plant

Your mother probably propagated her favorite flowers in a glass of water on the windowsill. That works fine for some plants, but there are many kinds that require more effort to propagate from cuttings. Some require MUCH more effort. Of course plants can be propagated from seed, but seeds often produce new plants that are […]

So, you have blueberry plants, but you don’t have blueberries. What’s up with that? Find out why your blueberry plant is not producing fruit. Best Selling Blueberry Bushes Blueberry plants are a fun and easy way to bring backyard gardening into your life and delicious berries into your bellies. They are one of the only […]

A Tree’s roots serve two important functions: They anchor the tree in the soil so that its photosynthesizing parts (the leaves) are elevated and exposed to the sun; and the absorbing roots also take up the water and minerals that the tree uses to make carbohydrates for food and proteins for everything else. (Roots also […]

There are many different kinds of fruit trees that are well adapted for growing in the American Midwest. The backyard orchardist can choose from popular apple, pear, Asian pear, peach, nectarine, cherry, and plum tree varieties. A little more obscure, but just as much fun to grow are persimmons and pawpaws. Growing your own fruit […]

  Privacy trees are trees that we plant to act as screens in order to block an unwanted view out of, or into, our property. In addition to providing privacy, these living fences also block noise, reduce air pollution, and slow the wind. We love the appearance of a living privacy fence, and appreciate the […]

About Those USDA Climate Zones The familiar United States Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone Map is based on the average annual minimum temperature for each zone. Needless to say, some years a zone will get a minimum temperature lower or higher than the average. Nevertheless, the average minimum temperature is a fairly good indicator for […]

Of the more than 115 chemical elements in the periodic table, only 16 are sure to benefit plant life. These are essential nutrients. (There might be others that we don’t know about, but surely they must be needed in very small quantities and are probably never lacking.) Carbon (C), oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) are […]

IT’S SPRING! Among our favorite early spring blooming trees are: Japanese magnolia (like the Ann or Jane), eastern redbud, flowering dogwood(white and pink), Taiwan cherry, and wild plum. The Japanese magnolias are among the first bloomers of spring flowering trees. Three important types of early blooming Japanese magnolias are: The star magnolias (Magnolia stellata) and […]

Botanical names (aka scientific or Latin names) for plant species are italicized or underlined. Botanical names are standard throughout the world, unlike common names which can be different in different languages and even in different parts of the same country. A botanical species name has two parts — 1. The Genus: which is always in […]

In our previous post “Flowers: Sex, Pollinators and Pollinizers“, we focused our topic on asexual reproduction in plants — primarily those that need a pollinator or pollinizer to boost the reproduction cycle. Asexual reproduction, as we discussed, works best in environments that do not change. But as you may know, our surrounding environment rarely ever […]

An invasive species, as defined in an Executive Order signed by President Clinton in 1999, is an “alien species whose introduction does, or is likely to, cause economic or environmental harm, or harm to human health” Some kinds of plants, due to being transplanted away from their natural home, consequently become invasive in their new home. […]

Getting your best crop, whether vegetable, fruit, ornamental or lawn, often requires adding lime or fertilizer to your soil. But you need to know how much. If you are starting a new garden, it’s a good idea to have the soil tested. If your plants don’t seem to be doing as well as you think […]