempted to hybridize sweetpea with Lathyrus belinensis of the same genus, even employing embryo rescue techniques, to try to introduce the latter’s yellow gene into sweetpeas. The experiment has produced some interesting hybrids, but no stable yellow strains have emerged yet. 

A Delightful Aroma

Sweetpeas are known for their aroma, which is “as delightful as the Mediterranean sun.” Their delicate, sweet scents have also led major brands to compete for the release of perfumes with sweetpea among the main notes.

However, the scent of sweetpea in perfume comes from the formulation of other fragrances, not from a direct extract like rose essential oil. The amount of fragrant substances that can be extracted from sweetpeas is too little to be of commercial value to the perfume industry. 

Be Careful Of Toxicity

Although both its flowers and seeds are similar to peas, ingesting large amounts of sweetpeas can cause severe osteolathyrism. The toxins contained in sweetpeas affect the formation of collagen, resulting in damage to bones and connective tissues.

Sweetpea pods

However, there is now research looking to turn these toxic substances into useful drugs. For example the toxins might be able to prevent disruption of skin contraction after skin-grafting. 

Can I Grow Sweetpea Well?

Sweetpeas are easy to cultivate, requiring just a little extra care. Varieties can be selected according to your needs. The classic varieties tend to have stronger aromas, while new varieties have more colorful flowers. 

They prefer to grow in environments with warm winters and cool summers, ample sunlight, and humid air. They have moderate water requirements, are intolerant of waterlogging and frost, and need protection in open-field cultivation. Also, fencing is required in areas where hares are present.

After the final singling of seedlings, each sweetpea plant should be equipped with a climbing pole, and after the plant grows taller than 30 cm, they can be pinched back to promote branching. In the peak growing season, the rapid growth of sweetpea branches require pruning and tendril removal. Overly dense side-branches should also be removed promptly; otherwise, blooming can be hindered. In the flowering season, sweetpeas need a potassium-rich compound fertilizer once a month. 

The first round of sweetpea flowers are usually short-stalked and small, and can be cut back to promote the second round of bloom.

Size: 1-2.5 m tall, 0.3-0.6 m wide

Hardiness: USDA Zone 3-9

Light: Full sun, half shade

Soil: Well-drained loamy, sandy, or clay soil, slightly alkaline

Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer. Certain varieties keep blooming until fall.

Houseplant Soil 101: Necessary Ingredients and DIY Recipe

Houseplant Care

Houseplant Soil 101: Necessary Ingredients and DIY Recipe

Houseplant soil is very different to the soil that your outdoor plants are growing in. Because your plants are living in pots, they need an open mix that can hold some moisture but is also free draining. Here’s all you need to know and an easy do-it-yourself recipe.

When it comes to growing lush and healthy houseplants, the soil that you use is of the utmost importance. Because your plants are growing in pots, their soil requirements are far different to those plants growing outside in the ground. The roots of your houseplants are confined to just the soil in the pot, and garden soil does not have the right structure for roots grown in a confined space. Plus, the soil in your garden can easily become compacted when it dries out too much.

In order for your houseplants to thrive, you have to use a good quality potting mix. You can either purchase a ready-made mix from your local garden centre or you can easily make your own if you’re keen.

The Necessary Ingredients in a Quality Potting Mix

A quality potting mix needs to be open, friable and lightweight. For healthy roots, the soil that they grow in has to have air pockets. This is because roots need air as well as water and nutrients. If the soil becomes too compacted, the roots of your plants will suffocate.

Your potting mix also needs to have a little water retention so it doesn’t dry out too quickly but it also has to be free draining. If the soil becomes waterlogged and doesn’t drain freely, the roots will also suffocate due to lack of air. Plus, most roots will rot if they sit in water for too long.

A good potting mix should have a combination of the following ingredients.

• Compost. This could be compost made from vegetative materials such as vegetable scraps, grass clippings, dry leaves and composted bark. Many commercial mixes also use peat moss or coconut coir. However, in recent years, it’s become apparent that peat moss is not sustainable and the peat bogs that it’s harvested from are slowly diminishing.

For this reason, it’s far more advisable to use coconut coir which is a sustainable and renewable product with similar qualities. Coconut coir is a by-product of the coconut industry and is made from coconut husks.

Other ingredients that are used in the compost part of the mix are animal manures and worm castings. This compost provides your plants with their initial nutrient requirements.

• Perlite or vermiculite. These two ingredients help to aerate the mix and to retain moisture. They’re derived from mined minerals and volcanic glass. They help to keep the mix both light and friable. Most commercial mixes will use one or the other and you can do the same if you’re making your own mix.

• Sand. This helps to improve the drainage of the mix. Coarse builder’s sand is the type of sand that is commonly used. The larger sand particles open up the mix, to create air pockets for the water to flow through and drain away easily.

• Fertilizer. Although the compost does contain many nutrients, these will quickly be used up by the roots of the plant. That’s why a lot of commercial potting mixes also add a slow-release fertilizer. These slow-release granules will release their nutrients as the plant needs them.

How to Make Your Own Potting MIX

If you have many houseplants and you’re repotting often, you might like to make your own mix. It’s really simple and ensures that the mix contains all the necessary ingredients for healthy plant growth. Here’s a simple basic recipe to get you started.

  • 2 gallons of coconut coir
  • 1.5 gallons of perlite
  • 2 cups of coarse builder’s sand
  • 2 tablespoons of slow-release or granular organic fertilizer

All these ingredients can be purchased from your local garden center. When measuring out your ingredients, it’s important to measure them by volume rather than by weight. This is because some ingredients have a greater mass weight than others.

Once you’ve measured out your ingredients, it’s just a case of mixing them together really well. You can do this in a wheelbarrow, a garden cart, a large plastic bin or even on a groundsheet.

Store any mix that you don’t use immediately in a sealed plastic bag or a garbage bin with a sealed lid. You want to ensure that no critters get into the mix while it’s stored. Therefore, make sure you keep it in a cool, dry spot out of direct sunlight.

This mix is ideally suited to most houseplants. However, if you’re growing succulents or orchids, you will need a different mix. This is because succulents prefer a much drier mix or one that will dry out quickly. Orchids, on the other hand, are epiphytes and don’t need compost in their mix.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, you now understand the basic soil requirements of your houseplants and why you should never use garden soil in your pots. The mix that you grow your plants in has to provide them with all the water and nutrients that are necessary for healthy and lush growth.

The potting mix needs to be open to allow for air pockets and free drainage. It also needs to be light so that the roots can easily access all the water and nutrients that they need.

In addition, the mix has to have some water holding capacity so that it doesn’t dry out completely. Remember that plants growing in pots indoors will have different water requirements to those that grow outdoors in the ground.

When selecting a commercial potting mix, make sure that you check the ingredients on the packaging and buy the best quality that you can afford. Or, you can save yourself some money and easily make your own mix using the easy recipe above.

How to Install a Pond in Your Garden Area

Landscaping

How to Install a Pond in Your Garden Area

While a garden pond is an enticing idea to many, building such a feature calls for you to follow a distinct set of steps. Each step is vital to the health and success of your pond. This article will give you clear insight into each part of the process.

Many people dream of having an impressive water feature in their garden. One of the best ways to achieve that vision is to install a pond in your yard. Ponds can be both highly attractive, and they can do their part to support the local ecosystem. Reaping those two rewards will only come about if you are able to successfully plan and install your garden pond. This article will serve as a guide to help you do just that. Read on to learn about the steps you will need to take to add a pond to your garden area.

Plan the Size, Shape, and Location of Your Pond

Installing a pond in your yard requires some significant forethought. The first issues you’ll need to address are the size, shape, and location of your new pond. One of the best ways to determine those characteristics is to use a combination of field measurements and plan view sketch drawings.

Regarding size, you will need to evaluate the overall space you have available in your yard. As you would expect, a smaller yard will only allow a relatively small pond. Those with more acreage will have more leeway when deciding their pond’s size. Regardless of how large your yard is, your goal at this stage is to integrate your pond into your landscape without creating a conflict with any existing features.

After gaining a rough idea of how large you would like your pond to be, you can proceed to determining the exact shape and location of the pond. Ideally, you should locate your pond on a relatively flat portion of land. This will make excavation a much simpler task. You should also locate your pond near a power supply so that you can run your pump and filtration system with ease. When it comes to shape, the form you choose for your pond is partly a matter of what will work well with the unique existing features of your pond and partly a matter of personal taste.

Excavate Your Pond Safely

Now that you have figured the basics of where your pond will be and what it will generally look like, you are ready to begin excavation. But, before you do, you need to make sure it is safe to dig in the area where you intend to install your pond.

Be mindful of any utility lines that may run underground where you plan to excavate. Making contact with a powerline while digging can be extremely dangerous. So, before you dig, double-check to make sure you know what is underground.

When you are confident that you can dig safely, begin excavating in accordance with the drawing you created in the last step. Create the general shape of your pond first. Then you can fine-tune any curves later on as you see fit.

Install a Pond Liner

A pond liner is an essential component of any man-made pond. These liners play a pivotal role in maintaining the water level in your pond. Without one of these liners, your pond water would likely seep through the soil below, leading to an empty pond.

With the shape of your pond excavated, all you need to do is lay the liner on the bottom and sides of the pond. Leave some excess on either side of the pond. Then place stones on top of the liner where it overlaps with the edge of the pond. This will help keep your liner in place over the years.

Add Plants to Your Pond

Aquatic plants are a vital component of any garden pond. These plants not only add to the appearance of your pond but also help to keep the water clean and provide support for local wildlife. There are two ways that you can add plants to your new pond.

The first way to grow pond plants is with containers. You can find containers that are ideal for pond settings. Once you do, simply put your plant in that container and rest the container on top of your liner. This approach will help container the plant roots so that they do not disrupt the liner as they grow.

The other way to grow plants in your pond is to plant them in soil. If you choose this method, you should add a layer of clay soil on top of the liner. Then plant your aquatic plants in that soil. Choosing this route could lead to some root damage to the liner in the future. But on the plus side, it creates a more naturalistic look.

Install a Pond Pump and Filtration System

Plants help a lot to filter the water in your pond. But it is still a smart idea to incorporate a pond pump and filtration system. These systems can come in several different varieties, all of which serve the same fundamental purpose. Your pump and filter will keep your pond water moving so that it is harder for algae blooms to form. It can also remove a great deal of filth and particles from the water. As long as you located your pond close to a power supply, you should have no issue running your pump and filter.

Fill Your Pond

This final installation step is the easiest one. All you need to do is turn on your garden hose and fill your pond with water. As you fill the pond, check to make sure that your liner remains in place. If it does, your pond will be complete as soon as it is full of water.

Keep Up With Pond Maintenance

Our final pond tip is to stay up-to-date with all forms of pond maintenance. Ponds require a lot of care and attention, so if you are not willing to keep up with your maintenance tasks, a pond is not right for you.

Most importantly, you should clean your pond often. Removing items like dead leaves or other plant debris will discourage the formation of algae. You should also check your pump, filter, and water level regularly. Doing so will allow you to notice any issues as soon as they arise. If you follow these care tips and the steps we described for installation, you’ll get to enjoy your pond for years to come.

Flower of the Week: Viticella Group Clematis

Flower of the Week

Flower of the Week:

Viticella Group Clematis

Clematis (Clematis spp.), crowned the “Queen of Vine Flowers”, is a family of flowering deciduous climbing plants. With a flowering season that lasts from summer to fall, it can be planted in open fields or in pots to decorate yards or balconies. Clematis flowers can also be appreciated as cut flowers, lasting over a week in clean water. 

The cultivars of clematis consist of a complex family, including 12 different groups. Among those, viticella group clematis, belonging to Cultivar Group 3, is a small-flowered variety that became popular in recent years. Compared to the large-flowered clematis which was popular earlier, viticella group clematis flowers are small and plentiful, with a flower diameter of 4-13 cm. Clematis only blooms on the new branches of each year’s growth. 

Viticella group clematis originates from Southern Europe. It’s more adaptable to various climates and more disease-resistant, making it perfect for gardening beginners and enthusiasts. 

Forming a Scenic Wall of Blossoms

Clematis’s best partner is a wire lattice (with the diameter of the support structures less than 2 cm). When the plant matures, flowers and leaves interweave to form a thick layer of beauty on the wire grid. 

Growing clematises and Chinese roses together on the wall of blossoms could create a charming scene. One dark- and the other light-colored, Chinese roses provide vining support to clematises, while clematises fill up the gaps on a wall of Chinese roses. The duo’s flower seasons start and end at different times, but overlap for a period. To supplement the wall of blossoms, try lilies and iris.

Fake Petals

Clematis flowers generally have 4 to 8 “petals,” though there are also double varieties. However, the so-called “petals” of clematis, as with all other ornamental plants in the Ranunculaceae family, are actually calyxes: sepals forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a bud. For some double varieties, the ornamental parts include the calyxes and the vestigial stamens. 

Popularity Trends Under Artists' Painting Brushes

Quite a number of famous artists have painted clematis-themed subjects, tracing the change in popularity trends of clematis from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Curious which shapes and colors of the flower are more in style in a particular era? Look for answers in the paintings!

Henri Fantin-Latour (France) Rose and Clematis, 1883

Oscar-Claude Monet (France) Clematis, 1897

Alphonse Mucha (Czech) Clematis, 1897-1898

Anna Archer (Denmark) Living Room with Lilac Curtains and Blue Clematis, 1913

Nicolae Tonitza (Romania) Clematis Red Flowers, 1935

Can I Grow Clematis Well?

Clematis likes light but can’t tolerate sunburn. Its succulent roots like loose, air-permeable substrate, prefer moisture, don’t tolerate waterlogging, are cold-resistant, and love a slightly cooler climate. It’s best to grow clematis in sun-facing places with good drainage. 

Late Large Flowered Clematis ‘Ville de Lyon’

Choose a seedling with a plump root ball and transplant it to a planting pit bottomed with ample base fertilizers, deep enough so the first two clusters of leaves are fully buried into the ground. Cover with soil carefully, water thoroughly, and cover with a 5 cm-thick layer of organic mulch, such as shredded bark. If the soil is clay-heavy, mix perlite, vermiculite, or sand in the soil to improve its air permeability. 

In daily care, keep the soil moist and it well-drained, too, especially in rainstorm-heavy summers. Apply liquid fertilizers once a week from the beginning of the flower season through the end. As the seedlings begin to grow, guide them with gentle ties to the wire lattice or stakes so they grow in the direction you desire. 

One of the viticella group clematis’ key features is that its flowers only bloom on the newly-sprouted branches of the year. Thus, pruning needs to be performed in accordance with its variety, considering where flowers may blossom after new branches develop. When pruning, try to keep plump, robust buds beneath the cuts. Remove spent blooms so nutrients promote new ones. In the fall, prune heavily for winter dormancy. 

Size: 2-4.5 m tall, 0.5-2 m wide

Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zones 4-11

Light Duration: Full day to half shade

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

Blooming Time: Summer

Zodiac Flowers: Taurus

Trends

Zodiac Flowers: Taurus

As a Taurus, have you ever wondered about what your zodiac flowers might be? Learn all about these lovely zodiac flowers and how to easily grow them in your own garden.

If you were born between April 21 and May 21, then you’re a Taurus. Taurus is the bull, and its constellation is one of the oldest in the world, originating in Ancient Mesopotamia as the Great Bull of Heaven. This constellation marked the time to plow and plant vital plants, and to this day, represents the element of earth. So what better way to celebrate your birth sign than with growing these four Taurus birth flowers?

Tauruses have a steady, patient, and generous personality. With your endurance and stubbornness, you’re in it for the long haul, dedicating yourself to seeing projects and relationships to the end. These positive traits can turn against you if you stick with something long after it stopped being a good idea.

Here are 4 Taurus birth flowers and their meanings!

Poppies for Persistence

Today, poppies are most often used to symbolise the massive deaths in World War I, since they thrived in barren fields churned up by fighting and shelling. That’s because poppies are resilient. While other plants struggled to return, poppies sprouted and grew everywhere, standing their ground. Like poppies, Tauruses are persistent and resilient, keeping going even when faced with monumental challenges.

The other, more historical association with poppies is opium, which added pleasure and oblivion to its meaning. They’re also incredibly beautiful, representing a Taurus’ love of being surrounded by love and natural beauty.

Poppies will bring beauty in warm reds and oranges to your garden year after year. It’s best to sow seeds in the fall or early winter as they require stratification. They will self-seed.

Cut poppies are rather delicate and require careful handling. Pair them with other wildflowers, with the poppies facing different angles so that you can fully appreciate their beautiful petals and black underside. Or wait until poppies go to seed and use the seed pods as accents.

Roses for Relationships

Like Taurus, the planet Venus rules over roses, making roses the primary birth flower for Taurus. Today, we mainly think of roses as flowers of romance. You give your special someone a bouquet of roses on Valentine’s Day.

But depending on their colour, roses symbolise many aspects of relationships, from the romantic (red), to perfect happiness (pink), to friendship (yellow), to unity (red and white), to gratitude (peach), to mourning the loss of someone (dark crimson). As a Taurus, you dedicate yourself to your chosen relationships.

Roses are a fantastic, fragrant addition to the garden. They’re much easier to grow than commonly thought. As a gift, consider a miniature potted rose so they can enjoy their fragrance in their home.

As a cut flower, they’re best as a single flower bouquet with baby’s breath for contrast, or mixed in with other bold flowers.

Foxglove for Practical Creativity

Foxglove represents insincerity, and sometimes, when you’ve got your head done grinding away, you come off to others as not expressing your genuine emotions. But you can also be wildly creative, intuitive, and magic, just like foxglove.

Foxglove contains a chemical called digitalis. When taken in correct doses, digitalis heals many heart conditions. But when taken in excess, it can prove deadly. Likewise, as a Taurus, your greatest strength — your endurance and persistence — can be your greatest weakness.

In the garden, foxglove makes a magical addition to flower beds with its bell-shaped flowers. To grow, press seeds into the soil in the autumn (no need to cover with soil). Foxgloves will reseed themselves each year.

Unlike the other flowers, foxglove is better in your garden than in a bouquet, as it can be quite toxic when ingested. Keep it away from children and pets.

Roses, poppies, daisies, and foxgloves. All seemingly different, but adding up to the determinate, persistence, practicality, creativity, and valued relationships that Taurus are most known for. Plant one of these Taurus birth flowers for yourself, or give as a gift to a Taurus friend.

Daisies for Determination

Daisies are actually composite flowers, meaning each one is actually two flowers combined into one. This gives them the symbolism of true love, as two flowers complete each other, and represent a Taurus’ devotion.

In the 1800s, “ups-a-daisy” was coined to encourage children to get up when they fell, which has become “oopsy daisy” or “whoops-a-daisy”, another callback to a Taurus’ tenacity. When you stumble in a challenge, you get back up and keep persisting. Daisies also represent fresh hope and new beginnings.

Daisies are a perfect low-maintenance addition to your garden as a simple pleasure. They’re rhizomatic, so they spread quickly once planted.

As a cut flower, you can either keep the bouquet to just daisies (put the tallest ones in the centre), or add to a mixed flower arrangement. Giving your special someone a gift of red daisies means that you’re utterly devoted to them.

How to Make a Neat Edge for Your Flower Bed

Landscaping

How to Make a Neat Edge for Your Flower Bed

It may not seem like the edge of your flower bed matter. However, the truth is that a neat edge on a garden bed can give your landscape a more professional appearance. Thankfully, making a neat edge is a simple task that you can learn in just a few minutes.

Neat edges on your flower beds are a sign of a well-cared-for landscape. While these edges are a subtle detail compared to the rest of your garden, they are surprisingly effective in making your garden look like a professional team created it. Along with that visual appeal, a good edge also serves a functional role by setting a clear delineation between your beds and the other areas of your property. That is why we created this guide to help you create by yourself.

Define the Shape of the Bed

Before you make your flower bed edge, you need to define the shape and size of your flower bed. You’ll have complete artistic license over the general form of the bed. The more important matter here is that you have a clear idea of what you intend to create from the beginning. One of the best ways to envision your flower bed is to lay a rope or some similar item on the ground. A garden hose will work well for this as well. Once you have made your flower bed shape, you can follow along your hose as you cut the edge.

At times, it can be tempting to make a bed with many wild curving lines. These complex curves may be your preference. However, there are a few reasons they may not be the most desirable shape. First, the more complicated your bed shape is, the harder it will be to make an accurate edge that matches your intended shape. Also, if your flower bed borders a lawn, a complex shape will make it difficult to maneuver your lawnmower around the bed. For those reasons, keeping your bed shape simple is likely a better choice.

Cut the Edge With a Flat Shovel

The quickest and easiest way to make an edge for your flower bed is to use a flat shovel. At your local garden supply store, you’ll find some shovels whose main purpose is to create garden bed edges. But if you don’t have one of those specialty edging shovels, any shovel with a flat blade will work. Once you have that tool, follow these steps until you have cut a neat edge along the entire perimeter of the bed:

  • Alight the blade of the shovel with your guideline
  • Use your foot to press the shovel into the earth
  • Remove about one to two inches of soil
  • Continue the first three steps while following your guideline

After you complete that process, there is one important tip that you will need to follow to ensure that your edge is as effective as it can be. Make sure that you never fill your edge to the top with soil or mulch. Filling the edge will make the edge less definitive. It will also make it far easier for plants from outside the bed to grow into the bed. So, instead of filling the edge, make sure that you leave about an inch or two of the edge empty.

As we just mentioned, this is by far the fastest way to make a neat edge. However, this method is also the least long-lasting. Since there is no physical material holding the soil in place, the edge will eventually erode. Because of that natural process, this method requires you to recreate your edge occasionally. If that does not sound appealing to you, the next section will provide you with some alternative options.

Consider an Edge Material

Instead of simply cutting the earth with a shovel, you can use a stronger material that will hold your garden bed edge in place for longer. Here are a few of the most common materials that gardeners use to make neat edges on their flower beds:

  • Natural stone
  • Bricks
  • Pavers
  • Synthetic edge materials such as vinyl

Making an edge with these materials will take much longer, but your edge will have greater longevity. This approach also gives you the chance to select a material that will complement and enhance the appearance of your garden.

Why Flower Bed Edges Are Important

Flower bed edges contribute to the overall visual effect that your garden has. However, there is also a practical use for these edges. In most cases, flower beds will exist adjacent to a lawn or some other planted area. A strong edge to the bed serves as a barrier between those two spaces. Regardless of how you make your edge, it will help to prevent grass or other plants from growing into your flower beds. This can make maintenance easier as there is less of a chance that you will need to pull unwanted plants out of your garden.