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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.
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.
Perennial Plants Care
Posted on: May 9, 2011
- In: FACTS | Gadgets | GROWING PLANTS | PERENNIAL PLANTS | Templates
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Perennial plants are versatile and are available in a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes therefore amateur gardeners love to grow these plants in their garden. Like others, these plants also need special care and handling if you want them to bloom healthily and beautifully. If you are also looking for some tips for perennial plants care, then this post may prove very useful for you as I am going to give you some tips and instructions regarding perennial plants care:
- Perennials should be grown in well-drained soil. If you have grown them at a location where it becomes a pool after rainfall then you are required to change their location.
- Perennials are required to be watered regularly especially when it is their first growing season. Most of the perennials require to be watered once a week up to a depth of eight inches. The best time for watering perennial plants is morning time so that their leaves can become dry before evening.
- Different perennial plants require different light requirements so I would like to suggest you to plant them at a location where they can receive at least 6 hours of sunlight. But there are some varieties of perennials like ferns which require sunlight early in the morning and shade in afternoon.
- As far as fertilizing is concerned, perennials should be fertilized in early spring before their new growth appears. Every 100 square feet of planting area requires about one to two pounds of grainy fertilizer.
- You also require pulling weeds around the plants on regular basis. In order to control growth of weeds, you are recommended to apply 1 or 2 inches of organic mulch like shipped bark around plants. Mulch actually preserves dampness and controls growth of weeds.
- Spent blooms should be removed as it will extend blooming time.
- Last but not the least; you should keep flower beds neat and clean as dirty flower beds can attract pests to attack plants.
These were some very useful tips which you should follow for proper care of your perennials to have healthy and beautiful blooming plants in your garden.
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Do you want to know about tiger lily flowers? Yes! This name sounds strange. Actually tiger lily is an orange flower having dark spots on its petals. These flowers have sweet fragrance and have various other names like ditch lily, Wood Lily, Leopard Lily and Oregon Lily etc. Here in this post, I have collected some facts about tiger lily flowers. If you are interested in knowing about these flowers, then this post will be of great interest for you.
Growing Requirements
These flowers are not difficult to grow at all. All you need to do is to keep the soil wet since tiger lily flowers like dampness. This flower produces bulbs instead of seeds which can be planted in the fall for having mid-summer blooms.
These flowers don’t require to be fertilized. They only need fertilizers if you are planting them in somewhat poor soil. Unlike other bulb flowers, tiger lilies require winter cold to grow healthily. While planting bulbs of tiger lilies, you must make sure that the distance between them should be from 9 to 12 inches. Moreover bulbs should be planted 6 inches deep in a sunny location.
Types of Tiger Lilies
There are two types of tiger lilies named:
- Common wildflower
- Oriental
Wildflower type grows from tuberous roots while oriental tiger lilies are planted by bulbs and they are dug up later and then they are divided.
Other Characteristics
- Bloom size of tiger lilies is from 4 to 6 inches long
- These flowers are 3 inch wide
- Flowers have bright orange or red color having black spots on the petals with six stamens
- Since it stands tall, it makes a beautiful backdrop to garden area
- This plant creates leaves having a width of 2 inches
Interesting Fact
Bulbs of these flowers are dug up and are boiled and then eaten by Americans. This practice is also common in other oriental countries. They taste like potatoes and are commonly used in Chinese dish moo shu pork. Brown pear dessert dish is also prepared from tiger lilies by placing the bulbs inside a pear along with sugar. Then they are steamed and eaten.
These were some basic and interesting facts about tiger lilies. I hope that this post will urge you to grow these flowers in your garden.
Tropical plants have their unique needs and requirements like warmth and humidity. If you are living in a cooler region and want to grow tropical plants then the best option is to grow them in greenhouse so that you can control their environment. Here I am going to share with you some tips that will help you a lot in growing tropical plants in greenhouse:
- Firstly, you are required to prepare your greenhouse. Preparation of greenhouse means that you should have to make sure that indoor lights, heater, fan and thermometers are working properly as they are necessary for the healthy growth of tropical plants. Misting system should also be properly installed for maintaining the right amount of humidity.
- Tropical plants should be grown in trays or pots so that they can be moved around when necessary. If you are growing them in pots, make sure that pots have drainage holes in order to avoid standing water. For good nutrition and drainage, tropical plants should be planted in a combination of draining soil and compost.
- Tropical plants should be placed at a location where they can thrive properly. Some tropical plants require shade while others require sunshine so you are required providing them with appropriate environment in greenhouse for their proper growth.
- While organizing the plants in greenhouse, make sure that you have left enough space between plants so that you can walk between them easily for watering and checking them for pest control.
- Tropical plants should be watered every other day with required amount of water because some plants will require more water while some will require less amount of water. To maintain humidity at a level of 50% to 60%, you are required to mist greenhouse daily. For this, you can either use a misting system or a garden hose.
- Temperature should be monitored frequently using thermometer. You can use heater to maintain temperature up to 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Tropical plants will also require air circulation for which you can use fan. Also use electric lights to provide plants with enough light for 6 to 8 hours a day. If you are using heater or fan, you will also have to take care of moisture of plants as fan or heater can dry the plants quickly.
Follow these simple steps and tips to grow beautiful tropical plants in greenhouse. I hope that this article will be of great use for you.
Tropical Flowers Growing Tips
Posted on: April 13, 2011
- In: FACTS | Flower | Flowers | Gadgets | Growing Flowers | GROWING PLANTS
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Mostly people follow the misconception that tropical flowers are difficult to grow but it is not that difficult as people think. But it is true that their growing requirements are somewhat different and need special attention. My friend loves to grow tropical flower but was unaware of tips to grow tropical flowers successfully so to help him out, I made some research and gathered useful tips. These tips really worked so I want to share them with you also:
Selection of Container: Firstly you will choose your favorite tropical plant which you want to grow and then select a container whose size is according to that of your plant. Plastic containers are preferred for this purpose as they are known for retaining moisture for longer period of time.
Temperature: Temperature required by tropical flowers is different during day and night so tropical flowers like a temperature of 50 to 65 degrees during night and during day temperature requirements are changed as tropical flowers need a temperature of 70 to 80 degrees.
Humidity: During my research, I found that humidity level should be maintained between 60 and 80 percent if you want to grow healthy tropical flowers. Humidity levels can be enhanced and elevated by using humidity trays after filling them with pebbles and water. But it doesn’t mean that after providing humidity trays to plants is enough for their growth as you should regularly check that trays have adequate amount of fresh water.
Light Requirements: Bright filtered light is required by tropical flowers as plants that thrive in tropics require high light but they can’t tolerate direct light. So the best locations for tropical plants are east windows that can receive light for several numbers of hours. Western and southern windows which receive filtered light are also perfect.
Potting Medium: In the pot of tropical flowers, such potting medium should be provided that can give plants adequate drainage. To increase drainage, a proven method is to layer pebbles to the bottom of pot containing tropical plants.
Watering: To maintain the moisture of soil, water the plants but take care that plants should not sit in damp soil. These plants require plenty of fresh water but they don’t like their roots covered with water for longer period of time.
Air Circulation: I was surprised to know that tropical flowers require so much of air circulation that using a small fan is needed to be used to provide them with plenty of fresh air.
Fertilizing: Tropical plants need to be fertilized with a water-soluble fertilizer which is mixed to 1/2 strength. During their growing season, these plants require fertilizer after every 10 or 14 days and during winter season this frequency should be decreased.
After following these tips, my friend managed to grow beautiful tropical flowers so I would also recommend you to follow the above given requirements.
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Marigolds are attractive and good looking flowers that can enhance grace and beauty of garden. They are very easy to grow and the best thing about these flowers is that their seeds can be preserved to plant these flowers and there is no need to buy them every year. I have done some research on the methods of preserving marigold seeds and the best method which I found is explained below:
Things you will Needs to Dry Seeds
The things that will be required for drying and preserving seeds include:
- Dead Seeds heads of marigolds
- Paper bag
- Oven
Method
Method of preserving marigold seeds is as follows:
- Picking Time: Marigold seeds are picked during fall season, so choose a sunny morning to pick the seeds but remember to do this after the dew has dried.
- Seeds to Be Picked: Now pick a bunch of seeds from plant that are fleshy and hard. Don’t pick spongy seeds.
- Placing Them in Tray: Place these seeds in a tray spreading them in one layer.
- Drying the Seeds: Place seeds in a warm and dry place. This process can take place in an oven that makes the drying process faster. Temperature required to dry them is 140 degrees. It is very important to let the seeds dry because if they don’t get dry, they will be eaten by bugs and insects and your effort to preserve seeds for next season will go in smoke.
- Storing the Seeds after Drying: After drying the seeds, put them in a paper bag and keep it in a cool and dry place. Do remember to keep them covered to protect them from spiders and mice as seeds are delicious food for them. An interesting fact about the marigold seeds is that each seed has further 150 seeds so picking a few handfuls of seeds would be more than enough for your garden.
Here the process of preserving marigold seeds is completed. Now they are ready to be separated and planted in spring season. Seeds that should be picked must have bright black section, so pick seeds carefully, dry them and then plant them in your garden.
Purple Orchids Types
Posted on: March 16, 2011
- In: Basics of Growing Orchids | FACTS | Flower | Flowers | Gadgets | Growing Flowers | Orchid Flowers | Orchids Tips | Types of Orchids
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Orchid family is a vast flowering family having more than 25000 species and a wide variety of colors like blue pink, purple etc. Moreover they come in different patterns of colors like spotted or sectioned in color blocks. There are some varieties of orchids that are known and loved for their beautiful purple color. Purple orchids have further different types. Here I am going to describe types of purple orchids which you can grow in your home and consequently add to the beauty and elegance of your house.
Cattleya Orchids
Cattleya orchids are one of the purple orchids. In the center of the flower, these orchids have distinctive gullet having deep magenta or intense purple color. Cattleya plants and cut flowers that are found for sale have light lavender to deep violet color.
Dendrobiums
These orchids produce numerous blooms on long and curved stems. These flowers are found in violet purple color or pale lavender color. Dendrobiums come in a variety of colors including soft lavender, lilac purple and deep blue black purple. Deep blue black purple can be in solid purple petals or it can have white blooms with deep purple tips.
Vanda Orchids
The vanda orchids are also a type of purple orchids having different shades of purple. The vanda orchids which are available for sale have bright purple color having blue tinges. A pale white pattern of the petals give a much textured appearance to vanda orchid. This textured appearance is sometimes giving a very hard look to flowers on some plants while on some other plants it gives a softer look.
Moth Orchids
Moth orchid is a type of orchid flowers that are commonly found in florist shops and grocery stores. They bloom in different shades of purple color from pale lavender-pink to deep violet having white freckled spots. As compared to the cool bluish purple touch of vanda orchids, they give somewhat warmer look with purple color mixed with pink.
Lady Slippers
These orchids are very stylish, sophisticated and exotic looking plants that have a single bloom on a long and hairy stem. These flowers have deep reddish purple color and black purple gullet while the lower petal has lighter color in the center. 
Creating Indoor Gardens
Posted on: March 11, 2011
- In: Decoration Plants | FACTS | Gadgets | Garden | GARDENS | GROWING PLANTS
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Growing an indoor garden is very beneficial as it plays an important role in reducing air pollution in your house and consequently it will also prove healthy for you. Many people want to create indoor gardens but don’t know the exact way of making it possible. It is quite easy to create indoor garden if some useful tips and instructions are followed. Such instructions are given below:
Purchase Plants
Firstly you will have to purchase plants that can grow and flourish indoors. These plants may include some varieties of ivy and tropical plants.
Selection of Containers
You will have to select containers of good quality. Plastic containers should never be used as they can not support a growing plant due to their light weight. Remember that the containers are not only necessary for the proper growth of plants but also they affect the decoration of your house. Bad quality containers can spoil the outlook and décor of your house.
Choice of Soil
Potting soil should be used to grow the plants indoors. Some people make a mistake by using the topsoil from their yard. It can be bad for the healthy growth of plants because topsoil doesn’t contain the nutrients essential for plants.
Selection of Location
The best area for growing the plants indoors is that which receives a lot of sunlight during the day time. An eastern-facing window would be the perfect location as it receives a large amount of sunlight in the afternoon.
Keeping the Plants Mist
Indoor plants need to be misted frequently. In big and modern homes, there are air conditioners which give a pleasant feeling to human as they deplete the indoor moisture. But this is not good for indoor plants. Therefore it is necessary to provide moisture to the plants daily with a spray bottle. Remember to fill the spraying bottle with filtered water.
Arrangement of Plants
The plants should be arranged in an attractive way to appeal the guests that visit your house. You may hang some plants from the ceiling. Spider plants and ivies are best for this purpose as they grow downwards. While making plants grouping, place taller plants in the back of short plants so that short plants become visible.
These were some simple instruction to create indoor gardens. Hopefully it will help you a lot.
Tips on Growing White Orchids
Posted on: March 9, 2011
Growing all types of orchids is quite easier for home gardeners. White orchids are one of the types of orchids which can be grown easily if proper care is taken. If they are grown properly, they will play an important role in beautifying your garden or indoors giving an elegant and lavish look. Here some important tips and instructions are given on growing white orchids.
Purchasing White Orchids
You should look for a good and reputable nursery for buying white orchids. While purchasing the plant, make sure that leaves are shiny and free from blemishes. Moreover the plant should have one or two stems having 12 or 14 buds on it. Also ensure that the pot is wide enough having a width of approximately six inches. The pot should also be filled with moss-like stuff.
Placing in Proper Light
Now you are required to place the pot in a window where the plant can receive indirect sunlight for five to six hours. If the leaves are light green then it means that the plant is getting the right amount of light. The dark green leaves show that the light is insufficient for healthy growth of orchids. You can also provide your plant with a supplemental light along with the fluorescent tubes in the evening to provide them enough light.
Watering the Plants
You should thoroughly water the plant keeping in mind that water runs through the pot. Before watering the plant again, make sure that soil has been dried. When white orchids are in full bloom or the weather gets warmer, these plants are required to be watered frequently. White orchids also require that there should be air holes around its roots so you should place the pot in a tray filled with water and having stones in it. It will help to create a moist environment for white orchid plants.
Fertilizing
White orchids need to be fertilized at least once a week. All you need to do is to buy the orchid food and after reading the instructions given on the container, add to the plants. Remember that the fertilizers are always given to the plants after mixing them with water. They are not directly mixed in soil.
Pruning
After the flowers have stopped blooming, the plants are required to be trimmed. You should trim the plant before the last growing node if plant is healthy enough but if it looks unhealthy, then you should cut the flower stalk completely so that the plant revitalizes before blooming again.
These were some important instructions related to the healthy growth and maintenance of white orchids. Follow these and have beautiful white orchid flowers in your home.
Orchid Flowers 