Month: February 2009

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Hellebore Seminars for the Totally Obsessed

hellebores

Interested in a seminar on hellebores?

Where: Carolyn’s Shade Gardens

325 S Roberts Rd

Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

610-525-4664

carolynsshadegardens@verizon.net

When: (Select One)

Saturday, March 21, from 10 to 11:30 am

Sunday, March 22, from 1 to 2:30 pm

Saturday, April 4, from 10 to 11:30 am

Sunday, April 5, from 1 to 2:30 pm

Cost: $25 per person

Attendance is limited to 15 people

Content: Using examples from my own gardens, Carolyn will cover everything and anything you ever wanted to know about hellebores, including:

  • How to grow and maintain them
  • How to propagate them by division and seedlings
  • How to pick the best plants
  • What makes a superior hybrid hellebore
  • What is special about the different species hellebores
  • Some of the interesting new species crosses available
  • A special selection of hellebores will be available for purchase, including rare plants potted just for the seminars

The seminars are suitable for any level gardener as long as you can listen to discussions of the most esoteric qualities of hellebores without your eyes glazing over. Questions and observations from the group are encouraged. Feel free to bring samples for identification and discussion.

Registration: To register, please send Carolyn an email with your name and phone number. You will receive a reply confirming your registration and containing further details. Registration is on a first come, first served basis. Carolyn has added a fourth date this year because, last year, the three dates filled within a day of sending the email out.

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Hellebores

Lenten Rose by janruss
Lenten Rose by janruss

If the reader is like TheGardenLady, he or she is eager to see outdoor flowers in bloom at this time of the year because flowers really are the signal that it is the end of winter. Those lucky enough to have Hellebores might already be smiling if they have flowers on their plants. Those who don’t have these early blooming plants might want to consider planting Hellebores in their gardens, either as plants or the seeds, in order to have a very early blooming plant with such a pretty flower.

Hellebores’ common name is the Christmas Rose or the Lenten Rose.
Though some people think the flower looks something like a wild rose, Hellebores are not roses; they are in the Ranunculus family which includes the buttercup. But the Hellebores blooms so early either in December or February, (it blooms close to Lent or Christmas and can bloom in the snow) that they were given these common names.

Continue reading “Hellebores”

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The Filtering Power of the Peace Lily

Distant Peace by chefranden

TheGardenLady received this comment from Rikesh.

I just love Peace Lilly. They have really amazing power of filtering the air.

Rikesh’s comment about the Peace Lilly – Spathiphyllum is correct.

Recently Natural News had an article entitled “Clean Your Air and Brighten Your Day with Houseplants” which not only gives a list of good low light requiring plants for your home or dorm room, but also tells about the research
that NASA and other groups have done to show plants ability to remove some common pollutants from the air. And the research has shown that there are ” other benefits from having indoor plants, such as fighting fatigue and colds.

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Thanks for the Comments

Thanks You flower boquet by judy1223
Photo on Flickr by judy1223

TheGardenLady is delighted with comments from her readers. So keep them coming. I thank you. It shows that the articles the TheGardenLady writes are welcome, appreciated and enjoyed. Even if the reader is not so appreciative, TheGardenLady wants to hear from you to know what Garden items would be of interest in the future.

TheGardenLady may not be able to acknowledge all the comments, but
today’s column is to show her appreciation of the comments and to tell her readers to read the comments.

Joe’s comment in response to Deer Proof Plants is about a product to prevent deer damage. The product is made out of bloodmeal. TheGardenLady once called a company that made a similar product.

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Barry Glick of Sunshine Farm and Gardens

Barry Glick of Sunshine Farm and Gardens
Barry Glick of Sunshine Farm and Gardens

People who love flowers and plants seem to be some of the nicest people on this planet. They love what they are doing and are generous with their knowledge. A lot of them have a great sense of humor. TheGardenLady hopes to introduce her readers to a few of the plant people she knows about.

The first plantsman TheGardenLady wants to draw attention to is Barry
Glick who owns and operates Sunshine Farm and Gardens.   This is a great nursery to buy Hellebores and other interesting plants. And the website is loaded with plant information. Also, Barry, who says he is the only one who mans the computer at his nursery, is available to answer questions about his
plants as well as take orders. He seems to give out plant knowledge seasoned with a great sense of humor. In fact when the Sunday Gazette-Mail wrote an article about Barry, he was compared to George Carlin in Jerry Garcia tie-dyed clothes who happens to be a prominent plant expert who ” breeds, hybridizes, patents, writes, lectures about and, of course, sells plants. Lots of them, all over the world.”

Now Barry’s specialty is the Hellebore. If you don’t know about this wonderful earliest of flowering plants, check out Barry’s website because Barry calls himself the King of Helleborus. But Sunshine Farms grows and sells thousands of plants besides the hellebores. His “plant collection now numbers more than 10,000 taxa, many unknown to cultivation. Several of these plants have been introduced to gardening in recent years. Barry exchanges seeds and plants with people at Botanic Gardens, nurseries and private gardens in virtually every country in the world.”

Photo by Mark Turner of the June garden at Sunshine Farm and Gardens
Photo by Mark Turner of the June garden at Sunshine Farm and Gardens

Sunshine Farm and Gardens is 60 acres of plantings located off a dirt road on what sounds like a cliff in West Virginia. In these 60 acres, besides the plants that Barry collects, (for example, he collects Jack-in-the-pulpits from all over the world) grows (including native plants) and sells. Sunshine Farms has an extraordinary sounding show garden. Barry calls himself a Flower Dreamer. And what a dream his nursery and gardens must be.

Continue reading “Barry Glick of Sunshine Farm and Gardens”

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Want to get The Garden Lady Blog delivered to your email?

If you like reading The Garden Lady’s blog, then sign up to get posts delivered straight to your email. All you have to do is type in your email address where it says “Feed It!”.  This is located in the right sidebar of the main page of the blog.  Then click submit.  That’s it!  It’s as easy as pie. Once you do this you will no longer have to check the blog to see whether TheGardenLady has put up any new posts.

For you lovers of interesting gardeners, you should read the post about Barry Glick and his Sunshine Farm and Garden, which will be coming out in about 9 hours.

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Getting Cracker Jack Marigolds to Bloom for the Hindu Fire Walking Festival

Crackerjack Marigold by miserena
Crackerjack Marigold by miserena

TheGardenLady received this comment from Priven:

Every year I try to grow tons of cracker jack marigolds but they never seem to bloom well and do their best. I need a huge volume of flowers for the Hindu Fire Walking Festival, but still get let down at the last minute. What am I doing wrong? The Festival is on Good Friday towards the end of the South African Summer. Please advise.

It is difficult to determine your problems without seeing your plants. In the United States we have places we can take diseased or problem plants for the problem to be identified and hopefully corrected. These places are often part of the state agricultural extension office.

So let me give you a list of suggestions of things that could prevent the plants from blooming plus a suggestion to add flowers if all else is OK.

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How to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with that Special Person

V-Day on Flickr by CCCvrcak
V-Day on Flickr by CCCvrcak

Valentine’s Day is coming up and TheGardenLady is sure that many of her readers are thinking about what to give your girlfriend, wife, mother or significant other.

Roses? How lovely.

Have you thought about giving an orchid this year or at least going to see an orchid show? Take your love to the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden or the International Orchid Show in Santa Barbara, CA or an orchid show in your area. Give her the tickets on Valentine’s Day and then go to the show when you have the time.

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Caring for Marigolds

Dead Marigolds by blackwilliam1899
Dead Marigolds by blackwilliam1899

TheGardenLady received this question from Anuja.

I have just bought a marigold plant which has a round orange flower. The flower has died in spite of its being kept in a sunny area. What should I do to get the plant back?

TheGardenLady is not quite clear about what died – was it the flower or
the entire plant?

If it was the round orange flower that died, just pinch off the flower. Pinching off the dead flower, which is called dead heading, encourages the plant to force at least one other flower. If you leave the dead flower to dry on the plant, you might not get many more flowers, but you will get seeds.

To get the seeds, you allow the flower to dry ON the plant and when it is really brown and completely dry, clip it off. Then when you want to plant more marigold plants, pull the dried petals out of the dried pod. Each seed is attached to a petal. Plant these seeds and you should get many more plants from all those seeds.

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Garden Shows in the US and Abroad

Philadelphia Flower Show

This is the time of year when everyone living in cold wintry areas want to rush the gardening season. To that end, to help with your dreams of your own gardens, there are Garden Shows coming up all over the country – and world. Plan your vacation around some of these Garden Shows. For example, the Philadelphia Flower Show in Philadelphia, PA and/or the Chelsea Flower Show in London, England are two flower shows everyone should attend at least once in your lifetime.

Philadelphia Flower Show

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