Search results for: 'houses'

Greenhouses come in all shapes and sizes.  A small container with seed starting mix and a clear plastic top serves as the simplest of "greenhouses" for seedlings because it provides shelter for plants.  A step up from that is a temporary greenhouse that can be assembled and disassembled each year, and sits on a deck or on a patio next to the house. It consists of a lightweight metal frame with shelves covered in clear plastic with a zippered window for entry. You can put seedlings in there during the day ...

[caption id="attachment_295" align="alignleft" width="220"] Mom's Greenhouse[/caption] Our greenhouse is moving along slowly, thank you very much. In the meantime, I have noticed that greenhouses come in all shapes and sizes.  For instance, my mother has a "greenhouse" of the type I would put in quotation marks. She lives 35 miles north of me in Sharon, CT.  This morning we visited a couple of garden centers in her neighborhood and presented the Womanswork line of garden gloves, then we went to her h...

We're all houseplant gardeners at this time of year. Some of our houseplants are outdoor plants during the warmer months and they're brought indoors when the weather turns frosty or just plain chilly, and some seem happiest indoors all year long. I keep my clivia miniata indoors year round because the one time I put it outdoors on a hot sunny day the leaves got burned and discolored. For the same reason I keep my fiddle leaf fig tree and my jade plant indoors. And of course my African violets. My agaves and...

In the agriculture-based culture of the Oneida Nation, to which Toni House and her family belong, plants are sometimes referred to as younger sisters and older sisters. Humans and plants are often considered equals. “We learn to listen to the earth rather than try so hard to change it to fit our ways,” says her daughter Jasmine Jimerson. In this ecosystem, humans try to replicate what they observe in the natural world, and then make small adjustments.  It’s a system where human intervention is min...

It's time to wake up your houseplants!  As the days grow longer and the sun gets stronger, now is the time to wake up two of my favorite flowering houseplants, clivia miniata and agapanthus.  Because it takes so much energy to produce a flower, they have been resting over the winter between bloom times. Here are some techniques gardeners use to get them ready for spring. Clivia miniata [caption id="attachment_3572" align="alignright" width="229"] My clivia miniata blooming.[/caption] Clivias a...

The system developed by my brother Geoffrey allows him to water his favorite ficas tree from anywhere in the world. First he logs onto the web page he set up to monitor all of the controls in the process. Then he looks at his moisture sensor to see if he needs to water his plant. If the plant needs water he turns on the video camera so he can watch the water going into the pot. Then he turns on the water. He turns the water off when the moisture sensor says he has watered it enough. Finally, he turns off ...

Lately we have heard a lot of talk about microbes and the biology of soil.  In the past we spoke of plant fertilizers in terms of N-P-K (Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium) and that seemed to be the end of discussion. [caption id="attachment_1345" align="alignleft" width="84"] Annie Haven[/caption] Last Spring we approached Annie Haven of  Haven Family Ranch in San Juan Capistrano, California, a farm run by the Haven family for more than 160 years. She sells muslin bags of aged cow and horse manure, ...

[caption id="attachment_1009" align="alignright" width="204" caption="Streptocarpella saxorum taken from my aunt’s house in Minnesota"][/caption] There are lots of houseplants which I love, but my favorite would have to be streptocarpella saxorum. The tongue-twisting name alone might dissuade some potential homeowners from growing this plant, but chances are you'll immediately fall in love after seeing it for the first time. It's also quite easy to grow, requires minimal light and maintenance, and it ...

[caption id="attachment_246" align="alignleft" width="150"] Ruth's Greenhouse[/caption] Welcome to my 10' x 9' greenhouse.  It faces south with a sliding door from the living room. When spring comes I can walk through it onto the deck where I pot up lots of fun combinations in planters. Many of the plants I use have been overwintered and propagated in my greenhouse.  My nitrile garden gloves live there too where they are close to hand. At the moment several varieties of velvety-leaved aromatic Cu...

When my husband Tom asked me why I wanted a greenhouse I said that I wanted to be able to can and pickle and preserve vegetables and fruits. He replied that those are not exactly things you do in a greenhouse. He has a point. I realized at that moment that I had constructed in my mind an elaborate fantasy that involved growing things from seed to transplant to harvest to preserving.  I pictured a factory production line in my kitchen, with canning jars being boiled and cute little labels being printed o...