Seed Grown Hydrangeas It’s pretty easy to clone a hydrangea cultivar by rooting a cutting from that plant. However, you can also propagate hydrangeas by collecting and sowing hydrangea seeds. Growing hydrangeas from seed is exciting because seed grown hydrangeas are unique. They are not clones of their parent plants and you don’t really know how a seed will turn out. Each of your seed grown hydrangeas will be considered a new cultivar....

Seed harvesting provides an opportunity to preserve your beautiful garden flowers to replant next year or share with friends and family. Some gardeners also enjoy developing their own seed strains or hybridizing their plants by seed saving. When to Harvest Garden Seeds Knowing when to harvest garden seeds is the first step to saving plants for future use. Once flowers begin to fade at the close of the season, most flower seeds are ripe for picking....

Harvesting Seeds for Seed Storage Seed pods or dried flower heads can be harvested by drying in an open paper bag. When the seeds have dried sufficiently, shake the bag and the seed will spill out of the pod or off the head. Remove the non-seed material and store. Scoop the vegetable seeds out of the vegetable and rinse to remove the pulp or meat. Place the seeds on a paper towel until they are dry....

About Silk Tassel Shrubs Native to the Pacific Coast, silk tassel is also known as coast tassel bush, coast silk tassel, or wavy leaf silk tassel. ‘James Roof’ is a popular variety grown in gardens. Easy-to-grow silk tassel reaches mature heights of 20 to 30 feet (6-9 m.). In its natural environment, silk tassel can grow for as long as 150 years. Silk tassel shrubs are dioecious, which means the plants produce male and female, catkin-like flowers (silk tassels) on separate plants....

Basic Snake Plant Care The snake plant is flexible about lighting and humidity but it is fussy about the amount of water it gets. About the only thing that will kill a mother-in-law tongue is overwatering. It thrives in small pots with crowded rhizomes and has few pest or disease problems. It is not necessary to fertilize, but if you feel like doing something nice for the plant, use a half dilution of houseplant food once a month during the growing season....

Snapdragon Seed Pod Info When the snapdragon flowers die, the dried seed pods, which look like tiny, brown, shrunken skulls, prove just how beautiful and strange nature can be. Watch for the seed pods in late summer, then get your camera because your friends will never believe it! The odd-looking seed heads have been the source of legends for hundreds of years. One story says that women who eat the skull-like seed heads will regain their lost youth and beauty, while some people believed a few of the mystical little pods scattered around the house would protect the residents from curses, sorcery, and other forms of evil....

Can You Compost Spent Grains? Composting home brew waste is just one more way you can personally reduce waste and reuse something that is no longer useful for its previous purpose. That wet mass of grain is organic and from the land, which means it can be sent back into the soil. You can take something that once was rubbish and turn it into black gold for the garden. Your beer is made, and now it’s time to clean up the brewing space....

Peony Care in Spring In cooler climates, peonies are often protected from the cold winter by a thick heap of mulch. The first step of spring maintenance requirements for peony plants is clearing away any mulch or debris around peony shoots to allow them to soak up much needed sunlight. This is also a great time to weed around peony plants. Oftentimes, in spring weeds will come in before ornamental plants and peonies do not compete well with weeds....

While planning a spring equinox party may sound somewhat non-traditional, history suggests otherwise. Throughout several cultures, holidays and celebrations are influenced by the arrival of spring and the symbolic renewal of the spring equinox. With simple planning, growers can create their own “first day of spring” party to celebrate spring in the garden. Spring Garden Party Ideas First day of spring garden party ideas may be formal or a time to reflect within oneself....

When to Plant Chard in Spring Whether you want a late season crop or early taste, planting of Swiss chard is nicely adapted to spring or summer sowing. This beetroot relative is similar to spinach but has a more refined flavor. It also has numerous cultivars in various hues, making it an attractive foliage plant in the garden and on the dinner table. If you know how to plant Swiss chard in the spring, you can have the early harvest you desire and still have time to plant a fall crop too....

Can You Root Apple Tree Cuttings? Apples can be started from seed, but it’s a little like spinning a roulette wheel; you never know exactly what you’ll get. The rootstocks of most popular apple varieties tend to be susceptible to disease and are grafted onto hardier rootstock. Another method of propagation is planting apple tree cuttings. This is a fairly straightforward method of propagation but, as with propagation from seed, it’s a bit of a mystery as to what you will end up with, and apple tree rooting isn’t always successful....

Gardening in Zones 9-11 Maybe you’ve moved to a new area or you suddenly have garden space in your tropical to semi-tropical town. Either way, you now will need planting tips for zones 9 through 11. These zones can run the gamut in other weather characteristics but they rarely freeze or snow and average temperatures are warm year-round. A good place to start planning your garden is with your local extension office....

Tansy plants are found growing wild in meadows, roadsides, ditches, and other natural areas. The weedy herb is also an attractive flowering addition to a cottage or wildflower garden, but watch out or the plant will spread to unwanted areas. Keep an eye on the plant and learn methods on how to keep tansy from taking over the garden. Common Tansy (Tanacetum Vulgare) What is tansy? The plant may get 3 to 4 feet (1 m....

What are Corn Tillers? Corn tillers are also sometimes called suckers because of the old wives tale that they “suck” nutrients from the plant. The question is, “Is it true that suckers on corn stalks will adversely affect yield?” Tillers on corn are vegetative or reproductive shoots that grow from the axillary buds on the lower five to seven stalk nodes of a corn plant. They are commonly found on corn....

Why Use Tomato Cages as Christmas Trees A really fun family project is a tomato cage Christmas tree DIY. It starts with the commonly found cages and ends with your creativity. A quick look on the internet gives plenty of tomato cage Christmas tree ideas. You can make a tomato cage Christmas tree upside down or right side up, depending upon how much work you want to do. It’s amazing how creative people are....

Learning how to plant indoor vegetables creates a year-round, safe and environmentally-friendly food source with the added benefit of lowering grocery costs. To help you get started on this journey to self-sufficiency, here’s our list of the 10 best indoor vegetables to cultivate at home. The 10 Best Indoor Vegetables Microgreens – When first learning how to plant indoor vegetables, consider growing microgreens. They are one of the easiest crops to cultivate and only take 2 to 4 weeks to reach a harvestable size....

When & How to Divide Bearded Irises The best time to divide irises is during late summer, usually anytime between July and the first of September. Carefully dig up your iris clumps with a spade shovel and gently lift each clump from the soil. Shake off the soil and rinse each rhizome with water. Trim the existing foliage into a neat fan about a third of their overall height, then use a sharp knife to cut or separate the rhizomes....

What are Sunflower Midges? The adult sunflower midge is just 1/10 inch (2.5 mm.) long, with a tan body and transparent wings. Eggs are yellow to orange and are found in clusters laid in flower buds or sometimes on mature sunflower heads. The larvae are similar in length to the adult, legless, and yellowish orange or cream colored. The sunflower midge lifecycle begins when the adults lay eggs on the bracts (modified leaves) enclosing the flower buds....

Sources of Tree Herbicide Injury While the target of herbicides, the weeds, is often taken care of, there is may often be accidental herbicide injury done to trees and other plants too. Tree herbicide injury is difficult to diagnose since it mimics damage done by disease and insects. Tree damage from herbicides may be from incorrect or inappropriate application of from drift of dry or liquid chemicals applied to trees nearby....

Triteleia Plant Info Triplet lilies are perennial plants. They are commonly called ‘Pretty Face’ or ‘Wild Hyacinth.’ Blooms of triplet lily plants can be light blue, lavender, or white. Reaching 15 to 20 inches (38-51 cm.), planting triplet lilies among plants that flower earlier adds a splash of color around foliage that should remain in the landscape until it yellows. The blooms will last two to three weeks with the right planting and triplet lily care....