Plants and Flowers

The quantity and frequency of watering is one of the biggest questions to cactus owners. Cactus does not wilt when it already needs water, so the plant gives few hints that thirsty. The good rule is to water when the top 2 to 3 centimeters of soil is dry. But you should take into account the season.

Plants require more water during the period of summertime growth than they will need during the slowed period in winter. In winter they can be watered only once a month. During winter, you should only supply just enough moisture so that the roots do not dry or dye. One of the most important points about cactus watering is to never let the containers stand in water.
Waterlogged soil quickly causes rotting of the roots with fatal consequences for the entire plant. Cacti do need to be watered and fertilized, but not as often as any other plants. Water the containers when they dry out and check whether the soil dries thoroughly between watering. Do not water during rainy periods, in winter or right after repotting. Many varieties have dormant periods and watering is very harmful. Consider also that small containers require more frequent watering than large ones.

These plants can be easily propagated from branches and offshoots. If you are going to propagate cacti, you should remove offshoot from the plant and let it to dry for about 2 weeks. When the broken or cut part of the plant has healed, put it cautiously in dry soil. When cutting, you should use a clean and sharp knife. If you are taking a few parts from one long stem, you must remember which one was the top and the bottom of each part, as planted upside down part will not grow.
The simplest way to remember which one was the top and bottom is to cut the bottom of each piece on a slight angle, and the top right across.
The main problem with cuttings is the development of fungal soft rot. This trouble begins at the cut surface and ultimately weakens the entire cutting. To avoid this problem experts recommend two techniques. The first simply is to allow all new cuttings to stay in a warm dry place from one to 14 days before they are planted in soil. Note, that the larger the cut surface, the longer it should be let to dry. To prevent the beginning of soft rot newly cut offshoots may also be put in garden sulphur before planting. Do not water the cutting for a week, then water sparingly.

These plants can also be grown from seed, but this type of propagation needs patience, as some cacti seed take a year to germinate, and it may take a few years to see what your young cacti will look like.
Despite this long process, many can be flowered within 2 years and even earlier.

The first step towards growing a healthy plant is to buy really healthy plant. Do not buy plants with damaged spines, clear signs of bruising, or cacti with lopsided or uneven growth. You should also remember that even in ideal growing conditions, the spindly growth produced in a dimly-lit store will never became broader out to normal size. The best choice is to buy a cactus in the greenhouse where it was initially grown, or right after it has been delivered to a retail shop.
Care for particular type of cactus depends on the climatic conditions where that plant would be growing in nature. The first rule for successful growing of any plant is to provide conditions that are as close as possible to the natural environment.
Usually, cacti are divided into 2 most common classes: sun-loving and shade-loving. The soil composed of equal parts of coarse sand, peat and perlite is suitable for growing of almost all cacti. Vertical plants should be planted in pots in diameter 1/2 the height of the plant. Be attentive to avoid developing rot on recently potted or transplanted plants. Make sure the pot is dry before transplanting, and transplant into dry soil. And wait at least a week before watering to allow damaged roots to recover.

Having no attractive leaves, these plants have usually conspicuous flowers. Epiphyllum, the orchid cactus, is the first with its fragrant flowers that may grow up to 8 inches across.
One more distinctive characteristic peculiar to every cactus plant, but absent in all species of all other families, is its “isolation”. This is the spine cushion or areole, all cacti have areoles. As far as these areoles differ in structure according to different kinds of cacti, this is one way of distinguishing one cactus plant from another.
There is one plant family which is often confused for the cactus family: this is the euphorbia family which includes such plants as Cow’s Horn Cactus, African Milk Bush and Crown of Thorns (E. milii). All these plants have spines, green stems and few or no leaves at all, but they do not have areoles.
If you are still have doubts whether you have a euphorbia or a cactus, make a small cut in an insignificant place. If you notice the milky white and sticky sap, then you have a euphorbia, while cactus sap is clear and watery.

Cacti are that very group of plants that are not only easy enough in growing, but can offer you great many shapes, colors and forms. Actually, they can be grown in any light and well-drained area, as they need little care. Cacti thrive in containers and many hardy varieties can be grown outdoors.
If you are going to cultivate small specimens, pay you attention to lithops, which is Greek for “living rocks”. Other similar varieties include titanopsis, lapidaria, penestraria and gibbaeum.
As container plants you can grow such cactus and succulent types as Aloe Vera, crassulas, Echeverias, peperomias and kalanchoe.
Larger-growing species may grow from 3 to 10 feet or even more: Cereus peruvianus, Yucca elephantipes, Euphorbias, ponytail palm or bottle palm.
The cactus family is one of the most remarkable, manifold and specialized groups of plants. It includes about 2,000 species, and all of them are perennial and succulent.

Most succulents grow for only some months in the year and all the rest time they have rest and have insignificant demands. With some few exceptions cactus in a container will try to adapt its life to the changing seasons and will grow primarily in the spring and fall and resting shortly in the hottest part of summer and sleep through the whole winter. It is vital to provide plenty of water during periods of intensive growth and even more important to stop watering when these plants are resting.
In a more humid climate most of succulents need almost no water when they are resting and this, perhaps, caused the hearsay that these plants thrive when they are neglected. Almost any cactus in a four season climate will soon die if it is treated as any tropical broadleaf plant. It is true, partially, that these spiny beauties need less care than many other container plants, but they demand strict schedule in everything. It is very important to understand how to adjust plant care activities to provide the best possible life for succulents.

These plants have developed their own way of water storing. They can survive long dry periods that allows them to live in environments where most other plants would die. Succulents can store water in their leaves, roots or stems, and depending on this there great many appearances of them.
This wonderful ability that allow them to survive in harsh climates makes them weakly adapted for house environment with its stable and a less harsh conditions. There are great many broadleaf house plants that can be watered any time and kept in any location and will still do well in a room. Succulents will soon die if watered casually and if the owner disregard cycles of the seasons. You should be aware that succulents grow and rest according to the passing seasons. They can change their pattern as house plants, but nevertheless they will still maintain seasonal patterns of water and dryness periods.
If you are going to grow succulents, it is important to realize that many varieties are extremely challenging, and consider your lifestyle. Remember that there is always the risk of the child getting an injury from a succulent. However, if you are sure in your ability to be attentive to succulents’ needs, then they are well worth keeping as house plants.

People often consider succulents and cactus plants as two different categories of plants. But cacti are just succulents with particular characteristics that set them apart from all other representatives. It is that very spines that most of us notice first of all and which force us to distinguish cactus plants from everything else. In fact, the spines are the easiest way to distinguish cactus plants apart from all other species of succulents. The simplest way to be sure that the plant is a cactus is to remove a spine from the plant without causing injuries to the body of the plant. The plant is a non-cactus succulent in case when at removing a spine, or what looks like it (but is actually a thorn) you will notice a clear or milky sap comes out of the plant. Essentially, all cactus plants are succulents, and cactus varieties are only a small part of a great family of succulent plants.
The term “succulent and cactus plants” mean all succulents, but these terms also have a common usage meaning that these plants are two separate groups. The important thing is to understand the fact that these terms are frequently used in different ways and consider these meanings accordingly.

Prairie is meadow, where flowering perennials and grasses grow together. Prairie landscapes are peculiar to mid-western regions of North America, but nowadays very little natural prairie remains. Restoration projects, which are conducted in many regions help to some extent to improve the situation. You can also create a piece of a wild flower garden.
If you want to replace a strip of lawn or a flowerbed in your backyard with wild flowers, you will need full sun area.
Choosing plants, the easiest way is to grow young container plants, which bloom much sooner than a meadow from seed.
Wild flower seeds for prairie plantings can be easily bought and will cheaper for a large project.
But you should bear in mind that many of the prairie perennials need about three seasons to reach blooming size, if growing from seeds.

Well-known Japanese word “Bonsai” means “planted in a container”. But generally Bonsai is the accumulation of techniques how to grow, form and care for a tree in order to create a tiny but naturally and old looking tree. As time went by Bonsai has developed from plants in pots into a well respected art.
Although the word ‘Bonsai’ is a literal translation from the Japanese, the notion appeared in the Chinese empire. Chinese were the first who started the art of ‘pun-sai’, using special techniques to grow tiny trees in containers. At first only the elite practiced pun-sai and these trees were spread throughout rich families as luxurious gifts. Later the art of growing dwarf trees in containers was introduced in Japan. The Japanese advanced the art of growing trees in containers, and most well-know techniques and styles were developed in Japan. And only at around 1900 Bonsai was spread outside of Asia.
Once arriving in the Western World, this enjoyable and rewarding pastime has never turned back. It has gained a magnificently diverse range of plant material and techniques.
For the beginning the tree and its container create a single harmonious unit where the shape, texture and color compliment the each other. Then the tree must be shaped. It is not enough just to plant a tree in a container and let it grow - the result would look nothing like a tree and would look very short-lived. Every branch and sprig of a tree is cut or removed until the needed image is achieved. And from then on, the tree is maintained and improved by a regular regime of pruning and trimming.