Wellness Ideas, Tips & Guides

Zinnias are mostly annual plants, popular because of the colourful, daisy-like flowers. Native to Mexico, there are 18 species and hundreds of cultivated forms, which are grown as annual bedding plants. Flowers come in vivid colours from red, orange and deep pink to green, with a lovely long flowering season from summer to the first frosts. Zinnias are perfect for filling gaps in the border and also work well in container displays. Long stemmed varieties make great cut flowers.

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For our 2024 Idea House in the Kiawah River community on Johns Island, South Carolina, the natural surroundings proved a generous source of inspiration. This was especially true of the landscape design, notes Scott Parker, the project’s landscape architect and co-founder of Charleston-based DesignWorks. “One of the things that we wanted to do with the landscape and the garden design was really to ground it in the DNA of the Lowcountry,” he says. That meant tailoring their plant selections to mimic the maritime forest that covers parts of the property, as well as choosing more formal ones to reflect Charleston’s long-standing garden traditions.

The coastal region and Pee Dee saw lots of rain and flooding in places from Tropical Storm Debby last week. As field conditions improve this week, please document any crop or infrastructure impacts from the storm by using the ESF-17 form. The information collected will be used to estimate the statewide agricultural impact of TS Debby. Please note this form is for agricultural impacts only. Extension agents will also be helping to collect this information this week.

Valspar

Ohio straddles the line between a continental climate in the north and a subtropical climate in the south. According to the region, it experiences all four seasons in wavering levels of intensity: cold, frosty winters, hot and humid summers, and a wholesome spring and fall. We share the best fruit trees to grow in Ohio across its climes and soil types!

Well, I did it, got out our stepladder and climbed up to cut some of the mammoth sunflowers for today’s vase! Joining them are several stems of Rudbeckia ‘Cappucino’ which work brilliantly with the sunflowers as they are all on the same colour palette. The sunflowers, ‘Velvet Queen’ and ‘Earthwalker’, are both shades of copper, and the rudbeckia range from pure to two-tone copper in various coppery degrees.

Ready to tackle that big pile of laundry? Depending on what you're washing, you may want to think about running a hot water load. Many garments can be washed in hot water, laundry pros say, and below, Hyacinth Tucker, owner of The Laundry Basket LLC, highlights five types of items in particular that will benefit from this type of care.

If you’ve spent any time on design TikTok, then you’ve surely come across interior designer and TikTok creator Julie Jones.

What has this rambler been brandishing her secateurs over this week, I wonder? Not these sunflowers, certainly, as they are probably over 3 metres or 10ft tall, and I would need a ladder to cut any blooms. I usually grow coppery-coloured ‘Velvet Queen’, but this year have also sown ‘Earth Walker’, another dark variety, neither of which would be expected to grow above a more manageable 2m or so, and I don’t know where the yellow blooms have come from. Perhaps I could manage to reach some blooms for a Monday vase…?

Kelsey Hansen

Lighting isn't always the most intuitive part of decorating a room. But when you do it well, the whole atmosphere can change—it can even boost your home's value.

Lungworts, Pulmonaria, are low-growing, spring-flowering herbaceous plants that thrive in shade. Named after the mottled leaves of some species, which were thought to resemble lung (pulmonary) disease, lungworts were traditionally used to treat lung infections. You can buy ‘lungwort complex’ to treat lung, stomach and urinary tract issues today, however there is no scientific evidence that lungwort complex has any health benefits at all.

Did you know that you should probably be using fertilizer for your vegetable garden? We know it can sometimes be difficult to figure out when to fertilize your vegetables and even how much fertilizer to use but luckily, we've got you covered. Read on to see what happens if you don't use fertilizer for your garden and why it's an essential part of keeping your plants and produce healthy and thriving.

While common, terracotta pots are not a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to your green friends. According to gardening experts, many plants will actually struggle when placed in terracotta pots.

While home gardeners are often plagued with too much sunshine during the dog days of summer, downpours are another thing to be concerned about.

For those of us who garden in small spaces, container gardening strikes an ideal balance between structure and flexibility. Potted plants can be rearranged as often as necessary, which makes it easy to accommodate new additions and to ensure that each plant gets the sunlight or shade it requires. Compared to traditional in-ground beds, container gardens also give us a bit more control over factors such as water, weeds, and pests. I’ve spent the past few decades creating designs for roof decks, balconies, courtyards, and patios in San Francisco. Through this work I have discovered that the key to container gardening success is always the same: finding a mix of appealing plants that are well suited to each garden’s specific climate and light conditions. Using my home garden as a testing ground, I’ve developed some strategies that anyone can use to create lush urban jungle and cohesive container displays that truly stand out from the crowd. 

Even though pineapples are considered a fruit (and a fruit generally comes from trees—unless it’s a berry), pineapples actually grow on a plant close to the ground. Each pineapple plant bears exactly one pineapple. So where did pineapple come from in the first place?

Gardening can sometimes be quite heavy on the pockets! So, if you love growing plants but are not well financially, don’t sweat it! Here’s how to save money without compromising on leafy friends. Check out these cheap and affordable garden and backyard ideas if you’re on a budget.

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The biggest and most expensive purchase most people make in their lives is buying a house. Families and individuals plan for years, sign off on decades long mortgages, and empty their savings account to acquire their own home. But the homeowner headache does not end when you sign your name on a piece of paper (or hundreds and hundreds of pieces of paper, let’s be honest with ourselves); a purchased home does not always mean a livable home. 

HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams

If left untouched, this lovable houseplant can turn into a gentle giant! But you don’t always have to get your shears out, as there are smarter ways to handle its size issues. Read on to discover secret hacks to shape your overgrown pothos into a thing of beauty!

There is so much material to choose from in the garden and there have been more than a few warming Monday vases of late, but I particularly wanted to include a couple of seed successes whilst the opportunity was still there. I have grown gomphrena from seed before, but with minimal success, so this year’s three plants (right) were par for the course, each bearing a single bloom. Although supposedly mixed colours, the only variety I could find at the time, all three are this fiery orangey-red. Emilia javanica ‘Irish Poet’ (left) is new to me and has been very much an eyecatcher since early June, with its tiny fluffy orange blooms. I shall certainly grow it again.

Brie Williams

Saturday has come around again ridiculously quickly, meaning it is time for another contribution to Jim’s weekly meme at Garden Ruminations; also coming round quickly is a new month, with an end-of-month post noticeably lacking…hey ho!

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