You’ll also get fully mature, tiny cabbage heads sooner than almost anything else in your vegetable garden. About Golden Cross Cabbage Variety The Golden Cross mini cabbage is a fun variety. The heads are just 6-7 inches (15-18 cm.) in diameter. The small size makes for easier storage in the refrigerator and also for closer plantings in a vegetable bed or growing cabbage in containers. Golden Cross is an early variety....

How to Plant Muscari Bulbs in Pots Grape hyacinth, also called Muscari, grows bunches of tiny, delicate, blue flowers that give off a faint, grape-like smell. The plants are small, and pair well in containers with other small bloomers like pansies or even grass. Plant the bulbs in the autumn 3-4 inches (7.5-10 cm) deep and 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart. The dimensions of the container don’t really matter as long as you can follow those spacing requirements....

Grass Pea Information Chickling vetch is a relatively drought-tolerant plant that grows reliably when most other crops fail. For this reason, it is an important source of nutrition in food-plagued areas. Agriculturally, chickling vetch is often used as a cover crop or green manure. It is effective as a summer crop, but can overwinter in mild climates after fall planting. Chickling vetch has ornamental value as well, producing white, purple, pink, and blue blooms in midsummer, often on the same plant....

Best Plants for Indoor Miniature Gardens Young plants can serve your purposes for a miniature garden for only a short period of time. Once they grow too big, you’ll have to transplant them to their own pot. Be sure to place plants together that have similar needs; if their needs are all different (one needing more water and one needing dry potting mix, for example), they will not survive. If you crowd the roots, the above ground part of the plant will remain small....

Growing Blue Aster Flowers Asters of any color are easy to grow, another reason they are so popular with gardeners. They prefer full sun to partial shade and need well-drained soil. Blue aster flowers and other cultivars do well in zones 4-8. These are perennials that will come back year after year, so divide them every couple of years to keep the plants healthy. Deadheading asters is important because they will self-seed but won’t be true to the parent type....

Container Grown Lilacs Planting a lilac shrub in a pot is doable, but it isn’t ideal. Lilacs can get huge, and they grow best when their roots are free to spread out. When growing lilacs in containers, the first step is to pick a variety that stays relatively small. Some dwarf varieties exist, such as: Minuet Pixie Munchkin Some non-dwarf varieties that stay small include: Syringa meyeri S. pubescens S. patula...

Choosing a Container for Miniature Roses I have used a couple old coal buckets to grow miniature rose bushes in successfully, but you can use anything that will hold soil. For miniature rose bushes, I highly recommend something about the same size as an old coal bucket and at least as deep (around 10-12 inches or 25-30 cm.). I do recommend not planting any miniature rose bush in a clear container as the sun’s rays can damage the root system, causing root burn....

What is Valmaine Lettuce? Valmaine lettuce plants are a favorite for authentic Caesar salads, and they are often found in packaged salad mixes. This is because they so readily grow from seed, mature to sizeable heads in about 60 days, and have better tolerance of cold or heat than other romaine lettuce plants. Valmaine romaine lettuce and its hybrids are commercially grown in the southeastern United States because they are resistant to both the serpentine leaf miner and the banded cucumber beetle, which cause devastating crop losses in commercial lettuce fields....

Pollination of Peppers Some veggie plants, like tomatoes and peppers, are self-pollinating, but others such as zucchini, pumpkins, and other vine crops produce both male and female flowers on the same plant. During times of stress, these blossoms (regardless of whether they are self-pollinating or not) need some assistance in order to produce fruit. Stress may be due to a lack of pollinators or overly high temperatures. During these stressful times, you may need to hand pollinate your pepper plants....

Hardy Yarrow Plants Can yarrow grow in zone 5? Absolutely. Most varieties of yarrow thrive in the range of zone 3 to 7. They will usually last up to zone 9 or 10, but in warmer climates they will start to get leggy and need staking. In other words, yarrow prefers cool weather. Most yarrow plants should be just fine growing in zone 5, and since the plants come in a wide variety of colors and tolerance of soil conditions, you’ll have no trouble finding zone 5 yarrow plants that suit your needs....

Healthy Plant Selection Learning the signs of a healthy plant is the first step in ensuring its overall success. Choosing healthy plants involves looking closely at all parts of the plant, beginning with the most obvious part– the leaves. Foliage growth – A healthy plant should have plenty of healthy new growth. With the exception of plants with bi-colored or variegated leaves, most plants should display green leaves with bright, even color....

What Is Prairie Phlox? Phlox pilosa, also known as prairie phlox or downy phlox, is an herbaceous, flowering perennial native to much of eastern Canada and the U.S. Pilosa refers to the fact that the stems, leaves, and parts of the flowers have fine, white hairs. Prairie phlox grows in neat clumps up to about 1.5 to 2 feet (45 to 60 cm.) tall and a little less wide. The prairie phlox flowers grow in rounded clusters....

Calendula Benefits Also known as pot marigold, calendula is a pretty, bright flower that adds cheer to garden beds. But did you know that this is also a medicinal plant? You should always talk to your doctor before trying any kind of herbal or supplement, but if calendula is safe for you, there are some medicinal purposes it may serve: Helping wounds and burns heal faster Treating hemorrhoids Reducing skin inflammation Preventing dermatitis Healing ear infections Healing diaper rash Reducing inflammation Helping to heal various skin ailments, like acne, eczema, and rashes...

Indoor Olive Trees Olive trees have been cultivated for thousands of years for their fruit and the oil made from it. If you love olives or simply love the look of the green-gray foliage, you may dream of growing olive trees too. Olive trees come from the Mediterranean region though, where the weather is toasty. While they can be cultivated in USDA zones 8 and warmer, they are not happy if the temperature drops below 20 degrees F....

How to Plant Basil Seeds It is easy to learn how to plant basil seeds. Basil should be grown in a place that gets sunshine at least six to eight hours per day. The soil should be well-drained with a pH of 6-7.5. You might wonder, “When do I plant basil seeds?” Basically, the best time to plant basil seeds is when all danger of frost has passed in the spring....

Inkberry Plant Information Inkberry is a type of holly bush that is found wild in many southern bogs and damp woodlands. Its round, dense shape forms a thick hedge when it’s grown in a row. Inkberry holly varieties vary from thick 4 foot (1 m.) versions to the almost tree-like 8 foot (2 m.) tall giants. As the plant grows, the bottom branches tend to lose their leaves, giving the bottom of the plant a bare look....

What is a Bee Bee Tree? The bee bee tree, also known as Korean evodia (Evodia daniellii syn. Tetradium daniellii), is not a well-known ornamental, but it should be. The tree is small, generally not much taller than 25 feet (7.5 m.), and its dark green leaves provide light shade beneath. The bark is smooth, like beech tree bark. The species is dioecious, so there are male trees and female trees....

What is Japanese Ardisia? Japanese ardisia is a creeping, woody shrub that only grows 8 to 12 (20-31 cm.) tall. Spreading by rhizomes, it can get 3 foot (1 m.) or wider. If you are familiar with plants that spread by rhizomes, you may wonder is ardisia invasive? Coral ardisia (Ardisia crenata), a close relative of Japanese ardisia, is considered an invasive species in some locations. However, Japanese ardisia does not share coral ardisia’s invasive species status....

Knock Out Roses for Zone 9 The original Knock Out® rose is hardy in zones 5 to 9. All the newer Knock Out rose varieties can also grow in zone 9. These come in an expanded range of colors including pink, pale pink, yellow, and multicolor. “Sunny” is a yellow Knock Out rose and the only one of the group that is fragrant. “Rainbow” is a Knock Out rose with petals that are coral pink at the tip and yellow at the base....

However, with a little research, it is possible to find ideal candidates for growth in less than ideal conditions. Incorporating robust labrador tea plants into the landscape, for example, is a great way to add evergreen visual interest in cold climates, as well as to attract native pollinators. Labrador Tea Info Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum) is a native flowering shrub to much of Canada and the northern United States. Labrador tea plants are most noted for their “hairy” foliage and small white clusters of flowers....