 Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn. ~Elizabeth Lawrence
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Cast Your Votes for the 2021 Garden.org Photo Contest!
Over the past few weeks, gardeners from all over have been submitting their favorite photos, and it's now time for you to vote on your favorites! Each member may cast up to 3 votes in each category, so head over to the photo contest page, start browsing the many beautiful photos, and cast your votes for your favorites. |
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Soil Preparation for Potatoes
Potatoes will grow in just about any well-drained soil, but they dislike soggy soil. Because they do all their growing underground, they can expand more easily in loose, loamy soil than in heavy, compacted, clay soil that keeps plant roots from getting the air and water they need. |
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Getting Started With Potatoes
Since most home gardeners start potatoes by cutting and planting last season's tubers, common sense says you should use the healthiest tubers possible. |
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Potato Rotations and pH
Crop rotation is a must with potatoes. Troublesome insects and diseases can build up in the soil when you plant potatoes in the same spot year after year. Each season, move the potato patch to a new, sunny location. If possible, allow three seasons to pass before going back to the same area.
Since potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are all members of the same family, consider them together. Don't put potatoes where tomatoes, peppers or eggplant were grown the previous year and vice versa. |
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A Brief History of Peppers
Peppers make the garden brighter. The glistening greens of the leaves and the rainbow of colors of the ripening peppers - red, yellow, orange, green, brown or purple - all mark the rows where peppers are growing. They're so striking, you'll probably want to plant peppers in a spot where they can easily be seen and appreciated by visitors. The attractive plants make everything around them look better, healthier, and tastier. |
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Sponsored by AgroThrive "Our bougainvillea never seemed to bloom and now after two dosings of AgroThrive we have an eruption of beautiful, colorful flowers. We didn't even know this particular plant was a mixture of both pink and orange flowers. Thanks to AgroThrive it is now super happy. Also, the Dutchman's pipeline in the background is taking over the fence and making the local butterflies super happy with a place to lay their eggs. Thanks AgroThrive!!!" - Sara from Florida, AgroThrive User Submission. Click here to shop Fruit & Flower Fertilizer by AgroThrive
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Tree Philodendron (Philodendron 'Evansii')
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Partial or Dappled Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Plant Height: 6 to 12 feet
Leaves: Evergreen
Resistances: Humidity tolerant
Toxicity: Other
Propagation: Seeds: Other info
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger, Needs excellent drainage in pots
Parentage: Philodendron speciosum x Philodendron bipinnatifidum
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Green Birdflower (Crotalaria cunninghamii)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Water Preferences: Mesic
Plant Height: 4 to 5 feet
Plant Spread: 4 to 5 feet
Leaves: Evergreen, Other
Fruit: Other
Flowers: Showy, Other
Flower Color: Green, Other
Bloom Size: 1"-2"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer, Summer, Late summer or early fall
Dynamic Accumulator: Nitrogen fixer
Resistances: Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Scarify seeds
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Pollinators: Various insects
Conservation status: Least Concern (LC)
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Pinecone Ginger (Zingiber zerumbet)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Plant Height: 6 feet
Plant Spread: 6 feet
Leaves: Unusual foliage color, Fragrant
Flowers: Showy, Fragrant
Flower Color: White
Flower Time: Summer, Late summer or early fall, Fall
Underground structures: Rhizome
Uses: Cut Flower, Will Naturalize
Wildlife Attractant: Hummingbirds, Butterflies, Bees
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger
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Shooting Stars (Pseuderanthemum laxiflorum)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb, Shrub
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade, Partial or Dappled Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Plant Height: 2 to 4 feet
Plant Spread: 1 to 2 feet
Leaves: Evergreen
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Lavender
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer, Summer, Late summer or early fall
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Houseplant, Xeriscapic
Uses: Windbreak or Hedge, Suitable as Annual
Wildlife Attractant: Butterflies, Bees
Resistances: Humidity tolerant, Drought tolerant
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Containers: Needs excellent drainage in pots
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 Photo by Baja_Costero
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 Photo by Valery33
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 Photo by Valery33
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 Photo by Alchemist
"Semervivum arach tomentosum"
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 Photo by Alchemist
"Sempervivum arach Forest Frost"
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 Photo by lasertrimguy
"A beatiful plant at a friend and neighbor's house in Tucson. Might be a cardón."
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 Photo by wildflowers
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 Photo by ketsui73
"Slow and steady growth 😀"
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 Photo by Australis
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 Photo by Hillsepicacti
"A stunning popular bloom from the 'Kiwi' hybrids."
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The numbers from this week:
408 members joined.
3,475 posts written in our forums.
710 photos posted to the plant database.
416 plants added to personal inventory lists.
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 Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree. Emily Brontë
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