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Light Requirements for Hibiscus How much light does a hibiscus need? As a rule, a hibiscus plant needs about six hours of full sun per day in order to bloom to its fullest potential. It will still grow perfectly well in partial shade, but it won’t fill in as fully or bloom as spectacularly. The more light a hibiscus gets, the better it will bloom, up to a point. There is such a thing as too much light, especially when it’s combined with hot and dry weather....

About Seed Grown Lovage Lovage (Levisticum officinale) is a hardy, long living perennial herb that is native to southern Europe. Steeped in historical reference, lovage could be found in most kitchen gardens during the Middle Ages for use in both cooking and for medicinal purposes. Today, lovage is most commonly used to season soups, stews, and other dishes. Lovage is hardy from USDA zone 3 and up. All parts of the plant – seeds, stems, leaves, and roots – are edible and taste like strongly flavored celery....

About Creeping Bentgrass Weeds Bentgrass is a cool season grass that can appear in and spread in the home lawn. While this type of grass is considered a weed to most, especially in southern regions, it does have some very useful applications. In fact, bentgrass is most often used on golf courses on putting greens and tee boxes. Creeping bentgrass has a shallow root system and a shaggy appearance. The shaggy texture of the grass allows it to be cut back much shorter than other types....

Is Water Hyacinth Invasive? Although the brilliant purple water hyacinth isn’t yet federally listed as a noxious weed, plant and waterway experts the world over agree: this plant is bad news. The plant was initially spread because of its beautiful flowers, but the mistake of this particular decision was soon realized– after the damage couldn’t be undone. Now, water hyacinth threatens dams, waterways, and wildlife across the globe, often forming dense mats so thick that a grown man can walk across them....

About Mayhaw Trees Mayhaw is a common native tree in the South and a relative of the hawthorn. They grow abundantly in southern states in wet areas, in floodplains and along rivers and creeks. They are often found under taller hardwood trees. These trees flower early, from February through March. The small fruit is a little bit like a crabapple, and it generally ripens in May, hence the name mayhaw. In addition to using the fruits to make jams, jellies, and desserts or wine, mayhaw can be grown to attract wildlife and as an ornamental for the early spring blooms....

Montgomery Spruce Information Colorado blue spruce can shoot up to 100 feet (30.5 m.) in the wild, and that’s way too tall for small gardens. However, you can get the same effect in a miniature size with Montgomery spruce trees. According to Montgomery spruce information, these dwarf cultivars have the same blue-hued needles as the taller varieties. Yet, the cultivar only grows to 3 feet (1 m.) tall and wide over its first eight years....

Seedless Papaya Fruit Papaya trees can be male, female, or hermaphrodite (having both male and female parts). Female trees produce female flowers, male trees produce male flowers, and hermaphrodite trees bear female and hermaphrodite flowers. Since female flowers need to be pollinated by male pollen, the preferred kind of tree for commercial fruit production is the hermaphrodite. Hermaphrodite flowers are self-pollinating. A seedless papaya fruit usually comes from a female tree....

How to Thin Nectarines Thinning nectarine trees allows the energy of the tree to go toward selected fruit, engendering larger, healthier fruit. Nectarine fruit thinning also reduces the possibility of breaking a limb due to overly burdened branches. There is another reason for thinning out nectarines: nectarine fruit thinning increases the plant’s ability to produce flower buds for the successive year. To accomplish the second goal when thinning nectarine trees, the thinning must be done early....

About New York Fern Plants Ferns are the classic shade plant, perfect for those areas of the garden where other plants just don’t thrive. Growing New York ferns is a great option, as the plants are easy to maintain, come back year after year, and will spread to fill out space. These ferns produce trailing rhizomes, which help send up new fronds so that you get more each year. Thelypteris is the marsh fern family of plants....

Gardening in New York – How to Use the New York USDA Plant Hardiness Map The USDA began producing plant hardiness maps in 1960 and has been improving its accurateness ever since. In 2012, a new zone hardiness map was released that took the place of the previous 1990 map. The new map includes 13 zones. Above is the New York planting map that indicates the planting regions specific to the state of New York....

It’s completely organic, doesn’t interact with any humans or animals, and will kill off most of the grasshoppers in your garden within one season. Using nosema locustae in the garden is possibly the easiest and safest way to rid your crops of grasshoppers, once and for all. Nosema Locustae Bait for Gardens What is nosema locustae and how does it work so well? It’s a one-celled organism called a protozoan that can infect and kill only grasshoppers....

What is Organic Material? What is organic material? Basically, anything that occurs in nature can be considered organic material, although not all of it is useful as a gardening addition. If you read organic gardening information, you’ll find that almost every plant and animal by-product can be used in one form or another, and most of them can be added to composting. Using organic material for gardening helps sandy soil to retain moisture while it allows clay soil to drain more efficiently....

Names of Parade Roses Parade roses are essentially miniature roses. These petite roses come in as many colors and variations as their larger sisters. Some names of parade roses are: Carnival Mandarin Sunblaze Lavender Sunblaze Incognito Vista Baby Boomer Jeanne LaJoie Climber There are many, many more varieties available beyond this for gardeners to grow. How to Care for Parade Roses Growing parade roses is much like growing full size roses....

About Santa Barbara Peaches Santa Barbara peach trees are a fairly new development in fruit growing. The peaches were first discovered as a sport growing on a Ventura peach tree in southern California. A sport is a branch with fruit that is different from the rest of the fruit on the tree. Researchers soon discovered that the new sport was similar to the Elberta variety, a peach known for its high quality, very sweet flavor and good texture....

What is Brown Material for Compost? Brown materials for composting consists of dry or woody plant material. Often, these materials are brown, which is why we call them brown material. Brown materials include: Dry leaves Wood chips Straw Sawdust Corn stalks Newspaper Brown materials help to add bulk and help allow air to better get into the compost. Brown materials are also the source of carbon in your compost pile....

Bred by Soulange-Bodin in the 1820s, by 1840 the saucer magnolia was coveted by gardeners around the world and sold for about $8 per seedling, which was a very expensive price for a tree in those days. Today, the saucer magnolia is still one of the most popular trees in the U.S. and Europe. Continue reading for more saucer magnolia information. Saucer Magnolia Growing Conditions Hardy in zones 4-9, saucer magnolia prefers well-draining, slightly acidic soil in full sun to part shade....

How to Grow a Screw Pine Growing screw pine plants is not difficult and the plant will reach heights up to 10 feet (3 m.) when placed in the right conditions. However, the variegated screw pine houseplant (Pandanus veitchii) is a dwarf variety that grows no more than 2 feet (0.5 m.) tall and is an option for those with less space. This plant has vibrant, green foliage with ivory or yellow stripes....

About Sesame Plant Seeds Sesame plant seeds (Sesamum indicum) have been cultivated by ancient cultures for 4,000 years. Many cultures utilized sesame seeds from Egypt to India to China. what is sesame used for? The seeds may be used as is, toasted, or pressed for their prized sesame oil and come in colors from white to black and red to yellow. They have a distinct nutty flavor that’s packed with protein, calcium, antioxidants, dietary fiber, and monounsaturated fatty oils called oleics, which have been shown to lower LDL or “bad” cholesterol....

How to Grow Spindle Bushes Propagate spindle bush by taking semi-ripe cuttings from a mature plant in late summer or early fall. Plant the cuttings in a mixture of peat moss and coarse sand. Place the pot in bright, indirect light and water often enough to keep the mixture moist but never saturated. You can also plant spindle bush seeds, although the seeds are notoriously slow to germinate. Gather spindle bush seeds in fall, then store them in a plastic bag filled with moist sand and compost until spring....

Dividing Garden Plants to Give Many gardeners look forward to routine plant division to increase the size of their ornamental gardens. Division of plants is relatively simple, provided the task is completed at the right time and with the correct technique. This will vary from plant type to another, however, most division is done in spring as soon as new growth has started. This allows for doing minimal damage to the plant and for ample time to recover from the procedure....