Lilac ladies...... by Astrid Photography.

As many of you know, TheGardenLady’s nom de plume is Lilac. So TheGardenLady would like to share with her readers some beautiful images of lilacs.  I hope they brighten up your day!

Korean Lilac by DMoutray

Lilac (Syringa) by Luigi FDV

Lilac, MANY SMALL ONES... by magda.indigo

Lilacs by Pop38/

lilacs a'bloom by KarenMarleneLarsen

Lilac Find by deu49097

Lilacs by Pop38/

Lilac Tower by CountryDreaming

Wandering Jew by Jim-AR

TheGardenLady received this question from Jonathan:

Can a wandering jew be completley sumerged in water and still live?

The plant commonly called Wandering Jew or Inch Plant, Tradescantia Zebrina is considered one of the easiest plants to grow as an indoor plant and if you live in zones 9-11 as an outdoor plant as well. One only has to pinch off a piece of the stem with some leaves (you can even start new plants from the leaves) and stick the stem part in water and it will root. Leave the rooted stem in water, do not let the roots dry out and the plant will grow to be a beautiful indoor hanging type plant and even may produce flowers. It thrives in bright but indirect sunlight- the brighter the light the more flowers it will produce. Though it is mainly grown for its lovely foliage.

The Wandering Jew is not an underwater plant, so it does not want to be completely submerged. The plant really wants light on its leaves. If you want to keep it in water, you might get root rot. Either toss the rotten plant out or cut off and toss out the rotted root part and put the healthy plant in fresh water to start new roots.

Of course the plant will do better in soil. So now that your plant has made roots in water, plant those rooted pieces in potting soil. Keep the soil moist all the time. The plant even likes its leaves misted daily for added moisture.  See here.  However, TheGardenLady never bothered with the daily misting and the plant is so hardy, it thrived. The plant enjoys diluted liquid fertilizer, especially if it is grown in water, for extra nutrients.

Wandering Jew in Bloom by StoneWheel

This is an ideal plant for dorm rooms and for people who want green plants but feel they have “black thumbs”.  And it is an attractive plant for your home. TheGardenLady can almost guarantee that you will have success with this plant. Keep on cutting off small stems with leaves and putting them in fresh water to start more plants.

If you go to buy a Wandering Jew plant, you will often see it sold in a large hanging basket. No one I knew ever bought one. People just pinched off stems from someone else’s plant and started growing the plant successfully.You can almost go into business with all the plants you can start so easily. Starting a plant is called propagation.

I have read that for some people handling the plant can cause an allergic reaction. So use gloves when cutting the stems and don’t handle too much. This Garden Lady has never known anyone who had a problem.

Anthurium – Arum by Stellas mom

TheGardenLady received this question from Ellen:

I have a peace lily that blooms red instead of white and I wondered how rare this is, as I have never seen anything but the white blooming peace lilies?

Could you possibly have an Anthurium plant that has a red spathe or flower bract? A spathe is a modified leaf that looks like a flower The long-lasting, showy flower bracts come in shades of red, rose, pink, white and some other colors with a protruding pale yellow, tail-like flower spadix.  See here.  The name Anthurium comes from antho- + Greek oura a tail.

Mum's spathyphylum - Peace lily by frans schmit

The white spathe plant that is generally referred to as the Peace Lily is a Spathyphylum.  See here.  The Latin name Spathyphylum comes from the Greek -spathe- meaning bract and phyllon meaning leaf because the flowers are leaf like in shape.

Scientists and herbalists understood the need for systematic, reliable plant and animal identification and classification. This is so everyone is sure to know exactly the kind of plant or animal you are talking about. Over 300 years ago a scientist by the name of Linneaeus created a system of writing the names of plants and animals in Latin. All scientist around the world have pretty much accepted these Latin names because common names can change depending on where you live. For example, there is a darling plant we grow in the garden that has a common name of Snapdragon because if you were to gently squeeze the flower it has what looks like a mouth. If you were to live in Iran, I was told you would not call it a snapdragon but would call it a monkey mouth.The Latin name for snapdragon is Antirrhinum majus. Thus when scientists in the US and scientists in Iran talk about the Antirrhinum, they know exactly the plant they are talking about. The Latin name Antirrhinum comes from the Greek antirrhinon, from anti- like (from anti against, equivalent to) + rhin-, rhis nose and used in Latin.   See here.

Does this mean one should start learning Latin? It might be fun. And it is a fun challenge to learn the proper name for each plant you have. Go on- impress your friends. Let them know if you have an Anthurium or a Spathyphylum.

Begônias by pintomarta50

Once again TheGardenLady is recommending having plants in your house, especially now during the cold and flu season. It is important that our houses and offices have good air quality all the time so you don’t suffer breathing problems, but it seems doubly important when you are gasping for breath with a stuffed nose: you don’t want to worry about breathing in poor quality air if you can help it. According to Dr. Woverton, “Only recently have many physicians begun to associate the increase in respiratory problems with exposure to poor indoor air quality.”  Read this.

A scientist Dr. Bill Wolverton who worked for NASA is the  author of the book “How To Grow Fresh Air- 50 Houseplants That Purify Your Home or Office” and another book called “Eco-Friendly House Plants-50 Indoor plants that purify the air in homes and offices” and he is coming out in December 2009 with a new book coauthored with Mr Kozabura Takenaka “Plants -Why You Can’t Live Without Them” where “the authors delve into the latest research involving the use of plants  to improve indoor air quality.” This book will be interesting to read because it discusses “how plants grown in hydroculture (soil-free) are more effective in cleaning the air than plants in potting soil.” Dr. Wolverton says that “hospitals in Japan are adding plants to take advantage of their air-cleaning properties.”

Besides the role of the plant’s leaves and their root microbes removing impurities from the air, just by having plants in the house brings added moisture to the indoor air. So many houses are so extremely dry indoors when the heat comes on, so by watering the plants and or having them sit on stones over water or if you keep your plants or bouquets of flowers in water, you can breathe so much more easily.

Any of the plants you already have indoors or ones that we have discussed on TheGardenLady blog are helpful. For example, the Sanseviera, Mother-In-Law’s Tongue plant.  If you have low light or if you have good light, how about considering the lovely fancy leafed begonias.  TheGardenLady will be writing about these begonias in a future post.

Now that you have beautified your rooms with plants, TheGardenLady hopes that you will be able to enjoy the atmosphere and that you don’t get sick with a cold or the flu. But should you become ill you can rest easier knowing that you have done something to help the environment in your home.

If TheGardenLady’s readers wonder what the signs of the flu are, below is an easy chart to check to see if you have a cold or the flu. If you are sick, stay home and take loving care of yourself.  Make yourself happy with pretty plants in your rooms. TheGardenLady hopes that none of her readers comes down with the flu.

The only way to stop the spread of the epidemic is to spread the awareness!

George the Brahma cockerel in front of the chicken shed by hardworkinghippy

With the prevalence of the Lyme tick or any tick, I often wished I had some chickens in my yard. Chickens peck about in the grass for insects. I thought how darling they would look in my yard- a return to nature and a decoration for the yard as well as their cleaning the yard of bad insects. But it was just one of many dreams I have. I didn’t know if my township allowed chickens.

Then I attended a conference in Arkansas and heard P. Allen Smith give a talk about gardens. He said that in England famous gardeners always had chickens in their gardens. These chickens were housed in fancy chicken coops as added interest to the garden. So when P.Allen Smith built his summer home, he created a chicken coop that I think was built like a Greek Revival miniature house. It was charming. Again I wished…..

chicken garden by DrSlippers2007

Later when a friend said she was putting in a few chickens in her garden, I was really envious. She wasn’t sure if her area allowed chickens, but the neighbors didn’t object so she bought them. She bought a funky brilliantly colored chicken coop that made me think of a tent. The chickens seemed to be backpacker chickens.

Then, in the September 28, 2009 issue of the New Yorker, there was an article about chickens being the newest craze. The article is “The It Bird – The return of the back-yard chicken” by Susan Orlean. This fun to read article talks about all the “online chicken groups and websites- such as Chickens 101, Housechicken, Yardpoultry, My Pet Chicken” etc. plus a BackyardChickens.com forum.

She writes that TreeHugger.com speaks of raising chickens in the back yard as being the new movement in North America with many magazines on chickens now available and guides that will advise you on how to “chanllenge anti-chicken ordinances” in your town. Readers in Hawaii where roosters run rampant and others who read this post, be careful that you don’t bring in roosters that will crow and wake you and the neighborhood up too early. Apparently “there is a petition currently circulating urging the Obamas to add a chicken flock to the White House Garden.”

ThisGardenLady would love to see chickens in her back yard. But until the chickens learn to completely care for themselves- and that includes fending off the fox or coyote in the neighborhood, she will leave this pretty addition to seeing it in someone else’s garden.

If you decide to decorate your garden with chickens, where can you buy them and other fowl? You don’t have to buy the common types that I grew up with. In the United states you can now buy rare-breed poultry at McMurray Hatchery that bills itself as the largest rare  – breed poultry hatchery in the world.

ALERT

TheGardenLady just learned distressing news for people who live in the state of Michigan who love plants and love to garden but have questions about gardening or about insects in the garden or in the home. TheGardenLady has written about an organization called the Master Gardeners that offers free advice about gardening, plants, including trees and insects both indoors and outdoors. The Master Gardening program helps people across the country and in Canada and a few other countries with this free advice. Master Gardeners also help beautify parks and gardens in their states and/or teach about plants and gardening. Because the Master Gardeners are educated volunteers, this service has been free or perhaps there was a nominal cost- like for soil testing kits in NJ. It is offered through the county that you live in – through the agricultural extension, your state agricultural school.

The article TheGardenLady read that so upset her was in the Upper Michigan News by TV6 & FOX UP . The article wrote “For about 150 years MSU extension offices in every county have helped people get information about a wide variety of subjects. It was actually part of the deal when the state received federal money to create Michigan State University. Today MSU extension receives state federal and local money to cover their costs. ”

Now, after all these years, this wonderful service might be terminated because of the budget. Please read the entire article on this dire news for people in Michigan. The Master Gardeners are volunteers but they need an office to work out of, phone service and printed material, etc. If MSU won’t have any money in their budget, where will the Master Gardeners go to help the public?

TheGardenLady read this article about the problem and would like you to read the article to see what is happening. There is another article that you can read to learn how you can help prevent this from happening.  And there is a petition you can sign if you live in Michigan to tell your government how important the program is for you and why you wish it should be saved.

If any of TheGardenLady’s readership is in Michigan or if my readership knows people who live in Michigan, please contact them immediately and tell them about what is happening. Tell them to read the articles and see if people in Michigan will get involved and see what they can do to keep the extension service there to help. This has to be done immediately- two weeks time is all there is.

Good Luck.

garden by theshutdoor

When I was a child, as I told early readers of this blog, my parents had a small farm. They had bought it just before the depression. My father, a romanticist, always dreamed of being a farmer. It was a small farm and the primary reason for its being was to raise produce. But we had two horses to plow the fields and pull the wagon. We had goats. We had two cows so that with all the milk my mother decided to make a small dairy business out of it. Besides the milk, she sold heavy and light cream, sour cream and her delicious homemade cottage cheese. We had pet ducks and of course, we had chickens.

We raised the chickens for ourselves; either Rhode Island Reds or White Leghorn chickens. We ate eggs almost daily and, I am sorry to tell you, we ate the chickens when they were too old to lay eggs or we needed food. After all, the depression hit and everyone needed to eat. But we did not raise chickens as a business.

Baby chickens hatched out:-) by ♥ Lala ♥

Every spring my mother would get a huge carton of darling, cuddly yellow chicks. I loved it when they brought the chicks into the house for warmth. I would play with them. Today I guess you would say I bonded with the chicks. But when they grew real feathers, they went out to the chicken coop and the friendship ended. Still I have never enjoyed eating chicken, I guess because of my bonding.

My father hated chickens. They are one of the smelliest animals with all the chicken manure they produce. (This manure is great for garden plants.) Chickens can have diseases and/or mites. However, my neighbors all had chicken farms as their main businesses. When it rained and the chicken manure smell wafted into our yard, the smell was disgusting. As a child I would help the chicken farmers chase the chickens into a clean area so that the coops could be sterilized.

However, I enjoyed seeing chickens pecking in the grass and hearing the noise they made. But I hated the roosters. One of our roosters was particularly aggressive and chased everyone who came near him- except my mother who fed him.

eggs of many colors by woodleywonderworks

Many years later, a cousin’s family moved to Maine and bought a farm. They also bought chickens for their farm. Their youngest daughter who loves every animal really bonded with the chickens. She named each one and every day she walks around the farm with one or the other chicken snuggled in her arms. And as a reward they lay lovely Easter egg colored light blue or light green eggs. These chickens never go into the baking dish.

But they do get killed. When I was a child, my neighbor’s chicken coops had rats – lots of rats. And my cousin’s family has to be careful because of the predators that will eat their chickens if they are not safely locked into their coop each night.

Indoor tomatoes, 2nd part by tillwe

TheGardenLady received this question from Daniel:

I would like to grow a food plant of some sort in my dorm room. I was wondering what kind of plant you would suggest. I don’t have a lot of time or gardening skill, so an easy to care for plant would be ideal. Also, our room has a window, but does not get direct sunlight. It stays around room temperature year round. Finally, it would be nice to be able to harvest something before the year is over. I don’t know if anything fits the bill, but suggestions would be great!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could grow our own food in our home or dorm room? I think most of us would convert a floor to a garden just to have fresh produce year round. I know that I would create a garden in my lower level which has lots of windows that are on the West and North sides of the building so they get no sunshine. And to have harvest fresh vegetables at the end of the year, for Christmas dinner, would be a gourmet’s delight. But alas, this dream has not quite been realized in my lifetime. Many of the Dick Tracy comic book inventions have come true (Dick Tracy, a popular comic strip in the 1940’s and 1950’s) and I imagine that some day growing vegetables or food easily in a dorm room will also come true. But today one really needs a green house to have success. Food plants want lots of SUN to produce food- usually at least 6 hours of sun. That is how nature created them. People who have a glass or plastic greenhouse can attempt to raise food indoors. But without that sunlight indoors, you are asking for difficulties.

I am not sure what temperature you say your dorm room is when you say “it stays around room temperature year round.” People regulate the amount of heat in their rooms and it can usually be from approximately 68 degrees to 78 degrees in the rooms. Some plants like it warmer that is why they grow in the hot summer though plants like lettuce prefer a cooler environment. And also, because a plant is in a pot, you will have to be sure that you water the plants enough. Some plants might even need humidity around them as well as to be watered. To get added humidity, put the pot in a tray with water and stones. Site the pot above the water, on the stones not in the water. In many cases the plants will need a pollinator to produce fruit. People do help pollinate when insects aren’t available to do it.

But you can try to raise plants to produce a tiny harvest. Just be prepared for failure and don’t get upset if your plants just won’t or don’t produce. Expect a smaller harvest if you grow your plants indoors. You will surely get the green leaves on your plants even if you don’t get produce. The green leaves of a sweet potato vine is decorative even if you don’t harvest sweet potatoes.

Since you don’t have sunlight, consider buying grow lites. Artificial light is often crucial for raising plants indoors. Reading about the best choices for lighting fixtures for the produce you want to grow is necessary (see here).  Some small growing lights that are relatively inexpensive are the Aero garden lights that I saw in my local Ace Hardware store (see here).

It is best not to use soil from the garden when growing produce plants indoors. Lighter soils are best. A good recipe for making soil for indoor use is here.

Consider growing herbs. (See my previous post on this topic)  Because herbs can be used before going into flower or producing seeds, they are easiest to grow indoors.

Deep windowsills like this one are the perfect for growing herbs. Photo By Greg Palmer/Courtesy Flickr

Or try finding a pepper plant to bring into your room. This is the season that nurseries are selling the colorful plants as indoor ornamental plants. (See my previous post on this topic) But be careful since many of the pepper plants have inedible peppers. Always ask if the pepper plant you are buying is safe and good to eat. Don’t buy them if the salesperson doesn’t know the answer. If you are lucky enough to find the pepper plants that have already been started, you will enjoy the plant and can harvest the peppers for a dish you might want to cook. However to be absolutely sure that you have edible pepper plants you might consider buying packages of pepper seeds (see here) to start from scratch.

Ornamental Pepper Black Pearl by vidular

Two edible pepper plants you might want to try are Black Pearl known for its robustness and resistance to insects and fungi as well as its being drought resistant and Tangerine Dream, a sweet edible ornamental pepper that has small orange banana shaped fruit. Or you might also start your own seeds from hot peppers you may have left rotting in your house.  See here.

Another plant to try indoors is the radish plant (see here).

There is a list of vegetable plants you can try indoors.   See here.   Good luck and let us know if you have success. If you have success and need a recipe, TheGardenLady can send you some.

Helianthemum ‘Hartswood Ruby’

At the Perennial Plant Conference held at Swarthmore College TheGardenLady enjoyed seeing and learning about red plants

The nursery Green Leaf Plants have a Helianthemum ‘Hartswood Ruby’ that is new. It has a red flower with a yellow center and grows in zones 6,7 and 8. Check out the look of this flower on the Green Leaf Plants site and call them to find out where it can be bought.

Hibiscus 'Red Flyer'

Beverly Fitts an instructor at Longwood Gardens recommended a Hibiscus called ‘Red Flyer.’ She said the flower is so spectacular that people stop to comment on it or to ask her what the plant is.  See here. This is a monster plant, towering to 12′ in height, so you need room to have it. It is resistant to insects and is a vigorous plant that starts flowering in mid-July and continues until frost. Plenty of nutrition and moisture will produce the best results. It won’t become invasive because it is a sterile plant.

Another red flowering plant that appealed to me was recommended by Carrie Wiles of North Creek Nurseries. This was a honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens ‘Major Wheeler.’

Lonicera sempervirens 'Major Wheeler' Trumpet Honeysuckle

Many honeysuckles have become very invasive. They say that this lonicera will not become invasive because it is a native honeysuckle. And the reason the nursery recommends ‘Major Wheeler’ is because of its red flowers -the plant is COVERED in red trumpet flowers in late spring and keeps producing flowers all summer long, especially with a post-bloom trim. Carrie Wiles said that hummingbirds will find it from miles around.

These are some of the wonderful recommendations of plants for your garden from people in the know.

Echinacea Pixie Meadowbrite by fdr2164

Every year one of the best plant conferences on the East Coast is the Perennial Plant Conference held in the fall at Swarthmore College. This conference is co-sponsored by Chanticleer Garden, Longwood Gardens, The Hardy Plant Society/Mid Atlantic Group, The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College.  (If you haven’t visited Chanticleer, Longwood Gardens and The Scott Arboretum, you should. Each garden is fantastic in its own right.)

This year on October 16th a group of friends and this Garden Lady joined what looked like a sell out crowd for this 2009’s excellent, informative conference. I hope to be writing about what some of the excellent speakers had to say in future posts.

Right now I want to talk about one of my favorite features at the conference and that is what is called the Promising Plant Forum. Five people who are either from top nurseries or who work at top gardens give a 7 minute presentation of 3 of their favorite choices for best new plant or underused excellent plant for your garden.

It was interesting that of the 15 plants recommended, 4 were Echinacea plants. Echinacea which are commonly called purple coneflowers are native to eastern and central North America, where they are found growing in moist to dry prairies and open wooded areas. Echinacea are generally long lived plants that have large, showy flower heads and are in bloom from early to late summer.

Native plants are what is really being stressed these days for the garden. The reason is that people in the know want to encourage biodiversity – which means that they want plants that encourage the native butterflies, birds, bees and beneficial insects to come to your garden. Not every plant attracts as many butterflies, birds, bees and beneficial insects as others.

Echinacea is one type of native plants that attracts good things and have been bred to have super stunning flowers that are easy to care for and bloom for a long period during the summer.

Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) by W9NED

Vic Platt from the Mt. Cuba Center (another wonderful garden to visit- this has native plants) recommended Echinacea Purpurea ‘Pica Bella’ and ‘Elton Knight’ and Echinacea ‘Pixie Meadowbrite’. The wholesale company Green Leaf Plants recommended Echinacea Sombara ‘Hot Pink’ a new 12 inch tall dwarf plant that is great for a summer/fall show. If you are interested in buying this Echinacea, contact Green Leaf Plants and ask them where it is being sold retail.