Diana

Bougainvillea – A Southern Belle for your Garden

 Flower Gardening  No Responses »
Apr 202012
 

It is that time of the year when Bougainvilleas are in full bloom here in the southern states. Driving around my neighborhood I have literally stopped to admire some of the gorgeous bougainvillea shrubs. This is truly one of the most beautiful plants for any southern garden and they are easy to maintain. Although this plant is native to South America, according to history, it was discovered by a French botanist in 1789 who was accompanying an explorer by the name of Louis Antoine de Bougainville on a voyage.

These plants are thorny vines that can be trained to look like shrubs or it can grow as a tall tree. Don’t let their beauty fool you! As beautiful as these plants are caution must be taken when gardening near one of them because the thorns are quite long and strong. You should also plant them away from grass that needs to be mowed to prevent getting stuck with the plants thorns. Also before planting bougainvillea, make sure there is enough room for the plant to spread as they tend to grow very wide.

The actual bougainvillea flower is white and small. But what makes this plant a true showplace is that those small white flowers are surrounded by bracts. These bracts are different from the plant’s leaves and are shaped differently than the flowers. For example, I have bougainvillea shrubs with tiny white flowers and magenta color bracts but you can also get them with bracts in pink, purple, red, white or yellow. Some gardeners refer to the bougainvillea bracts as paper flower because they are thin and very delicate. (photo courtesy of wikipedia)

They are hardy plants and will thrive in zones 9 and 10 which basically covers the southern states. Bougainvilleas are drought resistance which is ideal for warm climates year-round and they love the sun. The flowering season usually occurs spring and fall but I’ve had flowers during the summer months too if it is a dry summer. Somehow, they don’t like excessive rain. Also make sure that you plant them in well drained soil and don’t use soil mixes geared for water retention.

Watch this short video (courtesy of youtube.com) for more information on bougainvilleas.


Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

Washingtonpost.com: Live Online
AOL.com Search Video - Maintaining A Flower Bed
flower gardening | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Twitter / Kevin Rozanski: Flower Gardening Tips http ...
Riverside Flower Show & Garden Tours - latimes.com
Your gardening questions answered - USATODAY.com


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Indian Hawthorn Flowering Shrubs

 Flower Gardening  No Responses »
Mar 122012
 

Indian Hawthorn shrubs are easy to plant and almost maintenance free. Most commonly used as foundation plantings, these shrubs can be planted anywhere in your garden. Where I live, we are not allowed to build garages facing the front of the house so our garage entrance is on the side of the house. To cover the foundation wall that is part of the garage and faces the front, I planted a row of Indian Hawthorn shrubs along the wall. They are absolutely beautiful!

Most gardeners say that Indian Hawthorns grow between 2 to 5 feet tall and that may be true, but there are large ones that can grow much taller than that. You can also train the large shrubs to a small tree form by simply trimming it regularly. And what most people like about this shrub is the neat mounded form it has and its clusters of gorgeous pink or white flowers which you will start seeing mid April to the end of May. In late summer, those clusters of flowers turn into berries and persist through the winter.

The smaller species of Indian Hawthorn can be used as foundation shrubs or you can plant them along fences. Some gardeners use the larger shrubs as hedges, or for screening an area and some even use them as mass plantings. They grow well and prefer sun but will also grow in partial shade. Although Indian Hawthorns tolerate drought, it is best to keep the soil moist and well drained. Most Indian Hawthorns don’t need to be pruned but if necessary, it is best to do it after their blooming season.

One thing to remember is that although Indian Hawthorns are very hardy, they do get some diseases. The most common one is called entomosporium leaf spots. This disease usually occurs after frequent rainfall in spring and fall. If you see tiny red spots on young leaves, it is the beginning of leaf spots disease which can spread through the shrubs forming large blotches. You can slow the progression of the disease by spacing the shrubs in order to allow air movement in between the plants.

So far, I haven’t had any problems with my Indian Hawthorns and that may be due to the fact that I installed a drip irrigation system so they stay moist not drenched. And did I mention that the flowers are fragrant? The scent from my shrubs when in full bloom is delightful.

Here is a short video (courtesy of YouTube) about Indian Hawthorns.

 


Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

Cottage garden - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
Flower Gardening - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com
Right Plants for Flower Gardening
Embrace the Chill: Plant Bulbs - WSJ.com
AOL.com Search Video - Flower Garden Tips
At The Chelsea Flower Show Photos - CBS News


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Mild winters means more Gardening

 Flower Gardening  No Responses »
Feb 022012
 

Most people agree that this has been one of the mildest winters in history. It is not only a few states having mild weather but all throughout the US. This is great for us gardeners as there are so many things we can start on our gardens ahead of spring. For starters, if you live in the northern region and don’t have any snow in the ground, start to turn the mulch in your garden now.

Here in Florida where I live, the weather has been absolutely beautiful and my roses, vincas, pentas, hibiscus and other plants are still in bloom. Unlike last year where we had a cold winter and all my annuals died, this year I still have some and producing flowers. Winter months in some southern states can get very chilly weather and tropical plants and annuals sometimes don’t survive. When spring arrives, there is usually lots of cleaning up to do and new plants to buy.

But not this winter! Actually, I think I will save some money because some of my annuals still look beautiful. Let’s hope that the mild weather continues until spring. Right now, I have been able to clean up my backyard, trim some trees, turn the mulch on my gardens and even have fresh cut roses in the house.

So if you live in an area where the weather is mild, go outside and start gardening. If you can’t plant new flowers yet, start trimming some trees and maybe doing some yard clean up. I have lots of pine trees and pine cones come down in buckets. Before mowing the lawn, all pine cones must be picked up from the yard.

For some reason, those pine trees produced more pine cones this year than ever and I found myself filling up bags of pine cones to bring to a local craft store. Not sure if the mild weather has something to do with the trees producing more pine cones, but I am really loving this weather!

 


Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

Gazebo Gardening
A Garden Crawl Through the Garden State - NYTimes.com
USATODAY.com - What it costs: Garden shows sprout across the USA
Coming Event: 31st Connecticut Flower & Garden Show is February ...
washingtonpost.com: Style Live: Style
At The Chelsea Flower Show Pictures - CBS News - CBS News.com


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Forcing Flowering Bulbs indoors

 Flower Gardening  No Responses »
Oct 182011
 

You don’t have to wait until spring to enjoy gorgeous flowering bulbs. All you have to do is force some bulbs to bloom indoors. Forcing bulbs to bloom simply means inducing them to bloom when you want them and not when they are suppose to during their normal stage. Most bulbs go dormant in late summer with very little roots or shoot growth but as the weather changes and temperatures get cool, the bulbs automatically begin to grow and this process continues until the weather gets very cold.

When the weather changes in the spring and temperatures begin to rise, shoot growth starts again and this pattern continues until the bulbs flower. Once the foliage starts to die back, the bulbs return to a dormant state. So what does this mean? In simple words, by forcing bulbs to bloom indoors means that you basically manipulate their normal cycle.

You can basically choose any type of bulb to bloom indoors but the most popular ones are tulips, narcissus, crocuses and hyacinths. And don’t think that you need special containers to force bulbs to bloom. Just about any container is adequate for most bulbs and some garden stores do sell specially designed vases for forcing individual hyacinths. Bulbs like paperwhite narcissus can be forced to bloom in a simple shallow container of water and adding pebbles for support. It is that easy!

Choosing the best type of soil mix for forcing bulbs is very important. It is best if the mix contains equal parts of moss, perlite and spaghnum. Do not use regular potting soil that you buy in the store as that type of soil mostly contain just peat moss. Once you have your soil mix ready, fill about three quarters of a container with the mix. Place bulbs closely together on top of the soil and once this is done, add more soil mix around them. Be careful not to fill the container to the top as some bulbs like narcissus and tulips don’t need to be completely covered. Water your newly planted bulbs but don’t drown them. Watch the video below (courtesy of youtube) for more information.

 


Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

BBC - Chelsea Flower Show 2011 - Irish Sky Garden - Diarmuid Gavin
Tips for growing a cut flower garden
At The Chelsea Flower Show Pictures - CBS News - CBS News.com
Washingtonpost.com: Live Online
Colourful flower Gardening. | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Gazebo Gardening


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