… Aquatic, Bulb, Native Plant, Heritage, and Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Gardens all opened in the summer of 1984. This got us thinking about the issue of maturing gardens—a topic that every gardener deals with sooner or later. In this issue of Smart Gardener , we offer some thoughts about helping your garden to age … are unappealing and unmaintained. Many will stay, but many will be moved to other locations in the Garden. Spider Island a few years after renovation is a sanctuary of dappled shade and …
Type: Plant Info
… and with it come wildflowers—trillium, mayapples, and spring beauties. Take a stroll or sit in your garden and you may see and hear some of the many beautiful songbirds as they migrate … by Joe Eck By May, it’s tempting to visit the local garden center and go gaga over all things in bloom. We load up the shopping cart with plants, perhaps without giving much thought to what will go where in the garden. It’s easy to get swept away. Flowers, with all their colorful exuberance, are …
Type: Plant Info
… by itself. Removing food from the waste stream is especially beneficial because food buried in a landfill causes production of methane gas and contributes to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. When done correctly, home composting enables air circulation around the … with water and leave it out for three to four days to release chlorine Drill 1/4-inch holes in the top 2 to 3 inches of the plastic container to provide ventilation; do not drill any holes …
Type: Blog
… are checked for perfect picking. Containers satisfy the need to design complete gardens—but in small spaces, where mistakes are forgiven and quickly corrected. They provide uniquely … controlled environments for plants with special needs. Garden borders can be revitalized in an instant by moving a flowering container into an empty spot left by the waxing and waning of … than live plants. Fragrant firs, soft weeping pines, lacy arborvitae, and evergreen boughs in every color and texture combine beautifully with cut stems full of bright berries and seed …
Type: Plant Info
… a bad reputation, mostly because of the preponderance of exotic thistles that generally thrive in abundance on the disturbance we create in the landscape. Two of the most widely known and encountered thistles are the Canada thistle ( … the bull thistle ( Cirsium vulgare ). The Canada thistle is a perennial plant commonly found in disturbed ground, like farm fields, roadsides, and gardens. It is a rhizomatous plant that …
Type: Plant Info
… can examine it to learn more about these big bugs. Did you know that cicadas have five eyes? In school we learn that insects have compound eyes, and we use toy bug eye viewers to get a sense of what dragonflies and bees see. But the real picture is a little more complicated. In addition to the pair of compound eyes, many insects, including cicadas, have three simple … cicada if you look carefully. The simple eyes are called ocelli, and they are usually arranged in a triangle between the compound eyes, like those in the picture of the cicada’s face. …
Type: Blog
… perennials, hardy ornamental grasses, and roses. When planting bare-root roses, soak the roots in a bucket of water for several hours before planting. Be sure to choose a full-sun site before … flowers but allow foliage to wither completely before removing. Divide clumps of older bulbs in need of rejuvenation. Replant in sunny spot and water in well. Bulbs prefer locations that are not heavily watered during their …
Type: Plant Info
… Longbract wild indigo can be found in the wild in open woods and prairies. Its creamy yellowish white flowers emerge earlier than most other … wild or false indigo due to their use by early Americans as a blue dye. Although "indigo" is in the common name, the blooms of native species may be blue, yellow or white and the blooms of …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… the sweet birch has an open, rounded habit and can grow 40 to 50 feet tall. It is successful in naturalized areas or used as a shade tree. The sweet birch actually provides a lovely bloom of catkins just before leafing out in May. It has reliable yellow color in the fall and handsome dark, reddish-brown, glossy bark, … are fragrant and are a source of oil of wintergreen. Sweet birch is native to the eastern U.S. The primary ornamental feature of birch trees is the bark. Many of the common names of birch …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Over a dozen bright yellow flowers broadly splotched in dark red-brown with delicate red patterning on the lips are produced on each flowering stem of this dancing lady orchid.& Grow indoors in bright light, relatively high humidity and warm temperatures for the best results. Ensure the … basic form of the flower, which consists of three petals surrounded by three sepals -- often in dramatic and contrasting colors and in a variety of shapes and sizes. Although some orchids …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
