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Using Color in Your Garden to Create a Colorful Scene

Adding color is a great way to improve the visual appeal of your garden. The issue is that many novices are unaware of how to use color effectively. This article will teach you the basics of color theory and how you can begin using color in your garden.

Color is one element that can bring more life to your garden than nearly any other. However, working with color in the garden is a more challenging task than you might expect. That is why we created this guide to using color in your garden. After reading, you will be ready to arrange plants in a way that inspires awe in all who visit your property.

Learn the Basics of Color Theory

Color is important in many artistic ventures. For that reason, humans over the centuries have developed different theories about colors regarding how they appear to the human eye and how they interact with one another. Understanding the basics of color theory will serve as your first step towards using color in your garden or any other visual pursuit.

Today, we divide colors into several distinct groups. This classification helps us to know how different colors will mix with one another and how to use each one effectively in a design. Here are the basic color groups that you should know:

As you may already know, we create secondary colors by mixing two primary colors. For instance, a mixture of red and blue will yield purple. Knowing about those basics will set you up to begin creating color themes for your garden.

Choose a Color Theme

Consider the color groups we mentioned above to be your building blocks as you attempt to create a design in your garden. Now that you have those basic blocks at your disposal, you can begin to develop a unique color theme for your garden space.

For example, you may be someone who wishes to see bold pops of color in their landscape. In that instance, you will want to use bright colors such as red, yellow, and orange, as these colors are the ones that will catch your eye most quickly.

Alternatively, you may want a more subdued color pallet. In that case, it makes more sense to use cool colors such as blue and purple. While these colors do not call as much attention to themselves as bright colors, they are a great complement to a calm, shaded garden space.

The color that you choose to use is entirely up to you. Your main goal here should be to choose a set of colors that pleases your eye. That way, you can ensure that you will enjoy your final product and that it will be an expression of your aesthetic preferences.

Complement Existing Garden Features

Although we have not explicitly stated this yet, we believe that the most effective way to add color to a garden is by planting flowers. However, there are some other factors that you will need to evaluate. What many people fail to recognize is that their garden already has a color theme. The structures and garden features that exist on your property will contribute to the overall color pattern. Be sure to complement these existing elements as you create your planting plan. Doing so will lead to a more cohesive final product.

Play With Continuity and Contrast

Two other important influences of color design, and design in general, are continuity and contrast. Mastering the proper balance between these two opposing forces takes some time. But when done well, a pleasing mixture of continuity and contrast will make for an astounding floral display.

Using these elements properly is a matter of artistic taste. While that can be difficult to cultivate, there are a few tips you can follow. One reliable approach is to choose one color that will be present in different forms throughout the design. Then choose a contrasting color to appear here and there throughout the garden. This will allow your design to maintain its cohesion while also adding some excitement to the visual experience.

Anticipate Bloom Times and Seasonal Change

Building an understanding of color theory is challenging enough. Now you must also face the inherent challenges of the medium you are using. Unlike in many other art forms, a garden design relies on colors that will change throughout the season.

Anyone who has spent time planting and tending gardens knows that flowering plants each come with a specific bloom time. Because of this, you will need to use careful planning to make sure that the color you want to appear together will do so at the proper time.

For example, if you want to create a flower bed that will show a strong contrast between some purple and yellow flowers, you need to confirm that the purple and yellow flower species you plant have an overlapping bloom time. Otherwise, your color scheme will not have the impressive impact you seek.

Plan Around Your Lifestyle

Our last point proves that timing is an essential concern when planting a colorful garden. But timing is not a topic that is exclusive to bloom times. What you should also consider is your lifestyle as well as when and how you intend to use your garden space.

For your own benefit, you should think about choosing flowers that will bloom during the times of the year that you use your garden the most. If you have a tradition of hosting a Fourth of July party at your home, your best bet would be to choose some summer-blooming plant species. With such an approach, you and your friends will get to see your garden in its best form during the times of year that it matters most.

Don’t Neglect Green

Our final tip on this topic is that you should not neglect green as an important color in your garden. Green is so widespread in the plant world that many people take this hue for granted. However, you might be surprised by home much a swath of green foliage can enhance your garden design.

Green leaves serve as a fantastic backdrop to the colorful flowers you plant. They also offer their own intrigue through interesting shapes and textures. Healthy green leaves also make it so that your garden will look lush and lively even when the flowers are not in bloom.

Flower of the Week: Carnation

Flower of the Week:

Carnation

The carnation is one of the most popular cut flowers and is hardly ever absent from any florist’s shops. Additionally, it’s also the soul of both the countryside and many gardens.

In spring and summer, blooming carnations paint endless colors across gardens. If you happen to own a small greenhouse, they can even bloom three times a year.

Carnations originated from the Mediterranea, where people began selecting and cultivating the flowers as early as 2,000 years ago. Thanks to self-breeding and repeated hybridization of relative species, carnations today are brightly and variedly colored, lushly and gracefully shaped, and rich in varieties that suit either potting or garden planting, many of which are mature cut flower varieties. It’s an easy task to find a variety that resonates with your heart.

The Flower for Mother's Day

The carnation has been tied to maternal love for a long time. According to a Christian legend, carnations showed up on Earth when Jesus marched with the cross on his back. Maria, the Holy Mother, saw Jesus’ suffering and shed tears. When the teardrops touched the earth, carnations sprouted. Since then, pink carnations have symbolized eternal maternal love in people’s hearts.

In 1907, an American named Anna Jarvis chose white carnations to commemorate her late mother. She did this because carnation was her mother’s favorite flower and white signifies the selflessness of maternal love. Under her lobbying, the bill to create a Mother’s Day was approved in 1914.

In the decades to follow, marketing derailed the holiday from its original intent. White carnations became more and more expensive, and to promote sales of carnations in other colors, florists began a campaign touting concepts like “white carnations are for late mothers; a mother should receive red or pink carnations when she’s alive”. For a moment, Anna Jarvis resented those commercial campaigns, but the “new tradition” nonetheless rooted in people’s minds and was passed down for generations.

Beyond Mother's Day

As popular fresh cut flowers, carnations found many more occasions to shine than just Mother’s Day. Cut flowers, in fact, are almost as versatile as roses.

The green carnation is one of just a few reliable and cost-friendly green cut flowers, thus they are associated with the very green St. Patrick’s Day. On this special day, Irish people all over the world wear green carnations to honor their homeland – Ireland. The country is lovingly nicknamed “the Emerald Island”.

Meanwhile, the red carnation is the symbol of the international labor movement, so it’s never absent from the May 1st celebration of International Workers’ Day. Celebrating this holiday is a custom popular in Austria, Italy, and the former Yugoslavs. In some of the formerly socialist European countries, the red carnation is also an appropriate gift on March 8th for International Women’s Day, a custom that lives on to this day in certain regions.

At Oxford University, wearing carnations to take exams is an essential ritual. Students are supposed to wear white carnations for the first exam and red ones for the last, while pink carnations are for all the exams in between. The story goes that initially, a student put a white carnation in an ink bottle filled with red ink, and the flower gradually became dyed red during the exams.

Oscar Wilde and Carnations

Oscar Wilde, the renowned poet was also a big fan of carnations and a man who’d never let go of any chance to make life a bit prettier. His Irish background endeared him more fondly to green carnations.

When his first comedy, Lady Windermere’s Fan, debuted, Wilde let an actor pin a green carnation on his collar point and encouraged every audience to come to the theater wearing a green carnation. After that, the green carnation slowly turned into one of Oscar Wilde’s signature symbols.

Sadly, people back then took advantage of the green carnation image in their attack against Oscar Wilde, targeting his unaccepted homosexuality in that conservative era. Robert Hichens mocked Wilde’s “inappropriate” relationships with young male lovers in his novel, The Green Carnation. Noël Coward also arranged a song called We All Wear a Green Carnation in his most famous musical, Bitter Sweet.

However, that time has passed and circumstances have now changed. The negative images associated with homosexuality are gradually fading away, and green carnations have become a positive symbol of the LGBTQ community. More and more gay people and allies now wear green carnations with pride.

Can I Grow Carnations?

Carnation cultivars are rich in varieties. For beginners, the varieties suitable for potting or garden planting are easier to start with. In general, whether carnations grow well highly depends on the environment, in which the most key factors are soil and temperature.

Loose and fertile soil with good water drainage allows the plant’s root system to grow adequately. Sandy loam is one of the best soil choices, while heavy clay soil is less friendly.

Carnation is relatively demanding when it comes to temperature. It likes cooler environments, and the best temperature range for its growth is between 19-21°C. Overly hot or cold temperatures could both lead to growth slowing or even ceasing. To guarantee the best growing environment, the temperature variation between day and night should also be controlled to stay within 10°C.

Under the proper temperature and lighting, carnations can flourish. Sufficient sunlight can promote early blooming and also facilitate more flower bud differentiation. Therefore, remember to expose your carnations to plenty of sunshine!

Size: 80-150 cm in height

Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zone 3-9

Light duration: Full sun

Soil: well-drained fertile and loose soil, neutral to slightly alkaline

Bloom time: Mid-spring through summer

How to Select a Design Style for Your Garden

As is the case with many types of design, landscape design includes many different stylistic options. As a gardener, you should be aware of the options at your disposal. After exploring a few of the most popular design styles, you will be ready to transform your garden.

Sifting through the multitude of garden design styles can be a daunting task. With so many stylistic options available, the idea of settling on one becomes overwhelming for even the most experienced designer. To make matters more manageable for you, we’ve created this article to help you find the right style for your landscape.

The Importance of Design Intent

Let’s start by discussing why it is crucial to have a design style in mind. While some people are quick to begin making changes to their landscape without an overarching goal, having a clear design intent is a much better approach. You can always make changes to your design as you work through your project. But if you have a vision of your final product, it will act as a roadmap for your work. A solidified design intent also helps to ensure that your landscape design will be cohesive and appealing when you are finished.

Understand Exiting Styles

One of the best ways to narrow down the design styles that apply to your yard is to evaluate the existing styles on your property. The most prominent structure you should consider is your house and any other buildings on your property. However, you may also have some existing garden features that belong to a particular design style. Do your best to match your new landscape design style to the styles that already exist on your lot. This will prevent any incongruities between what you will add and what is already there. The end result will be a unified design style that is present throughout your property.

Consider the Local Environment

Plants are one of the most vital elements of any landscape design. And every plant has a distinct set of growing requirements. You’ll need to keep those requirements in mind as you browse different design styles. Occasionally you may find that the style you desire is not appropriate for the region in which you live. For example, if you try to create a tropical garden in an area with frigid winter temperatures, you are unlikely to meet success. That is why it is so essential to understand your local environment and the plants and design styles that are suitable for that environment.

Follow Your Personal Taste

After you get an idea of the existing styles on your property and the potential limitations of your region, it is time to match your landscape design style to your personal taste. This is often one of the most enjoyable aspects of planning a garden or landscape design. After all, you will be the person to look at and use your landscape most often, so you should strive to create something that is enticing to you.

A Few Common Garden Design Styles

To help you find what is right for you, we have included brief descriptions of some of the most popular garden styles. There are many more styles out there, but this selection will give you a glimpse into what you might be able to achieve in your yard. Read on to become familiar with each style and determine your preference.

Formal Garden

Formal gardens are all about order. They usually feature straight lines and right angles. These gardens need a lot of maintenance to keep their appearance pristine. This maintenance can include regular pruning and trimming to preserve the ideal shape of your plants.

Cottage Garden

Cottage gardens tend to be informal and full of many different types of plants. These can include bold flowers as well as herbs and vegetables. The result is a garden that is useful, inviting, and bursting with color.

Japanese Garden

Japanese gardens are places of peace. These areas are meant for meditation and often include well-manicured trees, mosses, and step-stone paths. Japanese gardens can appear whimsical, but they usually follow a strict set of traditional design principles to achieve their iconic look.

Modern/Minimalist Garden

Modern gardens often emphasize simplicity. That simplicity can come in the form of a limited plant pallet or a set of carefully selected materials. Minimalist gardens often make use of regular shapes to create straightforward forms, with contrast coming in the form of texture and color. The end result is a striking and stylish garden design.

Mediterranean Garden

This garden style is ideal for anyone who lives where the weather is consistently how and relatively dry. Mediterranean gardens are home to plants that love those conditions. These gardens usually have patio spaces and walkways and attention-grabbing garden elements such as pergolas and clay pots.

Pollinator Garden

If you love the sight of butterflies and birds, a pollinator garden is what your yard needs. These gardens typically have astounding flowers that will attract your eye and the attention of pollinator species. Creating a pollinator garden can be extremely rewarding as well. Not only will you love the appearance of such a garden, but you can also have some peace of mind knowing that you are doing your part to help the natural world.

Naturalistic Garden

Naturalistic gardens mimic the environment in which they exist. Whether you live in a woodland, a desert, or anywhere in between, taking cues from nature is what will allow you to design one of the gardens. The benefit of this approach is that your garden will flow naturally with its surroundings. This is also an opportunity to plant native species to support regional ecosystems.

Kitchen Garden

A kitchen garden is the garden of choice for any avid cook. If you have dreamed of picking fresh produce and herbs to use in your culinary adventures, this garden style will make that dream come true. The key to creating a great kitchen garden is to locate it close to your house for easy access and to fill the garden with your favorite ingredients.

Low-Maintenance Garden

For some, the best garden is one that calls for the least garden work. While there is no such thing as a no-maintenance garden, there is a garden style that will keep maintenance low. Low-maintenance gardens include plants that thrive without your attention. They also feature materials such as gravel that are easy to maintain with little to no effort.

Flower of the Week: Peruvian Lily

Flower of the Week:

Peruvian Lily

The Peruvian lily or Lily of the Inca（Alstroemeria × hybrida）originated from South Africa is a perennial ornamental plant. It is one of the most common types of cut-flower. Their petals roll upwards and the inside layers of the flowers have purple or red line-shaped spots. These spots are their key characteristics.

The Peruvian lily has different colors of flowers. The most common are orange, yellow, pink, watermelon red, purple, and white. The variety of colors make them easy to be mixed with any color scheme. This makes them common guests of every-day flowers and often appear in wedding flowers and valentine’s day flowers.

In gardens, Peruvian lilies are well-suited to be planted at the borders of flower beds. As a succulent rhizome rhizocarpous plant, they are easy to cultivate and reproduce, which makes them a good choice for beginning gardeners. Although they have bold spots and lines, Peruvian lilies are not poisonous. They are safe for dogs, cats, and horses.

Can I Grow Peruvian Lily Well?

Peruvian lilies are somewhat strict about the requirement of their environments. They like warm and moist environment with ample sun. Avoid flooding and avoid moving the plant. It cannot sustain cold temperatures nor does it sustain hot temperatures.

Their peak growing season is usually in between early spring and early summer. As soon as the temperature exceeds 32°C (90°F), Peruvian lilies are likely to grow blind stems that do not bear flowers. Therefore, in regions with hot summers, they are more suited to be planted at planting spots that do not receive sun exposure in the afternoon.

In the hottest summer, the Peruvian lily can enter a hibernation period. At this time, reduce watering and stop fertilization while keeping them dry. In late summer when the weather turns cooler, they will recover their growth. At this time, reestablish the regular watering procedure.

Peruvian lilies have rhizomes that are below the ground, with latent buds on them. If planting them in gardens, they are likely to develop and expand. You can dig out some portions of rhizome with latent buds for reproduction. The best opportunity to reproduce with latent buds is in late winter. Of course, if you give the rhizomes to your neighbors, they will be welcomed. Because of the expansion of the rhizomes every late winter, Peruvian lilies in pots need to be moved to new pots.

How Can I Have High-Quality Cut-Flowers?

If maintained well, Peruvian lilies have abundant blossoms. Collecting a portion as cut-flowers to decorate indoors is a good choice. When cutting flowers, pick ones that have 2-3 flowers on one scape that have just started to bloom. In the year of planting, it is recommended to cut at the scape using a scissor. From the second year of planting, you can even directly pick the scape and pull it off.

If you are purchasing this flower at a store there are three tips that can help you select fresh Peruvian lilies:

How to Lengthen Peruvian Lily's Bottle Life?

Usually, the vase life of Peruvian Lilies is 7-10 days. If you are willing to give it some care, its vase life can be extended to half a month.

Before putting them into a vase or container, pay attention to water quality. Peruvian Lilies are sensitive to the chlorine residues in water. Therefore, if you are using tap water, let it sit in the sun for a few hours. What’s more, you need to thoroughly clean the vase and scissor you use with this flower. Use a clean plant scissor to cut off all leaves below the water.

After adding them to the vase, change the water once a day. Every time when the water is changed, cut off 2-3 cm (around 1 inch), and dissolve fresh flower food in the water. Keeping the room temperature between 20-25°C and avoiding direct sunlight can also extend the vase life of Peruvian lilies.

Please note, Peruvian lilies are sensitive to ethylene. Therefore, keep them away from fruits and vegetables because many fruits and vegetables release ethylene during or after ripening.

Size: 1-3 ft in height

Hardiness: USDA Zone 7-10

Sunlight: Full sun, afternoon shade in hot areas

Soil: Acidic, well-drained, fertile

Bloom time: Late spring to summer

Flower of the Week: Orange Daylily

Flower of the Week:

Orange Daylily

Like the beautiful garden plant, orange daylily is often called a lily, but it is not the common lily. The orange flowers simply bear a similar resemblance. Orange daylily is native to Asia. Because of its beautiful flowers, easy maintenance, and strong vitality, orange daylily is often called “the perfect perennial plant” by gardeners. Some may wonder why such beautiful flowers fail to appear in the fresh-cut flower market alongside lilies. The answer is that daylily, as its name suggests, only blooms for one day.

Brief Cultivation History of Orange Daylily

In summer, warm and bright orange daylily flowers bloom in many gardens, making them very attractive. Every year, many new beautiful varieties of orange daylily are selectively bred in Holland by dedicated gardeners who love them. Orange daylily is one of the most highly hybridized plants, with more than 80,000 varieties, and the number is still rising. Hybridization experts have greatly enriched the color range of orange daylily, from the original yellow and orange to vibrant red and purple, and even some colors close to green, black, and white.

In addition to this variety of colors, orange daylily has also been cultivated into a number of gorgeous polyploid varieties with double petals. Many orange daylilies have also won the highest award of Stout Silver Medal and the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

The double-leaf variety of orange daylily

Orange Daylily Is Not Native to North America

You may think a common orange daylily is a native wildflower in North America, but sadly, it is not. Most orange daylilies come from Asia. The ancient Asian orange variety is called Hemerocallis fulva. They are very popular and found nearly everywhere on the continent. In most of the United States and parts of Canada, orange daylily has escaped the walls of the garden and become an invasive species. It spreads rapidly through vegetative growth to trees, fields, roadsides, and ditches. As a result, it has actually acquired another name: ditch lily.

Orange daylily in the wild

Dangerous Delicacy

Interestingly, in the Chinese and South Korean hometowns of orange daylily, it is more than just a beautiful flower. For centuries, orange daylily has been picked and steam-cooked as part of the Asian diet. By comparison, Hemerocallis citrina, a relative of orange daylily, is only eaten occasionally by East Asians. Yet, it is actually Hemerocallis citrina that is planted and used as an ingredient in various flower vegetable dishes. It has a special flavor of citron and has been cultivated and eaten for more than 2,000 years in China. Hemerocallis are generally toxic, so East Asians don’t eat the fresh flowers. Instead, they pick the buds that are not open in the morning, boil them, dry them in the sun, and then use them to make soup.

Hemerocallis citrina

The toxicity of orange daylily and Hemerocallis citrina both come from colchicine, a deadly chemical carried by many Liliaceae plants. If you eat 0.1-0.2 mg of colchicine (equivalent to 100 grams of fresh cauliflower), you will be poisoned. Colchicine can stimulate our digestive tract, affect our central nervous system (especially the respiratory system), and cause nausea, vomiting, and hypothermia. If you eat too much, it may be fatal! Additionally, colchicine can also affect the function of the liver and kidneys, resulting in irreversible damage. Obviously, you shouldn’t eat fresh orange daylily.

Boiled, dried, and then used to make daylily stew

Orange Daylily in East Asian Culture

In addition to eating, orange daylily is often seen in the literature and paintings of East Asia. In China’s traditional culture, orange daylily is thought to make people forget about their worries. Before a man left home for future endeavors, he would plant orange daylily in front of his mother’s window, hoping that his mother would forget about her worries. For this reason, orange daylily has become a symbol of motherhood in China.

The Difference Between Daylily and Lily

Although Lilium is the true lily, many people also call daylily a lily. In casual conversation, this isn’t a problem. However, planting, cutting, and potting daylilies and lilies require very different methods. Mistake one plant for the other and your daylily will wilt overnight. It is important for this reason to be able to distinguish between daylily and lily. Fortunately, it is pretty simple to do so.

First of all, a single flower of orange daylily can only bloom for one day, while a single flower of lily can last for several days. Additionally, orange daylily has scalloped clumps of leaves from which many flower stems grow. By contrast, lily leaves grow around the whole stem in whorls or spirals, and there is only one stem.

Orange daylily is featured with scalloped leaves, from which many flower stems are drawn

Lily leaves grow around the whole stem, in whorls or spirals, with only one stem.

Finally, we can also look at their roots – although they are all perennial plants, orange daylilies have a fat root, while the lily has a bulb with overlapping scales. This is quite noticeable when you purchase the plants.

Can I Grow a Decent Orange Daylily?

Everyone likes orange daylily, because there is no perennial plant that is as easy to maintain, and the flowers are so gorgeous and lively! They are low-maintenance and can grow in almost any place with sunlight or shade. They always bloom, and the luxurious branches and leaves block any weeds trying to emerge nearby. The only required task is to divide the plants every five years so that they can blossom better. It is important to note that the orange daylily is toxic. Wear gloves to prevent allergic reactions when planting and dividing plants.

Size: 1 to 4 feet tall

Hardiness: Zones 3 through 10

Sunlight: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Soil: loose and well-drained

Bloom Time: summer and fall

Flower of the Week: Garden Rose

Flower of the Week:

Garden Rose

It’s hard to imagine that there is such an elaborate library of variety in garden roses, the popular garden plant – from shrubs to vines, from rose-scented tea to elegant cut rose, from rose tea to essential rose oil. The garden rose has been deeply grounded in our lives, admired by generations of breeders, and conquered both Eastern and Western gardeners from different cultural backgrounds. In fact, both the United States and England use the garden rose as their national flower.

Places of Interest

1. San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, California, USA

Located in San Jose, California, the garden is home to more than 4,000 grass clumps and hundreds of rose varieties. You will find it hard to believe that this rose garden was originally an orchard full of plums. In 2010, the garden won the first “America’s Best Rose Garden” contest. From April to November every year, you can see different kinds of flowers. Undoubtedly, if you wish to see the spectacle of your life, May is your best bet with all roses gracefully blooming and exuding aromatic fragrance. Furthermore, a leisurely walk in the garden is also a decent option to relax and you can even get a detailed map at the entrance to learn the names of these roses in detail.

2. Royal National Rose Society Gardens, Hertfordshire, UK

As the name suggests, the Royal National Rose Society Gardens is the official garden of the Royal National Rose Society, located at its headquarters near St. Albans. After four years of closing and redesigning, it finally reopened in 2007, containing more than 7,000 plants of 2,500 varieties. Features of the park include the display of rose related history and roses with companion plantings and designs. If you want to plant garden roses in your own little garden, you can definitely get your inspiration from this place.

3. The City of Sakura Rose Garden, Chiba, Japan

From Narita Airport on the outskirts of the Metropolitan of Tokyo, it takes only 30 minutes to reach this famous rose collection. Although it is only 20 years old, its vintage style is very enchanting and is highly prized by authorities around the world. The traditional rose varieties here give off on outstanding aroma, far surpassing the modern hybrid varieties which usually have no fragrance. Among the thousands of roses in the park, the world-famous Rose breeder in the 20th century, Seizo Suzuki, donated 200 rare varieties, including many Japanese, Chinese, and other Asian varieties.

Brief History of Rose

The garden rose has a long history. It symbolizes love, beauty, war, and politics.

According to fossil evidence, the garden rose is 35 million years old. In nature, there are about 150 species of garden roses in the whole Euroasia, North America and North Africa. Rose gardens for viewing purposes started its cultivation in China about 5,000 years ago.

Lady Banks’ rose, originated from China, a rare yellow rose

During the Roman period, garden roses were widely cultivated in the Middle East. They were used as raw material for medicine, perfume, and confetti in celebration activities. The Roman aristocrats also built a large-scale public rose garden in the south of Rome. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the popularity of the garden rose had its ups and downs in the gardening trend at that time.

War of the Roses

In the middle of the 15th century, a civil war broke out in England to fight for the throne. The two rivals in the royal House of Plantagenet – the House of Lancaster and the House of York – engaged in many wars in 32 years. The war ended with the marriage of Henry VII of the Lancaster family and Elizabeth of York. It also ended the rule of the French Canary Dynasty in England and opened the new rule of the Welsh Tudor Dynasty. This famous war in history is called the War of the Roses. After that, England’s Middle Ages ended and entered a new Renaissance.

Framed print after 1908 painting by Henry Payne of the scene in the Temple Garden from Shakespeare’s play Henry VI, Part 1, where supporters of the rival factions pick either red or white roses

In fact, the name “War of the Roses” was not used at that time, but in the 16th century, Shakespeare marked the beginning of the war with the plucking of two garden roses in the historical play Henry VI. The name comes from the family emblem chosen by the two families – the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York.

In order to commemorate the war, England took the garden rose as the national flower and changed the Royal insignia into the red and white rose – a combination of the two family insignia.

Queen Josephine's Garden

In the 17th century, garden roses were very popular. The royal family even used them as legal tender. They were used for barter and payment. In the 19th century, Napoleon’s wife Josephine collected a large number of roses at Chateau de Malmaison, seven miles west of Paris. This garden became the creative background of the famous plant illustrator Pierre Joseph Redout é. In 1824, he completed his watercolor collection Les rose, which is still considered one of the best plant illustrations.

Rosa centifolia foliacea From Les Roses, Pierre-Joseph Redouté

The Birth of the First Modern Rose

At the end of the 18th century, China rose was introduced into Europe from China. Before that, the native rose in Europe only bloomed once, but China rose had the decent nature of a long blooming period, repeated blooming, and even a rare yellow rose, which aroused great interest of breeders. In 1867, in Queen Josephine’s rose garden, the world’s first hybrid of China rose and European rose was born. The famous rose hybridizer Jean-Baptiste André Guillot successfully bred Rosa ‘la France’, the star that changed history, which also marked the arrival of the modern rose.

Rosa ‘La France’, the first modern rose variety, still popular to this day.

Can I Grow a Decent Garden Rose?

Through the efforts of generations of breeders, the garden rose finally has a rich variety of appearance and friendly prices, and now appear in all gardening greenhouses. However, the maintenance of the garden rose has always been a problem. After all, the garden rose is too fragile, easily gets sick and grows yellow leaves. As long as you master the following points, your garden rose can easily sprout healthy and beautiful flowers.

First of all, don’t blindly pursue new varieties. You should get familiarized with the actual situation of your garden or balcony, and choose a more suitable variety. Many garden roses like to have more than five hours of full sunlight and good ventilation every day, so it is very important to plant them in open and ventilated places. If your balcony is enclosed, it’s hard to grow garden roses well. For a small area of the balcony, you can choose some miniature garden rose varieties.

In the season when the garden rose will be in full bloom, you can apply more fertilizer. After the flower is withered, the remaining flowers need to be cut immediately to preserve nutrients and promote other flowers to bloom. Try to prune it on sunny days so that the wound is less susceptible to infection.

Garden roses can easily produce diseases and pests. Compared with spraying a lot of pesticides when the pest problem is serious, the better way is to carefully observe and prevent it in advance. If there are diseases and insect pests, it is also necessary to find out the types of pests and select the appropriate control.

Size: From tiny garden rose to rose vine, the size varies greatly with varieties

Hardiness: Zones 5 through 9

Sunlight: Full sun

Soil: Fertile, well-drained, pH 6.0-7.0

Bloom Time: From spring to autumn

Flower of the Week: Wisteria

Flower of the Week:

Wisteria

In April when bulbous flowers fade, there isn’t a more astounding scene than a wall full of wisteria! Their strong stem climbs on the wall, and event though they do not have that many green leaves, they bloom astonishing blossoms at the end of their stems. The pleasant smell flows down with the beautiful flowers in the air, forming a huge purple waterfall.

Butterfly Shaped Flowers From the East

If you observe it carefully, you will find that each long inflorescence consists of small butterfly-shaped flowers. They look a lot like pea-blossom. This is because both wisteria and pea-blossoms belong to Leguminosae. Wisteria is from Eastern Asia, and Japan and China are their main origins. These types of perennial large deciduous vine plants often bloom in April. When the bloom season is about to complete they grow feather-shaped compound leaves.

Small butterfly-shaped flowers of Wisteria

Wisteria grows very fast and can climb to 10 meters tall and expand for 20 meters. To sustain their weight, it is necessary to plant them under firm buttresses or walls. Wisteria needs 3 years to develop from being planted to blooming. As soon as they start to bloom, they will contribute beautiful flowers every year. It is a never-to-be-forgotten sight in late Spring.

Seed pods of wisteria

Wisteria Map

There are many great places to see wisteria in the US. For example, Central Park, New York or Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania. Of course, there is also the well known Sierra Madre Wisteria Festival: Here you can see the World’s Largest Wisteria Vine verified by the Guinness Book of World Records!

Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania

If you happen to be traveling in Japan in the spring, both the Ashikaga Flower Park in Tochigi and Kawachi Wisteria Garden have world-famous views of wisteria.

A great wisteria blossoms at Ashikaga Flower Park in Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan.

Which Type of Wisteria Is Suitable For Me?

There are three types of wisterias in gardening, including Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis), Japanese wisteria (W. floribunda) and silky wisteria (W. venusta). Wild-type wisterias’ flowers are purple to blueish purple. But among the massive cultivars, there are also white or pale pink varieties, even with streaked petals or double flowers.

White Wisteria

Among these, the Chinese wisteria is the type that can sustain coldness the best for gardening. Its inflorescence is approximately 30 cm and is best suited to be planted at the side of walls.
The Japanese wisteria is originated from Japan. It has a long inflorescence that can reach a surprising 4 feet (120 cm). It is best suited to be grown on top of pavilions or rafter brackets. When the flowers bloom, the flowers drape down to create a magnificent scene.
Silky wisteria's inflorescence is significantly shorter with a length of 10-15 cm. Their plants are also smaller with a height of 3-6 meters. They are suited to grow next to a wall or can be trimmed and shaped to be grown in large containers.
There are also cross breed species like beautiful wisteria (Wisteria × formosa). Beautiful wisterias have inflorescences of approximately 20 cm. They are suited for being planted against a wall or be planted as a Bonzai.

Regardless of which wisteria you pick, when you are purchasing seedlings, please make sure you select grafted seedlings. Not only do they have a stronger stress resistance, the timeframe for the number of years between planting and bearing flowers is also shorter. Usually, it is within 3 years. On the other hand, planting with seeds to developing into seedlings would usually take 5 years for the plant to grow flowers.

Can I Grow Wisteria Well?

Wisterias have fragrant and beautiful flowers that can attract butterflies while they are deer resistant. What’s more, luckily, wisterias are not hard to grow. Their adaptability to the soil quality is strong and can grow in a certain range of soil, from slightly acidic and slightly alkaline. Ample sunlight can let wisterias bear more flowers. Wisterias are not tolerant of transplanting, and therefore it is critical to select the best place to grow from the beginning.

Wisterias have longevity and grow quickly. Even if they are not pruned, they can bind and climb, and cover the areas they have grown to. However, if you want to enjoy a large number of flowers in limited spaces, you would need regular pruning to control its size and shape, and to promote abundant blossoms. To ensure the best effect it is recommended to prune wisteria at least twice a year (once in the summer and once in the winter).

Last but not least, the whole wisteria plant contains poisonous alkaloids. Avoid accidental ingestion of wisteria by both humans or pets.

Size: 3-10m (10-33 ft) in height, 1.2-20m (4-66 ft) in spread

Hardiness: USDA Zones 3-9

Sunlight: full sun, partial shade

Soil: well-drained and moist soil, moderately fertile

Bloom time: spring to early summer

All About Earthworms: Is It Good For the Soil?

Did you know that if you find earthworms in your garden, that your soil is healthy? Earthworms help to aerate the soil and to add valuable nutrients in the form of worm castings. These castings provide your plants with some of the essential nutrients they need.

Most seasoned gardeners smile when they uncover an earthworm in their garden. It’s both an indication that their soil is healthy and contains organic matter and that their plants will thrive happily.

Earthworms are, indeed, good for the soil in a variety of ways. Their presence helps to unlock nutrients and aerate the soil. As a result, this helps to improve drainage and the soil structure itself.

Here are the benefits of having earthworms in your soil.

Earthworms Unlock Nutrients in the Soil

Earthworms are voracious consumers. In fact, they can consume half their body weight each and every day. Mostly, earthworms consume organic matter such as leaves, manure, grass and dead roots.

As they eat their way through the soil, they digest the organic material and release it back into the soil as castings. These castings are rich in nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus, magnesium and calcium.

Sometimes, when these nutrients are already present in the soil, they may be locked up tightly and not easily available to the plant roots. However, worm castings are easily available for the roots of the plants growing in the soil to take up and use.

This means that plants growing in soil that contains earthworms will grow healthy and strong because they have plenty of nutrients to uptake from the soil.

Earthworms Aerate the Soil

You may not be aware that plant roots require air as well as water and nutrients. Without sufficient air pockets in the soil, the roots would suffocate. In fact, you may have noticed that plants growing in dense clay soils do not thrive as well as plants that are growing in a more open soil.

This is where earthworms come to the rescue. They move through the soil by building tunnels and consuming organic matter as they go. These tunnels naturally create air pockets in the soil and are usually also filled with worm castings.

This benefits the plants by not only providing sufficient air for the roots but also additional nutrients. In addition, these tunnels also allow the water to move more freely through the soil to get to the plant roots.

Earthworms Improve the Drainage in the Soil

Due to their tunneling in the soil, earthworms create extra spaces that the water can travel through. As a result, this increases the soil’s drainage and means that the water can better reach the roots of the plants rather than sitting on top of the soil.

This is especially beneficial for heavy clay soils that have the tendency to bind the water and restrict its movement. In fact, soils that contain a healthy colony of worms can have a water infiltration that is six times greater than soils without worms.

Earthworms Improve the Soil Structure

It has been shown scientifically that earthworms do increase the soil structure and also add more friable topsoil. There are certain species of worms that like to live near the surface of the soil.

As these worms feed and produce their castings, they naturally increase the soil level. Therefore, soils that contain many earthworms will have a deeper layer of nutrient-rich topsoil that helps plants to grow faster and healthier.

How to Encourage More Earthworms Into Your Garden

If you want to benefit from having more earthworms in your garden, there are a few things that you can do.

Add a layer of organic matter. Adding compost to your topsoil will give the worms plenty of food to munch on. This, in turn, will increase the number of worms that inhabit your garden.
Make sure the pH of the soil is close to neutral. Earthworms don’t like soils that are too acid or alkaline. Therefore, ensure you soil has a close-to-neutral pH. You can add lime to increase the pH level of the soil. This also increases the calcium levels in the soil which is beneficial to the worms.
Use organic fertilizers. Many commercially produced fertilizers are highly acidic and this is not good for the worms. Instead, try using organic fertilizers such as animal manures. The worms will love it and reward you with a plentiful supply of castings.

Final Thoughts

It’s no secret to seasoned gardeners that earthworms are beneficial to the soil. Therefore, when you see some worms as you’re digging, make sure that you don’t harm them. Just cover them back up and let them get on with their task of improving your soil.

Earthworms release valuable nutrients to your soil and they aerate it as they go. This gives your plants a lovely healthy environment to thrive and grow.

Flower of the Week: Japanese Meadowsweet

Flower of the Week:

Japanese Meadowsweet

Japanese meadowsweet (Spiraea japonica) is a common deciduous shrub. Its small, adorable flowers bloom in clusters from the tip of new branches every year. Wild Japanese meadowsweet blossoms in pink, but through years of selection and cultivation, horticulturalists have domesticized varieties with light pink, rose red, white, and purple flowers. The leaves of the plant also vary in color, including bluish-green, light yellowish-green, yellow, and brownish-red.

A Jack-of-All-Trades in the Garden

Japanese meadowsweet has thin leaves and lush flowers. It grows robustly, with strong branching and excellent response to pruning. Among its cultivars are dwarfed varieties as short as 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall and giant species as tall as 1.5 meters (5 feet).

A Japanese meadowsweet variety with colorful leaves

In garden landscaping, Japanese meadowsweet enjoys a reputation for being a Jack-of-all-trades, fitting perfectly in flower beds, flower borders, and lawn corners, or by the side of landscape rocks, water banks, and stone formations. It can embellish an open lawn with a single plant, or be cluster-pruned into a sphere or semi-sphere to harmonize colors with vividly-hued perennial flowers. Some varieties tolerate slight shade and grow successfully next to taller deciduous broad-leaf trees.

Be Aware Of Invasions!

Japanese meadowsweet was introduced to the U.S. in the late 1800s as an ornamental plant. Due to its ability for self-propagation, superb adaptability, and tendency to expand, the USDA has been alerted about this species. Currently, the federal government does not consider it an invasive plant, but the State of Pennsylvania does. Please check with your local forestry department before planting it, and confine its expansion after planting.

Is Japanese Meadowsweet Herbal Medicine?

No. Many people confuse Japanese meadowsweet for meadowsweet, partly because of their identical names in English. They are both in the Rosaceae family and are not so distantly related; they even look rather alike at a glance. But their similarity is limited to the appearance only.

Meadowsweet blooms

The scientific name of meadowsweet is Filipendula Ulmaria. Historically, meadowsweet has been used as a herbal medicine for headache or anti-inflammation because of its methyl salicylic acid. It was utilized by Bayer Pharmaceuticals for its famous methyl salicylic acid formulation until it was replaced by a milder salicylic acid formulation called acetylsalicylic acid, also known as aspirin.

On the contrary, Japanese meadowsweet isn’t rich in methyl salicylic acid. In fact, aspirin pills are apparently more effective as a medicine.

Can I Grow Japanese Meadowsweet Well?

Japanese meadowsweet is easy to care for and friendly to beginning gardeners. One of its cultivation advantages is its high tolerance to different soil types, even heavy clay. Spring and autumn are good seasons to plant it, and the ideal planting site should have good drainage and plenty of sunshine (at least six hours of direct light daily). If the site is in the shade of deciduous trees, autumn may be a better season to plant Japanese meadowsweet, because it won’t have to compete for sunshine with taller, leafy trees.

Water newly-planted Japanese meadowsweet when the surface soil turns dry. After the plants root and grow, they develop more tolerance to wet and dry soil conditions. Japanese meadowsweet doesn’t rely much on fertilizers; one dosage of slow-release fertilizer in early spring will keep it lush for a year.

Deadhead the bushes after blooming to encourage reblooming. Prune them even during winter dormancy; Japanese meadowsweet is a fast grower and recovers quickly after pruning. Its flowers bloom once on the newly-sprouted branches each year. Pruning produces plentiful young branches, delivering more blossoms.

Size: 2-6 feet in height, 4-7 feet in spread

Hardiness: USDA Zone 3-8

Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade

Soil: Well-drained, neutral to slightly acidic

Bloom time: Late spring to summer

Flower of the Week: Horse Chestnut

Flower of the Week:

Horse Chestnut

Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) is a common ornamental, deciduous tree. With expanding branches and dense shades, they grow perfectly as street border trees or ornamental trees in yards.

Horse chestnut’s compound leaves are palmate. Each leaf has 5-7 serrate-margined leaflets, which makes it easy to identify. However, these trees are more impressive in April and May each year when the flowering season arrives.

Each spring, horse chestnut blooms with large numbers of white flowers. In different maturity stages, the centers of those flowers may look hot pink or yellow, and present a truly graceful picture. The white flowers group into big, eye-catching conical inflorescences that are about 20-30 cm long and cluster on the branch tips. Certain cultivar varieties even bloom in light yellow or pink, earning even higher ornamental value.

Horse chestnut originated from the Balkan Peninsula and is closely related to the Buckeyes from North America (including 9 species such as A. glabra, A. californica, etc.). The Northern American variety’s flowering season takes place much later than its European cousin and is more cold-resistant.

A Star Among Gardening Trees

Before its introduction into Europe, horse chestnut had already garnered fame to the East in Turkey, where people medicalized the fruits to treat broken wind in horses. That’s why this tree is called “horse chestnut” in English.

Britain was the first country to introduce horse chestnut into horticultural practices, with use dating back to 1580. Thanks to its adaptability to the Western European climate, beautiful shape, and delightful flowers, the tree immediately gained popularity in every Western European country once introduced. Crossing oceans, horse chestnuts are also now widely planted in New Zealand and Canada.

Outside the gate of the Trinity College Cambridge stands an ancient horse chestnut. More of them flank the famous Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris as border trees. Horse chestnut has even become the city symbol of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

There was another famous horse chestnut in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, called the “Anne Frank Tree”. During WWII, Anne Frank’s family took shelter in the vicinity of this tree. During her two years hiding away from the sun, the tree was the only thing outside that Anne could see, and it was mentioned in the Diary of Anne Frank quite a few times. Unfortunately, this tree fell in a windstorm in 2010.

Is "Hose Chestnut" Edible?

The shells of horse chestnut’s fruits are aculeate and crack open in the fall when the fruits ripen, exposing brown, chestnut-like seeds. The fruits often fall off the trees and scatter everywhere.

However, no matter what people may want to believe or what excuse they make – “It looks just like a chestnut!” or “People say the bark and fruit of horse chestnut are used to extract medicine” – the seeds of horse chestnuts are unfortunately inedible. They contain a toxin called Aesculin, which is poisonous to humans.

However, thanks to the horse chestnut seeds’ bitter taste, accidental consumption rarely happens. Though they share the same English name and look similar, horse chestnut is not related to chestnut. Just take a look at their leaves and you can tell the difference right away. Horse chestnut leaves are large, palmate, compound leaves, while chestnut leaves are oblong, simple leaves.

Leaves and fruits of the chestnut tree

Distinguish between them next time you go camping, and don’t pick the wrong nuts to bring home.

Let's Play With Its Seeds

Though inedible, the seeds of horse chestnut are far from being useless. At a minimum, they are fun to play with.

In the UK, horse chestnut seeds are called “conkers”. Once they are ripened in the fall, children play with these seeds in a traditional game called “conker”, where they drill a hole in a horse chestnut seed and fix it to a string. Then, children throw their own seeds to hit the string-pendant seed.

This seemingly simple game is not exclusive to kids. Adults love it, too. Since 1965, a “World Conker Championships” has been organized and held annually in Ashton, Northamptonshire.

The origin of the word “conker” is also interesting. Some people believe it means “hard”, originating from the French word “conque” which means “conch”. But others insist the word derives from a different French word, “cogner“, which means “hit”. It remains a mystery to this day whether the game inspired the naming of the seed, or the seed named the game.

Can I Grow Horse Chestnut?

Horse chestnut likes light. It is slightly shade-enduring and rather cold-resistant. It loves deep soil with good drainage and can also tolerate barren soil. It can adapt to a wide range of soil types, and only has medium requirements for fertilizing and watering. Because the trees tend to lose vitality after fruit harvest, it’s best to purchase and plant commercial, nursery-grown stock for a better rate of survival. The seedling needs to come with a rootball 7 times the trunk diameter at breast height. One-year-old and older trees can be planted in early spring, but once rooted they can’t be transplanted again. Pay attention to watering and fertilization of the plants. Apply organic fertilizers to the adult trees each winter, after the leaves shed.

Horse chestnut doesn’t do well in the heat but is quite cold-resistant. It secretes viscous resin to protect the leaf buds from frost damage. In spring, the resin melts off, and branches sprout from the horseshoe leaf scars. Though the 2003 summer heat in Europe only lasted a short week (Paris had a high temperature above 37°C for just three days), plenty of horse chestnuts turned yellow early, and some died entirely. Thus, in summer, take precautional measures to protect the trees from getting sunburnt.

Pruning and beautifying are best done each winter after the leaves fall, or each spring before budding. The treetop of horse chestnut is naturally round, so it’s best to keep the original top shape, and the general principle is to keep the treetop well-ventilated and pervious to light.

Size: 70-80 ft in height, 40-50 ft in the spread

Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zone 4-8

Light duration: Full sun to partial shade

Soil: Moist but well-drained soil

Bloom time: Spring