THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS FAST APPROACHING A living Christmas tree not only provides holiday cheer but can provide a valued landscape plant with proper care. Using a living tree is a “growing” – pardon the pun – trend amongst homeowners these past few years. I realize the idea of using a living tree for Christmas … Read more
One of the plants you’ll see almost everywhere this time of year is Christmas/Thanksgiving/Holiday cactus. So here are some interesting facts about these beautiful seasonal bloomers. When they bloom in their native habitat in Brazil, they are beautiful spring bloomers that the locals call “Flor de Maia” or May Flower! Holiday cacti are a small … Read more
THE FACT THAT IT IS NOW NOVEMBER DOES NOT MEAN TO PUT AWAY YOUR GARDENING TOOLS AND HIBERNATE JUST YET! Here we are in early November with the holidays just around the corner and we are still having great weather to be outside and doing needed gardening tasks. Yes, it feels like fall with our … Read more
Amaryllis just showed up a couple of weeks ago and I’m already getting a lot of questions on how to grow these beautiful giants. The good news is they’re a whole lot easier than you might think. There are just a few things to keep in mind. In every grocery store these days, you can find amaryllis … Read more
We all know that water is a precious natural resource and an essential component of our lives and landscapes. Without it, nothing on Earth would survive. Did you know that less than 1% of all the water in the world is available as fresh, clean water? With all the rain that we have had this year, … Read more
Today, October 29th is National Cat Day. National Cat Day was established in 2005 and is sponsored by The Animal Miracle Foundation. I’m someone who is lucky enough to be owned by five cats. I’m also someone who has been owned by many cats since I adopted my first cat when I was 15. I … Read more
DECORATING WITH PUMPKINS AND OTHER EXOTIC GOURDS FOR THE FALL Fall officially arrived last month but it sure hasn’t felt like fall until now. Since September, we have been experiencing above average temperatures. Here we are in late October and finally starting to experience average, cool temperatures. It’s pumpkin season time!!! Everyone is decorating with … Read more
Beautiful Flowers with an Amazing History In 1593, a Flemish botanist named Carolus Clusius was sent some tulip bulbs by a friend of his who was the Austrian ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. When Clusius accepted the position of curator at the botanical gardens in Leiden, Holland, he took his bulbs with him. The first … Read more
WHAT TO DO ABOUT LICHEN ON MY SHRUBS AND TREES First, in doing some research for this blog, I found writing this blog more educational for me than I originally thought it would be. Over the years I have talked to many customers who wanted to know what was this grey looking barnacles growing on … Read more
What do Corn Plants, Dragon Trees, and Lucky Bamboo have in common? They are all members of the Dracaena family. Dracaenas are a family of herbaceous plants that are, believe it or not, related to Asparagus! The name “Dracaena” comes from the Greek word “Drakaina” meaning Female Dragon. Some varieties of dracaena have a reddish … Read more
