Search results for: 'plants'

One of the most satisfying parts of gardening for me is to take part in the miracle of plant propagation. It can be as simple as pinching off a stem and dropping it in a glass of water or as complicated as grafting a branch from one plant onto the root stock of another. Boom!  A plant is born. There are two primary ways plants procreate: sexually and asexually. Sexual propagation is through seeds, and it is the primary way plants multiply in nature.  Asexual propagation methods are manmade. Think of th...

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 ...

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...

  Thanksgiving feels like a less commercial holiday to me. In the spirit of keeping it that way I like to make table decorations with natural items found right outside my door. If you have a pair of scissors and a few craft items it's easy to create a beautiful, natural looking table that celebrates Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Placecards Create placecards with the following items: woven bags and kraft paper tags (I purchased mine at Michaels); a piece of Oasis foam; and berries and dried greens fro...

Here’s why I love this book and will be giving away two copies signed by the author. First, it has a novel rating system for plants that gives a more nuanced view of the subject. A rating of 10 is the most deer resistant, but Ruth Rogers Clausen also includes plants with ratings of 7, 8 and 9, and tells you what level of (minor) nibbling you might expect if you choose those plants. Plants below a 7 are considered mostly ‘deer candy,’ which earn a mention in the book as plants to avoid. Ruth dev...

"The Curious Gardener" presents A Book Give Away this Month-- To enter sign up for our "Curious Gardener" newsletter and you'll be automatically entered to win one of two copies we're giving away.  If you've already signed up for our newsletter, send me an email at dwinslow@womanswork.com and I'll enter you.  We'll announce the winner in our next newsletter, out in early December. Conventional wisdom suggests that most of our favorite plants are also the favorites of our four-legged friends.  But R...

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, ...

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...

I have three favorite bulbs that I like to grow in the summer. In my Zone 6 garden they have to be planted in the spring after the last frost. That's what I'm doing now. There are many other summer blooming bulbs as well, but these are my personal favorites, currently. The term 'bulb' applies to a large class of flowering and ornamental bulbouslike plants in their dormant condition, including corms, tubers, rhizomes and pips. [caption id="attachment_4304" align="alignright" width="190"] White acidanth...

You volunteered to participate in your local plant sale fund raiser or plant swap, and now it's time to make good on your promise! Many plant sales that were scheduled for spring were postponed until fall, which gardeners know is one of the best times to plant! So go into your garden and dig up some perennials or bulbs, divide them, and pot them up. You can even propagate some houseplants if you leave enough time. The night before you plan to divide your plants water them well.  Organize your containers...