Archive for the ‘Flower’ Category
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Do you want some perennials in your garden which bloom all year? You will definitely wish that. Year round blooming perennials produce year round flowers and beautify your garden. These specialized plants do not need to be replanted every year. Here is a list of some such perennials.
Wedelia
This perennial ground cover has glossy and dark green leaves. This is a hardy perennial that can grow well in either sun or shade. Wedelia produces yellow flowers which are quite similar to daisies in appearance. While growing wedelia, you should be very careful because being a ground cover; it spreads very quickly and is also considered invasive.
African Daisy
This perennial plant can grow up to 1 foot tall. Having a round shape, African daisy grows in full sun and requires well-drained soil. It produces showy flowers in pink, orange, red, white and yellow color all year.
African Iris
African iris is a perennial which can grow up to four feet tall. You should grow an African iris in full sun or shade in a well-drained soil. This plant has an upright shape and produces white flowers all year round.
Lantana
Lantana can grow 3 to 6 feet wide and attracts butterflies. This round shaped plant requires full sun and well-drained soil to grow. Lantana produces clusters of small flowers throughout the year. These aromatic flowers come in different colors including yellow, white, pink, purple, red and orange.
Peace Lily
Peace lily can grow up to 6 feet tall and has an encircling shape. Having an average growth rate, this perennial likes part sun or shade to grow well. Growing in well-drained soil, Peace lily produces white flowers.
Campanula
This perennial produces flowers in shades of white and blue. In cooler climates, it can be grown in full sun but it will require partial shade in areas where summers are too hot.
Red Hot Poker
Red hot poker is a tall plant and can grow up to 5 feet high. It produces multi-colored spikes of flowers in colors ranging from ivory to bright red. Red hot poker requires full sun to grow. Moreover it also requires ample space as a full-grown plant may be three feet wide.
This is my reference list of those perennials which can be grown to have flowers all year round. You can grow any or all of these to have beautiful blooms throughout year. Moreover, you can make a list at your own to observe all these points which I mentioned above.
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The purpose of growing flowers is not just to beautify the garden but at the same time, flowers can be grown to make bouquets for indoors. Fresh flowers bouquet creates a refreshing and fragrance atmosphere in your home and brightens your mood. All types of flowers can be used for making floral arrangements but flowers which can be cut easily are best for making bouquets. For growing flowers for making floral arrangements, all you need is to choose right type of flowers and little efforts and planning.
You will first have to decide which type of bouquet you want in your home. Mostly flowers with bright and vibrant colors are preferred for this purpose but if you want to give a romantic and soft feeling, you will require growing tiny and delicate flowers. For floral arrangements, flowers of different colors and sizes are required to be grown. Grow flowers having long and strong stalks which can stand up in a vase. Annual flowers should be selected which are labeled as cut flowers. These flowers provide you with a prolonged blooming period as they re-bloom after initial blooms are withered. Some perennials can also be used for bouquets but they bloom only once and fade away for the rest of year. Here are some flowers which you can grow for making bouquets:
- Zinnias are delightful and lovely flowers which come in different colors including red, pink, orange and yellow. They have daisy like blooms making them perfect to be used as cut flowers for bouquets. Zinnias should be planted in a sunny location receiving 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day. After sowing seeds, cover them lightly with soil and water. Soil should be kept moist until seeds begin to germinate within seven to ten days.
- You can also choose sunflowers. These renowned and beautiful flowers also come in different sizes ranging from miniature to towering plants. Sunflowers are generally expected to produce yellow blooms but now the color range has extended to red and burgundy. I will suggest you growing giant sunflowers at a location where they can receive sunlight for majority of day. Seeds should be planted to a depth of ½ inch and covered with soil. You will require keeping soil damp until plant emerges.
- What about Shasta daisies? They produce beautiful white flowers with yellow centers. They are commonly used for making bouquets because they can be easily paired with any other flower. To grow Shasta daisies, spread seeds in a sunny location and cover with soil keeping soil damp until seedlings germinate.
Besides these flowers, fillers having appealing foliage should also be included in a bouquet to add color and texture. You can grow rosemary, lavender, and different herbs for this purpose.
Taking Care of Purple Orchids
Posted on: May 18, 2012
Orchids are native to tropical regions but with little efforts and care, they can be grown anywhere in the world. Orchids are among those flowers which come in a variety of colors. Among these, there are purple orchids. Today’s discussion is all about taking care of purple orchids. If you have grown purple orchids in your garden then read this post carefully.
Temperature Requirements: Place purple orchids in a temperature safe location. During day time, purple orchids require a temperature between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit while during night time, ideal temperature is between 60 and 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Here I will also like to add that these plants do not produce flowers if they are not provided with fluctuating temperatures.
Air Circulation: You are also required to keep the air circulating around purple orchid plants. The simple way to do this is to place the plant near an open window during summer time while in winter, you can use oscillating fan to provide sufficient air circulation. Fresh air is necessary for plant as it provides carbon dioxide as well as it helps prevent infection in plants.
Sunlight: These plants can burn when they are exposed to direct sunlight so place your plants behind curtains or window blinds so that they can receive indirect sunlight. You can use a simple method to find out whether plants are receiving adequate sunlight or not. Note the color of leaves. Yellowish-green leaves of purple orchid plants show that plants are receiving excessive light and if the leaves are dark green, it means that plants are not receiving sufficient amount of light. Leaves of purple orchid plants become bright green when they receive proper sunlight.
Watering: During wintry weather, purple orchids need to be watered once a week but in summer, these requirements change and plants need water twice a week. I will also like to tell that you should water plants in morning and use rainwater to water purple orchid plants instead of tap water because chlorine in tap water may prove harmful for plants.
Fertilizing: Purple orchid plants need such a fertilizer that contains equal and balanced mix of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
While growing purple orchids, keep the above mentioned requirements in mind so that you can grow healthy and beautiful plants.
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Most of us know that sunflowers come only in bright yellow color. That’s not actually true. Sunflowers are available in other colors also like pale and dark orange and deep red. Drying such beautifully colored flowers for floral arrangements is quite enjoyable. After drying, these flowers can be used in a number of ways combined with other flowers and foliage. But for all this to happen, you need to follow some reliable method of drying. Here an easy way to dry sunflowers is presented after which you can use these flowers for beautiful floral arrangements.
Method of Drying
Method of drying sunflowers for floral arrangements is as follows:
- First step is the careful selection of flowers. For floral arrangements, choose the flowers that are newly opened without having broken or damaged petals. After selecting suitable flowers, cut the stem in such a way that only ¼ inch remains back.
- Next step is to cut a wire having a length of 2 inches. The top half inch of wire should be now bent in the form of a hook.
- Now the long end of wire is pushed into flowers so that the hook comes at center of flower and the flower is protruded from its back. Keep in mind that the hook should not be visible from the front. Actually the purpose of hook is to attach floral wire to the flowers so that they can be easily placed in floral arrangements.
- Take some silica gel and make a layer of about one inch in a container made of plastic. Make sure that the lid of the container is tight. Take flowers and lay them on the top of silica gel layer. Keep in mind to place the flowers facing upwards. Now gently push sunflowers into gel.
- In the next step, silica crystals are sprinkled on the top of flowers. To keep the sunflowers in their natural shape, try to make sure that crystals reach between and under sunflowers petals. Continue to sprinkle the gel until the flowers are fully covered with. Now cover the container with its lid and leave the flowers in the mixture for 2 days.
- After two days, remove lid. In order to remove gel and disclose the center of flowers, brush the gel carefully. If the center of flower is dried then it is ready to be used but if it is not dried completely then leave it for one more day.
- The last step is to lift the flowers out of gel. To perform this process successfully, take down or slip your fingers under sunflowers and lift them. Now remove the excessive gel by turning flowers upside down and tapping them on the back. Your sunflowers are now dried and ready to be used for arrangements. These flowers can also be stored in sealed bags if you don’t have any intentions to use them immediately.
Following the above method will enable you to dry sunflowers in a better way to use them for floral arrangements which can further be used for various purposes.
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A greenhouse is actually a closed ecosystem having glass or plastic surfaces. Fresh plants and flowers which are not in season are grown in greenhouse because greenhouses regulate heat balance, humidity as well as light requirements. For this, you will have to keep in mind certain considerations while building a greenhouse. For example, you must make sure that your greenhouse faces southern part of direction. Some other tips on growing flowers in greenhouse are as follows:
- First of all, you will have to maintain proper temperature in your greenhouse. Day time temperature should not exceed 90 degrees. To maintain this temperature, you will require having doors and windows in greenhouse so that they can be opened to provide flowers with proper ventilation especially on sunny and hot days.
- As far as night time temperature is concerned, it should be not less than 50 degrees. You can use a number of ways to maintain night time temperature of greenhouse but it will all depend on area in which your greenhouse is located. One easy method is to fill some 5 gallons bucket with water and place them in greenhouse so that they can collect heat during day. In this way, heat will be retained and greenhouse will remain warm during night. Always place buckets of waters with their lids on them. It is necessary to prevent insects from reproducing in water.
- For proper air circulation and ventilation, use a circulating fan. Circulating fans can be used even when doors and windows are not open. Air circulation is important to provide as it helps growing plants properly.
- Make a schedule to water plants and follow this schedule on regular basis. If you have a smaller greenhouse, it would be enough to water plants once a day but in larger area, you will need to water plants more frequently. Also remember that water requirements of plants increase when temperature rises.
- Tropical plants need humid conditions for their growth. If you have grown tropical flowers in greenhouse, make sure you have provided them with humidity trays. It is very easy to prepare a humidity tray as any plastic tray filled with water and having pebbles in it serves as a humidity tray.
- Last but not the least; you will need to be careful about fertilizing needs of your plants. You can fertilize your plants with either ½ or ¼ strength water soluble fertilizer. Make sure to fertilize plants on weekly basis.
After following these tips, you will be able to grow varieties of flowers in your greenhouse. Some of the popular flowers which can be grown in greenhouse include poppies, zinnias, marigolds and snapdragons.
Trimming Rose Bushes in winter
Posted on: January 27, 2012
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Rose bushes add to the beauty of garden due to their beautiful blooms and charming fragrance. They give your garden an elegant look with their lively colors. To keep rose bushes in good condition and shape pruning becomes necessary as it makes the bushes strong and robust. The best time to prune rose bushes is winter because in this season, you can easily remove dead stems from the bare rose bushes. Trimming bushes in winter season will lead to healthy and strong summer blooms. It will also give a good shape to your plant.
Pruning or trimming rose bushes is not an easy task as it requires a lot of practice. If rose bushes are not trimmed properly then it will cause them to die. So here some important tips and instructions are given. Following these instructions would help you to trim your rose bushes in a proper manner.
Important Instructions
- The most suitable time to trim rose bushes starts when most of the leaves fall from the bushes and roses are undergone hoarfrost.
- Before trimming, the first thing you must do is to remove grass and leaves from the base of flowers. It is necessary because insects and diseases hide in moist environment so removing trash and waste becomes very important to ensure that diseases and insects are not causing harm to rose bushes.
- Next step is to remove the damaged and diseased branches by cutting the whole stem. Then remove old branches.
- Before proceeding further, make sure that those branches are removed that are crossed over main stem of the rose bushes.
- Now start trimming the bush by cutting weak and thin branches. This is necessary to make the nutrients available for the central and major stem. This will also provide more light to the stem and healthy branches.
- The green sprouts should also be removed that grow off the central stem. Other weeds and suckers should also be cut down that grow from the roots of rose bush.
- While pruning the rose bush, use sharp shears to avoid rough and uneven cuts. If care is not taken then rose bush may become infected with some disease.
- The method of trimming is very simple. Try to trim to a healthy bud by making the cut at 45 degree angle.
- Also cut the leaves that point towards outside of the rose bush.
- Now there should be some treatment of the open wound. The method is to paint the wound with a sealing mixture to prevent the rose bush from infections and diseases.
Above mentioned instructions are quite reliable to be used for trimming your rose bush in a better way.
Care for Moth Orchids
Posted on: December 4, 2011
- In: Flower | Flowers | Gadgets | Garden | Garden Decoration | Growing Flowers | Orchid Flowers | Orchids Tips | Types of Orchids
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Moth Orchids are one of the most popular types of Orchid flowers. They look very beautiful and give an elegant look to your garden. They are commonly found in South East Asia and Northern parts of Australia. They can be grown in homes as they are a perfect option for an amateur grower. These flowers are very easy to grow as compared to the other types of Orchids but still they need proper care and handling.
Here some important and helpful information is given that would guide you to care for your Moth Orchids. The important factors to be considered are:
- Temperature
- Light
- Humidity
- Watering
Now these factors would be described one by one.
Temperature
Orchids grow very finely at the normal temperatures in houses. They require different temperatures in day and night. So the ideal temperature in the day time is 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and in night time these flowers require 60 to 70 degree Fahrenheit.
Light
Moth Orchids require indirect light. It is ideal and preferable to place them in front of east-facing window. The color of its foliage indicates that how much light is required by them.
- Bright Green Foliage (means its getting correct amount of light)
- Deep Green Leaves (light is not sufficient)
- Yellow Leaves (absorbing too much light)
Humidity
Moth Orchids like humidity that’s why they are mostly found in rain forests. In warm weather, they require moisture after one or two days. The humidity is lower in homes, so it becomes necessary to moist them. To do this you can place a tray containing stones and water below your plant. Due to evaporation, the surrounding air will become moist and humidity requirements would be fulfilled.
Watering
It is better to water your Moth Orchids early in the morning once a week. They require more water in summer season as compared to that of winter. Some people get confused about watering their Orchids. The best time to water them is when the pot becomes dry.
Following the above instructions would help you a lot to take good care of your Moth Orchids.
Drying the Orchids
Posted on: December 3, 2011
- In: Flower | Flowers | Garden | Garden Decoration | Orchid Flowers | Orchids Tips
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Drying orchids is a challenging task as these flowers are considered difficult to be preserved. Dried orchids can be used for different purposes such as the dried orchids can be used in vases and baskets and sometimes in shadow boxes. Here are some instructions about drying orchid flowers for the people who are orchid lovers and want to preserve them for a long time.
Selection of Flowers
The first step is to select the flowers for drying purpose. Always select those flowers having bright colors because most of the orchid flowers loose their color after drying. The selection of the flowers depends on the way the flowers would be used for.
Cutting the Flowers
Flowers should be cut very carefully from the stems and near to the base of flowers.
Putting Silica Gel
The next step is to put silica gel in the bottom of a microwave-safe dish making a layer of almost two inches thick.
Placing the Flowers in Silica Gel
Now place the flowers stem down in a dish. It should be kept in mind that distance among the flowers should be far enough so that they can’t touch each other.
Covering the Orchids
In this step, orchids are covered with silica gel. You should perform this step carefully otherwise the blossoms would be crushed. Each orchid should be covered completely.
Putting the Dish in Microwave
Now the dish containing gel and flowers is put in the center of microwave after putting a cup of water in back of microwave.
Setting the Time
Time of microwave should be set very carefully as it depends on the type of microwave and nature of orchid flowers. The standard time recommended is 2 to 3 minutes.
Cooling the Silica Gel
Now take the dish out of microwave and wait until the gel becomes cool.
Removing Orchids
After cooling the gel, your dried orchids are ready to be removed from the gel. After removing don’t forget to brush them off.
I hope that the above instructions will proved to be very useful and help you a lot to preserve your favorite orchid flowers for a long time.
Tips to Water Orchids
Posted on: November 7, 2011
Orchids have been included in list of home plants for their gorgeous fragrance and variety in shapes, color and sizes. Like other plants, orchid plants also need proper growing conditions. Giving right amount of water at right time to your orchids is one of the basic needs of orchid flowers to grow and thrive. Remember that different species of orchids have different water needs, so you are required to research your particular plant as well as you should also be aware of general watering needs of an orchid.
Orchid plants are typically found in tropical areas. The areas where many orchids are grown receive tremendous rain. These areas can also be very humid in native habits. Ideal humidity level for orchid flowers is 80% but this humidity level could be quite uncomfortable for human to live in so you need to think other strategies to provide your orchids with healthier environment. A very convenient way to humidify your orchids is to water them frequently. You may purchase a deep saucer or and some pebbles. Pour these pebbles into the saucer then water the pebbles. Make sure that the water never touches the actual orchid pot. This way you will be able to create artificial humid climate for your orchid plant.
Very common mistake that people do is over watering their orchids. Many people wait for the soil of their orchid pot to look dry and when it becomes, they feel that their orchid plants need to be watered now. This is not true especially for orchids. The rule to water your orchid plants is to water once a week. Let the potting bark of your orchid plant dry out completely before you water again.
Orchid plants also need to be fertilized but sparingly as well. Buy best fertilizer for your orchid plants from nearby garden shops. Make sure to maintain for watering and fertilizing your orchids is a guarantee in itself that your orchid plants will grow best and you will have exotic plants for a long time.
Orchids will thrive in your home environment if you succeed to provide them with proper care, for instance right amount of water at right time, proper sunlight and best fertilizer occasionally. Orchid flowers are quite beautiful and can also be temperamental. Once you get to know exact needs of your orchids, it is not so complicated to maintain your orchid flowers healthy conditions.
Decoration with Orchids
Posted on: November 6, 2011
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Decoration with Orchids
Decorating interior spaces and gardens with orchid flowers is a good idea to fill spaces that will make you relaxed and feel good. Orchids have long list of advantages that make them perfect for home decoration if you are aware of special care these plants need. You can have this plant by following simple rules to create a huge visual space it is placed in.
Decoration of house or interior space needs much consideration. Use of plants within the whole area is a common idea but it needs much care. Green and leafy plants are always attractive that can greatly transform interior spaces, gardens and offices if perfect orchid is selected to decorate these spaces. Have you ever thought to decorate your home, garden and terrace with orchids? If not then you should think of this to get a new green environment in your home or office.
- A very big advantage of these flowers is that you can keep these flowers fresh for months contrary to other indoor plants.
- These are hardy plants and don’t require much water. They are virtually immortal if and only if you are aware of proper care and maintenance needs of orchard plants.
- They are also considered as best for indoor and garden decorations as you can get wide range of colors that you exactly want for decoration of your chosen space.
Definitely you need to know details that you have to pay attention from very first day you grow orchid plants in your home. Here is very useful information that will help you in making your decoration successful and attractive exactly you have dreamed.
Make Sure to Buy Orchids in Healthy and Good Condition
Remember that healthy and fresh orchids, without diseases and pests, you are guaranteeing more than 60 percent of your success to make your decoration project great. Make sure that there should be no spots on leaves. Bulbs and flowers will help you in determining the health status of orchids you are going to buy.
Think about the Space You Want to Decorate with Orchids
Determine if that selected space is too hot, too cold or it is exposed to lot of breezes. Any extreme condition will be bad for your orchids.
Check Availability of Light of the Place You Want to Decorate
Light is a very important factor to be considered before thinking to select a place for decoration with plants. Some orchids are very resistant to light than others. Make sure to choose right orchids for the space according to light and other conditions to ensure proper growth of orchids without any problem.
Determine Moisture Level of the Space Where you Want to Plant in Orchids
No extreme situation is good for orchids. Don’t make a mistake to place the plants in the area that has either very high or low humidity.
Follow above mentioned basic information that is very necessary to keep your orchid healthy and happy. It is hopped that information provided here will help you to create very attractive space using best orchid flowers.
Orchid Flowers 