Pomegranate Tree Propagation If you’ve ever eaten a pomegranate, you know that the center contains hundreds of crunchy seeds, each in its own fleshy covering. The trees propagate readily from seeds, but there is no guarantee that the new trees will resemble the mother tree. Fortunately, there are other methods of pomegranate tree propagation, like using pomegranate tree cuttings. If you are propagating pomegranate trees from cuttings, you get a tree of the same species and cultivar as the parent....

About Growing Guava Guava is a warm weather tree, suited to zones 9b through 11. Young trees that experience temperatures below about 30 degrees F. (-1 C.) may be damaged or could die. A guava tree will grow to about 20 feet (6 m.) tall, so it needs space to grow. Your guava will need warmth and full sun but will tolerate a variety of soil types and drought conditions. While a guava tree is a great shade tree for warm-climate gardens, a great reason to grow one is to enjoy the fruit....

What do praying mantis egg sacs look like and when do mantis egg sacs hatch? Read on to learn how to find and care for these amazing insect eggs. Praying Mantis Egg Sac Info Praying mantis in the garden provide a safe, biological weapon to combat the summer’s onslaught of pesky insects. They will eat almost anything, including each other, but their pest control of flies, crickets, moths and mosquitoes makes them incomparable natural assistants in the landscape....

You may know prickly poppy plant (Argemone Mexicana) as yellow prickly poppy, flowering thistle, crested prickly poppy, or argemone. It is perennial in USDA plant hardiness zones 8 through 11. In cooler climates it is grown as an annual. Mexican Prickly Poppy Uses Growing Mexican prickly poppies is easy, and prickly poppy flowers are pretty, but keep in mind that the plant is extremely prickly and may not be a good choice for places where children play....

Pruning in Winter If you have deciduous trees and shrubs in your backyard, you know how different they look in winter than in summer. As these plants lose their foliage in fall to prepare for dormancy, you see their “bones” clearly, their trunk (or trunks) and all of their branches. Winter pruning trees and shrubs makes a lot of sense. Since the plants are essentially “sleeping” during dormancy rather than actively growing, they will lose less sap from trimming than they would in summer....

Purple Emperor Sedum Info Sedum ‘Purple Emperor’ is a hybrid stonecrop plant bred for the striking color of its foliage and flowers. It grows upright with a height of 12 to 15 inches (30.5-38 cm.) and spreads slightly, with a width of 12 to 24 inches (30.5-61 cm.). The leaves are slightly fleshy and deep purple in color, sometimes appearing almost black. In midsummer, the plant puts out clusters of tiny light pink flowers on top of single stems....

Growing Queen’s Tears Plants Native to South America, queen’s tears is an epiphytic plant that grows primarily on trees but is also found growing on forest floors. It absorbs most of its moisture and nutrients through the flowers and leaves and not from the shallow roots. To grow queen’s tears indoors, plant it in a container filled with potting mix formulated for bromeliads or orchids. If you want to propagate queen’s tears for sharing, separate an offshoot from a mature plant with a sterile knife or razor blade....

What Does Ragweed Look Like? Ragweed identification is easy due to the distinct leaves and flowers on the plant. Ragweed is an upright growing plant that has leaves that look almost fern-like, feathery and green. You will also notice that ragweed leaves look hairy. The flowers on the plant are also useful for ragweed identification. The flowers on ragweed are yellow and long, like streamers. There will normally be several clustered flowers at the top of the plant, which look like a fountain, and also several flowers closer to the bottom....

What to do in western gardens in fall? Read on for a regional to do list. November Gardening Tasks While many gardens across the country are getting covered with snow in November, gardening on the West Coast just keeps going strong. The regional to do list includes the usual late-autumn clean-up items, but also lots of planting. Let’s start with the clean-up. If you still have a green grass lawn, you’ll need to rake up and move or dispose of the autumn leaves that are lying on it....

Why Propagate Petunia Cuttings? If you want to propagate petunia to grow the same type next year, there are a couple of problems with simply saving the seeds and planting them next year. First, if you live in the northern half of the country, it may be the middle of summer before you see any blooms on your petunia plants. Second, if the petunias you grow and care for are hybrid varieties, the seeds you collect won’t breed true the next year....

Apple Cider Vinegar as Rooting Hormone Propagating plants by “starting” root cuttings is a simple way to add to your indoor or outdoor plant collection with little expense. Dipping the stems in rooting hormones get cuttings off to a healthy start and increases the chance of success. Many gardeners believe rooting hormones are an unnecessary expense, and that cuttings will root just fine on their own. It’s true that some plants, such as English ivy, will root freely without help, but many others enjoy the boost that hormones can provide....

So what if you’re looking to cook Russian cuisine? What are some common herbs for Russian cooking that you can grow at home? Keep reading to learn more about how to grow Russian herbs. Growing a Russian Herb Garden Russia has a famously harsh climate and short summer, and Russian herb plants are adapted to that. That means they tend to have either short growing seasons or high cold tolerances....

Uses for Seaberries Seaberry, or sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides), resides in the family, Elaeagnacea. Native to the temperate and sub-arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, sea buckthorn has more recently become available in North America. This hardy shrub makes a lovely ornamental with the bright colored berries and also makes wonderful habitat for birds and small animals. The plant is actually a legume and, as such, fixes nitrogen in the soil while its strong root system aids in preventing erosion....

Growing Shallots Shallots prefer soil that drains well and has a high composition of organic matter. The best soil pH for shallots are 6.3 to 6.8. Keeping shallot beds free of weeds is essential to good development and helps with shallot picking once the time to harvest a shallot plant arrives. Shallots are grown from sets as well as transplants. Shallot plants benefit from a regular feeding of organic fertilizer. The root system of shallot plants is extremely shallow and the plants need consistent water in order to thrive....

Normal Reasons for Shrubs Not Leafing Out Those of us who keep garden journals and know exactly when our shrubs leafed out in previous years may become alarmed when bushes leaf out late. Temperature and day length control the timing, so you can expect shrubs to leaf out later in years when temperatures are cooler and earlier in warm years. These year-to-year variations are normal. You might also see variations as a shrub matures....

Planting a Tree Next to Sidewalks The great thing about planting a tree next to sidewalks in a hell strip is the effect it has on the neighborhood. A street lined with trees gives a street a gracious, happy look, especially if you select appropriate trees for hell strip landscaping. Remember that you are planting a tree next to sidewalks. Therefore, it’s critical to pay attention to the root action you can expect from small hell strip trees....

What is Smilax? Smilax is also known as greenbrier and occasionally carrion vine, due to its intense, slightly unpleasant scent. Other names for the plant include catbrier, bamboo vine, and Jackson vine. It is a common forage food found along the east coast of the United States. Smilax plant uses throughout history range from food to medicinal. Noteworthy in Smilax information references is its potential use to treat dementia and Alzheimer’s....

Information about Solanum Genus The Solanum plant family is a diverse group containing both annuals to perennials with everything from vine, subshrub, shrub, and even small tree habits. The first mention of its generic name comes from Pliny the Elder at the mention of a plant known as ‘strychnos,’ probably Solanum nigrum. The root word for ‘strychnos’ may have come from the Latin word for sun (sol) or possibly from ‘solare’ (meaning “to soothe”) or ‘solamen’ (meaning “comfort”)....

Learn how to grow sorrel and add a citrus touch to your culinary herb garden. Sorrel Plant There are many varieties of sorrel plant, but the most common used in cooking is French sorrel (Rumex scutatus). Sheep’s sorrel (Rumex acetosella) is native to North America and is not palatable to humans, but produces nutritious fodder for animals. Leaf sorrel is cultivated as a garden herb and grows 2 feet (61 cm....

Spinach Beet Curly Top Info Curly top spinach disease is a Curtovirus that affects many plants besides just spinach. Certain herbs and even specific weeds are all susceptible to spinach beet curly top infections, as are: Beets Spinach Tomatoes Beans Peppers Cucumbers Swiss chard This viral infection is spread from plant to plant by the beet leafhopper. When leafhoppers feed on infected plants, they get the virus on their mouthparts and spread it to the next plant they feed on....