Green Arrow Pea Info What is a Green Arrow pea? Green Arrow is a shelling pea variety, which means its pods should be allowed to grow to maturity before being harvested, then the shells should be removed and only the peas inside eaten. At their biggest, these pods grow to about 5 inches (13 cm.) in length, with 10 to 11 peas inside. The Green Arrow pea plant grows in a vining habit but is small as peas go, usually reaching only 24 to 28 inches (61-71 cm....

Choosing Groundcover Plants for Beneficial Bugs Why choose a groundcover for “good” bugs? Selecting low plants that attract beneficial insects, like bees, to your yard and garden can improve vegetable yields by increasing pollination. At the same time, providing a beneficial insect environment for predator bugs helps reduce the number of harmful insects which damage edible crops and flowers. By adding groundcover and low plants that attract beneficial insects, gardeners can reduce or eliminate the need for harmful pesticides....

Starting Celery Seeds Because a celery plant has such a long maturity time, unless you live in a location with long growing seasons, you need to start celery seeds indoors at least eight to 10 weeks before the last frost date for your area. Celery seeds are tiny and tricky to plant. Try mixing them with sand and then sprinkle the sand-seed mix over the potting soil. Cover the seeds with just a little bit of soil....

While their beautiful flowers last only one day, a mature clump can produce 200-400 blooms over the course of a month or more. Planting daylilies as single specimens or en masse as a ground cover for a slope, these lovelies will make a welcome addition to any garden, but are of particular joy to the weekend gardener who simply doesn’t have time for fussier plantings. Caring for daylilies is so easy and these plants are so hardy, that some seem to even thrive on neglect!...

Diervilla Shrub Information You can see bush honeysuckle shrubs growing wild in the Eastern part of the United States. They grow to 5 feet (1.5 m.) tall and 5 feet (1.5 m.) wide. These plants provide year-round interest in a garden. The leaves emerge dark red, then turn deep green, developing bronze tones. The yellow flowers are small and without fragrance, but clustered and very attractive. They open in June and the shrubs produce them through September....

What are Horsebeans? Horsebean plants, Vicia faba var. equina, are a subspecies of the broad bean proper, also known as Windsor or straight bean. They are a cool-season annual that bears large, thick pods. Inside the pods, the beans are large and flat. This leafy legume has an erect habit with a stiff stem. The leaves look more akin to those of English peas than bean leaves. Small, white blooms are borne in spikelets....

Cold Hardy Pear Trees While apple trees may first come to mind when considering fruit to grow in colder climates, they are not the only ones that will adapt. There are pear varieties that definitely won’t make it in colder zones, including most Asian pear varieties. On the other hand, pear tree cold tolerance is possible, and there are some cultivars from Europe and from northern states, like Minnesota, that will work at least in zones 3 and 4:...

Read on for information on how to plant pecans, including tips on pecan seed germination. Can You Plant a Pecan? It is entirely possible to plant a pecan seed. However, it is important to realize that growing pecans from seed will not produce a tree identical to the parent tree. If you want a particular type of pecan nut, or a tree that produces excellent pecans, you will need to graft....

For gardeners, growing Ruby Perfection cabbage is the perfect opportunity to not only add color to the dinner table but also increase the variety of vegetables growing in the garden. When selecting a red cabbage to grow, the Ruby Perfection variety is the one of choice! What is Ruby Perfection Red Cabbage? Ruby Perfection red cabbage is a mid to late season, medium-sized variety of hybrid cabbage. Ruby Perfection plants produce firm 4- to 6-pound (2 to 2....

How to Grow Rutabaga Remember that these plants are not much different from turnips. The difference is that the roots are larger, firmer, and rounder than turnip roots and the leaves on the rutabaga are smoother. When planting rutabaga, plant about 100 days before the first frost in late fall. Prepare your soil as you would when growing any vegetable, rake the soil and remove any debris and rocks. Planting Rutabaga When planting rutabaga, throw the seed down in the prepared soil and rake it in lightly....

Guajillo Acacia Info – What is a Guajillo? Senegalia berlandieri (syn. Acacia berlandieri) is also known as guajillo, Texas acacia, thornless catclaw, and mimosa catclaw. It grows in USDA zones 8 through 11 and is native to the deserts of the southwestern U.S. and northeastern Mexico. Guajillo can be considered a large shrub or a small tree, depending on how it is grown, trained, and pruned. It grows to 10 to 15 feet (3-4....

What is a Mexican Aster? The Mexican aster flower is also known as Sulphur cosmos. The story of this latter name is that Spanish priests grew the flower in their missionary gardens in South and Central America. Native to this region they appreciated the perfect placement of the petals on the flowers. They named them the Greek word cosmos, which refers to an ordered universe or universal harmony. Sulphur cosmos belongs to the Asteraceae family of plants....

When to Harvest Celery The time for picking celery is usually after it has been planted for three to five months and should happen before temperatures soar. Normally, the time to harvest for celery is 85 to 120 days after transplant. Time of planting of the crop will dictate the time to harvest for celery. Harvesting celery should be done before hot temperatures occur outside as this can make the celery woody if not well watered....

Common means of propagation such as cuttings, division, or air layering aren’t usually effective, so if you want to propagate a foxtail palm, seeds are your best option. That project often involves picking foxtail palm seeds and planting them when they’re fresh. Harvesting foxtail palm seeds is easy. Read on to find out how. How to Collect Foxtail Palm Seeds Bright red foxtail palm fruit, about the size of small tomatoes, grow in large clusters, with a single seed in each mature fruit....

When to Pick Loganberry Fruit Loganberries are an interesting berry in that they are an accidental hybrid, a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry. They were first discovered in the garden of James Harvey Logan (1841-1928) and were subsequently named after him. Since their inception, loganberries have been used to hybridize boysenberries, youngberries, and olallieberries. One of the more hardy berries, loganberries are sturdier and more disease and frost resistant than other berries....

When to Pick Summer Squash Summer squash includes any squash that has a thin, tender skin such as: Zucchini Yellow crookneck Patty pan/Scallop Yellow straightneck The size of summer squash can become rather large, but you will enjoy them more if you pick them small. The best time to harvest squash of these varieties is while they are still small. The size of summer squash when it is ready to be picked is around 6 inches (15 cm....

About Harvesting Tea Plants Billions of people count on a cup of soothing tea each and every day, but probably most of those billions have no idea what their tea is made of. Sure, they may get the idea that tea is made from, well, leaves of course, but what type of leaves? Camellia sinensis produces almost all of the world’s teas from black to oolong to white and green. Camellias are popular garden specimens chosen for their lively color in the winter and fall when little else is in bloom....

Saving Seeds from Tomatoes Saving tomato seeds is easy, but there are a few things to keep in mind. If you harvest hybrid tomato seeds, be aware that they are developed varieties, which won’t grow true from seed the following year. It’s also important to collect from healthy, disease free cultivars, which produce well. It’s also important when saving seeds from tomatoes to process and store the seed properly. You can save seed from cherry, plum, or large varieties....

Harvesting verbena plants is easy, and you can use the leaves either fresh or dried. Read on and we’ll tell you more about verbena harvesting in the garden. When to Harvest Verbena Harvesting verbena plants occurs throughout the spring and summer growing season – generally, after the plant has several leaves and has reached a height of about 10 inches (25 cm.). In fact, picking verbena leaves frequently triggers new growth and keeps the plant from becoming long and leggy....

Diseases of heliconia usually arise from cultural issues and previously contaminated plant material. Read on for info on recognizing heliconia diseases and how to cure these magnificent plants. Heliconia Leaf Diseases Gardeners lucky enough to live in a zone where they can grow heliconia are in for a real treat. The beautiful bracts house minor flowers and yet are a standout on their own. Unfortunately, the leaves, roots, and rhizomes of these plants are prey to several plant diseases....