One of the most loved holidays, Easter brings together friends and families to celebrate the idea of rebirth, good defeating evil and light breaking through the darkness, as well as end the Lent season with delicious meals.
24.07.2023 - 12:25 / hgic.clemson.edu
Want to add a tropical flair to your garden this spring? Elephant ears will add a bold statement to a filtered sun or high shade spot. These striking “drama queens” of the garden may be either in genera Colocasia or Alocasia. The easiest way to tell these beauties apart is that colocasias (Colocasia esculenta) will have leaves that point downward, and alocasia (Alocasia species) leaves will point upward. Depending on the species or cultivar of each genus, the size can range from 3 to 10 feet tall and 2 to 10 feet in width. Both types of elephant ears are native to the tropical regions of Southeastern Asia.
The corms are best planted in the spring after the last frost. Elephant ears should be planted in well-drained, moist, organically rich soil. However, Colocasias will tolerate wetter soils than Alocasias. The green-leafed cultivars of each type will tolerate more sun than the darker colored leaves.
Elephant ears are root hardy in USDA planting zones 8 to 12, which includes all of South Carolina, except for the mountainous region of the Upstate. If kept in the ground, mulch your corms well in the fall to keep them toasty warm for the winter months. To prepare the corms for winter storage in colder planting zones, cut back elephant ear foliage in the fall and dig up the corm to allow it to dry for several days. Store it in an open container and cover lightly with dry peat moss. Do not allow the corm to freeze, but keep it cool with ideal temperatures of 45 to 55 degrees. Just remember, corms planted in containers are more susceptible to freezing temperatures; therefore, they will need to be removed from the container and stored properly for the winter.
Elephant ears are also excellent additions for containers. Be sure to
One of the most loved holidays, Easter brings together friends and families to celebrate the idea of rebirth, good defeating evil and light breaking through the darkness, as well as end the Lent season with delicious meals.
Yes, we’re talking about mint! The breath-saving, tummy-taming, taste-boosting mint. At Fantastic Gardeners, we love this refreshing plant, and why wouldn’t we? It is fragrant, easy to grow, and has many beneficial uses in culinary arts, medicine, and cosmetics.
Ants. Love them or hate them, it is undeniable that they are amazing creatures. With large, complex societies, fungus-farming techniques and an empire which almost spans the entire globe, it is a blessing that they are so small and have not yet developed an overwhelming collective intelligence.
If you have always wanted to know about the world of different Types of Dragonfly in the Garden, then this post is a must-read!
Now part of this garden is down to crazy paving the Qualcast grass box is needed less and can be put to a different use. It looks like a ‘unibarrow’ has got in on the act to make a feature planter for these pansies.
Ants can be an unsightly nuisance and inspire concern. However they do not directly damage plants but are more a sign that you have another pest problem.
Fountain in Oxford Botanic gardens.
White is the second most useful colour in the garden after green. I am progressively increasing the number and variety of white and grey plants that I grow.
Grasses give a rich combination of autumnal colours
Some animals can be a real pest in the garden. Their crimes include eating the wrong thing, digging in the wrong area, turning grass brown with urine and leaving a dirty mess. Some chose your favourite plants to damage as I know from some aggressive over fed pigeons in my own garden. In my experience the worst offenders are rabbits, cats, mice, deer, pigeons and dogs including foxes. Rats cause concern but have not caused direct damage in my garden.
Where has all the rain gone? In winter there were floods aplenty so I was predicting water rationing by summer. Now it is mid May and the ground is parched and rock hard.
I was picking the Czar plums to make more jam when a wasp was disturbed from eating it’s lunch. Wasps go for my plums just as they are at their sweetest best. My problem was I couldn’t see which plums had a wasp in the fruit if they were above head height or facing away from my hand. The resulting sting set me on the trail of other stingers in the garden.