About the West Virginia Planting Map The West Virginia USDA plant hardiness map, as featured above, is based on new data collected by the USDA over a thirty-year period. Weather stations throughout the country gathered essential data for the map, which was released at the start of 2012. The new 2012 map made some zone adjustments for the winter warming trend and took into consideration an area’s proximity to a large body of water, elevation, and the urban heat factor....

Banana Mint Information Although these plants are grown primarily for their foliage, the small purple flowers, which bloom throughout the summer, are highly attractive to bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. The mature height of the plant is about 18 inches (45.5 cm.). Banana mint plants are perennial and suitable for growing in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 through 11. Growing Banana Mint Banana mint grows in partial shade or full sunlight and in nearly any type of well-drained soil....

What are Bee Mites? Mites are arachnids related to spiders. They can be pests because they bite people, but they can also be destructive to other species. There are two types of mites in North America that attack and harm individual bees and colonies: Tracheal mite (Acarapis woodii): American beekeepers first saw these mites in colonies in the 1990s. They are microscopic and live in the trachea. Young bees are most susceptible....

What is a Burl? If you are wondering about tree burls, the best way to define them is as bumps, swellings, or bulges that grow on or from the trunk of a tree. Tree burls are not always smooth. The burl of a tree can be bumpy with a cauliflower texture, or it can appear in a donut shape, circling the base of a branch. The interior burl wood forms swirls that are particularly lovely....

What are Hardwood Trees? The term “hardwood tree” is a botanical grouping of trees with similar characteristics. Hardwood tree characteristics apply to many of the tree species in this country. The trees have broad leaves rather than needle-like leaves. They produce a fruit or nut, and often go dormant in the winter. America’s forests contain hundreds of different hardwood tree species. In fact, about 40 percent of American trees are in the hardwood category....

What are Honeyberries? Fresh spring fruits are something for which we wait all winter. The first honeyberries taste like a cross between raspberries and blueberries. They are excellent eaten fresh or used in desserts, ice cream and preserves. Related to the blueberry and huckleberry, haskap berry is a heavy producing plant that requires little special care. Honeyberries (Lonicera caerulea) are in the same family as blooming honeysuckle, but they produce an edible fruit....

Xerographica Air Plant Information Hardy plants accustomed to drier air of Central and South America and Mexico, xerographica plants generally do well in most indoor environments. Commonly known as air plant, tillandsia is a genus with over 450 species. Xerographica, a striking, silvery plant with large, curly leaves, is often considered the king of all tillandsia air plants. Growing xerographica houseplants is relatively simple. How to Grow Xerographica Plants Indoors Most tillandsia air plants are accustomed to humid environments, but xerographica plants are able to tolerate relatively dry air....

Companion Planting with Cosmos Cosmos don’t attract many pests – except aphids. Sometimes cosmos are put to work in the garden by drawing aphids away from other plants, a method known as decoy planting. For example, plant cosmos away from your prized roses. The cosmos plants take the brunt of the aphid attack while the roses benefit. Negate the damage to the poor, sacrificed cosmos with a regular dose of insecticidal soap spray or neem oil....

About Firmiana Parasol Trees The odds are, you’ll either love or hate parasol trees. Growing Chinese parasol trees definitely gives your garden a dramatic, tropical flavor. This is a curious-looking deciduous tree with the scientific name Firmiana simplex. The trees are also called Firmiana parasol trees. Firmiana parasol trees have thin, green bark and large, lobed leaves. Each leaf can get to 12 inches (30.5 cm.) across, and offers as much shade as the parasol from which the tree gets its common name....

What is a Fava Bean Plant? Fava bean plants are actually a relative of vetch, which unlike other bean types has no climbing tendrils. Fava bean plants are upright bushy plants attaining a height of between 2-7 feet (.6-2 m.) tall with large, fragrant white to purplish blooms. The fava bean itself looks similar to a lima bean and is up to 18 inches (46 cm.) long. The large seeded varieties bear 15 pods while the small seeded types of fava bean plants have about 60 pods....

What is a Fringed Bleeding Heart? Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia) is native to the eastern United States. It is found naturally throughout forest floors and shaded, rocky out-crops of the Appalachian Mountains. This native variety is also known as wild bleeding heart. They grow best in moist, humus rich soil in full to partially shaded locations. In the wild, fringed bleeding-heart plants will naturalize by self-seeding, but they are not considered to be aggressive or invasive....

What is a Medicine Wheel Garden? There are several different medicine wheel garden ideas but all contain the same basic element – a circle that is bisected into four distinct garden areas and filled with medicine wheel garden plants. The medicine wheel garden, or sacred hoop, originates with Native American culture. It represented their relationship with the cosmos and the Creator. Many activities, from ceremony gatherings to eating and dancing, revolved around this central theme of a circle....

What is a Spider Daylily? Daylilies are perennial flowers that are highly dependable in the garden. They return year after year to provide pretty, colorful blooms. They tolerate a variety of conditions, including most types of soil and both sun and shade. Even if you mostly ignore your daylilies, they will likely thrive and produce day-long flowers for several weeks at a time. There are many varieties of daylily, with variations in plant size, flower size and shape, and flower color....

What is Oregon Grape? Cascade Oregon grape plant (Mahonia nervosa) goes by several names: longleaf mahonia, cascade mahonia, dwarf Oregon grape, cascade barberry, and dull Oregon grape. Most commonly the plant is simply referred to as the Oregon grape. Oregon grape is an evergreen shrub/ground cover that is slow growing and only reaches about 2 feet (61 cm.) in height. It has long, jagged glossy green leaves that take on a purple tint during the winter months....

What is Berseem Clover? There are several reasons for growing berseem clover. It is not only an excellent cover crop and forage but is also useful as a weed suppressor, produces prolific seed, can be a perfect companion crop with oats, a green manure, and a nursery plant for alfalfa. Because it cannot withstand most winter temperatures, it is often used as a winter killed crop prior to planting corn. This fast growing plant produces more biomass than comparable legume crops....

About Mountain Marigold Plants We’re commonly asked, “what is bush marigold?” and the fact is the plant goes by many names. Also commonly known as Copper Canyon daisy, Mountain Lemmon marigold, and Mexican bush marigold, these plants are native to the Sonoran Desert and grow wildly from Arizona down into Northern Mexico. They are upright, evergreen to semi-evergreen shrubs which can grow 3 to 6 feet (1-2 m.) tall and wide....

What is Butcher’s Broom? Butcher’s broom (Ruscus aculeatus) is a small, evergreen shrub, called a sub-shrub. It naturally forms a neat mound. The tip of each leaf is a sharp spine. Small, plain flowers bloom in spring, and they are followed by bright red, waxy berries. The berries ripen anytime between late summer and winter. The shrub is native to the forests of Europe. It is also called knee holly because it grows only 1 to 3 feet tall (30 to 91 cm....

Sweet Corn Stunt Causes Stunt in sweet corn is caused by a bacterial-like organism known as spiroplasma, which is transmitted from infected corn to healthy corn by corn leafhoppers, small insects that feed on corn. The bacteria overwinters in adult leafhoppers, and the pests infect corn in early spring. Symptoms of stunt in sweet corn usually appears about three weeks later. How to Manage Sweet Corn with Stunt Unfortunately, there are currently no chemical or biological treatments approved for corn stunt disease....

What is Flyspeck? Flyspeck is a disease of maturing apples, caused by the fungus Zygophiala jamaicensis (also known as Schizothyrium pomi). Spores germinate when temperatures are between 60 and 83 degrees Fahrenheit (15-28 C.) for about 15 days, and relative humidity exceeds 95 percent. Flyspeck apple disease appears on fruits as a series of tiny black dots, typically in groups of 50 or more. The fungus responsible for flyspeck overwinters on apple twigs but may be blown in from wild sources or other fruit trees for a period lasting up to two months around bloom time....

Difference Between Sempervivum and Jovibarba Some of the easiest and most adaptable plants available are succulents. Many of these are even hardy specimens that can live in the USDA zone 3. Jovibarba hens and chicks are not Sempervivum, a genus that includes hens and chicks and several other succulent species. They have been defined as a separate genus and while they have a similar appearance and share a common name, they reproduce quite differently and produce distinctive flowers....