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Cold Frames –No Plants Should Begin Life Without One

Cold frames can play a vital part in your gardening endeavors. They are relatively easy to build and if you’re not that handy with a hammer and nails they definitely make a long-term, very worthwhile, time saving investment. In addition to growing vegetables, cold frames are an excellent place to start new seeds in springtime or to care for cuttings in the fall and winter months of your favorite evergreen plants. In fact, the propagation of a wide variety of new plants can occur in a cold frame. . .

Getting Ready For Spring Gardening

Have you resolved to make your garden the envy of your neighborhood this year?  Are you determined to have a garden you don’t need to apologize for? If so, now is the time to start. The first step to having a beautiful garden is good planning. If you’ve kept a log or diagrams of your garden beds over the years to help track what was planted where, and notes about what worked and what didn’t now is the time to . . .

Wetlands – Unique, Productive and Valuable

Historically wetlands were viewed as being useless, tracts of land full of diseases. Today however, wetlands rank equally with tropical rain forests and coral reefs in terms of environmental importance, productivity and biodiversity. As such, wetlands encompass many values including recreational, historical, scientific, and cultural. Wetlands are typically identified by:

Broom Corn – The Plant That Doesn’t Quit

Broom corn (Sorghum vulgare) is not only a hardy annual plant, it’s a beautiful plant that can last for years following harvest.  This fact makes broom corn a plant that has numerous uses. As the botanical name suggests, broomcorn is a variety of sorghum resembling a tall grass that forms imposing and colorful tassel like, fan-shaped seed heads rather than of ears of corn.

Red Seed Red Packet $2.00 Red 1 Ounce $8.00 Red 1/4 Pound $20.00 Red 1 Pound $62.00

Black Seed Black Packet $2.00 Black 1 Ounce $8.00 Black 1/4 Pound $20.00 Black 1 Pound $62.00

Mixed Seed Mixed Packet $2.00 Mixed 1 Ounce $8.00 Mixed 1/4 Pound $20.00 Mixed 1 Pound $62.00

Perennials – The Backbone of Your Garden

Many gardeners cherish perennials because they flower, spread and multiply year after year and as such they can form the backbone of your flower garden. This in itself sets them aside from annuals as it eliminates the need to buy and plant new flowers every spring. Perennials are simple to grow, require little maintenance, and as a group are adapted to a wide variety of conditions, including a tolerance for sun and shade and moist or dry locations. In fact, many shade tolerant perennials are planted more for their eye-catching foliage than their flowers.

Ornamental Grasses – Adding Dramatic Flair to Your Garden

Ornamental grasses are becoming increasingly popular as garden and landscaping plants because they provide attention-grabbing qualities that are rarely found in other ornamentals. Including ornamental grasses in any size garden results in a stunning, low maintenance addition that can not only add a unique background for your garden but will also provide texture, form, motion and sound to a garden, not to mention the vast palette of colors and their attractive and often colorful and shapely seed heads. As such, you can use ornamental grasses in much the same way that you use any flower, shrub or tree.

Choosing the Right Gardening Tool

If you are thinking about taking your gardening seriously and getting out there to increase the attractiveness of your garden, then you will want to get the right tools to help you do this. Gardening tools are essentially tools designed to help the leisure and full-time gardener in the quest of owning a landscaped or simply, a well-maintained , fairy-tale garden. If you are a serious gardener you’d like to have a select choice of gardening tools.

Butterfly Gardening

What is butterfly gardening? Butterfly gardening is the art of growing flowers and plants that will attract these colorful and dainty creatures to your garden while also enhancing your landscape. Bring smiles to the faces of your family and visitors with beautiful butterflies, but be sure to create a safe habitat for them. If you own outdoor pets, you may want to rethink your plans, because it would be a shame to attract these lovely insects to their death.

More About Butterly Gardening

When creating a butterfly garden, the possibilities of what to include in your butterfly garden design are endless. Below are just a few suggestions to help get you started. These ideas are designed to spark the creative process of your mind and get you started on your way to creating a lovely butterfly garden.

Before you even begin your butterfly garden, find out which species of butterflies are in your area. You can do this by taking an exploratory hike around your location with a butterfly identification book.

Illinois Bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis)

Illinois Bundleflower

Illinois bundleflower is a nutritious plant and is readily eaten by all classes of livestock, deer and pronghorn antelope. It decreases under heavy grazing and is an important range condition indicator. Its seeds are readily consumed by birds and rodents. It is considered one of the most important native prairie legumes. It is frequently used in range revegetation projects.  Illinois bundleflower was a minor medical plant for Native Americans.

The Container Gardening Guide to Growing Exotic Orchids

Orchids have a reputation for being demanding and difficult plants to grow and manage and thus many container gardeners avoid them like the plague. But, orchids will add a touch of real class to your container garden.

In other words, if you haven’t explored orchids let me tell you that you are missing out on some amazing plants. Although it is best to make a note of the specific requirements of each variety. So let’s look at 8 tips that will help you avoid the pain and heartache.

Small Container Water Gardens

Small container water gardens are ideal for small spaces. A container water garden is easy and fun to build and will add visual interest to your patio or porch.

If you do not have room to plant a large container water garden plant a few smaller pots with aquatic plants. These plants placed in container water gardens are more mysterious than traditional potted plants. A big plus to aquatic gardens is that they are very low maintenance. No more having to rely on your neighbors to water your gardens when you leave on vacation or a business trip. For the kids, add a sprouting ornament to really delight them.

Container Gardening – What is it?

Container gardening is the procedure of growing plants solely planters and containers (pots). Unlike the traditional method of growing plants in the ground, container gardens are displayed throughout a home, office, patio or terrace.

You can grow almost anything in a container. Container gardening is the answer for most people who live in busy cities or those who don’t have a big back yard. You can put a container anywhere. And because it’s easy, just about anyone can grow flowers and vegetables.

Discover Nature’s 7 Most Nutritious Herbs For Greater Health & Vitality

For maximum health and vitality both scientists and nutritionists highly recommend that we all pack in as many raw fruits and veggies as possible. Unfortunately, they often overlook the humble herb’s inner vigor. But not anymore!

Through the charms of organic container gardening, it’s time to not only add a melody of tastes, but a great source of essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

The Finalists Are:

Container Gardening Tips

Container gardens are a great way of creating a natural sanctuary in a variety of situations whether it be indoors or outside. They add a colorful and accented welcome to a room, patio or deck using pots filled with annuals or you can fill window boxes with wildflowers and small perennials that can be appreciated from the street and inside your home. You can place pots along the edges of outside steps, hide walls and other ugly concrete structures. You’re really only limited by your imagination and local conditions.

Preparing Your Garden for Winter

With the approaching onset of winter many gardeners believe it’s time to hang up the tools for the year and wait for the following spring before they have to work on their garden again.

his is far from the truth. It’s very important to ensure that your garden is going to be healthy and ready to produce a great crop next year.

The good news is that this winter preparedness can take less than a day to complete.

Garden with Your Kids and Reap the Benefits

If you can get your kids interested in gardening their enthusiasm and imagination will soon take over and with this will come questions, all types of questions, and thus learning. In this way your kids will develop a real appreciation for the environment and how humans can have both positive and negative impacts. The chances are that you’ll learn new stuff yourself and enjoy it because your children’s enthusiasm will carry over to you.

Keep in mind that you don’t need a large garden to get your kids involved. Why not have a container garden. You could even start with something as an old boot. if it’s the wrong time of the year to begin growing things, why not get some containers and let your kids decorate them?

Choosing Your Perfect Garden

Are you thinking about starting a garden? Maybe you’ve tried gardening before and ended up having a bad experience. Well don’t worry you’re not alone and hopefully this little guide will give you some ideas and help you in the initial planning stages so that your next experience will be a resounding result.

Once you’ve decided what type of garden you want to grow just make sure your not getting  into something you can’t handle. Remember, the ultimate aim of any gardening project should be enjoyment for you, your family and your friends.

Water Gardens – an Introduction

One of the latest trends in gardening is the water garden. The thing is though that water gardens have been around for a long time. The ancient Egyptians had them and so did the Romans. So it’s a little bit hard to say exactly what this style of gardening is considered new.

It could be the fact that today we have ready access to preformed ponds, and all manner of pumps, filter and lighting effect. Regardless of how old or new water gardens are there can be no doubt that their popularity is growing dramatically.

In this day and age there aren’t too many of us who are able to enjoy the simple pleasures of  life near a small stream. Things like:

Successful Fall Vegetable Gardens?

Over the past week or so I’ve noticed what I thought was an unusual trend at Lorenz’s OK Seeds. We’ve had quite a few people coming into the store buying vegetable seed. My initial thought was that they were just planning ahead – getting ready for next year. However, as more people bought vegetable seed I began to wonder what was going on.

When I got the chance I sat down with Freddie and quizzed him about this. Needless to say my first question was “whats with all these people buying vegetable seed at this time of the year?”

Caring for Indoor Plants – Simple Tips

It’s not unusual for people to worry about how to care for their indoor plants. These seven simple tips should help you stop worrying and let you enjoy your indoor plants they way you’re meant to enjoy them.

1. Watering – did you know that most indoor plants are killed by over-watering? . . .

2. Feeding – When it comes to feeding your indoor plants the most important thing to remember is “don’t over-fertilize” and “don’t. . .

3. Lighting – Different types of plants have different light requirements. While some plants will do very well without direct sunlight whereas other prefer. . .

First Gardening Experiences

Can you still remember your first gardening experience?

Was it a great experience or was it one full of disaster?

Let me tell you a secret. Mine was such a horrendous disaster that right then and there I decided that I would never touch a garden again. What’s worse, it wasn’t even my own garden, it was my mothers and I decided to help her out by weeding.

Well, I thought all the good plants were those that had flowers on them and that the weeds were everything else. Needless to say at that point in time

Is Watering Your Plants Driving You Crazy?

It’s an unfortunate fact, but remembering to water your plants regularly can drive you crazy. Trying to remember to water them regularly and without over or under watering them is a straight out nightmare. And if we feel like this how do you think your plants feel?
The simple truth is that we all want our [...]