This Wednesday, December 21st, is the Winter Solstice—the shortest day of the year; the first official day of Winter—Yule. The days, which have been getting shorter and shorter each day since the Summer Solstice, now will begin getting longer by a minute or two each day (YAY!). South of the Equator, you understand, it is … Read more
Paperwhites are members of the daffodil family, believe it or not. They’re native to the Mediterranean, however, so we can’t grow them in our yards. They do force easily and quickly inside, though. All you need are a few pebbles and a watertight container. You can get inventive and use almost any container that will … Read more
Have you gotten a poinsettia for your mantle? Maybe someone has given you a beautiful amaryllis to enjoy? So what do you do with them when they finish blooming? Throw them away? Not so fast! Here’s a quick guide on how to care for these Holiday beauties. How to Care For Your Holiday Plants Poinsettias … Read more
One of the plants you’ll see almost everywhere this time of year is Christmas/Thanksgiving/Holiday cactus. So here is what you need to know about these beautiful seasonal bloomers. Did You Know…. Holiday cacti are a small genus of plants called Schlumbergera. They are native to a small area in the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil, … Read more
The Amaryllis family—the Amaryllidaceae—is a wide and varied group, including the wild Amaryllis (Amaryllis Belladonna), our Christmas amaryllis (reclassified as Hippeastrum), as well as Narcissus (yes, daffodils!), tiny little snowdrops, agapanthus (Lily-of-the-Nile), alliums (onions, garlic, and ornamental onions), clivia, crinum (Cape Lilies) among others. Most of these are bulbs needing a dormant period at some … Read more
Now that your houseplants have been inside for a few weeks, here are a few things to look for: Yellow Leaves Yellow leaves can be a sign of two very different problems. They are often a sign that light-craving plants are not getting enough light—weeping figs and citrus are famous for this. Moving to a … Read more
I sat on my deck yesterday and surveyed my backyard—it was a great excuse to escape the vacuuming I should have been doing. I made a mental checklist of everything I wanted to get done before frost. We’ve been lucky thus far—usually, we’ve had several touches of frost by now. Move houseplants indoors—done. Well, except … Read more
This past Saturday, October 29th, was National Cat Day. National Cat Day was established in 2005 and is sponsored by The Animal Miracle Foundation. I’m lucky enough to have several cats. I’m also someone who has had many cats since I adopted my first when I was 15. I also adopted my first plant when … Read more
Ask most people what tulips, daffodils, crocus, and begonias have in common, and they’ll tell you that they are all bulbs. And they would be half right. Tulips and daffodils are indeed true bulbs; however, a crocus is a corm, and a begonia is a tuber. BULBS True bulbs are actually plants in miniature. They … Read more
The Netherlands may be the world’s largest grower of tulips, but did you know that they are not native there? No, tulips are native to mountainous areas of Turkey and Russia! So how did tulips get to the Netherlands? In the late 1500s, the ambassador to the courts of Suleiman the Magnificent was intrigued by … Read more
