The Beautiful Orchid Blooming orchids look so ethereal that it’s hard to believe you can grow them inside your home. Selecting Orchids Look beyond the pretty face when deciding which orchid to grow indoors. First, assess the growing conditions you can offer an orchid, and make your choice from there. Light, temperature, humidity, your watering tendencies, and fertilizing all play a role in growing orchids. Light...
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GARDENING Sweet or spicy, peppers are popular in the kitchen! It’s time to start thinking about starting pepper seeds indoors! When to start peppers: Start peppers indoors 8 to 10 weeks before average last spring frost, and transplant them out when daytime temperatures are at least 70°F, and nighttime temperatures are at least 55°F. In mild climates, though, peppers can be sown directly into a greenhouse or garden soil 2 to 4 weeks after...
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Growing on the High Plains SKIP MANCINI PRODUCER AND HOST OF HIGH PLAINS HISTORY AND GROWING ON THE HIGH PLAINS Rosemary is an herb of many uses and a long and varied history. The ancient Greeks declared that it improved memory, and students would often wear wreaths of it in their hair while studying for exams. In the middle ages it was thought to possess powers of protection against evil spirits. Medicinally, it has been used for centuries to...
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Baking Soda Uses in the Garden 1. Houseplant Cleaner It is important to regularly clean the foliage of your houseplants to remove dust and grease, to promote photosynthesis. For this, our recommendation for you is to carefully move a soft, lint-free cloth moistened with the solution of water and sodium bicarbonate (a pinch of baking soda in one liter of water) on the surface of leaves (top and bottom). 2. Clean Garden Furniture Add 1/2 cup...
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PLANT GEEKS VACATION Seymour & Audrey Stink at Selby Jason French, Greenhouse Manager 8 August 2016 When a plant geek goes on vacation, he doesn’t really stop working. I recently took a vacation to southern Florida. When I heard a rare corpse flower was about to bloom in Sarasota I had to drag the family to the Selby botanical gardens. The corpse flower is the largest flower on earth. It was nearly seven feet...
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PLANT GEEKS VACATION The Chocolate Tree Jason French, Greenhouse Manager 8 August 2016 As the plant geek continued on through the Selby Botanical gardens many unusual plants were revealed. Here I have attached photos of the cacao tree. The fruit pods you see actually contain cocoa beans, from which chocolate is made. This plant is usually only seen in South and Central America and the west coast of Africa. This was a first for me! The other...
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