About Boosting Immunity Naturally Over 80% of the earth’s population depends on plants that increase immunity and promote healing. The immune system is one of the more complex systems within the human body. It helps keep you healthy by tackling viruses, bacteria and abnormal cells, all while distinguishing between your own healthy tissue and the invading pathogen. Plants that boost the immune system naturally help keep you healthy. The key to using these plants is prevention....

What are Aerial Roots? Aerial roots are roots that grow on the above-ground parts of a plant. Aerial roots on woody vines function as anchors, affixing the plant to supporting structures such as trellises, rocks, and walls. Some types of aerial roots also absorb moisture and nutrients, just like underground roots. Plants that live in marshes and bogs have underground roots but they can’t absorb gasses from the air. These plants produce above ground “breathing roots” to help them with air exchange....

About Guinevere Plum Trees Choosing the right plum tree for your landscape is about more than proper site and growing characteristics. The actual fruit is crucial to the decision of species. The plum ‘Guinevere’ is a fruit you could weep for. It has such intense sweet, nectar-like, juicy flavor that it could easily substitute for a candy craving. Unlike many European plums, Guinevere also stores well in refrigeration. Guinevere is similar to Marjorie’s Seedling but produces more fruit....

What is a Pocket Garden? The pocket garden is a design technique that has been used by gardeners for generations, but it has recently found a chic standing in the landscape world. What is a pocket garden? It can be a combination of scenarios, but the basic point is to add plants in small, unexpected ways to the landscape. Gardening can be a challenge in small spaces or in areas with little area for a garden plot or bed....

What is Poison Parsley? This plant is an herbaceous biennial to perennial. Many gardeners find it growing in disturbed areas such as ditches and fallow fields. The plant is attractive and it’s tempting to keep it around and enjoy the beauty of the clustered white flowers. However, knowing the highly toxic nature of the plant, poison hemlock identification and control are important to the health of your livestock and all others around you....

Are There Porch Plants That Don’t Need Sun? Seasonal color displays, mixed foliage, succulents and cacti – many of these will perform well as shade plants for the porch. Flowering plants will need at least a little bit of sunlight to bloom, but many foliage plants enjoy their best color in low light. Container porch plants for shade will still need regular water, as pots dry out faster than in-ground plants....

How to Store Cabbage For home gardeners, this usually means harvesting the entire cabbage crop at once. Deciding what to do with cabbages can be problematic. Due to its strong flavor, canning cabbage is not recommended. It can be frozen and used for cooked dishes, soups, and casseroles. Sauerkraut is another popular method of preserving cabbage. A cool, damp environment is needed for storing cabbages. A dirt floored root cellar is ideal, but a refrigerator can also work....

What is Potash? Potash got its name from the old process used to harvest potassium. This was where wood ash was separated in old pots to soak and the potassium was leached from the mash, hence the name “pot-ash.” Modern techniques are a bit different from the old pot separation mode, but the resulting potassium is useful for plants, animals, and humans. Potash in soil is the seventh most common element in nature and is widely available....

Butterfly Bush Winter Kill Even in a temperate zone, there are chores to do to help plants withstand winter storms and weather. Butterfly bush winter protection in warmer climates usually just amounts to some extra mulch around the root zone. We’ve been asked, “do I prune my butterfly bush for winter and what other preparation should I take?” The extent of overwintering preparation depends upon the severity of the weather the plant will experience....

Reasons for Oleander with Yellow Leaves Treating yellow leaves on oleander starts with pinpointing a cause. Below are the most common reasons for leaf yellowing in oleanders. Insufficient watering may lead to yellow leaves on oleander Improper watering, either too much or too little, may be the cause for yellowing oleander bushes. Although oleanders are highly drought tolerant, they benefit from irrigation during long dry spells. However, too much water can harm the plant and may be to blame for an oleander with yellow leaves....

Create new balloon flower plants by dividing existing mature plants, or by collecting the seeds in the fall and planting them the next spring. Using balloon flower seeds is very simple to do but dividing the plants can be a bit trickier. Balloon Flower Seeds Balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus) are named because their bloom starts out looking like a purple, white, or blue balloon and then it pops open to a wide bloom....

Many people leave their plant outside in the warmer months but bring them indoors when temperatures start to drop. To keep these plants thriving or simply start plants of your own, you can learn how to propagate birds of paradise. Propagating bird of paradise is a common practice that does not require any special skills or tools and may be helpful should the fear of winter survival be imminent....

Why Daylily Seed Propagation? The main reason for propagating daylilies from seed is hybridization. Daylilies cross pollinate very easily and can result in some very interesting results. If you grow your own hybrids from seed, it’s possible to have some truly unique (and possibly very valuable) daylilies in your garden. To cross pollinate, just pick two parent plants with traits you’d like to see combined. With a cotton swab or painter’s brush, gently brush the pollen off the stamen of one plant’s flowers and deposit it on the pistil of another plant....

While you can’t stop cats from killing birds entirely, there are some things you can do proactively in your landscape that will go a long way in keeping garden birds safe. Keeping Birds Safe from Your Feline When it comes to protecting birds in the garden from your own pampered cat, the best idea is to keep the animal indoors. That said, cats are famous escape artists and even the most cautious owner has been known to have an escapee on occasion....

The purpose of pruning and training is to encourage tree health and increase fruit yield. When plum trees are not carefully pruned, they can easily become heavy and break under their fruit load. Developing a strong foundation is essential to the life of any fruit tree. In addition, keeping fruit trees well pruned protects against both disease and pest infestations. When to Prune a Plum Tree The time for plum tree pruning depends on the maturity and type of plum tree....

Pruning a Redbud Tree Gardeners trim back some species of trees to keep them looking their best. Other trees need pruning to maintain their vigor. Redbud tree pruning includes both objectives. You’ll want to start cutting back redbuds when they are still saplings. By starting young, you can control their future branch development. Vigorous to a fault, redbuds can start growing flowers from their trunks. They can also develop such abundant foliage that they lose their graceful shape and become almost as wide as they are tall....

Is My Weeping Cherry Grafted? Before you trim a weeping cherry tree, you need to see if it is a natural or a grafted weeping cherry. A grafted weeping cherry will have a graft knot on the trunk, normally between just below the crown to about a foot down from the crown. Weeping cherry pruning for grafted trees differs from trees that have not been grafted. Below, you will find directions for how to trim weeping cherry trees that are grafted and pruning a weeping cherry tree that is natural....

Can You Prune Citronella? Scented geraniums prefer a sunny, well-drained location with afternoon shade. Siting mosquito plants close to the patio or where people congregate makes handy access to its citronella properties. Hardy in zones 9 to 11, mosquito plant also does well in containers that can be moved inside in cooler zones. Lavender flowers brighten the plant’s ruffled, green foliage in late summer and early fall. However, the fragrant leaves of scented geraniums are the primary attraction....

Pumpkin Harvest Information Pumpkins last longer if you harvest them when they reach their mature color and the rind is hard. Use the seed packet to get an idea of the mature color of the variety. Wait until the pumpkin rind loses its shine and it’s hard enough that you can’t scratch it with your fingernail. The curly tendrils on the part of the vine near the pumpkin turn brown and die back when it is completely ripe, though in some cases they can continue to ripen off the vine....

Podranea Queen of Sheba Vine Queen of Sheba trumpet vine, also known as Zimbabwe creeper or port St. John’s creeper, is not the same as the common trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) that many of us are familiar with. Queen of Sheba trumpet vine (Podranea brycei syn. Podranea ricasoliana) is a quick growing evergreen vine in zones 9-10 that can grow up to 40 feet (12 m.). With its glossy green foliage and large pink trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom from late spring to early fall, Queen of Sheba vine is a stunning addition to the garden....