What is Winter Cabbage? The varieties of cabbage that keep best have a colder tolerance and are started later in the season. Winter cabbages have smaller heads and are harder. Some types include Huron, OS Cross, and Danish Ball Head, which are long season varieties that may produce well into winter. Knowing when to plant winter cabbage for a late harvest will ensure that the timing for maturity is during the season....

Why are My Carrot Seedlings Dying? Newly emerged seedlings are prey to many problems, from cutworms to disease. Damping off in carrots is a prevalent condition and one that can ruin your crop. Carrots with damping off fungus die as the fungus attacks stems and roots. The good news is you can minimize the chances of getting a fungal disease with good hygiene and cultural practices. Learning what causes carrot damping off and how to prevent the disease is the first step....

If you notice your wildflowers falling over, however, you may be giving the plants a little too much tender loving care. Read on for helpful tips and learn how to keep wildflowers upright. Keeping Wildflowers from Drooping Wildflowers rarely need fertilizer and too much may be to blame for wildflowers falling over. Withholding fertilizer may help your plants develop stronger, sturdier stems. Keep in mind that if wildflowers are planted near your lawn, they are probably absorbing a bit of lawn fertilizer....

Reasons for Pea Plants Wilting If you have pea plants wilting in the garden, check first to make sure the soil isn’t dried out. Examine stems near the bottom for bright or unusual colors of yellow, orange, or red. This may only be visible by cutting the stem open as the disease begins. Wilt that is not corrected by watering is the surest sign that your plants have a form of disease....

How to Grow a Winter Garden Growing a winter garden is easy. There are a number of winter garden plants and accents that can be included in your winter garden design. Foliage Color and Bark Interest The most dramatic change in the garden comes when trees begin losing their leaves. Once flowering bulbs and other plants have faded, the garden takes on another dimension with stunning foliage displays in shades of yellow, orange, red and purple....

Outdoor Heater Ideas If you have only just begun looking into this, you may be surprised to discover how many outdoor heating solutions are available. You should be able to find something to suit your garden or patio, your preferences, and your budget. Here are some ideas and categories of outdoor heater: Gas Heater. The most common outdoor heater for patios is the type that takes a 20-pound liquid propane tank....

How to Prepare Vegetable Garden Beds for Winter The first order of business when getting the garden ready for winter is sanitation. Remove any spent crop detritus and compost. Break everything down into smaller pieces and mix in shredded leaves to create a balance of nitrogen to speed up decomposition. Do not incorporate any plants that show signs of disease or insect problems, as they will infiltrate the compost pile and cause future problems....

Earthworm Benefits Worms tunnel in soil and eat organic matter, which they excrete as castings. Worms abound in soils that are around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 C.). Any extremes of cold, heat or moisture are not good for worm activity. Worms in gardens are most active when soil is moderately warm and moist. Their tunneling behavior accentuates the percolation of water into the soil. They also loosen soil so oxygen and aerobic bacteria can get into plant roots....

Why Tomato Plant Leaves Turn Yellow There are a number of reasons why tomato plant leaves turn yellow, most of which are easily rectified. Below are the most common causes for yellowing tomato leaves and what you can do about the issue. Fungal Diseases Fungal diseases are a common reason for yellow leaves on tomatoes. For example, early blight is evidenced by yellow leaves and small spots or lesions that grow larger, eventually taking on a bulls-eye appearance....

Ornamental Grass Turning Yellow Here are the most common reasons for dying ornamental grass in the landscape: Pests: Although ornamental grass isn’t typically bugged by insects, mites and aphids can be the reason why ornamental grass is yellowing. Both are tiny, destructive pests that suck the juices from the plant. Mites are difficult to see with the naked eye, but you can tell they’ve been around by the fine webbing they leave on leaves....

Zone 5 Cactus Plants Here are some of the best cactus plants for zone 5 landscapes: Brittle Prickly Pear (Opuntia fragilis) provides creamy yellow blooms in summer. Strawberry Cup (Echinocereus triglochidiatus), also known as King’s Crown, Mohave Mound, or Claret Cup, has bright red blooms in late spring and early summer. Beehive (Escobaria vivipara), also known as Spiny Star or Foxtail, produces pink blooms in late spring. Tulip Prickly Pear (Opuntia macrorhiza), also known as Plains Prickly Pear or Bigroot Prickly Pear, also produces yellow blooms in summer....

White Forsythia Info Commonly called false forsythia, they are classified as small shrubs similar to the more familiar yellow forsythia bushes we are accustomed to seeing in spring. Stems are arching and blooms are white with a pinkish tinge. Blooms emerge from purple buds before leaves appear and are showy and slightly fragrant. White forsythia shrubs are also known as Korean Abelialeaf. Botannically called Abelioplyllum distichum, white forsythia info says growing Abeliophyllum provides an attractive, summer foliage display....

What is a Coyote Bush? An interesting note about coyote bushes is their close relation to sunflowers. The plant is scraggly and wiry, with stiff branches and small, grayish serrated leaves along the woody stems. An herbaceous perennial, coyote bush has evolved several adaptive strategies to thrive in poor soils with loose vertical soil. It has a wide root system and waxy leaves, which protect it from moisture loss. Chaparral zones frequently experience wildfires to which the plant is equally well adapted....

Blackberry Agrobacterium Diseases There are a few agrobacterium diseases of blackberries: cane gall, crown gall, and hairy root. All are bacterial infections that enter the plant through wounds and create galls or tumors on either the canes, crowns, or roots. Cane gall is caused by the bacteria Agrobacterium rubi, crown gall by A. tumefaciens, and hairy root by A. rhizogenes. Both cane and crown galls may afflict other bramble species. Cane galls occur most commonly in the late spring or early summer on fruiting canes....

Albion Strawberry Info The Albion strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa “Albion”) is a hybrid developed relatively recently in California. It is known for its fruits, which have a uniformly conical shape, bright red color, reliable firmness, and surprisingly sweet taste. Albion strawberry plants grow quickly to about 12 inches (30.5 cm.) in height, with a spread of 12 to 24 inches (30.5-61 cm.). They are high yielding and everbearing, which means they will flower and fruit continuously from late spring into the fall....

Plane Tree Allergy Problems The best places to see plane trees, sometimes called London plane trees, are in inner-city areas of European cities. They are also popular street and park trees in Australia. Plane trees are great urban trees since they are pollution-tolerant. Their tall trunks and green canopies offer shade in hot summers. The peeling bark presents an attractive, camouflage pattern. The spreading branches are filled with large palmate leaves, up to 7 inches (18 cm....

Composting is a time honored garden tradition and results in rich soil and nutrient density for plants. Ammonia smell in gardens and compost heaps is an indicator of inadequate oxygen for microbial activity. Organic compounds cannot compost without adequate oxygen, but the fix is a simple one by introducing more oxygen to the soil. Compost Ammonia Odor Compost ammonia odor is frequently observed in piles of organic matter which have not been turned....

Using Dwarf Shrubs for Gardens Dwarf shrubs are short bushes that are used by gardeners for their aesthetic features. They are compact and serve a variety of garden purposes. In larger plantings, small shrubs for landscapes can be grouped into 5-foot (1.5 m.) centers to create a groundcover effect. Bushes that are small also work well in planters and combine well with street trees. Dwarf shrubs for gardens make great edging plants for walkways and more formal garden designs....

What Does Astrantia Look Like? Astrantia grows to be about 1 to 2 feet (31-61 cm.) tall. Astrantias come in a wide variety of colors. The flowers on the masterwort plant are unusual looking, as they are a group of tightly packed florets that are backed by petal-like bracts. This makes the flower look very much like a star or a firework. The leaves look a little bit like Italian parsley or carrots, which is not surprising as Astrantia are in the same family as carrots....

Propagating Azalea Cuttings Rooting azalea stem cuttings and planting azalea seeds are the two main methods of azalea plant propagation. Both will produce new azalea plants, but they may not look the same. A seedling is usually a cross between two different azalea plants, and can look like either parent or a mixture of both. If you want your new plants to be look-alikes of the parent, grow azalea plants from cuttings....