Plants are meant to grow, and when a houseplant outgrows its pot, the container starts working against it. Visible roots pushing through the drainage holes, soil that stays wet for days, and a plant that looks top-heavy all point to the same fix: a larger pot and fresh potting mix. How often that fix is […]
Oriental poppies (Papaver orientale) are herbaceous perennials grown for their large, brightly colored blooms, with petals that look like crepe paper and a dark blotch at the base of each one. The most familiar flowers are orange, as on ‘Prince of Orange’, and red, as on ‘Livermere’, but cultivars also come in peach, maroon, and
Planting herbs in pots is popular and convenient because containers are easy to maintain, with fewer weeds and fewer soil-borne pests to bother the crop. You can grow almost any herb in a container, but if you are mixing herbs in the same pot you need to group plants with similar water, light, and soil
Pick up a leaf dotted with bumps or trailing odd protrusions and the first thought is disease or buried insect eggs. In most cases these are leaf galls, the plant’s own response to irritation, and the organism that caused them has long since moved on. The same diagnostic discipline applies around the house: a fogged
Standing water in a yard causes more problems than soggy shoes. Puddles become mosquito breeding grounds, wet lawns track mud into the house, grass refuses to grow in saturated soil, and moss takes over the bare patches. Excess water can even threaten the foundation of the house. Two causes explain most pooling: poorly draining soil
Palm trees cannot usually be propagated by air layering, cuttings, or division the way other trees are grown. Because of how they grow, the only reliable way to start a new palm is from seed. Germination is slow and uneven, and the process tests patience more than most garden projects, but the payoff is a
Moss in a lawn is rarely the real problem. It is a symptom of shade, compacted soil, poor drainage, or acidic ground where grass cannot compete. Left alone, a patch spreads into a thick, splotchy mat that turns a yard uneven, though moss does not actually kill the grass beneath it. Killing the moss is
A vase of freshly cut flowers changes the feel of a room, but the pleasure fades fast when stems droop by the second day. The difference between a bouquet that holds for a week and one that wilts overnight starts in the garden, with the varieties you choose. Some flowers keep their color and structure
Few garden sights sting like a bed of bare soil where tulips were supposed to emerge. Squirrels and chipmunks treat freshly planted ground as a ready-made pantry, digging up crocus and tulip bulbs within days of planting and leaving a trail of scattered soil and chewed husks. The damage follows a predictable pattern, and so
Blossom drop is one of the most frustrating problems in a home vegetable garden. Healthy-looking tomato plants set flower blossoms, and then the flowers dry up and fall off before a fruit forms. The condition has several causes, and because temperature affects both pollination and watering demand, heat and cold are the most common triggers.
