Gardening Bytes

Regional Guide to Fresh Produce Infographic

gardengeek — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:00:54 +0000

This cool produce infographic gives you information on what fresh produce is available regionally throughout the U.S. Check over the areas you are interested in to see what produce is available this month.

If you want to use the interactive system simply click on the map image. To see what produce is fresh in your state all you need to do is pick your fruit or veggie by clicking one of the links at the top of the map, then move the button slider and the widget will show you the states where that produce is ripe.

What Fruits and Veggies Are In Season? Courtesy of WEBstaurant Restaurant Supplies

Use Biodegradable Paper to Pot Up Seeds

gardengeek — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:00:12 +0000

Tired of all the plastic pots you use when planting seeds? A good way to plant seeds that then turn to seedlings to plant out is to use biodegradable pots made of paper. The pots can be planted in the ground when the seedling is ready as long as you have some holes in the bottom of the pot to help water drain out. This one stop method makes for less use of plastic pots. Paper is often used as part of compost and the paper pots will not harm your soil. If you can’t find small paper pots or pots made of other biodegradable materials in local stores you have some items in your home that will work in the garden. Toilet paper rolls and egg cartons are made of cardboard, these simple household items can be used to plant seeds in and then plant your seedlings directly into the ground. Once again be sure to have some holes in your egg carton and cut up the individual egg container sections so you can plant out each seedling without disturbing the root system. Place the toilet roll holders on top of a plastic tray since they have no bottom and pack with soil, from there it will be easy to transfer and plant into the ground. You can size the toilet rolls to shorter plant containers as needed.

Woodland Plants for Your Garden Part II

gardengeek — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:00:33 +0000

There are many wonderful plants you can use to fill out your shady garden areas. Some of my favorite woodland plants from this list include fuchsias and foxgloves. Fuchsias like cool summers, keep your fuchsias shaded in hot weather and watered as needed. Foxgloves are fantastic tucked into a corner next to a house, or in the back of a border. When it comes to heather ask for a shade-tolerant variety for shady areas, there are some specific heathers that tolerate shade well but most heathers require six hours of sunshine a day. Geraniums are not just your old-style grandma plants anymore, and they are workhorses in the garden, pretty much fool-proof other than dieing down during hard frosts but they always come back. Check out the variety of scented geraniums, they have more delicate flowers and wonderful scents. Ivy leafed geraniums are also prettier than the old-standard geraniums. Johnson’s Blue is a beautiful blue flowered geranium that produces a big rounded bunch of flowers and dies back during winter here on the coast but comes back every season. If you are planting ivy just know it can be invasive left to their own devices.

Delphinium
Bleeding Heart
Foxglove
Eleagnus
Winter aconite
Heather
Evergreen Bittersweet
Euphorbia
Forsythia
Fuchsia
Snowdrop
Broom
Geranium
Ivy
Hellebore (Christmas Rose/Lenten Rose)
Heuchera
Ocean Spray
Hosta
Bluebell
Rose of Sharon
Holly
Iris (Dutch iris and dwarf iris are easiest to work with)
Japanese Maple
Jasmine
Kerria japonica
Forget-me-not
Evening Primrose

Gardening Article: Insect Invasion: A Guide to Common Garden Beasties

gardengeek — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:00:28 +0000

Love them or loathe them, one of the unavoidable realities of owning and maintaining a garden is insects. And it’s not just insects … upon closer inspection of the garden, there are all manner of creepy crawlies waiting to be discovered; whether they’re lurking under the garden shed, hiding amongst the plants, or scampering across paving stones.

With that in mind, it doesn’t hurt to be aware of some of the little critters that you may find coming across your garden path in the near future. The following are a few of the most common insects that are likely to be found in average garden, all of which are actually beneficial to the smooth running of its micro-ecosystem!

Ladybirds (Ladybugs) – although the red and black, spotted colourings of the humble ladybird are a common sight around many gardens, there are in fact over 400 different species! In addition to being strikingly beautiful little insects, they also feed on aphids; this makes them an extremely helpful occupant of the average garden.

Hover flies – these often deceptive little insects are another of the most commonly encountered insects when out and about in the garden. Usually, these black and yellow striped flies can provoke terrified responses from unwitting gardeners who mistake them for wasps. However, not many people know that these helpful insects aid the pollination of both raspberries and strawberries; and like ladybirds, they also help to keep pesky aphid populations under control!

Spiders – if there is one thing (and eight legs) that is more terrifying to chance across than a hoverfly, it’s a spider! Despite the fact they’re not strictly insects and they’re going to be featuring high on most people’s list of favourite visitors, they play a vital role in preserving the balance of micro-ecosystems; this is done through their fierce predation of the resident insects.

Beetles – there is a vast number of beetle species that people are likely to encounter in their garden. Many common pests are a feature of beetle diets, such as slugs and snails; they can often be seen scurrying from meal to meal when disturbed from their favourite hiding places, such as the underside of fallen logs and piles of leaves.

Many gardeners find it all too easy to overlook the overwhelming number of insects that are constantly scampering around them; however, with a little awareness and proper time taken to appreciate their beneficial nature, the wonders of these insect invaders can quickly become apparent.

About the author: Nathan is a gardening writer who likes to write about nature and beneficial garden visitors.

Gardening Article: Garden Fun for the Kids

gardengeek — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:00:41 +0000

When the weather is nice and money is tight there are plenty of fun things to do, literally, in your back yard. Your garden can be full of adventure and excitement for young minds. Here are some great ideas for things you can do this season with your children.

Grow your own vegetables

Vegetable seed packets can be picked up at garden centres for next to nothing and no space is too small to grow your own produce. Kids will love watching the plants grow to have edible produce that they can enjoy. Tomatoes are favourites with children as they can easily grow in a grow bag in a warm garden shed or greenhouse. Strawberries are also great as they can grow in just a small hanging basket and will be a real treat once they are ready to harvest. Making meals with their fruit and veg that they have grown will also make them appreciate how long it takes for food to get from seed to plate.

Find bugs, butterflies and other insects

Not for the squeamish parent amongst us, but children will really love this! Whether it is digging for worms in the dirt, finding caterpillars on leaves or following snail trails kids will enjoy learning about all the different kinds of animals that live in the garden. This exercise will also teach them to respect these insects as living creatures.

Make a child’s space

If you have a small outside space a little window box will be great and for bigger gardens allow a small flower bed to be given to the children. Allow them to decide what is planted in it and make them take responsibility for the growing of their plant and the upkeep of their area. They will feel very proud once their flowers bloom and their effort is rewarded.

Pick daisies and make them into a chain

As the weather warms and the grass grows longer, daisies begin to pop up all over the lawn. A fun, easy and costless activity is to pick the daisies (try making the picking into a game to see who can pick the most) and then gather together to count them. Next you can teach them how simple it is to make them into a chain by splitting the stem and linking another daisy through it. Repeat the process and join the ends to make fun flowery jewellery or headbands that little girls in particular will love.

Make a den

These can easily be made with an outdoor table with a sheet draped over it. Dens can be used for so many children’s games such as Cowboys and Indians, Pirates or Animals. These kind of games are great as they allow children to explore their imagination and involve running around and letting off steam.

Spending time in the garden can be fun, exciting and cash friendly, so what are you waiting for? Get out there and enjoy it!

About the author: Laura enjoys writing about gardening topics including gardening ideas for children.

Woodland Plants for Your Garden Part I

gardengeek — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:00:41 +0000

Woodland plants work well in shady gardens and are plentiful in terms of varieties to choose from. Woodland plants prefer a good soil with plenty of leaf material or compost. Most of these plants do well in partial shade to shaded conditions. If you have a shady area in your yard a good starting point is to choose one of the many varieties of ferns, they lend a feeling of the woods to your yard and are low maintenance. Sword ferns are an easy entryway to provide a woodland feeling, or get ambitious and plant an Australian tree fern as a focal point in your garden.

Azaleas (beautiful flowers, smaller than Rhododendrons, many varieties and colors to choose from)
Barberry (prickly thorns with red coloring)
Bear’s Breeches (very pretty display of huge leaves and tall stalks of flowers)
Bugle (low growing with colorful flowers)
Clematis vines (many varieties and colors, grow them up trees and shrubs or alone)
Conifers (huge variety of shrubs)
Cotoneaster (great as a ground cover)
Cyclamen (low growing and colorful flowers)
Foxgloves
Glory of the Snow (colorful low growing bulb for spring)
Ladies Mantle
Columbine (re-seeds readily)
Dogwood
Elephant’s Ears
Flowering Quince
Harebell
Heather (one of the best shrubs I have in my garden, make sure they have a minimum of six hours of direct sun a day to thrive)
Hellebores
Lords and Ladies
Montbretia (can be invasive bulbs, if they love where they are planted they spread quite a bit)
Nettle-Leaved Bellflower
Perennial Cornflower
Perennial Forget-me-not
Rhododendrons (beautiful displays of flowers, give them plenty of room to grow large)
Spotted Laurel
Trilliums
Viburnums
Wood Anemone

Plants to Attract Butterflys In Your Garden – Part III

gardengeek — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:00:48 +0000

Butterflys flock to certain plants, here is another list of beneficial butterfly plants that will attract and feed the butterflys in your garden. I am very fond of Pestemon, a wonderful summer plant that often hangs onto blooms into the fall, with long colorful tubular flowers that bees and butterflys enjoy. Nepeta is a lovely flower that will decorate your garden and feed your butterflys. Primula’s primrose is a great flower to include in your spring garden, it flowers early and comes back year after year with inviting, colorful, low-growing flowers. Perovskia, also known as Russian Sage, is a striking, airy plant that has a base that produces tall stems hosting beautiful lavender colored flowers, a perfect target for hungry butterflys.

Malva
Malvastrum
Meehania
Mimulus
Monarda
Myosotis
Nectaroscordum
Nepeta
Nipponanthemum
Origanum
Patrinia
Penstemon
Perovskia
Phlox
Physostegia
Pimpinella
Polemonium
Primula
Pycnanthemum
Rosmarinus
Rudbeckia
Salvia
Sanicula
Satureja
Scabiosa
Scutellaria
Sedum
Sidalcea
Silene
Silphium
Solidago
Solidaster
Stokesia
Tanacetum
Teucrium
Thalictrum
Thymus
Tradescantia
Verbascum
Verbena
Vernonia
Veronicastrum
Weigela
Zauschneria

Insects Do Not Equal Garden Pests

gardengeek — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:00:47 +0000

When you look at a healthy garden you should have plenty of garden visitors. Think organic for the health of your plants and garden. The less toxic chemicals you use in your garden the better it is for animals and insects that pass through your yard. Your flowers will thrive and your fruit and vegetable crops will be healthier overall for you to eat. Using organic pest control will do wonders for your garden so the beneficial insects can do their job like ridding you of pests and helping your flowers and vegetables grow. Beneficial insects include: bees and bumble bees which polinate plants; praying mantis eats mosquitos, aphids, and black fly larvae; ladybugs eat aphids, mites, and mealy bugs; spiders eat many insect pests; wasps eat aphids, whiteflies, caterpillar eggs, beetles, mites, and moth larvae; beetles eat cut worms, caterpillars and sometimes slugs; green lacewings eat aphids, mites, fruit worms and a number of different insect pest eggs; decollate snails eat brown snails and slugs; beneficial nematodes eat ants, a wide variety of pest beetles, cabbage worms, grubs, codling moths, flies and more.

Always look for natural ways to take care of pests and gardening problems, your family, your garden and the creatures that live there will be healthier for it. To purchase beneficial bugs visit Buglogical.

Plants to Attract Butterflies In Your Garden – Part II

gardengeek — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:00:36 +0000

Here is a second list of plants that attract butterflies to your garden. You can’t have too many butterflies in the garden, it makes for great nature watching and you are providing important nutrition to these beautiful creatures. Take a little time to include a few of these plants in your garden so you have plenty of flowers for your butterfly visitors.

Agastache
Alcea
Allium
Arctanthemum
Asclepias
Aster
Baptisia
Belamcanda
Centranthus
Ceratostigma
Chelone
Chrysanthemum
Echinacea
Echinops
Erigeron
Eryngium
Goniolimon
Gypsophila
Heuchera
Hibiscus
Hieracium
Inula
Kalimeris
Knautia
Limonium
Lobelia
Lunaria
Lychnis
Lysimachia

How to Divide Bearded Iris

gardengeek — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:00:48 +0000

I love bearded iris, in fact I love any kind of iris, including Dutch iris and miniature iris. When growing bearded iris after a few years in the ground you may notice they are lacking stems in the center but there are stems with blooms growing outside the center of the plant. Bearded iris need to be divided every two to three years. If the iris are left undivided you may see less blooms on your plant. Dig up the rhizomes carefully once they are finished blooming, divide iris after flowering through August. Carefully dig around the edge of the plant and lifting out the rhizomes with a fork or shovel. You will see a circular pattern with pieces stretching out from the center of the plant. The rhizomes will look like feet pointing towards the center. With a clean shear tool cut each piece away from the center area so you have the rhizome with a long foot with the stem attached. Once you have divided up each foot from the iris rhizome brush off the dirt and get rid of the empty center growth of the plant. Before replanting the rhizomes cut back the leaves down to five to six inches from the foot of the plant, if there are damaged leaves that need to be cut farther down the stem go ahead, this will not harm the plant. This is a good time to mark the stems in permanent black marker if you would like to mark what variety the rhizome is before replanting. Plant your divided bearded iris rhizomes with the foot facing out and the stem in the back of the planting area. Place the rhizome so that it barely sits under the soil then firm the dirt around it and water the plant. Your newly divided bearded iris will grow well in their new spot and soon you will have even more iris blooms in your garden.