In depth gardening advice from an expert gardener
I received this question from Rosita:
Cuento con un pequeño jardina frente a la casa como hacer una guarda
protectora para el cesped?
The Garden Lady was told that Rosita is asking for a way to protect
her lawn from encroaching into her garden. This can be a big job but
the end results will look very professional.
The Garden Lady thinks the simplest method yet a very attractive
solution is to use a manual or power edger and just cut a clean edge
between the lawn and the garden.
I received the following question from Sol:
How can I conserve mini plants in crystal pots?
Your question is not quite clear. Do you wish to plant miniature plants in crystal pots that have no drainage holes? What plants do you want to plant- miniature African violets, cacti, alpines?
Remember plants do best when you can put them into an environment that is closest to their indigenous environment. Most plants do not like to sit in water. They want the water to drain through the soil. So it is best to keep the plants in pots with drainage holes.
The Garden Lady’s suggestion would be to fill the crystal pot with glass beads, marbles or pretty pebbles. Then sink a miniature plant, in its own pot, in the center of the crystal pot. That way the pot that the plant is in will be hidden by the surrounding glass beads or whatever you chose to use, but the plant will appear to be planted in the crystal pot. Then when you water the plant, the water can seep through its own pot and settle in the bottom of the crystal pot. If the mini plant you are referring to likes humidity this water in the bottom of the crystal pot will keep the humidity level up.
Remember that as you water and feed any plant, excess minerals will leach out. These minerals can cause a hard film to form on the surface of the pot. Do you want this to happen to your good crystal? By leaving the plant in its own pot, you can easily remove it from the crystal pot and clean the crystal before the pot gets this build up of minerals.
I received this question from Ms. Frye:
I need to know how to kill a parisite vine. It has elongated,
heart shaped leaves, no blooms. It has all but ruined my miniture
rose bush and my hydrangia. I try to pull it up by the roots, but it
is very fast growing and aggressive.
For the Garden Lady to identify a plant or a weed, a reader must send
in a clear, close up photo or a few photos of the plant in question .
There are many invasive plants with heart shaped leaves (see here and here).
Without seeing the plant, the Garden Lady would just be guessing what
the plant is.
When I first read your question The Garden Lady thought you were
speaking of one of the most invasive plants with heart shaped leaves,
Japanese Knotweed. But the Japanese Knotweed does have flowers. Â
If you live in the US , take a good sized sample of the weed in
question to your local Master Gardener Office where they will identify
the plant and give suggestions to get rid of the weed.
Matthew wrote:
Did you know it is Carl Linnaeus’ 300th birthday this year!  Read about him here.Â
Thank you Matthew for reminding us and sending the excellent website. Readers can google up lectures and events around the world celebrating this birthdate.
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The Garden Lady is really upset with herself. As I drive around town and see how lovely the pansies are that people had planted this fall, the Garden Lady wishes that she had planted them.
Are readers aware that pansies are lovers of cool nights and slightly warmer days? See here. In the past this had described the early spring when pansies were planted. The pansies planted in the spring would bloom their heads off
until the weather became warmer and other flowering plants bloomed. They are especially pretty in window boxes in New England where the spring weather stayed cool longer. But when the weather got hot, the pansies would die.
Then it was discovered that if people planted pansies in the fall, they would bloom twice. They would first bloom in the Fall when they were planted. They would go dormant in the winter. And then those fall planted pansies would bloom a second time in the early spring. The cool nights and those slightly warmer days were perfect for the pansies’ need. It is really heat that kills them not cold.
Well, with this warming winter trend, those people smart enough to plant the pansies in the fall are enjoying an extended bloom period of those fall planted pansies. It has been cool enough to meet the pansies need for a longer period yet not too cold nor too hot (see here). So the Garden Lady regrets that she didn’t plant pansies this fall.
I received a great question from Matt about plants that children can care for. He wrote,
My kids (7 & 10) are showing a natural interest in raising their own plant or tree (similar to their interest in having an ant farm or collecting caterpillars) and I was hoping you could tell me of some plants that are fairly
robust and generally easy to care for – in other words, plants that would be ideal for a child to care for .
What an exciting question! The fact that the children are expressing the interest in growing plants tells me that raising plants will be a really meaningful project for them and could become a lifetime interest. Raising plants is a very popular hobby for people of all ages- starting from early childhood.
Continue reading “Plants that even children can take care of”
