Posts Tagged ‘flower’

Wild-flower Garden Know How

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

A wild-flower back garden has a most attractive sound. One particular thinks of extended tramps from the woods, collecting material, and then on the fun in fixing up a real for certain wild garden.

Many persons say they have no luck at all with such a back garden. It isn’t a question of luck, but a question of understanding, for wild flowers are like folks and every has its personality. What a plant has been accustomed to in Nature it desires often. In reality, when removed from its own sort of living circumstances, it sickens and dies. That’s enough to tell us that we ought to copy Nature herself. Suppose you happen to be hunting wild flowers. As you select specific flowers from the woods, notice the soil they can be in, the location, circumstances, the surroundings, along with the neighbours.

Suppose you discover dog-tooth violets and wind-flowers growing near together. Then location them so in your own new back garden. Suppose you find a certain violet enjoying an open situation; then it should often have the same. You see the point, do you not? When you wish wild flowers to grow in a tame garden make them really feel at home. Cheat them into virtually believing that they can be still in their native haunts.

Tips For Growing Roses in the Garden

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Most people who claim how hard growing roses can be, usually have exceptional plants with brilliant flowers and are looking for recognition of there agricultural aptitude. Roses are perhaps one of the most misunderstood flowering plants in modern landscape, and by following a few simple steps, they can make a great impression on your yard.

The #1 step to growing roses is to choose a hardy plant to begin with. Many stores offer rose bushes for sale, and at the end of the season they will offer special deals to clear their inventory. A sale of two-for-one is probably not going to provide you with hardy stock, especially at the end of the season. While roses should be planted in the spring or late fall, plants that are already festooned with leaves are not necessarily the best for growing roses.

There are many types of roses on the market and not all will do well in all types of soil or climates. Check with a local nursery to find out what varieties seem to flourish well in your part of the country and then buy a number one plant, the hardiest variety available, to plant in your yard. Where they are placed in your landscaping will have a lot to do with your success at growing roses as they need at least six or seven hours of direct sunshine to grow properly.

Understanding The Different Meanings Of White Roses

Friday, January 15th, 2010

When it comes to white roses, there are many different meanings that come into play, and definitely more so than with any other type of rose. Before you actually purchase any white roses for yourself or for someone else, you are going to want to make sure that you understand the meanings of white roses first.

The Meanings Of White Roses

There are many different meanings of white roses, and for one, when you put a bouquet of white and red roses together, this signifies unity, and so if you really care about someone then you may want to consider giving them this type of bouquet of roses.

The basic meanings of white roses revolve around the fact that white roses signify purity and brightness, and with its pristine appearance, the white rose has come to symbolize innocence and security as well.

There are certain myths and legends from several different cultures relating to the origin of the first rose which is initially white in color and then miraculously transformed and oftentimes, the pure white rose was depicted as being stained by blood, or made to blush by a kiss.

Lifting The Tubers of Dahlias

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Even on lifting there are two schools of thought; some say that a fork is best on light soils, and a spade on heavy, whereas others advocate using a spade whatever the soil.

A spade, if used carelessly, may cut through tubers which a fork would miss, but there is much less chance of breaking tubers as the whole weight will be supported on the blade. If a fork is used, some part of the tuber may resist lifting, as the finer roots have not been removed, and severe damage may be caused by the uneven pressure.

On balance I think a spade is best. Cuts should be made all round the tuber, about 6 to 8 in. away from the stem, gently lifting the tuber an inch or so each time the blade is inserted to loosen the hold of the fibrous roots. Finally the spade should be driven down and under the tuber, and the tuber firmly lifted from its bed, as you grasp the stump of the stem with the free hand to prevent sideways movement.

Paxillus Involutus

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Paxillus involutus is one of the most abundant mushrooms. Its cap is viscid in the centre and woolly at the edges and in colour is almost identical to its short stipe. The yellowish flesh has a slightly bitter taste and smell. If it is bruised the whole fruit-body turns a rust colour and later brown.

However, this mistake can be avoided if some care is taken. llylopillts felleus is characterized not only by its bitter taste, but also by its pale pink tubes which, when bruised or old, become a rusty brown and are never yellow-green like the tubes of the ripe fruit-bodies of Boletus edulis. These tubes are at first white and angular, whilst the stipe is covered by a network of veins.

It is recommended therefore that Paxillus involutus should not be collected. Paxillus atrotomentosus is often seen on the stumps and dead roots of coniferous trees. It is not poisonous, but is a poor quality. The taste and smell of its flesh is bitter and acidic.

Lifting Dahlia Tubers

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Perhaps this is the most controversial point of all, as the ability to discern colour varies intensely with the individual, as does personal preference.

One of the most unsatisfactory statements ever made was to the effect “that the colour should be typical of the variety”. It is unsatisfactory inasmuch as it meant that if a variety was of a poor or indeterminate colour, its merits had to he judged on a condition which in itself was not desirable. In all other characteristics judges do not make much allowance for inherent faults in the particular variety, so that it does not appear to be logical to choose a different basis for judging colour.

This is not such an easy question to answer as so many points will affect the issue. If the plants have been grown for garden display, particularly if they were raised from divided tubers, there is no urgency unless it is more convenient to clear the ground. The plants may well be allowed to continue blooming until the frost does finally settle the problem for another year.

Dahlia Viruses

Friday, June 26th, 2009

The verticillum wilt is soil borne, and may be troublesome in houses in which tomatoes have been grown in a previous season. In both cases the tubers can sometimes be saved by cutting away the diseased parts until clean flesh is reached, but this is not always possible. All debris and the rotted tubers should be destroyed by burning, and the soil in which they have been grown removed and replaced by fresh soil.

The most common, dahlia mosaic, is transmissible by greenfly and occurs amongst certain other of the sub-order Helianthea (to which the dahlia belongs), being thus transmissible from these also; however, this is unlikely to be a serious risk as such plants are somewhat rare. The main symptoms are yellow-green banding along the line of the vein, which in extreme cases causes the resemblance to a mosaic which prompted the name. It is often associated with a bumpiness in the texture of the leaf.

If it does get into the cutting beds, then remove the damaged plants to prevent it spreading throughout the bed and increase the ventilation. Out of doors other bacterial and fungoid diseases may affect the dahlia. Two of them, fortunately extremely rarely seen, cause the comparatively quick collapse of the dahlia, usually at ground level.

Effective Tips on Storing Dahlia

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Incidentally I do hope that it has been made clear that, when referring to tubers, the actual fleshy root portion is meant, not the crown or stem, and that each dahlia plant will produce a group or clump of tubers. It is unfortunate that the gardener invariably refers to the whole clump (which consists of stem, crown and a group of tubers) as a dahlia tuber-the chance of confusion the whole, as for example, in the chrysanthemum, where the term “stool” is used to signify the whole plant after lifting.

Rotting tubers make themselves evident in several ways. A wrinkled tuber in an otherwise plump clump, should be suspect immediately. Brown or grey “mould” is, of course, a grave danger signal, but by the time this appears usually the danger has reached serious proportions, so it cannot be considered an ideal guide.

Softness is also a danger sign. The outer skin in this case will usually peel off with only slight pressure from the fingers to reveal the corruption beneath.

Stropharia Mushrooms

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Cortinarius armillatus is a neat-looking species and easily recognized at first sight. Its relatively sturdy fruit-bodies have a brick-red or reddish, rusty brown cap, with yellow, later cinnamon brown gills and a brown, club-shaped stipc, decorated with vermilion red broken stripes, which are remnants of the cortina. Its flesh lacks any specific taste or smell.

Cortinarius armillatus is associated with the birch trees of mixed forests and grows in an acid soil. Its fruit-bodies sometimes grow in small groups on mossy cushions or between fallen rotting leaves and needles. This species is usually classified as edible, but like the majority of Cortinarius, it is rarely collected. Its characteristic feature is the red striping on its stipe; these preclude any possibility of confusing it with other mushrooms.

Fortunately, it can be easily distinguished from other purple edible gill fungi. Pluteus cervinus is one of the most common red- spore mushrooms which grow on stumps and rotting wood. Its relatively large fruit-bodies have a light to dark greY or greyish-brown cap, surmounting a thin, white stipe which is longitudinally streaked with thin dark fibrils. The gills arc prominent and stand free from the stipe.

Dahlia Pests

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Out of doors nicotine can be used to control aphis and thrips, but would appear to be more reliable, used either in spray or dust form, as it is effective at much lower temperatures than nicotine, as well as being rather more lasting in effect. Alternatives are derris, which does not appear to be very effective, and the phosphorus group insecticides. Most of the phosphorus group, although extremely effective against a wide range of pests, are dangerous to use, and protective clothing and masks must be used.

They have not true stomachs, so that they inject a little of their digestive juices into the plant sap, together with the virus, and suck hack the pre-digested sap, greatly to their advantage, but also greatly to the dahlia’s detriment.

Attack by aphides is usually marked by twisted and distorted foliage, so that if these symptoms are seen investigate the under surfaces of the leaves: it is almost certain that a small colony will be present.

Metaldehyde (meta-fuel) bait is an almost complete answer; this can either be purchased as a ready made up compound, or mixed at home by crushing one bar of meta-fuel into a fine powder, mixing with water and about 4 ozs bran to form a crumbly mash.