… sunflower ( Helianthus annuus ‘Panache’) With that in mind, here are five simple secrets for seed-starting success 1. Quality seed starter. Give your seeds a healthy jump start by … before filling with starting mix. 4. The right light. A strong light source is crucial for stimulating plant growth. Without it, plants turn leggy, making them weak and more … in years past, only to have them dry out and wither before you know it? You may be a candidate for a simple capillary mat/self-watering system. After filling pots with seed starting mix, set …
Type: Blog
… We commonly think of floral scent for its role in attracting pollinators, but it can also be a cue for floral and seed predators. This National Science Foundation-funded project, Landscapes of …
Type: Research
… in the Heritage Garden, but they were not interested in this flower. Honeybees tend to go for sweeter-smelling flowers. 3. Red admiral butterfly The red admiral, with its characteristic … as hoverflies or flower flies, feed on pollen and therefore serve as important pollinators for many plants. I found three species of syrphid flies on the eryngo. Flower flies resemble bees … syrphid fly is a little bigger and fuzzier than the previous one. It could easily be mistaken for a bee. 8. Mystery fly, possibly another syrphid I was having a difficult time getting good …
Type: Blog
… Take a peek in your closet, and you might find a long wooden broom for sweeping up dust or offering rides to witches and wizards. For broom maker John Spannagel of Hidalgo, Illinois, brooms are more than just a pantry item. … a threshing machine to remove their seeds. The stalks are then laid on a broomcorn crib to dry for a few weeks. Once the stalks are dried, Spannagel uses broom-making equipment, including an …
Type: Blog
… books she read as a child. Divine has always loved reading and would sometimes get in trouble for it. The books she doesn't want to put down even today are cosmos-related or anything about … get the results that show you what may or may not be the problem. Last year, Alexis’s passion for procedures was ignited in his eighth-grade chemistry class, where he enjoyed doing … he said. “I feel like they can probably help us in the future, such as helping us care for our own environment.” Alexis imagines combining a career in mechanical engineering with his …
Type: Blog
… striking presence. First, the naranjillas in this small garden bed, number 10, were put there for a reason. All but one of the plants in this bed are in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. … spherical like little oranges. Unfortunately, our growing season in Chicago is not long enough for naranjilla plants to produce the sweet fruits, which are juiced for beverages in Ecuador. Another interesting thing about the naranjilla—a detail that separates …
Type: Blog
… water. Roll all of the mixture into balls; then let the balls dry on newspaper or waxed paper for two or three days. Don’t worry about smoothness—rustic-looking seed balls are as interesting … from each seed ball. Too many seeds mean too many sprouts, resulting in too much competition for nutrients and water. All sun. All shade. All herbs. All spring. Choose seeds with similar … organic, non-treated seeds from your own garden or from trusted sources. Choose native species for flowers and perennials that will grow successfully in our USDA Zone 5 region. Be responsible: …
Type: Blog
… want to do to protect plants. Move containers inside. If you’ve started to create containers for your back porch or balcony that contain summer crops, bring them inside. Even an uninsulated … fiberglass and plastic will degrade over time if they’re in direct sunlight, so check these for damage and move inside if you’re unsure of their durability. Your reused containers will last much longer if you have stored them out of the elements over winter. (Make a mental note for next winter.) You can use soil bags to lightly cover container plantings when frost …
Type: Blog
… however, have their growing tissue at the base of the leaf and are, therefore, well suited for landscapes dominated by grazing animals (or lawn mowers). They can tolerate repeated clipping of the leaf tip and continue growing. Click images above for larger view. In addition to grasses, there are other grass-like plants that fall into the … or caryopsis where the ovary (female part of the flower) wall is fused to the seed within. For the Carices , male and female flowers are separate and the female flower is enclosed in a sac …
Type: Blog
… is converted from starch into smaller carbohydrates. This conversion process is important for the brewer, since those carbohydrates will feed the yeasts during fermentation. The brewer … germinate, though—if it did, the embryo would “eat” all of the food reserves, leaving none for the yeast. Instead, grains are only partially germinated, just enough for their starch-converting enzymes to become active. Then the grains are gently heated and …
Type: Blog
