Tag: outdoor plants
Dianthus
Dianthus (Sweet William, Carnation) – Dianthus plants are popular with gardeners and have been grown for centuries. A cottage garden is not complete without several dianthus. All are heat tolerant and low maintenance beauties. Dianthus have become popular garden plants, but are also well suited as balcony or patio pot plants.
You may occasionally find pots of dianthus for sale in the house plant section of a garden center. You will not, however, find them in most textbooks – pinks and annual carnations are not accepted as house plants. They do need cool conditions and are not always long-lasting, but they are easily raised from seed and the white, pink or red frilly-edged blooms are attractive. Give them a well-lit spot and do not let the compost dry out. Provide fresh air on hot days.
Spring Adonis
Spring Adonis – The legend has it that this attractive yellow spring-flowering perennial sprang from the blood of Adonis, lover of Venus, when he was killed by a boar. It is used as a heart tonic and the flowers are a brilliant sight when they open in the spring, turning to catch the sun’s rays. The herb is also used in the treatment of low blood pressure and its strong diuretic action can be used to counter water retention. The plant will grow in containers in full sun or partial shade and likes well drained, fertile soil with the addition of some leaf mould.
Bermuda Grass For Your Perfect Lawn
Bermuda grass is a very superior type of grass, and very popular to many home owners. It is drought resistant compared to other grasses. It can stand the full heat of the sun. It grows in any kind of soil. It does not require much maintenance.
A lawn with Bermuda grass is very easy to maintain. When these grasses are well taken cared off, they can be good turf. Bermuda grass grows easily by nature, even if it is not watered regularly. It is able to keep color of lush green all year round. Its economical seeds grow on any climatic conditions. This is the reason why it grows in many areas.
The Summer Poison Plants
Spring has sprung, and summer is around the corner. The poison plants are back, and this summer they promise to send two million Americans to the doctor’s office. The three most common culprits – poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac – are native to the Americas. European explorers hadn’t seen them before. Sometime around 1600, Captain John Smith recorded his encounter when he wrote, “The poisoned weed is much in shape like our English ivy, but being touched, causeth redness, itching, and lastly, blisters.”
Native Americans knew all about poison ivy. Indian warriors coated their arrow tips with it, and medicine men rubbed the leaves on infections in an effort to break open the swollen skin.
Outdoor Plants: Fuchsia
Fuchsias occur in a wide range of colours, shapes and sizes. There are hundreds of named varieties of F. hybrida, with the familiar bell-shaped flowers hanging from the stems. These blooms may be single, semi-double or double, with colour combinations of white, pink, red or purple. A collection of these hybrids can provide blooms from spring to fall, and some experts regard the Fuchsia as the most satisfactory of all flowering house outdoor plants.
Unfortunately nearly all of the outdoor plants bought for home decoration or as gifts are consigned to the dustbin once flowering stops and the leaves begin to fall. It is, however, quite easy to overwinter the plant in a cool room.
Outdoor Plants – Acacia
Acacias are useful garden shrubs where space is not a problem, but they have never been popular house plants. The spreading branches bear feathery leaves or spiny false leaves known as phylloclades, and in winter or spring the characteristic yellow flower-heads appear.
These are clusters of small powder-puffs which are much more popular in flower arrangements than in house plant collections. Keep the plant under control by cutting back straggly and unwanted growth once flowering has finished, and keep it robust by feeding and watering regularly during the growing season. If you can, place the pot outside in a sheltered spot in garden once summer arrives. Bring plant back indoors in fall.