Perennial Plants and Flowers Daylily

Daylilies come in any colors such as yellow, pink, burgundy and orange.  You can find daylilies growing wild on the side the road in many areas of the country.  They are great to have in your garden and each one can produce up to 75 blossoms from a single plant.

Your daylilies will grow in almost any kind of soil but they will give you stronger blooms if you use organic matter in your soil.  Plant them in full shade to get the best results from your plants but the daylily will still produce blooms in as little a four hour of sunlight each day.  The height of this plant varies from around two feet to as high as four feet.  Check the package to make sure you select the right heights for your gardening plans.

  
Daylilies bloom in the summer and as soon as your daylily has finished producing blooms, you can divide them to get your new plants.   Plant the new plants in full sun to make them stronger. 

How to Store Your Left-Over Seeds

I’m sure you have some seeds left over every year when you get through planting your garden(s).  The way you store these seeds will determine if you are able to get the seeds to produce when you do plant them.  

Seeds that are poorly stored  - in warm, moist conditions – will most likely be diseased and they will not give you the harvest that is expected.  It is best to store your unused seed in an airtight container and put in a cool, dry place as soon as you can. 

They will last for several years if storage is done properly.

Not all seeds have the same life span.  Some seeds last a lot longer than others.

• One to Two Years – Corn, onion, leeks, rhubarb, parsnip and parsley.

• 2 to 3 Years  – Asparagus, beets, broccoli, beans, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, kale, lettuce, okra, peas, peppers, radish, spinach, turnip and watermelon. 

• 3 to 5 Years - Tomatoes, eggplant and cucumber.

Some of the varieties may last a little longer or not as long as the times mentioned above 

When you store your seed during the winter months, keep them in a place that has humidity of 45% or less and a mean temperature of 40° to 50° F.  If they are kept in these ideal conditions your seeds will last their assigned life span and produce plentiful harvests year after year.

Most seeds, based on the number of years they will produce, can be divided into three categories;

• Short Life – The seeds of the vegetables in this category will last for a maximum of two seasons – corn, leeks, rhubarb, parsnip and parsley.

• Medium Life – These seeds will most often last from two to three years – Asparagus, beans, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, kale, lettuce, okra, peas, peppers, radish, spinach, turnip and watermelon.

• Long Life - Tomatoes, eggplant and cucumber all last three to five seasons.

Some of the varieties may last a little longer or not as long as the times mentioned above.
 
Before you order your plant seeds you should have your garden planned and you should know exactly where each plant will be planted in your garden. You should already know how many seeds you would need to accomplish your well thought out garden plans. 


The more you know about your garden before you plant your first seed, the better your  entire garden will be and the better your crop will be.  


It is best if you choose plants and vegetables that are native to your part of the country.    These native seeds will produce a better crop because they have, for centuries, adapted to that particular region.

In The Garden Let Nature Take Control

 In Japanese gardens the gardener does not put emphasis on taking control.  The gardener allows nature to take control of the situation and the garden produces that which nature intended.  By contrast, in European gardens, the gardener thrives for symmetry and tries to take control of the earth and force it to produce what is planted there.

 The two types of Japanese gardens that are the most popular are tea gardens and abstract gardens.  The abstract garden is more of a modern take of the old-fashioned Japanese gardens.  They are designed more for the intellect rather than for feeling and emotions.

When you take a stroll through a Japanese tea garden you will immediately feel the sense of peace and tranquillity that the garden was designed to give.  These tea gardens have strict guidelines that each gardener must follow when they create their garden.  Nature scenes are recreated to give off these calm and reflective moods.

You can create your own miniature Japanese garden in your own backyard to give yourself and your friends and family their own feelings of calm and peace or to inspire the intellect.  You can even transform a small space in your home into a tea garden.

Bonsai trees are excellent in your indoor or outdoor garden.  

Quality Tools for Your Gardening Needs

Gardening can be a very rewarding hobby and you do not need a lot of tools in order to have a harvest of beautiful flowers and delicious fruits and vegetables.  For many small home gardens you can make due with only a few items and your garden will still grow beautifully.     

  When you purchase tools for your gardening it is best to purchase a few quality tool instead of getting many tools of poor quality.  You will need to use your gardening tools season after season and it is best to have tools that you can count on.

 If you have a garden that is between 1000 and 3000 square feet you will need special gardening tools to make your work a little easier.  These tools can help with tilling, planting and transporting other items. 

  To increase the life of your garden tools you should keep them clean, sharpened and dry when they are not in use.  When you keep your tools dry you keep them from getting rusty.  Rust greatly decreases the life of your tools.  Hang them or store them away so that they will not be damaged and where no one will get hurt.

Asters... Beautiful Year After Year

 
Asters come in a variety of colors – pinks, blues, white and in many varieties of each color.  On many country roadsides you can see natures colorful display of a variety of beautiful Asters.

  Fall asters bloom in the fall - as the name implies - and come in a variety of sizes and colors. The short varieties can be used as border flowers and around edges while the tall varieties can be used as the background for other plants and flowers or against your house or garage to give added beauty there.   
 
  Plant your Asters in full sun as they prefer but some will bloom brightly in partial sun.  Asters grow rather rapidly so you will need to stake the tall varieties and you should pinch your plants back in the early summer to reduce the need for stakes.  Pinching will also give your plants stronger branches and produce more flowers.

  Divide your clumps in the spring of each year to make more and stronger plants.

The Ardens Rose of Sharon Tree Shrub

The Ardens Rose of Sharon - Hibiscus syriacus Ardens - is an upright, deciduous shrub is that is vigorous, multi-stemmed shrub that grows 8-12' tall.  The Ardens Rose of Sharon shrub can be trained as a single trunk tree or espalier. The dark green leaves are diamond-shaped, slightly palmate and toothed. Ardens bears light purple flowers from late summer until mid-fall. This plant really requires no pruning, unless you need to remove a dead or damaged branch.

It has a long, early summer to fall bloom period. This cultivar is a sterile triploid that produces very few if any seed pods. It is an excellent flowering shrub that may be massed, planted in groups, or used as a specimen. The plant is very tolerant of summer heat and humidity. Larger flowers may be obtained by pruning back hard to 2-3 buds in early spring. Otherwise, prune to shape.


Espalier - Trees or shrubs that are trained to grow flat against a wall, often in a decorative and beautiful shape on a lattice or other frame.

Palmate - Three or more veins, lobes or leaflets that are distributed from a single point.   A shape that is similar to a stretched out hand. 

Triploid - An organism or cell that has three times the number of chromosomes in its nucleus.