 I have always wanted to be a gardener, and I love the time I spend in my garden. Pawan Kalyan
|
|
Super Nutrition
To all the reasons you might choose one vegetable variety over another--appearance, flavor, yield, pest resistance, or regional adaptation--now you can add enhanced nutrition. The vegetables you'll read about here aren't just good for you. They've been bred to be better for you. |
 |
|
|
Amaranth- Beautiful and Useful
Some amaranths are pretty, and some are plain; some are big, and some are small; and some are weedy, and others aren't. Such diversity adds to the home gardener's challenge of predicting performance the first season, and perhaps that partially explains why amaranths are underutilized plants. |
 |
|
|
Planning a Vegetable Garden
Let's review the essentials of a vegetable garden, then we'll describe how I to make raised beds. We believe that if you follow these directions, you'll be well on your way to an abundant harvest and an enjoyable gardening season. |
 |
|
|
Gardening Indoors with Houseplants
When winter winds blow and the outdoor landscape no longer beckons, gardeners' thoughts turn to visions of amaryllis, poinsettia, and other tropical plants. Fill your home with color, scent, and beauty over the holidays and beyond by creating an indoor garden oasis |
 |
|
|
Cold-Hardy Clumping Bamboos
Bamboos have become popular landscape plants for creating garden rooms, blocking unsightly views, or lending your garden an Asian feel. |
 |
|
|
Sweet Potato Basics
Sweet potatoes are less popular now than they were in the 1920s, when many farm families grew them for winter food. Back then, the average yearly consumption per person was about 30 pounds. Now, with fewer people growing their own sweet potatoes, the average consumption is about five pounds per person. This is unfortunate, because like potatoes, sweet potatoes furnish us with energy, supplying sugars and other carbohydrates, some protein, calcium, iron and other minerals. They also contain vitamins A and C. Some people think of sweet potatoes only as a traditional holiday vegetable, but if you grow and store them, you can furnish your family with good nutrition for many months of the year. |
 |
|
|
Common Camellia (Camellia japonica 'Pearl Maxwell')
Plant Habit: Shrub
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade, Partial or Dappled Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Leaves: Evergreen
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Pink
Flower Time: Spring, Late winter or early spring
Pollinators: Bees
|
 |
|
|
Rose (Rosa 'Stanwell Perpetual')
Bloom size: Medium: 2-3"
Bloom shape: Other
Petal count: very full: 40+ petals
Rose bloom color: White and white blend
Extra Bloom Info: In clusters, medium to large, more than 80 petals
Rebloom: Some
Class: Other
Extra Color Info: White, with soft apricot and blush-pink tinges
Growth Habit: Tall, typically 6-8 feet, bushy
Fragrance: Moderate
Misc: Shade tolerant
Hybridizer & year: Brown & Lee, before 1837
Optimal growing zones: USDA zones 3-9
Plant Habit: Shrub
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun, Full Sun to Partial Shade
Plant Height: 6-8 feet
Plant Spread: 4-5 feet
Leaves: Deciduous
Flowers: Showy, Fragrant
Flower Color: White
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer, Late summer or early fall
Uses: Cut Flower
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem, Cuttings: Tip
Miscellaneous: With thorns/spines/prickles/teeth
Awards and Recognitions: RHS AGM
|
 |
|
|
Song of India (Dracaena reflexa)
Plant Habit: Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Partial or Dappled Shade
Plant Height: 12 to 18 feet (3.7-5.5m)
Plant Spread: 3 to 8 feet (.9-2.4m)
Leaves: Unusual foliage color, Evergreen
Flowers: Inconspicuous
Flower Color: White
Suitable Locations: Houseplant
Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem
Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger, Needs excellent drainage in pots
|
 |
|
|
Texas Thistle (Cirsium texanum)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Biennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic, Dry Mesic
Plant Height: 3 to 6 feet
Leaves: Semi-evergreen
Fruit: Showy, Edible to birds
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Purple, Lavender
Bloom Size: 1"-2"
Flower Time: Spring, Late spring or early summer, Summer
Underground structures: Taproot
Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic
Uses: Will Naturalize
Wildlife Attractant: Birds, Hummingbirds, Butterflies, Bees
Resistances: Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Other info
Propagation: Other methods: Offsets
Miscellaneous: With thorns/spines/prickles/teeth, Tolerates poor soil
|
 |
|
|
Soldiers and Sailors (Pulmonaria officinalis)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Partial Shade to Full Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Leaves: Unusual foliage color, Variegated, Semi-evergreen
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: Blue, Other
Flower Time: Spring, Late winter or early spring, Winter
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Resistances: Drought tolerant
Propagation: Other methods: Division, Other
Pollinators: Bees, Flies
|
 |
|
|
 Photo by Lestv
|
|
 Photo by Jpari
|
|
 Photo by hillbilly
|
|
 Photo by GigiPlumeria
"Monarch caterpillar 5th instar, getting ready for the J-stage."
|
|
 Photo by Valery33
|
|
 Photo by Lestv
|
|
 Photo by LoriMT
|
|
 Photo by springcolor
|
|
 Photo by LoriMT
"This bush is a butterfly magnet"
|
|
 Photo by farmerdill
"AAS"
|
|
Sponsored by National Gardening Books of Vegetables Collection Growing vegetables is easy when you know how! We are pleased to make available as a downloadable e-book the complete collection of National Gardening Association's Books of Vegetables. These books have taught hundreds of thousands of gardeners how to grow tomatoes, sweet corn, lettuce and greens, broccoli, onions, potatoes, peanuts, vine crops and more. Each e-booklet is around 30 pages in length and covers everything from getting started choosing varieties, how to grow them, and also includes recipes of how to cook and process the vegetables for storage. Order the complete e-book collection for just $9.99.
|
|
Active threads from our forums:
|
Thread Subject
|
Forum
|
Replies
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The numbers from this week:
976 members joined.
4,998 posts written in our forums.
777 photos posted to the plant database.
703 plants added to personal inventory lists.
|
|
 In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. Aristotle
|
|
|
