About Kaitlin F1 Cabbage What is Kaitlin cabbage? It is a mid-standard hybrid developed as a kraut cabbage. It is considered a sauerkraut vegetable due to its low moisture content and the thickness of the leaves. Additionally, the flesh remains pure white, making for an eye appealing kraut. The “F1” in the name refers to a hybrid that resulted from breeding two distinct parent plants. Such hybrids are bred for certain characteristics and are uniform and consistent....

Mentzelia Plant Info Mentzelia wildflowers (Mentzelia lindleyi) grow in open, sunny areas, primarily sagebrush-steppe, mountain brush, and dry, rocky areas in several western states. Blazing star plants are found east of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington, and in California, Arizona, and New Mexico, among others. This tough, adaptable plant grows in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 through 10. Blazing star plant is also known as stickleaf, a well-deserved nickname for the barbed stem hairs that don’t hurt but adhere to socks, pants, and sleeves like glue....

Oak Leaf Holly Information The Red Holly Series of cultivars feature bronze to burgundy new leaf growth. This characteristic, combined with their attractive form, makes the plants excellent ornamental specimens for the landscape. Oak Leaf is a member of the series introduction and has become a popular and easy-to-grow plant. This large shrub to small tree is self-pollinating, resulting in orange-red, pea-sized berries. To answer the question, “what is Oak Leaf holly,” we need to understand where it came from....

What is Possumhaw Viburnum? Possumhaw viburnums (Viburnum nudum) are native to the southeastern United States. This viburnum is often confused with winterberry (or winter holly), which goes by the same common name. It is important to note the difference between possumhaw and winterberry. Though winterberry plants grow in similar conditions, these plants do not belong to the same family, nor are they related in any way. Found in low lying areas, possumhaw plants do well when grown in soils that are consistently moist....

Symptoms of Potatoes with Spindle Tuber Viroid Spindle tuber of potato disease is a pathogen whose main host is potatoes, but which may also affect tomatoes and solanaceous ornamentals. No obvious symptoms are observed in potatoes with mild strains of the disease, but severe strains are another story. With severe infections, potato foliage will be spindly with overlapping leaflets, sometimes upward rolling, often twisted and wrinkled. Leaves at ground level are often in an upright position rather than those in healthy plants which rest on the ground....

For those of you who wonder about the procedure for pruning a tree, read on. We’ll give you the pruning basics you need to get the job done for just about any landscape plant. What Is Pruning? Let’s start with the basic question: What is pruning? Pruning is simply cutting off parts of a plant. Responsible pruning is always done for a specific reason, like keeping a plant the optimal size for the landscape rather than allowing it to overgrow its space....

What is Rice Blast? Rice blast, also known as rotten neck, is caused by the fungal pathogen Pyricularia grisea. Like most fungal diseases, rice blast fungus rapidly grows and spreads in warm, humid weather. Because rice is usually grown in flooded fields, humidity is hard to avoid. On a warm, humid day, just one rice blast lesion can release thousands of disease-causing spores into the wind. The lesion can keep producing thousands of spores each day for up to twenty days....

What’s Wrong with My Chicory? Chicory is a perennial herb native to the Mediterranean. It grows quite tall on stiff stems, producing green leaves and daisy-type flowers with sky-blue petals. Some gardeners grow chicory as ornamental plants, while others consider it a vegetable crop. The type of chicory you select depends on how you intend to use the plant. Chicory grows like a weed in Europe and has naturalized along road ways and open spaces in this country....

When Will My Guava Bear Fruit? Guava trees grow up to 26 feet (8 m.) in height. Cultivated trees are pruned back to 6 to 9 (2-3 m.) tall. If a tree has not been pruned, it usually flowers in fall. If the tree has been pruned, the tree will blossom 10 to 12 weeks after pruning with white, 1 inch (2.5 cm.) flowers. The blossoms yield small, round, oval or pear-shaped fruits, or more accurately, berries....

What is a Huckleberry? Huckleberries are perennial shrubs about 2 to 3 feet (61 to 91.5 cm.) tall when grown in full sun but may become 10 feet (3 m.) or more when grown in shade conditions – most are deciduous but some are evergreen. New leaves are bronze to red in color and mature into a glossy green through the summer months. The black-purple berries of huckleberry plants are the resultant of tiny, pale pink urn-shaped flowers that appear in the spring....

Wingthorn Rose Plant Info A fine beauty of a rose dating back to the 1800’s, the Wingtorn rose (Rosa omeiensis syn. Rosa pteracantha) was introduced into commerce in 1892. Wingthorn was named by Rehder & Wilson from E.H. (“Chinese”) Wilson’s rose bush collections in China. Her pretty single white, slightly fragrant, blooms come in early spring and then are gone. However, the blooms are not really her main attraction, as she has large, bright, ruby red thorns that trail back into her canes and are truly reminiscent of wings....

Winter Desiccation of Euonymus Euonymus winter damage can be caused by too much heavy snow and ice, which snap branches or bend them out of shape. It can also be caused by temperatures that yo-yo around the freezing point. This can freeze the moisture in the euonymus and promptly rethaw it, causing expansion and possible breakage. Another serious aspect of euonymus winter damage is desiccation. Throughout the winter, evergreens lose a lot of moisture through their leaves....

When Winterizing a Bougainvillea is Necessary Bougainvillea is hardy to United States Department of Agriculture zones 9 to 11. It can withstand a light freeze but deep freezes will kill the roots. In areas below those zones, a bougainvillea in winter should be kept in containers and moved indoors. This takes some special bougainvillea winter care and preparation for the plant to slumber during the cold season. Even warm regions like Texas can experience some pretty sustained freezes and, in some cases, snow and ice....

What is Yellow Nutsedge? For many gardeners and professional growers, yellow nutsedge is not only a nuisance plant but a menace. While it is true the plant can spread like wildfire, managing yellow nutsedge is just a matter of recognizing the plant and then applying some gentle organic products that are effective if used consistently and at the right time of the year. Manual cultivation and removal are also useful yellow nutsedge control in low population areas....

Growing Conifers in Zone 8 There are countless benefits to growing conifers in zone 8. Many provide beauty throughout the bleak months of winter. Some provide a barrier for wind and sound, or a screen that shields the landscape from less attractive landscape elements. Conifers provide much needed shelter for birds and wildlife. Although conifers are easy to grow, some zone 8 conifer varieties also create a fair share of cleanup....

Should I Dethatch Zoysia Lawns? A little thatch isn’t a bad thing. In fact, it actually conserves moisture and insulates roots. Once it gets a half-inch (1.5 cm.) or more though, thatch actually reduces the health of the sod. Pests and disease are the top two zoysia thatch problems, but thatch can also reduce the plant’s ability to feed itself. Dethatching a zoysia lawn can help minimize the impact of that heavy organic matter surrounding the lower blades and roots....

Acalypha Copper Plant Info Belonging to a family of Europhorbiaceae, the copper plant (Acalypha wilkesiana) is a semi-evergreen shrub that comes with colorful blends of copper, green, pink, yellow, orange, and cream. Acalypha copper plant has a heart or oval shape and can grow up to 6 to 10 feet (2-3 m.) in height and a width of 4 to 8 feet (1-2 m.), making it visually striking. The copper leaf plant is commonly found in the South Pacific, tropical Americas, and some parts of central and south Florida attributing to their warm climates, and can be grown year-round....

What are Rampant Plants? So what are rampant plants exactly? Sometimes plants become extremely aggressive growers and before you know it, they can take over the area, becoming nothing more than annoying, invasive weeds in the garden. This is what’s meant as being rampant. Although many of these plants have positive attributes, such as attractive foliage or flowers, if left uncontrolled, the garden will quickly become one grand display of rampant plants and nothing else....

Alder Tree Identification The easiest way of recognizing an alder tree is by its distinctive little fruiting body, called a strobile. They appear in fall and look like 1 inch (2.5 cm.) long cones. Strobiles remain on the tree until the following spring, and the small, nutlike seeds they contain supply winter food for birds and small mammals. The female flowers on an alder tree stand upright at the ends of the twigs, while the male catkins are longer and hang down....

Alpine Geranium Plants Alpine geraniums (Erodium reichardii) are also known as Erodiums – this name comes from the Ancient Greek word for “heron.” The name is due to the shape of the plant’s immature fruit, which looks something like a water bird’s head and beak. The name has also carried over into the common English names Heron’s Bill and Stork’s Bill. Alpine geranium plants are mostly low growing. Depending on variety, they can range from low groundcover no higher than 6 inches, up to small shrubs at 24 inches....