Protecting Plants from the Sun and Heat

Placing trees of these colors needs great care, but their colors mingled with the multitude of others in autumn are effective and of great beauty; they do not blend well with the normal greens, particularly if used in quantity. They should, therefore, be used sparingly in isolation at points where they will inevitably catch the eye.

Against a backdrop of gently swaying tall Grasses, this garden recreates the look of a prairie wildflower meadow. Make sure you have enough room for the Saccharum Grass-it gets huge! If space is limited, you may want to use Calamagrostis `Karl Foerster’ in its place. Give this garden a full day’s sun and average soil. Before planting, clear the area of existing grass or weeds. After you have installed the perennials, sow seeds of a nonaggressive Grass, such as Little Bluestem, between them. These will grow into tufts of pretty meadow Grass, lending even more of a naturalistic look while helping to suppress weeds. Just a late-winter cutting of the dried Grasses and stalks is all the maintenance you’ll need to do. Since all of these wildflowers are from sturdy stock, they’ll need supplemental watering only during periods of drought. From midsummer through fall, this little piece of prairie will sing with color.

Fragrance in flowers is such a desirable attribute that it’s a perennial complaint of many gardeners that modern varieties of various plants, particularly roses, lack all or most of the fragrance of the older varieties. This is demonstrably untrue of many varieties, of course, yet there is a good deal of truth in the generalization. Some varieties are certainly much less fragrant than the ‘old-fashioned’ roses and a few seem to lack detectable fragrance, but, on the whole, a good modern variety will number fragrance among its qualities. Much depends, of course, upon the individual sense of smell, coupled with the ‘scent memory’ which all of us possess to some degree. It is, in fact, usually well developed and most of us are readily and instantaneously reminded by present scents of past incidents, places, and persons, and although the actual vocabulary of scent is limited, it is usually possible for us to describe a scent fairly accurately by comparing it with another. Thus it is quite usual for us to say that a flower has a lily-like fragrance, or that it smells like new-mown hay.

Soil tests done in a lab are one way to check the health of your soil. However, the ultimate test is how well your plants are doing. By carefully observing your plants, you can tell which nutrient your plants are lacking. With this information, you can choose which amendments should be added to the soil to maximize the soil health.

Many attractive plants are suitable for cultivation in suspended baskets. For this purpose plants of a drooping habit of growth are preferable, as their pendulous stems, falling over the sides of the baskets, display the flowers or foliage to the best advantage. Hanging baskets are made of various materials; those of galvanized wire are the most popular, as they are light and last for many years. Teakwood or cypress wood baskets are used for orchids of drooping growth.

Planting a tree takes a lot of thought. We may have to consider if we want a tree that is:

Tender climbing perennial plants which are free flowering and suitable for growing in pots in the greenhouse, or for planting out of doors. They are closely related to the Snapdragon (Antirrhinum), to whose family, Scrophulariaceae, they belong.

Evergreen succulent with a mat-forming growth habit, that bears rosettes of pointed, thick leaves, many times with bristly margins, or covered with a web of white hair. Royanum has yellowish-green, red-tipped leaves. Star-shaped, reddish-purple flowers are held in flat cymes on the terminal ends of hairy, upright stems. The rosettes die after flowering but are replaced by new rosettes on lateral runners. An old-time favorite used in concrete planters on either side of the front entry. Great in window boxes or niches.

Transforming your barren, coastal home landscape into a seaside oasis can be an impossible task to imagine undertaking. The constant challenges of poor, sandy soil, shifting dunes, glaring sun, strong winds, and salt spray could be enough for many to throw in the trowel. Paying attention to the microdimates around your coastal nook can help you to create the perfect Etera Shoreline View garden. The plants in this Etera signature collection are adapted to survive in well-draining, droughty soils, but it is always wise to improve the soil with healthy topsoil and compost, as well as using additional drip irrigation while the plants are getting established. Mulching the garden with compost, seaweed, or other organic material will seal the soil against moisture loss and erosion and continue to improve your garden’s bloom. The Shoreline View collection will especially benefit in a position sheltered from the wind, such as nearby a fence, wall, or hedgerow, or on the leeward side of a sand dune. A combination of smart garden techniques and sturdy Etera Perennials that thrive in tough seaside conditions allows you to garden against all odds in the surf and spray of America’s coastal villages

Regular mowing is essential to the production and maintenance of a good lawn. Unless this is assured, expense, and work on all kinds of recommended treatments are of little value.

It has been estimated that a 10m (30ft) row of spinach supplies just about the right amount for a family of four during the summer months. But one sowing is not sufficient. Fresh young foliage is demanded and where spinach is much appreciated, successional sowings should be made fortnightly between late March and mid-July. For later autumn supplies and for pickings in the following spring, a sowing should be made in a sheltered position in mid-August.

Japanese Maple seeds have a very hard outer coating as do many ornamental plants. Under natural conditions, the seeds would have to be on the ground for almost two years before they would germinate. All that happens the first winter is the moisture softens the hard outer shell, and the second winter germination begins to take place. For all of this to happen in the proper sequence so the seedlings sprout at a time of the year when freezing temperatures or hot summer sun doesn’t kill them, takes a tremendous amount of luck. You can improve the odds by controlling some of these conditions, and shorten the cycle.