A few summers ago I taught a short course on gardening for the University of Vermont. The classes were held at my test gardens. During a discussion about root crops, Willie, one of the students, said, “Dick, I grow real nice carrots, but I don’t like them too much. I can hardly eat them; they seem so woody.”
“How big do you grow them?” I asked.
Willie smiled, “Oh, they get real good size. I’ve got nice loose soil for them.” Read the rest of this entry »
Plant your berries in a sunny location for the sweetest berries and the healthiest plants. Try for an open spot on a slight south facing slope. Low spots on your property could be trouble since cold air flows like water down a slope and will collect in pockets. Frosts will hit these low spots first.
Strawberry plants are usually set out in the early spring (March or April) in the North, but southern gardeners often have the best luck with fall planting.
Fertile, well-drained soil is a must. If you have heavy clay, make raised beds. These keep plants from sitting around with wet feet” which lowers production. Raised beds also prevent plants from being heaved out of the ground by frost during the winter. Add plenty of organic matter to help loosen up clay soil. Read the rest of this entry »
A shroud of confusion which few gardening books and journals succeed in penetrating. As a result, many gardeners prune incorrectly or indiscriminately. It is wrong to think that all shrubs need a “good haircut” every year. The truth is, most shrubs do not need any pruning; all you need to do is look over them occasionally and if necessary cut out any dead or dying shoots or branches. Conifers need pruning only when grown as ornamental hedges; ornamental trees do not need pruning at all; most climbers are happier if left alone, and so are most roses — although some, such as bush roses, need severe pruning every year. Read the rest of this entry »
The range of exotic fruit available from supermarkets is increasing all the time. Sometimes the expensive purchase turns out to be a bit of adisappointment, possibly because in our ignorance it is eaten before it is ripe or because, like the fig, it is really only nice when eaten straight off the tree.
Planting the stones, however, can be very rewarding. Children, and adults too for that matter, can plant orange, lemon and grapefruit seeds in pots of moist compost. Lemons are easiest to raise, and then grapefruit, but I have had least success with oranges. All will make shapely shrubs that can be grown in window box or tub; they may even bear sweetly scented white flowers but are highly unlikely to bear fruit. Pomegranate makes first a shrub and then a tree with tiny reddish leaves and in a very hot summer it might even produce flowers, though not fruit. Read the rest of this entry »
Although the standard Cymbidium is still more widely grown than the miniature varieties, we will discuss the smaller type first because they require less space and can be grown more easily in the home. The miniature hybrids have been produced from a limited number of species which are small in stature and which will produce flowers from a plant in an easily accommodated pot. The first miniature Cymbidiums were produced some sixty to seventy years ago, but at that time created little interest. They were, in fact, in advance of their time and in the last twenty years their popularity has increased enormously. The earliest hybrids were produced by crossing the species Cymbidium pumilum. This delightful little plant produces flower spikes about 10-12 cm (4-5 in.) long, carrying somewhat insignificant blooms. Read the rest of this entry »
Other Odontoglossum species which may be tried as house plants include 0. bictoniense, a soft, green leaved species from Mexico which is continuously growing and which produces long upright sprays of up to twenty-five pretty flowers. The petals are green barred with brown, the heart shaped lip is white often suffused with pink. Flowering during the summer, it will continue to bloom for many weeks. 0. pulchellum, has pure white flowers with yellow centres which are produced from oval shaped bulbs which bear two narrow leaves. This species is fragrant and also comes from Mexico. It propagates and divides easily. None of the South American species of Odontoglossum or Miltonia are available these days as house plants. They will only be found in cultivation in limited quantities in botanical collections where they have become collector’s items, or in the stud houses of orchid breeders. Read the rest of this entry »
While this beautiful little species is widely grown in cool greenhouse collections for its own undeniable beauty, its hybrids have added much to its related genera. S. coccinea has been crossed with Cattleyas to produce the genus Sophrocattleya, and with Laelias to produce Sophrolaelia, while a further step forward incorporates all three genera in Sophrolaeliocattleya. While these are the most well known genera incorporating Sophronitis, they are by no means all that is available. The main influence of the Sophronitis in these crosses has been to reduce the plant to a far more compact and manageable size, easily accommodated on the window sill, and to add the brilliant red colouring found in the species. While most of the hybrids produce smaller flowers, they are often produced in an abundance, while their brilliant colour outshines all other hybrids within this group. Although the majority of hybrids containing Sophronitis produce a multitude of red shades, other colours have come through, with orange and yellow being represented where different breeding lines have been used. Read the rest of this entry »
Cymbidiums, like so many orchids, are widely distributed in the wild. They occur in an area of the Far East which stretches from the Himalayas, China and the southern islands of Japan, through the East Indies to the northern territories of Australia. Most of the species are of botanical interest only, with small, insignificant flowers. Also among the Cymbidiums can be found an extraordinary species of minute plant which grows under the ground and produces small flowers on a short spike about 8 cm (3 in.) high. None of these more obscure species have qualities which make them worth using for breeding purposes.
A typical Cymbidium from which the bulk of hybrids have been raised produces egg shaped bulbs, completely covered by the leaves. These leaves are up to 1 m (3 ft) long and there are eight to ten per bulb. As is typical of orchids, Cymbidiums grow in enormous clumps in the wild, but in cultivation are maintained at a convenient size; Read the rest of this entry »
Phalaenopsis are extremely beautiful orchids, with species to be found in India, down through Borneo and Malaysia to New Guinea, with the largest concentrations in the Philippines. They grow mainly in the steamy lowland forests where there is a constant moist atmosphere and very little direct sunlight. The plants grow upon host trees as epiphytes and often grow downwards.
Phalaenopsis do not produce pseudo bulbs but their leaves are extremely thick and fleshy and grow from the base of the plant. Usually one or two new leaves are produced from the centre of the plant in a season. An average sized plant in cultivation may have between three and six leaves at any one time and in some species they can grow to over 1 m (3 ft) in length. They may be plain dark green, or beautifully mottled and barred in silvery grey. The roots of the Phalaenopsis are the most attractive of any orchids; in the wild they attach themselves firmly to the bark of their tree, and run along its surface for some distance. These very fleshy roots are flat, silvery grey with a green or purple growing tip. In cultivation they will adhere to anything with which they come into contact. The flower spikes appear from the base of one of the younger leaves and can carry from just a few, to many, well rounded flat blooms. Read the rest of this entry »
