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Determining Spaghetti Squash Ripeness In order to harvest spaghetti squash correctly, you need to learn how to determine whether or not the spaghetti squash is ripe. When the squash has turned a golden yellow or a dark yellowish color, it is usually ready to be picked. The skin of the squash will be very thick and hard. If you use your fingernail to poke the squash, you will know it’s ripe if your nail doesn’t penetrate the squash....

What are Romeo Cherries? Romeo is a newer variety of cherry that was developed at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. It belongs to a group of cherry varieties developed there that are often called prairie cherries. They were all designed to be hardy, resist diseases, grow small, and produce a lot of fruit. The Romeo variety produces dark red, juicy cherries that are more tart than sweet but have a delicious flavor....

Sea Kale Information What is sea kale? Sea kale is a perennial known by a variety of interesting names, including sea-colewort and scurvy grass. Why is it called sea kale? Well, because the plant was pickled for long sea voyages, when it was used to prevent scurvy. Its use extends back hundreds of years. Is Sea Kale Edible? Sea kale shoots grow from the roots, much like asparagus. In fact, the tender shoots are eaten much like asparagus, and they can also be eaten raw....

How Does Self-Pollination of Fruit Trees Work? Most fruit trees must be cross-pollinated, which requires at least one tree of a different variety located within 50 feet (15 m.). Pollination occurs when bees, insects, or birds transfer pollen from the male part (anther) of a blossom on one tree to the female part of the blossom (stigma) on another tree. Trees that require a cross-pollinator include all types of apples and most sweet cherries, as well as some types of plums and some pears....

Bee Friendly Plants for Shaded Areas Generally, bees prefer to buzz around plants in full sun, but there are some shade plants that bees love just as well. Honeybees are usually attracted to yellow, white, blue, and purple flowers. Native bees, like the mason bee — who actually pollinates more plants than honeybees, are attracted to fruit tree blossoms and native shrubs and perennials. Some shade-tolerant plants for bees are:...

In the United States, some of the largest Shakespeare gardens can be found in New York’s Central Park and Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, and the International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon. Devising a Shakespeare garden design of your very own is every bit as fun as it challenging. Read on for a few tips to get you started. How to Create a Shakespeare Garden Design Prior to selecting plants for a Shakespeare garden, it helps to have some knowledge of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets, which you probably already have if you’re considering a Shakespearean garden design....

Should You Deadhead Hollyhocks? Deadheading hollyhock plants isn’t necessary, but it is a good idea. It can help keep the blooms going longer throughout the season and also keeps your plants looking nicer and tidier. Think of deadheading this plant as a way of pruning to coax it into producing flowers right up to the fall and even the first frost. It’s also a good idea to remove dead and damaged leaves, too, for a better overall look and a healthier plant....

What is a Spathe and Spadix? An inflorescence is the entire flowering structure of a plant and these can vary quite a lot from one type of plant to the next. In one type, there is a spathe and a spadix making up the inflorescence, sometimes referred to as a spathe flower. The spathe looks like a large flower petal, but it is actually a bract. Confused yet? A bract is a modified leaf and is often brightly colored and stands out more than the actual flower does....

What is a Sweet Almond Bush? Sweet almond (Aloysia virgata) is a popular garden plant, especially in southern states. It can be evergreen, semi-evergreen, or deciduous depending on where you grow it. The shrub is hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture zone 7. In cooler areas, it grows as a deciduous dwarf plant. In perpetually warm climates, it never loses its stiff, scalloped leaves, even in winter, and it can rise to 15 feet tall (4....

Pruning Dutchman’s Pipe Plant You will want to prune your dutchman’s pipe vine for a couple of reasons. First, by removing damaged or dead wood from your dutchman’s pipe plant, the plant gets more air, which will prevent disease better. Dutchman’s pipe pruning also increases the production of flowers because the plant gets rejuvenated. How and When to Prune Dutchman’s Pipe Pruning dutchman’s pipe is not too difficult or complicated. You can do minimal pruning whenever you want to remove any dead or diseased branches....

When to Cut Asparagus Back Ideally, asparagus should be cut back in the fall but it is important that you wait until all of the foliage has died back and turned brown or yellow. This will normally happen after the first frost, but it can happen without frost in areas that do not receive frost. Once all of the foliage has died, cut the asparagus down to about 2 inches (5 cm....

Problems Caused by Too Much Potassium As important as it is, too much potassium can be unhealthy for plants because it affects the way the soil absorbs other critical nutrients. Lowering soil potassium can also prevent excess phosphorus from running into the waterways where it can increase growth of algae that can eventually kill aquatic organisms. How to tell if your soil has too much potassium? The only way to know for sure is to have your soil tested....

Verbascum Deadheading Guide Should I deadhead my verbascum? The simple answer is yes. It’s always a good idea to deadhead mullein plants for a couple of important reasons. One of these reasons is spreading. There’s a reason these plants often turn up as weeds – they self-seed very well. While you may want some plants in your garden, chances are you don’t want to be overrun. Removing flower stalks before they get the chance to form seeds is a good way to keep the plants’ spread in check....

Cleveland Select Pear Info What is a Cleveland Select pear? Pyrus calleryana “Cleveland Select” is a variety of Callery pear. Cleveland Select is known for its extremely showy white flowers that bloom in early spring. It also has a narrow columnar form and strong branches, setting it apart from many other varieties of pear and making it ideal as a flowering specimen tree. In the autumn, its leaves turn attractive shades of orange to red and purple....

What is a Fiddle-Leaf Fig? So exactly what is a fiddle-leaf fig? Fiddle-leaf fig trees (Ficus lyrata) are evergreen trees with enormous, fiddle-shaped, green leaves. They can get 15 inches (38 cm.) long and 10 inches (25.5 cm.) wide. Native to African rain forests, they only thrive outdoors in the warmest climates like U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10b and 11. The only places where you can start growing fiddle-leaf figs outdoors in the U....

Guelder Rose Viburnums What is a guelder rose? Guelder rose viburnums (Viburnum opulus) are deciduous shrubs or trees that grow between 13 and 25 feet (4-7.5 m.) in height and 8 to 12 feet (2.5-4 m.) in spread, making them well-suited for smaller areas of the landscape. In late spring to early summer, they produce branching clusters of flowers that are usually white but sometimes shades of pink. The flowers give way in autumn to round berries that are red, blue, or black....

What is a Japanese Digging Knife? “Hori” is the Japanese word for “dig” and, coolly enough, “hori hori” is the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound that digging makes. But while it’s often used for digging, this Japanese gardener’s knife has so many other uses that it’s best to think of it as a multi-purpose tool. There are a few different styles of hori hori available commercially, though the difference tends to be in the handle....

As with many other orchid varieties, Oncidium orchid care depends on keeping the plants in loose, well-drained rooting medium and imitating the environment in which it first developed. How to Care for Oncidium Dancing Ladies What is an Oncidium orchid? It’s a species that has developed without the benefit of soil (epiphytic) and which grows long spikes covered in colorful flowers. Start growing Oncidium orchids by choosing the right rooting mix....

About Mountain Marigold Plants We’re commonly asked, “what is bush marigold?” and the fact is the plant goes by many names. Also commonly known as Copper Canyon daisy, Mountain Lemmon marigold, and Mexican bush marigold, these plants are native to the Sonoran Desert and grow wildly from Arizona down into Northern Mexico. They are upright, evergreen to semi-evergreen shrubs which can grow 3 to 6 feet (1-2 m.) tall and wide....

What is California Early Garlic? If you have never heard of California Early garlic plants, you are in for a treat. This is one garlic plant to remember. California Early garlic is an easy-to-grow softneck with great flavor. On top of that, it stores well after harvest, up to six months or more. California Early garlic plants, sometimes termed “Cal-Early,” grow garlic heads with lovely ivory skins just flushed with a little purple....