Author: Busucher

A gorgeous landscape adds aesthetic value to your home. If planned correctly, it can also add precious outdoor living room. If you do not select the correct plants for your lawn, however, that beauty can come at a price: You’ll need to work overtime to keep your plants healthy and thriving. No matter how appealing or desirable the plant, if it wo not grow well in your lawn, it is not a good choice. Instead, plan carefully, and find plants which grow best in your climate and place.

Determine your U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones, which are defined by average low and high temperatures. Select only those plants recommended for your growing zones to ensure that they won’t be damaged by frost or heat. If you do not understand your USDA zones, look up an online interactive map, or check with someone at your local garden center.

Look carefully at your lawn. Be mindful of how much sunlight or shade covers the home. Look for electricity lines or other obstructions, like underground pipes, which may interfere with plant growth. Pick planting locations that get no less than a half-day of sunlight and do not have obstructions. Be aware of any hard areas like the ones with complete shade or very dry soil, so which it is possible to select plants that thrive in such circumstances. To locate these technical plants, then bring your notes into the garden center, and receive advice from its pros.

Select plants that fit the purpose of your lawn. If you’re trying to add curb appeal to your front yard, you may wish to select plants which bloom during the growing season. If it’s shade you’re after, start looking for a fast-growing shade tree. If you would like to stabilize a hill and protect against erosion, start looking for plants or vines which are frequently utilized for ground cover. Again, ask for assistance at your local garden or horticulture facility. Many universities have horticulture centres which are totally free to the general public.

Test the soil. Some soils are very acidic, while some are very alkaline. Plants often do much better in one kind of soil over the other. Soil testing kits are available at many retail garden centres. Choose plants that fit the kind of soil you have in your lawn for best results.

Look at your neighbors’ yards. Should you find a landscape that is especially attractive, consider asking your neighbor for hints as to what you can plant in your yard. If you are very lucky, your neighbor may be delighted to provide you with cuttings from the own plants at no cost.

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Pineapple plants have been grown for their fruit and as ornamental plants within hot-climate landscapes. In cooler climates, they can be planted in containers and moved inside when temperatures begin to fall into the upper-50-degrees Fahrenheit range. The many varieties of pineapple plants developed for fruit are divided into four category groups. Additionally, there are hybrid pineapple plants cultivated only for ornamental purposes.

Pineapple Plant Similarities

Pineapple plants have been terrestrial bromeliads hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 to 12. They climb to a height of 2 1/2 to 5 ft and width of 3 to 4 feet with long, narrow, pointed leaves. Pineapple plants grow best in sandy soil that’s full of organic matter and drains very quickly. Full sun is preferable for fruit production, while partial shade promotes leaf.

Abacaxi Group

Abacaxi pineapple plants are most commonly developed in the Bahamas, Brazil and Florida. Pineapple plant varieties within this category aren’t commonly developed for commercial production because the fruit is too easily damaged. The fruit is sweet and hot, nevertheless, and easily harvested. Mature pineapples created by plants in this category generally weigh between two and 11 lbs. The “Sugarloaf” variety produces smaller pineapples that weigh between 1 1/2 and 3 lbs. Abacaxi pineapple plants have blue-green foliage and are disease-resistant.

Queen Group

Queen pineapple plants chiefly grow in Australia, the Philippines and South Africa. Pineapple plants within this category are smaller and produce smaller fruit that weighs between 1 and 6 lbs. The fruit is juicy and delicious but tends to be cone-shaped, which causes excessive waste if this variety is utilized for commercial canning. It will not keep well, and can be harvested for sale as fresh fruit. The leaf on these plants tends to be medium green, although the “Ripley” cultivar leaves have a reddish hue.

Red Spanish Group

The Red Spanish pineapple group usually grow in Florida, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the West Indies. These are inclined to be larger plants using very spiny gray-green or purple-green leaf. The fruit has a rounded form and generally weighs between 3 and 6 lbs, although the “Valera Amarilla” cultivar can create fruit that weighs up to 9 lbs. The fruit has great flavor and fragrance. It’s harvested commercially for canning and fresh fruit.

Smooth Cayenne Group

Grown in hot areas across the world, Smooth Cayenne pineapple plants tend to be more susceptible to infection than other kinds. On the other hand, the leaves don’t have the spiny advantages of different types. The juicy, flavorful fruit generally weighs between two and 10 lbs. The “Giant Kew” cultivar is an unusual member of this category, with pineapples that could weigh up to 22 lbs. Most of these pineapple plant varieties have been grown commercially for canning or sale as fresh fruit.

Ornamental Pineapple Plants

Gardeners grow ornamental pineapple varieties as landscape plants or houseplants. These crops sometimes create pineapples, but the fruit isn’t generally considered delicious. Ornamental pineapple plants grow to a height of 2 to 3 feet and width of 2 to 4 feet. The leaves might have spiny or smooth edges, depending on the hybrid or cultivar. They are generally green or gray-green using pink, yellow or white stripes running lengthwise the leaves up. Ornamental pineapples bloom occasionally, creating little red or deep pink blossoms that cover a thick stem in the center of the plant. The stalk might become a small pink pineapple after the plant finishes blooming.

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Though some call it cathedral windows and some call it the peacock plant, there’s little chance of anybody calling Calathea makoyana dull. Translucent, creamy-green foliage patterned using a darker, intricate leaves-within-leaves design gives the plant its own rose-window splendor. As if which weren’t enough, the design repeats in pinkish-purple on the leaf’s undersides. Regrettably, like the leaves of this poet Robert Frost once observed, “Nothing gold can stay,” cathedral windows’ foliage dries out and dies as it ages. Cultural problems have a similar effect. Removing the damaged or tired leaves and supplying the right growing conditions promotes vibrant new growth.

Eliminating the Leaves

Eliminate the old, dead or dry leaves from your cathedral windows once they occur. Use clean, sharp scissors to cut them away in the base of their reddish stems. To avoid spreading insects or disease, dip the scissor blades in a solution of 1 part household bleach to 9 parts water between cuts.

Examine the remaining leaves for dead, brown tips or margins resulting from cultural problems. If you’re able to, trim the dead tissue without ruining the leaves’ appearance. Otherwise, remove the entire leaves, again disinfecting your scissors between cuts.

Determine which of the cultural practices are liable for the damaged leaves. In the wild, cathedral windows grows only in the hot, humid jungles of eastern Brazil. It tolerates outside life in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 11 through 12, but does not succeed outside in colder areas without substantial pampering, though it might be grown as a houseplant.

Preventing Future Problems

Give cathedral windows a brightly lit location with no direct sun and a temperature consistently between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Immediate sun may burn its own leaves. To keep cold air from browning and curling them, move the houseplant from air conditioning vents in summertime.

Keep the growing medium consistently moist. Lack of moisture browns and shrivels cathedral windows’ lower leaves and also causes dark, brownish spots on its upper ones. After the top 1 inch of medium is dry to the touch, water the plant thoroughly until the surplus water flows from the container’s drainage holes. Use tepid, distilled or rainwater; fluoridated water also dries the leaf tips and edges.

Provide cathedral windows using at least 60 percent humidity during winter. At lower levels, its leaves often dry and brown at the tips. Place the pot on a shallow tray full of pebbles submerged in water to just below their surfaces. Replenish the evaporating water since it raises the humidity around the plant.

Fertilize your plant every three weeks from March through September and once monthly during the rest of the year. Salt accumulation from excessive pesticide browns the leaf tips and edges. Mix 1 tsp, or the maker’s suggested amount, of granulated, 20-20-20 houseplant fertilizer in 1 gallon of water and use it to replace a normal watering session.

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When you would like to add houseplants in your house, assessing the home’s light conditions is a wise place to start. Windows that face are the best locations for plants which grow well with just bright, indirect light because north-facing exposures get hardly any direct sunlight. South-facing exposures admit the best amount of direct sunlight, especially in winter, once the sun is low in the sky; so southern windows are ideal for plants that require a lot of direct light. If leafy crops’ natural light is not supplemented by artificial light from all directions, transfer the plants’ containers by one-quarter turn every two weeks so the plants will not have lopsided growth.

Foliage Varieties

Foliage houseplants with origins in shaded forest understories are suited to develop from the indirect light of north-facing windows. A good example is Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata “Bostoniensis”), among the most common indoor ferns. Boston fern is hardy at U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 12 and thrives with the added humidity provided when its bud’s bottom sets in addition to seams which line a tray full of water; do not enable the pot’s bottom to be moist. Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides, USDA zones 10 through 11) is an example of a leaf plant suitable for a southern window exposure because it needs sunlight for the best color development in its own leaves. Pick from its many cultivarsthat have distinct color combinations. When growing outdoors in the ground, coleus can become invasive in certain locations; develop it in a container to stop its spread.

Succulents

A number of succulent plants grow well before south-facing windows, plus they include the vibrant echeverias (Echeveria spp., USDA zones 8 through 11). Many showy echeveria hybrids with red, pink, blue, purple or orange leaves can be found; they need direct sunlight exposure in winter to come up with the strongest colors. Echeverias require less sunlight in summer, and the hours of direct sunlight in a south window are fewer in summer because the sun is high in the skies. To get a north window, then try the succulent snake plant (Sansevieria spp.) , which grows well in indirect light. A number of species can be found as houseplants, all with leathery, stiff leaves. Dwarf snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata “Hahnii,” USDA zones 9b through 11) includes a rosette of banded, green and light-green leaves which are about 6 inches tall. When growing outside in a landscape, oyster snake plant can be invasive in certain situations; put in edging around the plant or develop it in a container to keep it within boundaries outside.

Options with Showy Flowers

Some plants with showy flowers need north-facing windows while others need south-facing windows. In winter, African violets (Saintpaulia spp.) Do well in southern windows, where they get direct light. In summer, move them into an eastern exposure, nevertheless. African violets generally are hardy in only USDA zone 11, but the species Saintpaulia ionantha is hardy in USDA zones 11 through 12. A large collection of cultivars with purple, white, blue and pink flowers are readily available. To get a north-facing place, consider peace lily (Spathiphyllum spp., USDA zones 11 through 12). Native to tropical forests, it also performs best with bright filtered light but shouldn’t get whole sunlight. Grown mostly for its leaf, peace lily features white flowers which turn green after they have been open for 10 days, and the flowers can last more than 1 month.

Tall Varieties

Valued for their size and visual effect, tall houseplants have varying demands for light exposure, based on their species. Erect plants that function as vertical accents, dracaenas (Dracaena spp., USDA zones 10b via 11) tolerate indirect light from north-facing windows. Regarding 150 dracaena species exist, offering a selection of leaf colors, such as dark green often striped with gold, cream or red coloring. The plants hit 72 inches or taller. A plant which can be grown indoors as a little tree, weeping fig (Ficus benjamina, USDA zones 10 through 12) does double duty, tolerating indirect light from a north-facing window but also doing well in a south window’s direct light. When grown as a landscaping plant, weeping fig can reach 50 feet tall but typically rises 2 to 10 feet tall as a houseplant.

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Although apple (Malus spp.) and pine (Pinus spp.) Seedlings share the identical basic functional components, their structure and arrangement are different, as are the methods that the seeds are produced. The components that the seedlings have in common are a seed coat, a seed root referred to as a radicle, and a stem called a hypocotyl. Their seed leaves vary markedly in form and number. These differences reflect the reality that pines and apples aren’t closely related. All these are seed plants, but pine is a gymnosperm and apple is a flowering plant with two seed leaves, or a dicotyledonous angiosperm.

Seed Origins

The fundamental differences between pine and apple seedlings begin with the seeds that make the seedlings. Pine seeds develop in a bract of the female pine cone, and aren’t surrounded by a fruit. Apple seeds develop within the ovary of the apple flower, enclosed with a hexagonal wall that grows into a fruit. Many pines have small winged seeds designed for wind dispersal, but about 30 of the 110 species have heavy seeds built for animals to propagate. In apples, the fruit becomes eaten and the small, hard seeds pass unharmed through an animal’s digestive tract.

Within the Seed

Both pine and apple seeds have a plant embryo that develops to the seedling. Pines have an elongate embryo in the middle of the seed surrounded by a thick layer of nutritive substance. Apple seeds are largely taken up with 2 big seed leaves and also a thin layer of nutritive endosperm, which differs in origin from the nutritive layer of pine tree seeds. The embryonic tissues that become the the radicle take up relatively little room toward the base of the seed.

Seed Germination

Germination in both pines and apples starts with the emergence of the radicle, which anchors the developing seedling and harvests nutrients and water so it can grow. In pine seedlings, the radicle splits the seed coat since it emerges, with the mineral substance surrounding the embryo supplying the energy for development. In apple seeds, then the stored nutrients in the cotyledons fuel seedling growth until plants begin to make their own food through photosynthesis. Apples and pines both require a period of moist cold in order to germinate, and also both apples and pines are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8.

Seed Leaves

The amount of seed leaves in pine seedlings varies from 2 to many, depending on the species. Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), which grows in USDA zones 4 through 8, has anywhere from six to 12 cotyledons. The cotyledons are very long, narrow and stiff, reflecting the needle-like form of their true leaves to follow. They’re arranged in a whorl around the stem of the seedling. Apple’s seed leaves are oval and fleshy-looking, arranged opposite each other at the tip of the seedling stem.

Seedling Development

True leaves emerge as the seedlings grow. In pine seedlings, needle-like true leaves appear together with the growing shoot above the cotyledons. As the tree grows, it starts to create the leaves in bundles, called fascicles, which can consist of from one to eight needles, depending on the species. In apples, elongated oval true leaves with jagged edges emerge as the apical shoot grows from between the two cotyledons.

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African violet (Saintpaulia spp.) Produces plantlets from divided plants and leaf cuttings. Normally grown as houseplants, African violets are tropical perennial plants, and maybe grow outdoors in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 11 through 12. Flower colors range from white through pink and fuchsia into blue-violet, and plants grow 6 to 16 inches wide, depending on the range. African violet plantlets require only small quantities of fertilizer.

In the Soil

Specialized potting soil feeds fresh African violet plantlets. Small plantlets from African violet leaf cuttings and divided plants don’t require fertilizer. When transplanting plantlets into new pots, use a specialized African violet potting soil, which prevents over-fertilization. African violet potting soil is slightly acidic and contains enough nutrients to feed the plantlets while they build their root systems. Fill 2- or 2 1/2-inch pots using 0.21-0.11-0.16 potting soil, and plant the African violets in order that their lowest leaves have been just above the ground. Water the pots and then let them drain thoroughly. Always use pots with drainage holes.

Little by Little

Applying just a small fertilizer when African violet increase slows down supplies all their requirements. Over-fertilized African violet plantlets grow poorly. New leaves on over-fertilized plants look hardened, as well as the plants develop tight centers. To prevent over-fertilizing plantlets, wait till their growth goes down and look for signs of yellowing old leaves, but be careful — plantlets that get too much lighting can develop the same symptoms. If you are unsure whether your African violet plantlets require fluid, fertilize one or two. If the leaf colour and increase improves, fertilize another plantlets. African violets need bright, indirect lighting, like a place about 3 feet from a southeast- or west-facing window.

Feeding Time

Watering and fertilizing African violet plantlets usually occurs at the same time. African violets are susceptible to crown and root diseases caused by excessively moist potting soil, so don’t water the plantlets until the ground is dry to the touch. Dilute a 7-7-7 African violet fertilizer at a rate of 7 to 10 drops per 1 quart of lukewarm water, and apply the mixture to water the plantlets, or apply the fertilizer based on the manufacturer’s directions. Either stand the pots in 1 inch of fluid mixture and lift them out when the soil surface is moist, or pour the mixture into the pot until it looks through the drainage holes. Don’t receive any of this solution on the leaves. Catch the watered pots to drain thoroughly before replacing them on their own drip trays. African violets usually stop growing in winter. Water the plantlets in order that the potting soil surface is just moist, and don’t apply fertilizer.

Care Package

African violet plantlets prosper when conditions are correct. Nighttime temperatures between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal for African violets, but plantlets grow anywhere in the assortment of 60 to 80 F. Growth slows down and flowering is reduced when temperatures are too high or too low. Chilled African violets turn dark, become water-soaked and wither. Put the pots in their drip strips to a flat container of sand or gravel full of water to give a humid atmosphere around the plants. Don’t allow plants to stand in water, and don’t drip water on their leaves because this causes unsightly spots.

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