Nature is tricky, all right – she always has something up her sleeve. She sends a pest to eradicate the plant you thought was in the best health, then works a sudden cure on the sickly one you had given up for lost. She plants one maverick in a batch of identical seedlings or one … Read more
Why is a grain of corn a fruit while a pea is a seed? Do these people who call a tomato a fruit know what they are talking about? If a sunflower “seed” is actually a fruit, why? Distinguishing Between Seed And Fruit This matter of what is a seed and what is a fruit … Read more
Have you ever kept a Christmas poinsettia, wondering what to do with the almost leafless stalks? The plant can be saved, and it will bloom another year. Toward the end of January water, it only about once a week, once every 2 weeks, then once every three weeks. Give it none at all during March, … Read more
As with other arts, an “overnight success” takes at least 10 years of practice in the propagation of plants. Anyone can become an “eighty percenter,” but in order to achieve the final twenty percent toward perfection you must put a maximum of personal interest into your work. You must live with your cuttings, seeking constantly … Read more
I like to experiment to do things that can’t be done – to plant exotic trees and shrubs not recommended for gardens around Boston, and watch them grow, even after several failures because of wrong planting conditions. In one of the “best sellers” years ago, a book by Everett Dean Martin entitled The Meaning of … Read more
Soybean meal has been so highly touted as a fertilizer that I traipsed to the feed store and returned with a 50-pound sackful. The meal smelled good, and believing anything that smelled so good must be beneficial, I applied it to the grass. Then while spreading some sawdust on the rose beds I realized I … Read more
Tired of looking at unsightly burlap winter covers on your evergreens? Spraying Shrubs With Wilt-Pruf You can banish burlap from the winter scene and protect your choice shrubs by simply spraying them with Wilt-pruf, a transparent plastic that nurserymen have been using with amazing results for several years. Besides being a winter protector, this plastic … Read more
Is bone meal fertilizer part of your gardening, growing toolbox? Growing plants domestically isn’t as cut-and-dry as allowing plants to grow in their natural habitat. One of the problems is that a garden setting tends to have plants that take from the soil without giving back. Another issue is that removing debris that would normally … Read more
Blood meal is one of many things used to create rich soil. It is part of the decomposition process we rarely think about. As an animal corpse decomposes, every part of its body adds something back into the soil. While we might be lacking a lot of what nature has to offer, a lot of … Read more
Taking cuttings from healthy, mature plants is an effective way to expand a plant collection. Using a rooting hormone powder will help your cuttings grow roots and take hold. Rooting powders help you have more success growing strong, healthy plants from cuttings. In this article, we will explain the use of rooting hormones and product … Read more