Plants and Flowers

If you live in sunny Florida, growing bananas can be an excellent experience for you. The most common and best Florida species to grow are the ‘Cavendish’, the ‘Lady Finger’, and the ‘Apple’ bananas. There are several clones of ‘Cavendish’ bananas. The largest one is ‘Lacatan’ decreasing in size to ‘Robusta’, and the ‘Giant Cavendish’. The most popular of these clones, is the ‘Dwarf Cavendish’, which is the most difficult to cultivate among other commercial brands. It is that very banana variety that is the most widely recommended by the University of Florida to the homeowner for its plentiful bunches of excellent tasting fruit. Both the ‘Ladyfinger’, the variety with smaller banana fingers, and the ‘Apple’ banana are more tolerant to cool weather with a very sweet flavor when ripe. These are the banana species most often seen throughout the Caribbean region. Other varieties grown in Central Florida are the ‘Jamaican Red’, the ‘1,000 Finger’, and the ‘Golden Pillow’, and the ‘Honey’ banana. The plantain species or ‘Musa paradisiaca’ that grow best in South Florida is the ‘Horse’ plantain. It is the best choice, as it is more drought tolerant and need the least maintenance among all the plants.

In late spring or early summer, peonies please the gardeners with dark red shoots that bear little resemblance to the shrubs they will become. Flowers last only about a week, but you can see your garden in bloom for almost two weeks by selecting early, mid-season, and late varieties.
Peonies grow best in areas with long winter chilling.
If you want to have all-season color, plant peonies with spring flowering bulbs and with iris, daylilies, chrysanthemums, and hardy asters.
When buying saplings, look for roots with 3-4 eyes. Plants with only 1-2 eyes may need up to five years to produce flowers. And check carefully for soft spots or any signs of rot.
Peonies require little care if they are properly planted and located. They can stay in the same place for years, so choose the location heedfully.
Take into account the following advice when deciding where to plant.
- peonies need at least six hours of sun every day.
- they do best in rich soil with a pH between 6.5 and 7.5.
- plant peonies in a protected area to prevent ripping apart the blossoms during the strong winds.
- provide good drainage. If you have trouble with drainage, use a raised bed.
- allow plenty of room for the plant, as it will be almost as wide as it is tall
- don’t plant peonies near the roots of trees or large shrubs. Lack of moisture and nutrients will cause the peony to produce smaller flowers.

The best time for planting is in autumn, but it may also be done in early spring as soon as the soil is workable. So, dig a hole large enough to place the roots and some organic material which you may have to add. Check whether the reddish gemmas on top of the roots, which are called eyes, are about 2 inches below the soil surface, but don’t plant your peonies too deeply, or either they may not bloom during the first year. After planting, water well and keep watering regularly until frost to make the roots well established in the spring.

Peonies require very little care. You need just to remove spent flowers to help the plant keep its energy.
To prevent scale, cut the leaves in the autumn. If winter temperatures will drop below -20F, add mulch over the crown. If you plant the peonies in warmer climates, you should remove any mulch applied in the spring and summer.

If your flowers have problems with blooming, it may be the result of: deep planting, your plant may be immature, inadequate sunlight or overcrowding, phosphorous or potassium deficiency, insect or disease problems, problems from roots or nearby plants.

Shrubs are among the most multi-purpose plants in the garden. They can fill your garden with color, shape, and texture throughout the whole year, enjoy you with flowers in the spring, lovely foliage in the summer, or berries and bright leaves in autumn. Even your winter garden will recall you about spring colors.
A peony’s bloom period is brief during the late spring, but both the flowers and open buds can be dried for later use in bouquets. If you are going to dry your flowers, after cutting, hang the flowers upside down to air dry or use a desiccant such as silica gel. The drying process will take about 5 days. And then the heavy flower heads will need to be wired into place.
Hold the peony blossom between your fingers and run about 10 inches of thin, flexible wire along the stalk, working it through the head just off center. If you happen to push the wire just into the center, the bloom may fall apart.
Ease the wire along, squeezing it lightly to support it, holding your thumb on top to feel it coming through.
Fasten the bloom end of the wire into a small loop when it is through.
Softly pull the loop back down into the flower so it places on the base of the head.
You may attach a longer wire to the stalk for insertion into your bouquets.

The Dutch branch of the TNT post service has decided to make its contribution to planting of greenery and produced stamps with attached to them flower seeds.
As the advertising the post service has made a lovely advertising picture of a letter box with TNT logo with envelopes with bunches of flowers. However it is necessary to note, that seeds will not grow.
The plan of the campaign is that the addressee, having received the letter, can unstick a thin layer of plastic from a stamp and sow seeds in the ground, having created a small garden.
On such stamp bed should grow pansy, petunias, gillyflowers, lobelia and toadflax - seeds of all these flower make the mixture in under the stamps.
TNT states, these are first-ever produced stamps with seeds. The general edition of this non-standard post production makes 550 thousand copies.

Most herbs grow well from seed. They can grow so easily that often are considered plain weeds. In cases of herbs such as sage, you can spread plants from seed indoors. While such seedlings often need dark, warm, damp and unchangeable conditions, they grow well in small containers indoors. You can later transplant or move your herbs outdoors once the sprouts take roots.
Try growing parsley in your garden. It needs at least six weeks to germinate, so you should have some patience and a little water and fertilizer. Think over planting parsley and carrots together, as this herb repulses carrot flies. If you’re growing your first container garden, you may also think over growing varieties of mint, as it grows easily and you can choose from a plenty of them - apple, orange, ginger and curly – are just some of them. Since mint cross-pollinates very easily and loses its flavor for this reason, it should be as a prime container plant. This way you will avoid cross-pollination. Unlike parsley, mint cannot be propagated from seed but can from cuttings. Mint also likes larger pots. Once you have planted mint, it can be harvested at any time, so you can enjoy this herb early and often.

If you are going to use a container for vegetables and herbs, you won’t necessarily need to worry about straight rows and neat raised beds. One more advantage: you can move your plants during hot summer days. But you’ll need to heartily water, fertilize and provide light. Vegetables and herbs are fastidious creatures.
Vegetables and herbs need a lot of sun both in containers and in bed. Plant them in wooden or concrete containers so that you can provide an adequate drainage.
Vegetables and herbs grow best when they have quality organic soil with plenty of compost. Also you will need to change the soil each year. Start composting if you haven’t done it yet.
The question about the amount of plants depends on your desire and abilities, but you’d better to start with small quantities of vegetables such as carrots, broccoli and beans. Once you’ve successfully grown a few shoots, add some more beans or other vegetables. But growing some plant together, don’t forget to consider symbiotic relationships.
If you have little space for your plants, try growing radishes, since they don’t mind crowded conditions: they will perfectly grow either in hanging pots or in cordoned containers. And they’re edible just three weeks after the seeds sprout.
In large containers can grow well dwarf varieties of cabbage and even corn. But corn varieties such as sugar buns will need a barrel-sized container, so be ready for that. Potatoes will need a very large and firm container. To begin with start with potato eyes set in about a foot of soil. When you see first sprouts, cover the shootings with grass and continue this process of layering and watering until harvest time.

Most of the plants just decorate your dwelling, but not necessarily are edible. Fruits, vegetables and herbs provide wonderful aroma and taste, and many varieties of them grow well in pots. Besides, many vegetables, herbs, flowers, and other plants grow well together. Try for example, growing garlic with roses or Indian cress with cabbages. You can even try to sowsix or seven herbs together in a large wooden pot.
Fruit plants such as apple trees or strawberries require more attention. They may often be stroken by pests and need to be pruned and fertilized in time. Before you take final decision, think over some questions: how much free spase do you have for your fruits? Do you want to concentrate on berry plants? Or are you more interested in apples or apricots? Bear in mind that, if you grow apricots, your trees with time will outgrow your pos. So you should have permanent spots for these larger plants. However, other fruits such as figs can be grown very nicely with constant pruning. If you choose to specialize in fruits, you’ll need more specific information and even literature.
This is a brief information of a few fruit selections to obtain a better idea abut their requirements. Blackberries are unsteady, but strong. Find a strong vat or barrel and plant thornless varieties such as Navaho or Rubus canadensis. Constant pinching and pruning will give you good fruit in a few years. Peaches and nectarines may prove more doable. You’ll need to protect them from excessive wet conditions, though they can tolerate hard winters.

Bulbs are similar to annuals—they may bloom abundantly for one season, but you can save and plant bulblets. Tulip bulbs, for example, can be planted in the autumn just at soil level. Watering your plants regularly you will have beautiful flowers in the spring. Daffodils are even easier to care for than tulips and you can achieve a longer season of blossoms.
If you want longer lasting plants, then you may choose shrubs and trees. Some of them flower, others don’t, but since these plants are going to be grown in containers, you can plant them at almost any time except for very hot weather.
Dwarf forms of myrtle, which grow very well in containers, may need pruning from time to time during dormant seasons, but this tree loves warm summers. The hotter the summer, the brighter will be your flower. Bushy forms of bougainvillea such as Temple Fire also grow well in pots and during the hot weather. Bougainvillea trees need protection when temperatures decline below 30 F, but you can prune this tree to give it shape.
Other distinctive varieties of container plants such as cacti and ferns also may give an extra style or interest to your garden. Cacti need even less water during cooler weather and very few feedings save your time. Ferns need more water and a far richer soil than do cacti, but they do not tolerate frosts or hot winds.
You may try to grow bonsai and bamboo, and you may even want to study and create well-known Japanese or bonsai gardens if you are particularly interested in this type of container gardening.