Different Kinds of Garlic

Basically, there are two types of garlic: hard-neck and soft-neck. Hard-necked garlic was the original and soft-necked garlic was cultivated over time by growers through a process of selection. From there, the differences are found in the garlic’s taste, size, outer skin, number of cloves per bulb, color, pungency and storability.

There are said to be over 600 cultivated sub-varieties of garlic, although most of them may be selections of only a handful of basic types. The latest research claims that ten fairly distinct groups of garlic have evolved including five very different hard-neck varieties called Porcelain, Purple Stripe, Marbled Purple Stripe, Glazed Purple Stripe, and Rocambole; three varieties of weakly bolting hard-necks that often produce soft-necks: Creole, Asiatic, and Turban, plus two distinct soft-neck groups: Artichoke and Silver skin.

A hard-neck garlic appropriately named Purple Stripe is vividly striped with purplish vertical stripes decorating the bulb wrappers. In between the purple stripes, their bulb wrappers are usually very white and thick. This coloration is affected by growing conditions, particularly weather. They tend to be rather rich in flavor. Standard Purple Stripes (Chesnok Red and Persian Star) make the sweetest roasted garlic.

A soft-necked garlic (Allium Sativum) called Artichoke Garlic is the kind seen in most supermarkets. These artichoke garlics are among the easiest to grow and produce large bulbs that have lots of cloves, usually somewhere between 12 and 20. Artichokes store well and have a wide range of flavors with some, like Simoneti and Red Toch, being very mild and pleasant. Others, such as Inchelium Red and Susanville, have greater depth of flavor. Chinese Purple and Purple Cauldron are much stronger and stick around for a while. The Asiatic group of the artichoke garlic tends to send up shoots, despite the fact that they're supposed to be soft-necks. The Turban group of the artichoke garlic is the most colorful and has fewer cloves per bulb than the others.

Silver skin garlics are the ones that you see in braids mainly because they are the longest storing of all the garlics and have a soft pliable neck. Their bulb wrappers are very white although the clove covers can be strikingly colorful as in the case of Nootka Rose or Rose du Var.

The Creole garlics are a unique group of garlics, and one of the easiest eating raw garlics owing to a taste that is rich and full with only a very moderate pungency. Creole Red and Ajo Rojo are noticeably stronger in taste, however; and they retain their flavor well when cooked.

Porcelain garlics are among the most beautiful with very thick, luxuriant bulb wrappers. Porcelains are strong tasting garlics with a few exceptions and can store for up to eight months or more at a cool room temperature. Porcelains grow better in northern climates.

Rocambole garlics tend to have thin bulb wrappers with lots of purple striping and splotches. The flavor of the Rocambole garlic is intense and complex—sweet as opposed to aggressively sulfurous. Because of this, they are a favorite to use when raw garlic is called for, such as for crushing and mixing with vinegar or lemon and olive oil for a salad. Rocamboles are among the best when garlic is prominently featured in the cuisine. Their only drawback is that they are among the shortest storing garlics of all.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Tricks for Satisfactory Homegrown Garlic

Garlic is just about the best ingredient to use for making food more flavorful. Many home gardeners have discovered it is rather easy to grow your own garlic. Homegrown garlic can be disappointing however, producing small bulbs, bulbs with only one big soft clove, or even no bulb at all. The causes of unsatisfactory production come down to the quality of the seed clove, growing conditions, the variety, the variables of the season, and disease. Some garlic strains will just not bulb satisfactorily in your area. Garlic varieties adapt to a fair range of day lengths, intensity of cold, and accumulated heat conditions. Try locally sold seed cloves because they may well be the best variety for your climate.

When preparing your soil, beef up the nutrient status of your soil by working in a complete fertilizer before sowing. Liquid manures are also beneficial. Your soils pH must be above 6.0. Ideally, a deep, fertile, very well drained soil is needed.

Generally speaking, garlic can be planted in autumn through to early winter. Under warm temperate climatic conditions autumn planted garlic will remain dormant for a few weeks, then develop roots and a shoot. With the onset of the cold of winter growth is fairly slow until temperatures warm in spring. The cold of winter is needed to initiate the side buds that will ultimately grow and swell to become cloves. The lengthening days of spring are the signal for the initiated but undeveloped side buds to start forming into cloves.

Choose the best: the biggest and fattest seed cloves to sow. Sow them root end down, standing erect, and about an inch or so under the soil surface. Place them about 4 inches apart.

It is important to have a free draining soil. Cloves put in early in winter will have a longer cold treatment and will respond to lengthening days in the spring more quickly than those put in later. Know there is always a risk of the cloves rotting in a cold wet soil. Excellent drainage is a must to give an edge on climate and disease. 

Garlic competes poorly with weeds. Try to keep them meticulously weeded, if possible. Be careful with the hoe, however. Tragic occurrences can happen with a hurried hoe. If the weather is dry, mulch them to conserve water. Mulching also helps defer the weeds. Water your garlic plants well and regularly in dry periods.

The plants are ready to harvest when the foliage has died off, or mostly died off. Since garlic’s outer parchment often rots left in wet soil, harvest a bit earlier if it happens to be very wet at harvest time. Then dry the bulbs under cover. The bulbs should be washed, especially the roots, and leave them for a week or so to dry. If you live in a hot climate area, dry them out of the sun or your precious bulbs will sunburn. When the bulbs are dry, you can trim off the roots, brush off the outer discolored parchment, and braid the dried leaves together if you wish to hang it for a decorative way to store your garlic.

Store garlic in a dry place. Most kitchens are fine. The ideal storage conditions are temperatures of around 50°F, dry, and well ventilated. Giving your garlic a reasonable advantage by following these suggestions just might mean a successful produce for your homegrown garlic.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Let’s Plant Some Lilies

Lily bulbs can be planted anytime the ground is not frozen solid and is dry enough to dig a hole without making clods. In the mild climates, they can be planted in the fall and early winter and you can expect flowers starting that spring. If you plant in the early spring, the flowering stems will produce later and the stems may be a little shorter than usual if hot weather comes quickly. The following winter will automatically reset the lilies' clocks regulating them to the standard blooming time. Lilies bloom at similar times to when the roses begin to flower.

Plant your bulbs as soon as you are able. If you can’t plant them right away, store them in a cool-but-not-frozen place above 28°F. Your garage is a good place for temporary storage. Keep the bulbs in the dark because exposure to light will make them sprout quickly, and then they must be planted right away.

If you want to make up for a late start, you can pot your bulbs and leave them in a "root cellar" environment until sprouts appear. They will begin to form roots at very cool temperatures, as long as moisture is adequate. When it is warmer, you can move the pots outside or transplant the rooted mass with its emerging shoot right into the garden.

The planting spot should have good drainage with at least half a day of sun. If it's too shady, the stems will lean a little toward the light. Full sun is necessary if you are doing mass plantings. Since lilies can be bothered by botrytis, a fungus that spots the leaves in prolonged cool, wet weather, choose to plant your lilies in a spot where after a rain, it dries out quickly.

Plant the bulbs 4" to 6" deep. In the summer they prefer to stay cool, so deeper planting is a good idea. Deeper-planted bulbs will be really well anchored, with roots above and below the bulb. Another way to accomplish deeper planting is to make a raised bed. This also assures superb drainage, which is important for lilies. A radius of at least 6" per bulb gives each stem some elbow room.

Loosen up the soil at the bulb and lightly pat the soil on the top and once the warm sun starts to hit the planting spot regularly, the little shoots with start to rise. If you want to fertilize, put on a little well-balanced fertilizer at emergence time and then about a month later. Lilies do not actually need to be feed unless your soil is really poor. Too much nitrogen can produce lush leaves but weak stems, and bulb rot can occur in hot, wet areas; so do not overdo it. Lilies only rarely need more water after flowering. The Asiatics, Trumpets, and Orienpets are well adapted to dry summer areas, if they have enough water until flowering time. Since the Orientals don't flower until August, they will need watering during hot, dry summers. Mulch your lilies in the summer to help keep the bulbs cool and the watering to a minimum.

Lilies bring beauty, color, fragrance, and enjoyment to your garden for many years.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Different Hydrangea Varieties

There are many species of this shrub to choose to grow in your landscape design. They have many positive aspects and are a pleasant showy splash of color in your garden. Most species of hydrangeas can be grown in either full sun or partial shade. They are resistant to most insects and diseases. They can be grown in a wide range of soil but prefer a rich, moist soil and make sure they are planted where watering will not be a problem. Their large, soft leaves lose water quickly, especially on hot, windy days, causing the foliage to wilt, so avoid dry windy sites. A list of some Hydrangea species you may want to consider follows.

Hydrangea macrophylla — Hortensia or Florist Hydrangea is a widely grown hydrangea with large globe-shaped flowers. The color of its blooms is dependent upon the pH of the soil in which it is grown: blue if acid; pink if alkaline (lime can be added to the soil to force this). There are also several white-flowered cultivars. Pruning can be accomplished at two different times: early spring and late summer (more desirable). Most hortensia types flower only from the end buds of upright or lateral shoots produced during late summer. Prune from the lower parts of the stems and crown as soon as the flowers have faded and strong shoots are developing. Pruning this species too late in the fall (after September) is harmful. Hydrangea macrophylla is a good seashore shrub; flowering is more profuse in an open, sunny location; however, hydrangeas are shade-tolerant.

Hydrangea quercifolia — Oakleaf Hydrangea is grown primarily for its handsome oak leaf-shaped foliage, as you might have guessed. It adds excellent color with attractive flowers in the fall and interest in the winter with its bark. It is This hydrangea is best suited to a lightly shaded or protected location. Expect some winter dieback if grown in an exposed site. Remove dead wood in the early spring to below the point of injury.

Hydrangea arborescens 'Grandiflora'— Hills-of-Snow Hydrangea should be pruned to the ground line each winter or early spring because it flowers abundantly on new growth. Frequently this hydrangea is killed back during winter. If a larger shrub is desired (3+ feet), prune less severely.

Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora'— Pee Gee Hydrangea is the most commonly planted hydrangea because of its massive displays of large white flowers in mid-to-late summer. These gradually turn to pink and oddly remain on the plant in a semi-dried condition long after the leaves have fallen. It is important to thin and/or cut back the previous season's growth in late winter or early spring, since flower clusters will occur on newly developing branches. Without this pruning, Grandiflora can become overgrown and out of scale in the landscape unless you desire it to be developed into a single or multi-stemmed tree form.

Hydrangea anomala petiolaris —Climbing Hydrangea is a desirable mid-summer flowering deciduous woody vine that attaches itself by aerial roots to brick, masonry or wood including other trees. Often little or no pruning is required. If some shoots have grown out of bounds, just clip their length in summer.

Hydrangeas are workhorses in the garden, producing sumptuous petals of color to add beauty to your garden. They can continue to please by being captured easily in dried flower arrangements, providing the last gasp of your summer garden. All the above varieties make excellent dried flower arrangements.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Tools are Essential to Happy Gardening

Spending time with in the garden and caring for your own lawn can be a relaxing and rewarding experience. Many home gardeners gain a strong sense of pride and ownership of their home through caring for perrenials, vegetable gardens, turf and landscapes. This kind of direct contact with the soil, the sun, and the growing process can serve as a relaxing and enjoyable pastime. Those hesitant to get started are often discouraged by the idea of hours spent bent over pulling weeds or dragging around water hoses. With the right tools, this doesn’t have to be the case. Using the right tools for the right jobs can really take much of the tedious or exhausting part of gardening away, leaving you to enjoy fruits of your labor without putting too much stress on your back or hands.

Many home owners who are taking their first dip into the gardening experience do not take the time to find out what tools will make their work easier. They go to work unprepared and find themselves either burned out, exhausted, or frustrated. For example, if weeding is the task at hand, both hand tools and upright tools should be close by. Trying to pull away at weeks and scrape at the soil without a good gardening claw, hoe, or other soil turning tool is a quick recipe for a sore back and beat up hands. Even the proper gloves can make a huge impact, gloves that are easy on your hands but tough enough to take some abuse.

Another common gardening chore is lugging around the garden hose. Pulling a garden hose off a real and making sure it is neatly put back in place can really eat up time, and dealing with kinks, knots, and bad hose memory can be enough to make anyone a little annoyed. Thanks to advancements in technology, automatic hose reels can make it easy to unwind and reel water hoses with great ease. The most sophisticated of garden hose reels are nearly impossible to tangle and tidy up the water hose with the touch of a button.

There are a host of other gizmos and tools that make a gardener’s life just that much easier, so it is also very important to consult gardening friends for new ideas and helpful hints. Education is half the battle with becoming a successful home gardener, and part of that education is making sure you are working smarter rather than harder.

About the author: Jon Bassfarm is an Internet content writer who enjoys researching and writing about many subjects including garden hose reel and landscaping.

Create a Butterfly Garden

What could be more relaxing then sitting in you Adirondack chair next summer looking at all the beautiful flowers and butterflies in your butterfly garden. It isn’t hard to create a garden that will attract butterflies and if planned properly you can have butterflies all summer long. You want to have the right plants to attract your native butterflies and to keep them around. Butterflies need full sun, plants that provide nectar, plants to act as hosts for the larva and an environment free of pesticides.

The first step is planning your butterfly garden. Find out what type of native butterflies you want to attract. Then determine what type of nectar plants these butterflies prefer. Butterflies are attracted to bright colored flowers with strong scents and drink the sweet nectar for energy. They seem to prefer orange, red, yellow, purple and dark pink flowers. A multi-colored garden will be easy for them to find.

You must also plant host plants for the caterpillars to lay their eggs on. The caterpillars will eat all the leaves on the host plants which make them unattractive to look at. Plant the host plants behind or out of view of the nectar plants if you don’t want to look at them. This can be accomplished by planting the host plants behind taller nectar plants. Make sure you choose the type of host plants that the butterfly species likes to eat. If the caterpillars don’t like the leaves of the host plant they won’t eat them and they will die. Make sure the host plants are in fairly close proximity to the nectar plants to ensure the butterflies will lay their eggs on them.

You can probably get the plants you have chosen at your local greenhouse. Some will be annuals and some will be perennials. Perennials come back every year so these should be planted behind the annuals. If you want to see all of your flowers plant the taller ones behind the shorter ones.

Some butterflies like more than one nectar plant. If you want to attract butterflies all through the gardening season plant several different types of nectar plants. Late summer and early fall are when you will have the most butterflies in your garden so be sure and plan to have several types of nectar plants in bloom at that time.

Your butterfly garden will also attract hummingbirds and other birds so sit back and enjoy nature in front of you in the natural habitat you have created for these creatures and for your enjoyment.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years,she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, water hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Tiger Lilies, Perennial Panthers of the Meadow

The perennial lily with flowers growing up to three inches in width was named ‘tiger’, probably referring to the spots on its fiery orange petals. This exotic lily has a strong, sweet and distinctively lily smell. Surprisingly, the flower buds, roots and shoots of this plant are all edible. These can often have a bitter flavor, however when baked, lily bulbs taste rather like potatoes. Tiger Lily buds are added to Chinese dishes; and they also can enhance the flavor of egg dishes and salads.

There are two varieties of the Tiger Lily: the Oriental variety that propagates through bulbs that form at leaf axils, and the common wildflower variety propagating by tuberous roots. Due to its wild growing nature, the Tiger Lily is incredibly easy to grow. They thrive well in moist to wet soils and grow well near the ditches. Actually, another name given to this perennial is ‘ditch’ lily because of this characteristic. Early to mid-autumn is the best time to plant out the bulbs in cool temperate areas. In warmer climates they can be planted out in late autumn.

The Tiger Lily has six stamens composed of anthers and filaments, one pistil composed of the stigma, style and ovary, a long style, and a three-lobed stigma. The Tiger Lily is sterile and does not produce seeds. To propagate, remove bulb scales from the bulbils (small bulbs) that grow in the axils of the leaves. Place these in moist peat in a cool dark place in a nursery until they produce bulbets that can be later planted outside.

The Tiger Lily does not require any special care. Tiger Lilies are among the most adaptable and long-lived summer bulbs. Almost anywhere you plant them they will grow even more beautifully the next year around. Tiger Lilies are happy in partial shade and can be planted where shade from overhanging trees would discourage other flowers. Fertilizers are needed only in the poorest of soils. Tiger Lilies can be sometimes attacked by slug or lily beetles. If you find these on your lilies just simply remove them by hand.

Very tall and exotic in appearance, the Tiger Lily makes an unusual display with the lily’s petals curling back to expose inner black dots and several long stamen. Plants can grow up to 5 feet tall with fairly strong stems. The soft, medium green leaves of the lily are elegant, a few inches long with a pointed tip. Leaves grow from the base of the plant up to the bloom point. Many flowers are on a single stem and there are several stems to a plant.

Some interesting and little-known facts about this lily are that it was first described in 1753 by the famous Swedish botanist Carl von Linne (Linnaeus). The Tiger Lily has proven to have significant medicinal uses. A tincture made from a fresh plant has great value in uterine-neuralgia, congestion and irritation, also in the nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy. The flower essence helps in suppressing aggressive tendencies in individuals and helps in holistic healing. Tiger Lily has some toxic effects on cats and it can produce vomiting, in appetence, lethargy, kidney failure, even death. There is a superstition that smelling Tiger Lily will give you freckles, maybe started with the lily’s spotted interior. And lastly, the Tiger Lily stands for wealth and prosperity.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Installing Your Own Automatic Irrigation System

Gardening is the number one hobby in the United States. Americans want their lawns and gardens to look good and for them to look good they need to be watered regularly and properly. Vegetable gardens, lawns and landscape plantings all have different watering needs. Most gardeners would prefer to spend their time gardening instead of watering the garden. Installing an automatic irrigation system to water for you can free up your time to spend on other things.

A drip irrigation system is relatively easy to install yourself. With drip irrigation you are applying water directly to the soil slowly. Drip irrigation is much more efficient than sprinkler irrigation because you are applying the water directly to the soil. It isn’t evaporating on its way to the soil nor is it running off the soil and you are putting it only where you need it, on the roots. You need a backflow valve to make sure the water doesn’t flow back into the house, a pressure regulator, a filter, a tubing adapter and the drip tubing and that’s it.

A sprinkler irrigation system on the other hand is a lot more involved and most people will hire a professional. For a sprinkler system to work properly it needs two things: water flow and water pressure. All the water flow in the world won’t help you at the sprinkler where it comes out if you don’t have enough water pressure. The pressure is what moves the water through the pipes and there has to be enough left once the water gets to the sprinkler for it to operate properly. The right size pipes, valves and other parts must be used to adequately control the amount of pressure that is lost in the system before the water gets to the sprinkler itself. Getting all of this right requires a lot of calculations and knowledge of PSI (pressure per square inch) so it can get a little technical for a lot of people.

You start by measuring your yard and sketching the area you want to irrigate. You then need to determine an initial flow rate which is basically the rate the water flows through the valve. Once you know the flow rate you need to look at all of the things that will use your water pressure as it moves from the valve to the sprinklers and how much pressure each of these things uses to determine the actual water flow and pressure values you will need to use for the system. You then draw the irrigation system on paper dividing it up into zones and laying out the piping routes and finally determine the size of each pipe to be used. You are now ready to start digging and installing your project. It is complicated and a lot of work just in the planning let alone the building. The average cost of professionally installing an automatic sprinkler irrigation system is between $2500 and $3000.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, automatic hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Hydrangeas Used in Landscaping

Hydrangeas are very popular for landscaping mainly because of their dazzling display of flowers and spectacular foliage. It also is an easy to care for shrub given the correct growing environment. And a magical occurrence is that the color of hydrangea flowers can be manipulated by just changing the soil pH-dependent mobilization and uptake of soil aluminium into the plants.

Hydrangea macrophylla is a species native to Japan and Korea. However, it is widely cultivated in many parts of the world in many climates, and a must have shrub for shade and partial shade being that is so showy. In this country we refer to it as a "French Hydrangea". In landscaping design, Hydrangea macrophylla add a splash of springtime color to shady areas and woodland gardens. Once hydrangeas become established, they can grow quite vigorously. If they do become prolific, occasional summer pruning is recommended to keep them in bounds. The flowers are easily air-dried and are long lasting making terrific indoor décor displays.

Macrophylla tends to grow ball shaped flowers. The blossoms are either pink or blue depending on the soil pH. If the pH of the soil is below 5.5, the flower tends to be blue. If soil pH is higher, they will be pink although some cultivars will retain their original color irrespective of soil pH. Soil pH can be changed (lowered) using aluminum sulfate available in garden centers. If you definitely want pink flowers, add lime instead.

Hydrangeas also come in a climbing variety, a flowering deciduous vine. Plant taxonomy classifies climbing hydrangeas as Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris. Newly planted climbing hydrangea vines are slow to grow and slow to bloom. Once established, these plants are true climbers, using "holdfasts" to scale walls or trellises, good for shady areas. Grow climbing hydrangea vines up trees, garden arbors, pergolas and fences. Even though they won't flower as profusely if planted in full shade, these shade-tolerant vines provide attractive foliage that can cover quite an area once the plants mature.

In early summer, climbing hydrangeas produce fragrant, lacy, flat-topped, white flower heads. These "lace caps" can be five inches or more in width and are composed of showy flowers on the outside accompanied by less-than-showy flowers on the inside. The leaves of climbing hydrangea vines turn yellowish in autumn. The plants' exfoliating bark affords winter interest. Climbing hydrangeas that do get more sun tend to bloom more profusely. The soil should be moist, well-drained, and contain plenty of humus.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Good Ground Covers to Replace Lawn

Consider what is involved with keeping your lawn looking good— fuel for power mowers, toxic emissions, fertilizers and pesticides, water consumption and weekend time are all part of the cost of lawn maintenance. Groundcovers are a landscaping alternative that make sense.

Groundcovers are low-lying plants, usually chosen with aesthetic considerations in mind and requiring minimal maintenance. They can be saviors for homeowners who are stuck with having to mow steep slopes. Or maybe grass is simply impossible to grow where homeowners thought they would have lawn, for instance, it may be just too shady in this area. Groundcovers also offer landscape solutions for problem areas. If groundcovers are projected to cover a very large expanse, the initial cost will probably be greater than for sowing grass seed; but groundcovers save money in the long run eliminating the repeated maintenance costs involved with a lawn.

Despite some overlap, groundcovers and cover crops are different groups of plants. Cover crops are sometimes used as living mulches. Clover is an example of a cover crop. Often cover crops are tilled into the soil not long after being planted simply to supply the soil with amendments. Groundcovers may inhabit a stretch of land for many years. They never grow very high, so they never need to be cut. Areas planted in groundcover will need little to no maintenance. During the first year, new plantings will require weeding and mulching, but once established, little care is warranted.

Choosing a groundcover usually involves decisions about texture, density, spreading capacity, and how well they choke out the weeds. Your garden center can recommend local groundcover varieties and their characteristics. Some groundcovers are edible, such as strawberries or low-growing herbs. Dwarf dogwood (also called bunchberry), and herbs like thyme and oregano work as groundcovers for limited areas. Also know that groundcovers need an edge barrier or boundary to contain them such as a low brick or wood edging.

Moss ground covers can be used as an alternative to lawn grass in shady spots. Other groundcovers for shade are an ajuga called Dicentra, and two types of pachysandra. These shade-tolerant groundcovers have to be established for at least one growing season before the area can suffer a lot of traffic.

Bunchberry is an evergreen with white flowers in spring and red berries in the fall. If this groundcover is difficult to get started, work in a humus-type soil. Golden creeping Jenny can be a vigorous grower, and grows nicely over and among rocks. Wild ginger is shiny heart-shaped leaves with amazing maroon flowers appearing in spring. Corsican mint offers dense coverage. No holes in this mat of tiny foliage. And when you step on it, you'll get a whiff of peppermint. A slope with well-drained soil, rich in humus, can be covered with creeping phlox plants as a groundcover to prevent any erosion. This ground cover grows best in full sun. Another groundcover that thrives in full sun yet tolerates full shade too, is a vine called Virginia creeper. It will transform your yard into a shimmering curtain of wide green five-fingered leaves.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Butterflies are the Gardens Most Beautiful Insects

Most people don’t think of butterflies as insects but they are. Butterflies are loved for their beauty. It is hard to think of another insect that is loved for their beauty. Insects are most often thought of as pests. Mosquitoes, black flies and horse flies to name a few can drive you crazy at times. Butterflies don’t bite or sting and are beautiful to look at.

Moths are cousins to butterflies and have the same life cycle. They are considered advanced insects because of their lifecycle. They have what is called a complete lifecycle because there are four distinct stages and each one looks completely different and has its own purpose.

The transformation from one stage to another is one of the most experiential wonders of nature taught to school children. The first stage is the egg which is tiny. The female attaches the egg to leaves, stems, or other things on or near the food the eventual caterpillar will eat.

The second stage is the caterpillar which is very interesting to look at with patterns of stripes or patches and sometimes spine like hairs. The caterpillar eats and grows and sheds its skin at least four times while growing to keep the body enclosed.

The third stage is the transformation stage from the caterpillar to the butterfly or moth and is called the chrysalis stage. The tissues are broken down and the structure of the adult butterfly or moth is formed. The chrysalis is brown or green so that it blends into the background for protection from birds, bats and other predators.

The final stage is the butterfly or moth emerging as adults. At this stage they are courting, mating and laying eggs and forming new colonies. Gardeners love to see butterflies in their gardens because of their beauty. Having butterflies and moths in your garden are a sign of a healthy environment. These insects survive on the nectar from plants so if insecticides have been used the butterflies and moths will be killed.

Those gardeners who want lots of butterflies in their garden often create a butterfly garden. They plant the type of plants and flowers that the butterflies in their area like to both feed on and lay their eggs on. A fun activity for the whole family is to raise your own butterflies for your butterfly garden. The easiest way to do this is to buy a butterfly kit which allows you to grow them from the caterpillar stage on. It takes about three weeks to go from caterpillar to butterfly and the outside temperature has to be above 55 degrees Fahrenheit to release them into the wild.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years,she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, garden hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Choosing and Planting the Right Vine for Your Garden

As with all plants, a little research is necessary to decide which vine to choose for your growing needs, and where and how to plant the selection. Vines grown in cooler northern areas may not be adapted to warmer regions. Conversely, many tropical or subtropical vines will not survive the winters of the north.

Choose a vine according to the function it will play in your landscape. Do you want the vine to be used as a screen or to soften the look of a dividing wall? Do you want the vine to show color or attract hummingbirds and butterflies? A thing you should also consider is planting one or more vines together so that when one finishes blooming, another begins, creating a tapestry of foliage and flowers.

Many vines, such as Cross Vine and Trumpet Creeper, will grow as tall as their support will allow so you must think of the kind of support you want. If you choose a trellis, remember the height of this support determines where the most foliage and flowers will occur. Often vines are sparse near the ground and the greatest concentration is near the top growth. The chosen trellis or other support should be placed several inches away from walls. This placement allows air movement between wall and vine reducing the possibility of mold and mildew to grow on the surfaces. Vines should be kept off of roof shingles and siding to avoid any damage to buildings.

Where a plant is located in a landscape will influence how well it will tolerate cold temperatures. Tender species of vines can be planted on the south and east sides of buildings protected from cold northwestern winds. Vines planted in protected areas are more likely to survive than if planted in exposed locations. The amount of sunlight required by vines varies, but most vines grow and flower best in full sunlight to partial shade. Other site characteristics such as salt spray, water drainage and soil type also help determine the type of vine is best for your landscape. Poor soil drainage causes the roots of some vines to decay while others are adapted to wet areas.

Vines grow best in a slightly acid, loose, well-drained soil. When conditions differ from this, select vines which are adapted rather than changing soil conditions to suit a particular type of vine.

Vines are planted in the same manner as other plants. Vines should be mulched with preferably organic material. Mulches insulate the soil and roots, conserve moisture and help control weeds.

The success or failure of a planting often depends on whether the plants receive adequate moisture. Vines require months of being watered frequently to enable them to extend their roots firmly into the surrounding soil and get more established.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

The Versatility of Flowering Vines

Unfortunately, clinging vines have had a bad connotation deriving from the age-old fairy tale about Jack and the climbing beanstalk. But it is now time to put that child’s story away and discuss all the virtues of flowering vines and other attractive climbers and creepers. Flowering vines are used in landscape design for both aesthetic and utilitarian purposes. The versatility of flowering vines is truly impressive. A lot of that versatility has to do with the fact that vines can either stay close to the ground functioning as ground covers or climb and be used to decorate trellises, arbors, and fences.

Being that many flowering vines attract hummingbirds, a characteristic that appeals to both gardeners and bird watchers, whole garden landscapes are focused on this aspect now. Bird watchers desirous of attracting hummingbirds with flowers dripping with nectar need not sacrifice landscaping beauty. Climbing vines, to name one, the trumpet vine, adept at attracting our attention with its bright orange color, is also considered among the best to attract hummingbirds, hungry for the food that they bear. Magnifica Honeysuckle, a low creeper vine with large scarlet flowers also attracts hummingbirds. Many flowering vines are rich nectar sources for not only hummingbirds, but for butterflies too.

The vertical dimension is always an important consideration in landscape design to add interest and variety. Vertical relief to flat horizontal spaces can be welcomed with a framework structure like an arbor. Arbors work best when covered with vines offering periods of shade to plants below. Vines when grown on arbors can provide lovely doorways transitioning from one area of the landscape to another.

Chain-link fences are hardly appealing on their own, but when decorated with climbing flowering vines they can make quite a statement. They also can provide, in some cases, a form of a privacy screen sheltering your backyard activities from unwelcome outside attention. Vines can be used to soften and add interest to fences, walls and other hard spaces.

Some vine plants can serve a utilitarian function as ground covers for erosion control. Undesirable trees, posts, and poles can be transformed using vines to alter their form, texture and color.

Vines can be separated into three basic types: clinging, twining, and sprawling. Clinging vines attach to surfaces using specialized organs such as roots or tendrils. Twining vines climb by encircling upright vertical supports. They are often used on poles, vertical wires, or lattice structures. Most of these vines will spiral in only one direction characteristic of the species. Sprawling vines are basically shrubs that produce long runners, but have no means of attaching themselves to a support. So this type of vine needs to be manually wound around a support or braced up in some way. They usually become woody and self-supporting with age.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.

Some Great Gifts for Your Gardening Friends

The rewards of gardening are plentiful. But sometimes it is nice to receive a gift to make the work of gardening a bit more comfortable or easier. Even though for most, gardening is a chore of love, having the right tool for the specific task is not only a time saver but gets the job done correctly and more efficiently.

A lot of time in the garden is spent on your knees close to the earth. A gift of cushioned kneepads is a thoughtful one. They are good for working in the soil, and also can be useful when working on harder surfaces such as wood, asphalt, and even concrete. Surprisingly, they can be so comfortable that a gardener can forget he or she is even wearing them.

Hauling mulch around an area can be time consuming. Give a large garden cart to your gardening friend you know has a lot of this heavy hauling to do. This cart will take fewer trips holding about five times the amount the common wheelbarrow can hold. It will also come in handy when planting larger shrubs being much sturdier and stable than a wheelbarrow.

A potting table is a wonderful gift. A special place at just the right height to change around plants to bigger pots or different ones is always so useful for any gardener. A soil tray is a good thing and one with a sink is even better.

All-in-one efficiency tools are always a good gift. A multi-purpose garden knife that can dig holes and cut roots makes the transplanting task easy; and this can be found all in just one tool. With this tool, days in the garden become less about work and more about enjoying yourself in the garden.

Many gardeners appreciate items of garden art received as gifts which often hold memories of times spent with vacationing friends and neighbors. These little treasures can be placed throughout the garden creating a personal touch.

A living gift keeps on giving and giving. Instead of buying cut roses that would eventually just die, consider giving a rose bush. This rose bush will keep on multiplying more beautiful roses on its branches, and also give cut roses for years to come.

Sometimes gardeners have injuries or develop medical conditions that prevent them from gardening the way they used to garden. A lightweight little power tiller can really help in this case bringing joy back into the act.

Support apparatus for vine-type plantings or a sturdy arbor for a wandering wisteria could be just the perfect gift. Whatever is chosen to grow on the support will be displayed much more vividly and will happily show its gratitude continually.

Probably the most thoughtful garden gifts are tools given down from one gardener to the next gardener in the family. If a gardener keeps his or her tools in good condition, they will keep performing for many years to come.
A wooden handle might have to be replaced, but knowing that same tool had been in use for over half a century or more is a real treasure.

A gardening journal makes a great gift to keep records of annual plantings. It can be a resource for memories and it can remind you that gardening is a process and a constant learning experience. The best journals have places for daily notes as well as a plant inventory list and a place where harvests can be documented.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.