I have always wanted to be a gardener, and I love the time I spend in my garden. Pawan Kalyan
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Super Nutrition
To all the reasons you might choose one vegetable variety over another--appearance, flavor, yield, pest resistance, or regional adaptation--now you can add enhanced nutrition. The vegetables you'll read about here aren't just good for you. They've been bred to be better for you. |
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Amaranth- Beautiful and Useful
Some amaranths are pretty, and some are plain; some are big, and some are small; and some are weedy, and others aren't. Such diversity adds to the home gardener's challenge of predicting performance the first season, and perhaps that partially explains why amaranths are underutilized plants. |
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Planning a Vegetable Garden
Let's review the essentials of a vegetable garden, then we'll describe how I to make raised beds. We believe that if you follow these directions, you'll be well on your way to an abundant harvest and an enjoyable gardening season. |
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Gardening Indoors with Houseplants
When winter winds blow and the outdoor landscape no longer beckons, gardeners' thoughts turn to visions of amaryllis, poinsettia, and other tropical plants. Fill your home with color, scent, and beauty over the holidays and beyond by creating an indoor garden oasis |
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Cold-Hardy Clumping Bamboos
Bamboos have become popular landscape plants for creating garden rooms, blocking unsightly views, or lending your garden an Asian feel. |
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Sweet Potato Basics
Sweet potatoes are less popular now than they were in the 1920s, when many farm families grew them for winter food. Back then, the average yearly consumption per person was about 30 pounds. Now, with fewer people growing their own sweet potatoes, the average consumption is about five pounds per person. This is unfortunate, because like potatoes, sweet potatoes furnish us with energy, supplying sugars and other carbohydrates, some protein, calcium, iron and other minerals. They also contain vitamins A and C. Some people think of sweet potatoes only as a traditional holiday vegetable, but if you grow and store them, you can furnish your family with good nutrition for many months of the year. |
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Common Camellia (Camellia japonica 'Pearl Maxwell')
Plant Habit: Shrub Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade, Partial or Dappled Shade Water Preferences: Mesic Leaves: Evergreen Flowers: Showy Flower Color: Pink Flower Time: Spring, Late winter or early spring Pollinators: Bees
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Rose (Rosa 'Stanwell Perpetual')
Bloom size: Medium: 2-3" Bloom shape: Other Petal count: very full: 40+ petals Rose bloom color: White and white blend Extra Bloom Info: In clusters, medium to large, more than 80 petals Rebloom: Some Class: Other Extra Color Info: White, with soft apricot and blush-pink tinges Growth Habit: Tall, typically 6-8 feet, bushy Fragrance: Moderate Misc: Shade tolerant Hybridizer & year: Brown & Lee, before 1837 Optimal growing zones: USDA zones 3-9 Plant Habit: Shrub Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun, Full Sun to Partial Shade Plant Height: 6-8 feet Plant Spread: 4-5 feet Leaves: Deciduous Flowers: Showy, Fragrant Flower Color: White Flower Time: Late spring or early summer, Late summer or early fall Uses: Cut Flower Wildlife Attractant: Bees Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem, Cuttings: Tip Miscellaneous: With thorns/spines/prickles/teeth Awards and Recognitions: RHS AGM
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Song of India (Dracaena reflexa)
Plant Habit: Tree Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Partial or Dappled Shade Plant Height: 12 to 18 feet (3.7-5.5m) Plant Spread: 3 to 8 feet (.9-2.4m) Leaves: Unusual foliage color, Evergreen Flowers: Inconspicuous Flower Color: White Suitable Locations: Houseplant Propagation: Other methods: Cuttings: Stem Containers: Suitable in 3 gallon or larger, Needs excellent drainage in pots
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Texas Thistle (Cirsium texanum)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Biennial Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade Water Preferences: Mesic, Dry Mesic Plant Height: 3 to 6 feet Leaves: Semi-evergreen Fruit: Showy, Edible to birds Flowers: Showy Flower Color: Purple, Lavender Bloom Size: 1"-2" Flower Time: Spring, Late spring or early summer, Summer Underground structures: Taproot Suitable Locations: Xeriscapic Uses: Will Naturalize Wildlife Attractant: Birds, Hummingbirds, Butterflies, Bees Resistances: Drought tolerant Propagation: Seeds: Other info Propagation: Other methods: Offsets Miscellaneous: With thorns/spines/prickles/teeth, Tolerates poor soil
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Soldiers and Sailors (Pulmonaria officinalis)
Plant Habit: Herb/Forb Life cycle: Perennial Sun Requirements: Partial Shade to Full Shade Water Preferences: Mesic Leaves: Unusual foliage color, Variegated, Semi-evergreen Flowers: Showy Flower Color: Blue, Other Flower Time: Spring, Late winter or early spring, Winter Wildlife Attractant: Bees Resistances: Drought tolerant Propagation: Other methods: Division, Other Pollinators: Bees, Flies
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Photo by Lestv
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Photo by Jpari
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Photo by hillbilly
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Photo by GigiPlumeria "Monarch caterpillar 5th instar, getting ready for the J-stage."
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Photo by Valery33
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Photo by Lestv
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Photo by LoriMT
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Photo by springcolor
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Photo by LoriMT "This bush is a butterfly magnet"
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Photo by farmerdill "AAS"
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Sponsored by National Gardening Books of Vegetables CollectionGrowing vegetables is easy when you know how! We are pleased to make available as a downloadable e-book the complete collection of National Gardening Association's Books of Vegetables. These books have taught hundreds of thousands of gardeners how to grow tomatoes, sweet corn, lettuce and greens, broccoli, onions, potatoes, peanuts, vine crops and more. Each e-booklet is around 30 pages in length and covers everything from getting started choosing varieties, how to grow them, and also includes recipes of how to cook and process the vegetables for storage. Order the complete e-book collection for just $9.99.
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Active threads from our forums:
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The numbers from this week:
976 members joined.
4,998 posts written in our forums.
777 photos posted to the plant database.
703 plants added to personal inventory lists.
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In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. Aristotle
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