Flowers are a beautiful way to brighten a garden and a classic symbol of love and affection. Some flowers are highly allergenic, so you may have to experiment a little to find the flowers that don’t irritate your allergies, but once you do you will be able to enjoy the beauty and fresh smell of flowers in your home without sneezing and suffering from watery, itchy eyes and without allergy pills.
Animal pest problems occur in all seasons of the garden, but fall and spring are peak periods for plunder. Luckily these seasons, and fall in particular, are also the best times for beleaguered gardeners to mount a defense against foraging four-legged gourmands such as deer, squirrels, rabbits, voles, moles and other assorted animal pests. In fall, a good garden clean-up tops the list of animal deterrents.
Certain varieties of perennials can be used to create new plants. This is accomplished by the use of various propagation methods. The general methods used include cuttings, division of old clumps, propagation from leaves, and budding. Some varieties can be propagated by a number of methods; for others, only one way works.
Cutting is the process of removing a small portion of a growing plant and treating it so that roots are developed.
Mulch is a term used in the agriculture and gardening industry to refer to a protective layer of covering placed on top of the soil to tame the effects of the climate. Mulch can be composed of natural or synthetic materials or the combination of both to form a wide assortment of covering substance.
Farmers and gardeners cover soils with mulch for various purposes.
All plants need nutrients to survive and grow. In the garden they will obtain most of their requirements from the soil but because the area and soil volume in containers is limited and because they are watered more frequently, container-grown plants need regular feeding to thrive and produce the best crops.
Basic chemistry
The three main nutrients required by plants are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Rose bushes that are not pruned can grow into large tangled messes with small and inferior blooms. The following should allow you to grow an attractive well shaped and sized bush with large lovely blooms. Pruning at the right time can be just as important as how you prune. Bushes should not be pruned untill they begin comming out of dormancy. This can be as early as January in warm weather areas to as late as April in very cold areas. In colder areas do not prune untill all danger of frost is past.
Using the proper tools is also very important. You need a good set of pruning shears, the type that have one side for cutting and one side for supporting. The shears must be sharp, otherwise they can tear your canes instead of cutting them.
Flowers are a beautiful way to brighten a garden and a classic symbol of love and affection. Some flowers are highly allergenic, so you may have to experiment a little to find the flowers that don't irritate your allergies, but once you do you will be able to enjoy the beauty and fresh smell of flowers in your home without sneezing and suffering from watery, itchy eyes and without allergy pills.
The flowers that contain the highest levels of pollen are those that are most likely to affect your allergies and should automatically be avoided. These high-pollen flowers would include lilies, mums, daisies and any tree flowers such as apple or cherry blossoms.
Animal pest problems occur in all seasons of the garden, but fall and spring are peak periods for plunder. Luckily these seasons, and fall in particular, are also the best times for beleaguered gardeners to mount a defense against foraging four-legged gourmands such as deer, squirrels, rabbits, voles, moles and other assorted animal pests. In fall, a good garden clean-up tops the list of animal deterrents. After fall bulb planting, remove planting debris to rob squirrels of scent clues.
Mulch is useful to help retain soil moisture and maintain more constant cool soil temperatures. Apply mulch after weather turns cold. To mulch too soon only satisfies small creatures, who find earth-warmed mulch a great cozy place for winter tunneling and nesting.
Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) consists of over 300 species of flowers including the carnation (the common name refers to Prince William, Duke of Cumberland (d. 1765), who put down the Jacobite risings). Originating in southern Europe and Asia, with some varieties found as far north as Russia, Sweet William is a biennial that comes in a variety of pink colors.
Sweet William is a biennial plant with a two-year life cycle, producing only leaves in the first year. Sweet William plants, which look very similar to carnations, can be grown from seeds, cuttings or plant divisions. If planting seeds, plan on starting them indoors six to eight weeks before the last frost for spring blooms. The young seedlings generally transplant well and can be set outdoors after the last frost. Seeds sown in the first year bloom in the spring of the second year.
