Landscape Shade Trees

By Keith Markensen

The ideal shade tree, should be one with a comparatively deep root system and a crown that allows some light and rain water to filter through it. Also, look for one that will not grow to such a great size that it will ultimately dwarf the house and the property upon which it stands.

Street Tree

In addition to those qualifications an ideal shade tree, which is also a good street tree should have a tall, straight trunk that can be pruned of its lower branches for a considerable height. It should be able to withstand to difficult conditions imposed by impure air (in cities and industrial areas), by hard paved streets, sidewalks and parking lots, and by occasional bumps from vehicles, etc.

Notice Shadow Patterns

If you will notice the shadows patterns cast upon the ground, sidewalks, or the walls of your house by different leaf formations, you will begin to appreciate the fine points of the types of foliage on different trees. The horsechestnut (Hippocastanum) and sweetgum (Liquidambar) are excellent examples of trees that cast interesting shadows. This may not seem important to the new gardener, but as you live with your garden and come to know it more intimately you will find that such things are extremely important and you will derive deep satisfaction from them.

Branching Habits

The branching habit of shade trees should also be considered. In most situations the ideal habit is that typified by the American elm (Ulmus americana) because of its vase-shaped form. In addition to its beautiful lines, it gives a crown that is high up off the ground and allows sunlight to strike the entire area occupied by the root system; this is a great help when you are trying to grow good grass with grass seed planting tips under a tree.

The shade provided by such a tree is just as effective as that cast by one with lower branches, which often interfere with people under the tree and screen from view the house that they are actually supposed to frame. The same advantages are offered by certain small flowering trees with similar open branching habits. - 29708

About the Author:

Keith Markensen frequently contributes to http://www.plant-care.com. Ready to roll back the confusion grass seed planting tips.

Fresh Flowers Are The Ideal Present For Your Special One On Special Day

By Victor Epand

A flower happens to have lots of significance to our lives even though we have never realized it. An individual may apologizes with a fresh flower. In the wedding dinner, flowers play a very important role as they are used for decoration as well as are part of the bride's garments. A flower assists to pay a condolences to anybody who has lost the loved one. A flower is all that you will need to cheer up your annoyed wife or girlfriend.

A flower certainly has a lot of influence. Flowers are sent to lecturers for his or her countless and tiring hard work in educating us, a flower is treated as a symbol of peace and friendship and a country's heritage as well. Yet, there is much more that you'll be able to know regarding flowers and florists, which this article will tell you.

A flower can bring in pleasure to your lives, it will help to decorate your houses and clear the energy in your surroundings. Flowers are sent as a sign of respect and adoration to people who have changed lives. Moreover, selecting the appropriate flower for the right occasion may be a very crucial job for every flower has different symbolical meaning to it. For example, Jasmine stands for modesty, Red Tulip for love, white rose for Peace, yellow rose for friendship. Lily for Humility and Red Chrysanthemums for "I love you".

A fascinating thing to know isn't it, that different flowers have very different meanings to them. Well that is the enchantment and magnificence of a flower. Furthermore fresh flowers are not just for greeting but also play an crucial part on special days like Christmas, Valentines' Day, Fathers' Day, Mothers' Day and so on and so forth. Flowers are used in wreaths in order to honor the deceased. A special wreath which looks beautiful can say thousands of words for the loss of a departed soul. A mixture of roses, carnations, alstroemeria, and wax flower draws out the true beauty in wreaths and shows your care and concern without having to say any words.

Florists nowadays are making a major publicity in the market due to the greater demand in flowers. In the corners of the streets, pavements, opposite grand hotels, florists will be found all over the places nowadays. Florists are earning fast money, one of the main reasons of their income is due to the commercialization of special occasions. "Roses' Day", "Valentines' Day", "Friendships' Day" are all the peak times for the florist shops. Some stores have flower and merchandise sections together these days, that sell flowers along with presents like candles, cards, chocolates and so forth They're largely found in busy locations like railway stations, airports, shopping centers even, florists make plenty of money. - 29708

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The boutique retailers have also been opened where the florists deliver flowers to several locations at cheap prices. Technology has helped in raising the florist trade to a new level and has helped draw out new ideas like online flower delivery from one corner of the world to another corner.

Hardy Plant In Cold Climate

By Thomas Fryd

How hardy a plant is happens to be an interesting question.

This important consideration in selecting varieties of plants and growing them successfully is difficult to define accurately. A "hardy" plant is usually interpreted as having the ability to live through a cold winter. Perennial plants are often classified as hardy, half-hardy, and tender. But a plant may also be hardy or not in a Texas desert, or in the humid heat of southern Florida.

To Northern gardeners, hardiness means many different things. It is more than a matter of how low the temperature will go, and how long it will stay there. It may depend upon the amount of moisture in the soil, particularly in the fall and early winter, or on the make-up of the soil, or the age of the plant. A plant's location - whether it is protected against a sudden deep freeze, or whipping winds, or freakish hot winter sun - can also affect its survival. Or a vine may be hardy enough to live through your winter, yet fail to flower because early autumn or late spring cold kills the flower buds.

So any plant or vine may be hardy for me but not for you; hardy this winter, but not the next. To keep on the safe side, you can stick to the popular stand-bys in your area. But that kind of safety makes one garden look just like another. If you never take a chance, you won't know the glowing pleasure of growing something new and different.

There are several ways to get information about hardiness and methods of winter protection. The "Plant Hardiness Zone Map" published by the Agricultural Research Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the American Horticultural Society, and made freely available, is most helpful. Do an online search for the current map. Each of its hardiness zones is subdivided according to varying minimum temperatures within the zone. With the map are notes on other factors - frosts, sudden freezes, variations in rainfall, humidity, duration and intensity of sunlight, soil composition, even plant maturity - that contribute to hardiness.

Another invaluable source of information is your County Agricultural Agent, who, as part of the State Agricultural Department is particularly knowledgeable about local conditions and irrigation checklist. Botanical gardens and horticultural societies are an additional source of reliable information, and so is a reliable local nurseryman.

Basically, sound cultural practices will increase the variety of vines you can consider hardy in your garden. Except for minimum temperatures, you can change or improve most factors that contribute to hardiness. You can water or irrigate during drought, for example, or build up your soil to promote plant health. And you can protect plants against many winter severities. - 29708

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Various methods have been published on irrigation checklist. Most of these methods can be found on our evergrowing library at http://www.plant-care.com/irrigation-checklist.html.

How To Control Moisture

By Keith Markensen

Landscape vine stems and trunks are long and high, and the leaves are far away from the roots that send them moisture. For lush, green growth water regularly, thoroughly, and deep, moistening the entire area around the roots. It may take several hours to dribble water from a soaker hose to saturate the soil around a large vine, less for smaller plants - but they require watering more often.

You can help keep soil cool and moist by mulching the root area with a fairly thick (two inches or more) layer of any available light, porous, moisture-holding material like buckwheat hulls, chopped sugar cane, salt hay or straw, horticultural peat. Well-rotted dehydrated manure is not only a good mulch but also leaches nourishment down into the soil. Compost or leaf mold is also topnotch, and will eventually work down into the soil and help lighten or condition it.

Except when they are in flower, most vines benefit from overhead misting or watering in early morning. A strong hose spray will clean the leaves of dust and soot, increase humidity, and dislodge resident insects. Don't spray or mist in hot sun, in late afternoon where nights are cool, or during protracted periods of damp, dark weather.

Try not to let any vine, newly planted or not, go into winter with dry soil around the roots. This is particularly vital with evergreens; but any vine, shrub or tree is better prepared for winter if the roots are moist when the ground freezes.

Soil

Most vines will thrive in what is generally described as "any good garden soil." But this may not mean the soil as it stands around your house. Good garden soil is neither too sandy nor too claylike; it contains a good proportion of humus material like leaf mold, peat, or compost to lighten its texture and increase its ability to hold moisture; yet it is sufficiently porous so that water drains through at a reasonably fast rate. In clay-like soils, drainage is improved by the addition of coarse, sharp sand, or even fine gravel. But don't forget about the spider mites on house plants because they can destroy your plants.

Some vines will not survive in soil that shows an acid reaction in an accurate test; others require acid soil; still others will tolerate a limited range of acidity to alkalinity. Commercial kits are available for testing your soil. Or ask your County Agricultural Agent how to submit samples to your State Agricultural Service. If you send along the names of varieties you want to grow, the analysis will come back with a recommendation of how to adapt your soil to their specific needs. - 29708

About the Author:

Find out more as Keith Markensen shares his experiences on indoor plants, landscaping and gardens at http://www.plant-care.com. It's time to clear things up on the subject of spider mites on house plants.

Cleanliness And Health Is Important To Plants

By Thomas Fryd

Cleanliness is important to a plant's refreshing appearance and its good health. Washing or wiping leaves makes them look glossier and greener, and also prevents dust from clogging the pores through which they breathe. Small plants can be up-ended and swished up and down in lukewarm water containing a small amount of household detergent. Large vines (unless they are growing against an unwashable surface) can be misted or sprayed with water. Clean velvety leaves with a camel's-hair brush. Wipe large, smooth leaves with crumpled tissue paper.

Also for attractiveness and good health, remove faded or dropped leaves or flowers as soon as possible. This is good hygiene, and helps discourage insects and disease. If the soil packs hard in the pot or basket, scratch it loose with a kitchen fork; remove any white or gray fertilizer salts that may have accumulated, or any green moss-like algae. Replace some of the soil on top occasionally, or mulch with peat or leaf mold.

Many vining plants will grow more compact, with fewer bare stems at the base, if the growing tips are pinched out to promote branching. Usually, removing the new tip growth causes the stem to divide into two branches; removing these tips when their stems are several inches long causes them to divide, and so on.

Many vines also need regular pruning to keep them from growing out of bounds, or to keep them in line with their decorative purpose. Foliage vines with lacy leaves should be thinned out so their delicacy and tracery effect is not lost in a morass of too-lush growth. Some varieties grow more vigorously, and all train more neatly, if weak growth is removed completely and the strength can go to the sturdier stems.

Training vines in the direction or pattern you want them to achieve is a continual but not time-consuming task. The lax tips of tendril climbers may need to be tucked back around the support; stem twiners like stephanotis plant will sometimes lean out from the cord or trellis and should be gently put in their place. Be sure to turn them in the direction they want to go - clockwise or the opposite.

Vine like plants with long, arching stems need to be tied to their supports before growth gets long and matted or tangled. Use soft string or cord, or well-covered wire, or even strips of nylon stockings. Attach the tie first to the support, then loop it around the stem. Don't tie so tightly that the stem may be choked when it grows thicker. - 29708

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More knowledge, more power, more success when you better understand the techniques on stephanotis plant. Drop by today at http://www.plant-care.com/stephanotis-trellis-plant.html.

Growing A French Flavor Roses

By Thomas Fryd

For those who maintain that roses will not thrive in southern lands, because the mild climate allows them too little rest, have never visited the "Cote d' Azurr" in southern France.

Varieties grown there are more fragrant, more beautiful in form and larger in size than when grown in colder climes. Acres of sun-kissed yellow, fields of velvety red thrive out of doors. Bathed in sunshine, these beauties have all the light and air they need.

Of course, northern and mountain varieties are not so happy here. They sadly lack a free-flowering and disease-resistant white rose which will stand hot and dry conditions.

With a light, sandy soil, requiring manure to retain moisture. They line the bottom of planting-holes with a generous foot of manure. For the French, only sheep manure will do. Poultry manure is too strong (calling for careful handling) and pig manure, mixed with sawdust, can be poisonous. What a pity that silkworms are no longer raised in southern France! Boiled alive to prevent them from piercing and thus spoiling their cocoons, they used to provide all the nitrogen the roses needed.

They leave manure to "weather-in" at the bottom of the planting holes for a full month before planting. Then to feed the surface roots, the holes are filled up with organic material like dried blood, bone and horn and hoof meal, bulked up with peat.

When the roses start to bloom about six months after planting, and stronger branches are required, each plant is given a little quick-acting fertilizer, usually Chilean nitrate (1/3 to 1/2 ounce). Plants which are getting along well are not fertilized. Crude chemicals are never applied alone, only a balanced fertilizer (made of sulphate of ammonia, potash and phosphoric acid) at the rate of two pounds per square yard. Sickly plants, attacked by chlorosis, are given a pinch of iron to pep them up.

Their methods of cultivation differ in many ways from those prevailing in colder climes. Because of the mild conditions, pruning is done in February and more lightly. Amateurs usually remove all the dead wood and cut their rose plants down to 20 inches in order to obtain exhibition size blooms. To encourage the growth of many flowers, nurserymen retain nearly all the young wood, pruning no lower than 32 inches.

Rose growers also plant their bushes only 12 inches apart, in rows 24 inches apart, so that each bush covers a surface area of only 10 square inches. This saves valuable greenhouse space, besides cutting down on the amount of fertilizers needed and helping to keep weeds in check.

A routine spraying of sulphur easily curbs mildew. This is applied in the summer, since the heat favors the development of spores. Rust, attacking the undersides of leaves and stems, is kept in check with a fungicide. They avoid commercial insecticides with a phosphoric ether basis because they seem to provoke an eczema on the stems.

Weeds are kept down by hoeing between bushes like the dwarf lilac bush and rows. Done lightly, this does not disturb the surface roots, but does help to retain moisture in the soil. Plus growers give their roses all the water they need (but not a single drop more) in thorough but not too frequent soakings.

Frost, of course, is hardly a problem. Seldom does the temperature fall below 45 degrees F. - 29708

About the Author:

Learn more of what Thomas Fryd has to share over at http://www.plant-care.com. And be the first to master the methods on dwarf lilac bush.

Tips On Choosing Hunter Talents

By Wayne Allen

Any veteran of World of Warcraft will relate that hunter talents have changed quite a bit, but what hasn't changed is that all talent specs for the Hunter make them effective at leveling to one extent or another. As a player approaches end-game, however, things get less flexible and tough decisions have to be made between possible specs.

Talents in the beast mastery tree improve the damage output of a Hunter's pet, as well as its ability to survive. Even though all hunter specs are good for leveling, this tree is considered the best for leveling quickly. However, there are some downsides. Specifically, if anything happens to the hunter's pet during a battle, he or she will find themselves without their biggest source of damage.

As of patch 3.2. 2, BM is not considered to be a great specialization for end-game raiding or player versus player. Even an optimally built, excellently equipped beast mastery Hunter is currently going to fall behind Marksmanship and Survival specialized Hunters.

The Marksmanship talent tree is popular in raiding and great for fighting other players. Specializing at least a little in this talent tree will increase the power of your ranged attacks. This fact makes nearly every hunter put about 14 points in Marksmanship. Maxing out Lethal Shots, Careful Aim, Mortal Shots, and Go for the Throat are considered mandatory in any build.

While Survival isn't popular as a choice for leveling, it's currently one of the most powerful specs for raiding and player versus player. Replenishment gives the raid mana whenever you score a critical hit and Explosive Shot, the final talent in the tree, is fabulous.

The Hunter character is one of the most popular classes in the game World of Warcraft. There are many different builds that can be utilized through the talent tree. - 29708

About the Author:

If you want to keep up to date on the best hunter talents, search the Warcraft forums and always check the patch notes to see how changes to the game will affect your build.

Medicinal Mushroom Alcohol Extract vs. Hot Water Extract

By Dr. Markho Rafael

Medicinal mushrooms, hugely popular for thousands of years in the Orient, are coming in vogue today also in the West. On the coattails of their increasing popularity follow issues of quality and ethical representation between competing brands.

All medicinal mushroom species are plagued by this. Most fiercely debated is red reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), the most popular of all medicinal mushrooms. So this article will primarily focus on that species, but it's generally applicable to all species of medicinal mushrooms.

An obvious caution is to stay away from cheap, mass-produced reishi. It may be merely dried and pulverized. In order to be medicinal, the mushroom cell-wall has to be broken down. Mass-produced reishi may be mostly inert and ineffective.

But even among the truly effective therapeutic brands, which are plentiful, there are important differences. Each seems to claim superiority over other brands, not surprisingly, because why else would anyone buy them? This article aims to clarify the confusion of conflicting and sometimes misleading information that is out there.

Below are three common methods for extracting medicinal compounds from reishi. Each method results in different compounds. All groups have been shown to have therapeutic effects in scientific studies.

1. Hot Water Extraction (polysaccharides, etc.)

2. Alcohol Extraction (triterpenoids, sterols)

3. Fermentation (arabinoxylanes, etc.)

The water soluble compounds, primarily polysaccharides, are powerful anti-tumor agents, immune enhancers and strong antioxidants. [1]

Triterpenoids include a large number of related medicinal compounds whose proven effects include stabilization of blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood clotting. But most importantly, the triterpenoids are the anti-inflammatory compounds of reishi. [1] Inflammation is a serious component in asthma, allergies, arthritis and many more conditions.

And then there are the new and unique medicinal compounds that get created when reishi is fermented. These "secondary metabolites" have their own therapeutic properties, different from the first two groups, including anti-tumor, immune support and blood-sugar balance. [2]

Since this article is not intended to elevate any one brand over another, no brand names will be mentioned. Nevertheless, the author does know of two highly reputed brands (American and Japanese) that claim only hot water extracted red reishi is of any value and that alcohol extracts are useless.

They do that, of course, because they wish to sell their products. However, there is no scientific validity to those claims. All three extraction methods listed above yield important medicinal compounds.

To determine if a brand of reishi (or Ganoderma) contains all the important medicinal compounds from the mushroom, find out if it utilizes both alcohol and hot water extraction. An additional plus would be if it also includes fermented reishi.

An additional point to keep in mind is the form the reishi comes in. Reishi that dissolves completely in a water-based liquid such as coffee probably only contains reishi from hot water extraction. As a substitute for regular coffee, this would be a superb health-choice. However, it will not contain the water-insoluble triterpenoids so valued for their anti-inflammatory properties.

Surprisingly, though, alcohol tinctures may include both hot water extract and alcohol extract. You will know if the alcohol tincture contains polysaccharides because when the alcohol and hot water extracts are blended, the polysaccharides fall out of solution and the tincture becomes cloudy. (Just shake it before you take it.) A cloudy medicinal mushroom tincture is an indication of high polysaccharide content. Capsules and tablets may be either hot water extract or alcohol extract or both.

[1] Boh B, Berovic M, Zhang J, Zhi-Bin L. "Ganoderma lucidum and its pharmaceutically active compounds." Biotechnology Annual Review 2007;13:265-301.

[2] Tang YJ, Zhang W, Zhong JJ. "Performance analyses of a pH-shift and DOT-shift integrated fed-batch fermentation process for the production of ganoderic acid and Ganoderma polysaccharides by medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum." Bioresource Technology 2009 Mar;100(5):1852-9. - 29708

About the Author:

Dr. Rafael has worked in the health field since the 1990's, currently focusing on medicinal mushrooms. He partners with Cordyceps Reishi Extracts, LLC on premium reishi extract and cordyceps extract plus the increasingly popular mesima mushroom and more.

The Smell Of Coconut From Geraniums

By Keith Markensen

Scented geraniums are bothered by few pests. The most frequent troubles are red spider and white fly. Dipping or spraying with a malathion controls these in the greenhouse, natural insecticides are effective. A weekly spraying with cold water also controls red spider. The force should be hard enough to wash off the mites and webs, but not so hard as to damage the plant. Since red spider favors a warm, dry atmosphere, cool situations arc preferable for the plants. Care in introducing pest-free plants into the house in the first place is helpful.

Geraniums do best in cool temperatures, so should not be placed near a radiator or other source of heat. On the other hand, temperatures next to a cold window in winter are often considerably lower than room air. In this case, protect the plants by moving them away from the area close to the glass. Cold drafts are harmful and should be avoided.

Additional care consists in simply removing dead leaves, which are easily recognized when they become dry and crisp. In the spring, after all danger of frost is over, set plants directly into the outdoor garden where they will thrive. In late summer, cuttings taken and placed in vermiculite or cleansand and later potted when rooted will provide plants for the subsequent winter months.

Scented geraniums offer a wide choice of varieties, and for convenience are divided into six classes: lemon, mint, fruit, spice, rose and pungent.

Among those noted for rewarding fragrance is the distinctive lemon-scented geranium (Pelargonium crispum). Its many varieties differ only in small details and all are good. The leaves are small, curled and crisp green, not unlike parsley to the touch.

In sharp contrast is the peppermint-scented geranium (Pelargonium tomentosum). The large, shallowly-lobed leaves, very densely covered with fine, long, soft hairs, are a pleasure to stroke. The plant is very prostrate in habit.

The fruit-scented geraniums add to the list a wide variety of leaf odors. One of these is the apple geranium (Pelargonium odoratissimum), which, when lightly rubbed with the fingers, immediately releases the delicious aroma of a box of freshly-opened apples. Its light green leaves are scalloped with an exquisite, silky texture. A pleasing lime fragrance distinguishes the lime-scented geranium (Pelargonium nervosum), which has small, soft, firm leaves with sharp teeth.

Noteworthy among the spice-scented varieties is the nutmeg-scented (Pelargonium fragrans) and ginger-scented (Pelargonium torento).

The tiny cocoanut-scented geranium (Pelargonium parviflorum), has leaves which feel something like those of the lemon-scented. Actually, they are flatter and more delicate in texture. The plant grows low from a central crown and produces seeds which germinate easily.

Of wide fame is the rose geranium. Instead of a single variety, this is really a large number of varieties having rose-like perfume. Differing leaf shape, size and texture thus enables the collector to accumulate a number of "rose geraniums." In the rose-scented group is Pelargonium denticulatum, which has finely-cut leaves, almost fern-like. They are best in the landscape together landscape grasses.

A similar situation exists among the so-called oak-leaf or pungent scented geraniums. Belonging to the Pelargonium quercifolium group, their leaves are deeply-lobed in varying degrees, besides being rough, hairy and distinctly sticky. The odor is pungent.

A desirable plant is the apricot-scented geranium (Pelargonium scabrum), which has smooth leaves, almost stiff in texture, with margins curled upward. - 29708

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We've created an excellent resource for you on the topic of landscape grasses. Drop by today at http://www.plant-care.com/1527-grass-landscaping.html.

Jewels Of Nature Come Alive In The Home Greenhouse

By Thomas Fryd

There are few sights so satisfying as a vine growing and flowering lushly up and around a greenhouse door, or along the ridge. And how lushly they do grow! I have seen Plumbago capensis, which seldom outgrows a six- or eight-inch pot in my house, with its roots in a greenhouse bed and its sky-blue flowers spread out over a hundred square feet of wall. Bougainvilleas are as riotous in a Northern greenhouse as in a Southern garden. Stephanotis fragrance fills the air. Hoyas grow to incredible size and luxuriance, and flower again and again.

Greenhouse vines can be planted directly in the ground and pruned when they get too rampant. Or, to control watering more accurately, plant them in large pots or tubs. Many summer-flowering varieties will earn their upkeep by providing shade from too-hot summer sun. Simply train them over the area where shade is needed, and when flowering has finished in early fall, prune them severely - for some, all the way to the ground - so they won't shade out needed winter sunlight.

To keep leaves from freezing against greenhouse glass, support vines on a wire or frame eight inches to a foot down or out from the sash. Keep them pruned or trained away from ventilators.

If your greenhouse is large, your choice of vines - evergreen or not, with flowers of all conceivable colors, and foliage of all sizes, patterns, and textures - is exciting and unlimited. With restricted space, consider the ultimate size of the vine before you buy it - also its rate of growth and whether it is amenable to pruning like pruning ficus tree.

Almost any vine small tropical vine which needs some shade to perform well will do well indoors is, and of course is also recommended for a greenhouse of the appropriate temperature range. So are many of the plants on the tropical, colorful lists suitable for growing in a greenhouse. It takes some trial and error but jewels of nature can be discovered. - 29708

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There is much more to unearth on pruning ficus tree. You're only a click away - http://www.plant-care.com/ficus-tree-pruning-time.html.

Buying Landscape Vines - Check Their Hardiness Zone

By Thomas Fryd

Since perennial vines are a permanent garden investment, buy the healthiest specimens of the best available varieties. If you can't find the best of the variety you want, use annuals for a season or two until you can. Whether you buy perennials from a local nursery or one of many reputable mail-order suppliers is a matter of choice. Either way, be wary of low-cost bargain offers; they are often no bargain at all in the long run.

At your local nursery, look for plants with fresh, firm foliage that have been properly staked. Overgrown specimens in too-small containers are risky, because the plant may suffer a setback until it can develop an adequate root system in the garden. Tangled, twisted stems are hazardous and may be broken when you try to trim them. And inspect the plant for signs of insects or disease that might spread to other plants in your garden.

Before you order perennial vines from catalogues, check on their hardiness in your area. Since they will be shipped with bare roots, give them time to get established. Buy only from reliable suppliers, so you can count on strong, healthy plants that are accurately named and true to variety. And, of course, select varieties that suit your decorative purpose and cultural conditions like sunlight and moisture.

Light and Sun

From lacy leaves to flamboyant flowers each vine has its own decorative purpose to serve - and the amount of unfiltered daylight or sunlight it needs to do the job well. Geography determines the duration and intensity of sunlight. In cool areas "full sun" means just that - every possible minute of even the warmest summer sun on the full length of a vine's top growth. In the tropics many varieties need light shade in summer. And tropical "shade plants" are better given some sun in less temperate sections.

Insufficient sunlight is the most frequent reason why outdoor hibiscus and some vines , like wisteria, produce lush foliage year after year, but little or no bloom. Except in the South, flowering vines won't bloom well on the north side of a house or solid wall, or in the shade of a low-branched tree. Both duration and intensity of sunlight actually falling on the vine are important. A vine that will be satisfied with an hour of early morning and late afternoon sun in Texas may triple the requirement in Michigan.

Clear daylight is needed everywhere. Vines planted in deep shade make long, stringy growth, small leaves, and soft, limp stems. - 29708

About the Author:

Learn more of what Thomas Fryd has to share over at http://www.plant-care.com. And be the first to master the methods on outdoor hibiscus.

Issues in Identification of Constipation and Treatment

By Heidi Whittaker

(Foreword/Disclaimer: All writing here is supplied on an informational basis, with no endorsement of any of the particular products that may be mentioned. In addition, any interested party should seek the knowledge of a board-certified physician. The writer here is not and does not represent himself as a physician. All research provided here has been gathered from other written sources.)

Numerous statistical figures have quoted that the impact of constipation to be as low as 2% to as high as 30%. A large recent 2006 survey conducted by the famous pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim pinpoints the number to be at 12% worldwide. Even at 2% though, most people would agree that constipation seems to be a problem afflicting a broad segment of the population.

One explanation for why the statistics are so inconsistent is that constipation has historically been a poorly-defined condition. The poor definitions are due the fact that constipation varies quite a bit between patients. Frequency of bowel movements, time spent straining at the toilet and hardness of feces are but three examples of patient-reported symptoms that vary wildly from person-to-person. Some attempt has been made by both U.S. national agencies and private groups (such as the Rome Foundation) in unifying our definition of constipation. Nevertheless, diagnosis is made difficult by such variations.

The causes of constipation are also numerous. Certain poorly understood but well-defined chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome can lead to constipation. As there is no treatment for the underlying condition, alleviation of symptoms is the only therapeutic route. Physiological and anatomical defects can also give rise to constipation. These include muscle or nerve damage from or sports-related injuries. Finally, a very broad class of patients have no identifiable cause: these patients have what is termed idiopathic constipation.

With idiopathic and chronic constipation, one of the first things a physician will do with his or her patient is inquire about dietary and personal bowel habits. The physician wishes to rule out the simplest causes. Dietary shortage of insolube fiber can be fixed by increasing uptake of fiber, either through food intake modification or addition of supplements. This type of natural treatment has the advantage of both provide diagnosis and treatment, if successful.

Other types of natural treatments include both lubricant laxatives and herbal supplements such as senna. Herbal and natural supplements are not always safe. The FDA has banned some natural supplements, namely aloe vera and cascara recently, for failure on the part of manufacturers to provide sufficient safety data. However, some other over-the-counter treatments remain available.

There are also a number of prescription-only constipation medications available. Some of these act as laxatives, whereas others are special compounds that modulate the functional properties of the gastrointestinal tract. In recent times, exciting therapies such as biofeedback have also risen to prominence. Expect treatments for constipation to advanced greatly in the next few years. - 29708

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Extra resources supplied for treatment of constipation can be read here. If you are intent on amitiza, come check out our site.

The Many Many Many Usecs of Vines in Your Garden

By Laura Whitston

A great, low maintenance way to decorate your garden is with the use of vines, since they look good on almost anything. If You've got a fence that stands out in your lush green garden, growing a vine over it can be a quick and beautiful solution. Depending on what look you want, there are many vines that can meet your needs.

There are many different ground vines available, that grow fast and strong, inching along the ground. They are very easily directed, so they can make a border around your garden, or just weave through the plants. These are a great alternative to grass, and some varieties are resilient enough to survive being stepped on. Some will even survive dogs!

Another popular vine is the "twining" vine, which refers to the way they climb up lattice or any equally porous surface by sending out small tendrils to loop around whatever is nearby. These are great for climbing up trees, or any type of mesh or fence. They require a lot of direction in their early stages, and as they grow, will require little care.

Ivy is a vine that nearly everyone is used to seeing. It is this way because Ivy is one of the most adaptable and resilient types of vines growing, and it can grow pretty much anywhere. Ivy is great to use for ground cover, and it will also grow up any wall you put it near. Over the years, however, people have found that buildings covered in Ivy have been deteriorating because of it.

If you are looking for a natural way to improve the architecture of your home, or simply want to go green, vines are the way to go! A great way is with Virginia Creeper, a "twining" vine that can grow up a wall of any home in a matter of months. Make sure to keep your eye on it, though; while it looks great when its where you want it, it can very easily take over your home.

Make sure before you buy a vine that you look into the good and the bad qualities it possesses, and that you know whether the vine you are buying will suit the application for which you want to use it. No matter what it is you want to do with them, there is a vine for almost any situation that you wish to address around your home. - 29708

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Plant Rental and Leasing In NYC Is Now Available For Your Office

By Gladys Friday

If you work in an office environment, chances are you have a plant on your desk or know someone who does. Having plants in our work environment, calms us, provides us oxygen, filters harmful substances from the air and provides the humidity that the air conditioning systems remove. Many employers have found that the inclusion of plants into the office environment increases both efficiency and morale in the office. The simple matter of placing plants in an environment doesn't mean that they will grow there. There has to be some kind of office plant maintenance program in place to insure that the plants will thrive.

Many companies who have plants in the offices don't own the plants. The plants are leased from another company who will provide the plants but will also come in and feed, water, prune and replace any plants that become sick. This use of a horticultural company to provide plants in the office releases the company of the necessity to maintain the plants through the use of in house staff and the replacement of plants on a regular basis.

Along with the main plantings in the office many employees have plants at their desks. These plants are supplied for and cared for by the employee. Prior to introducing a plant in to the office environment, the lighting level of the office should be determined. Once this is determined, the plant that is selected should be able to thrive in the lighting conditions of the office. The best looking plants in the office are matched to the amount of light that is being provided to them.

The amount of water provided to a plant in the office must also be considered and the amount of water is just as important as the amount of light. Knowing when a plant is in need of water is made simple through the use of a water meter. These meters are readily available and keep track of the moisture content of the soil that the plant is in. The proper amounts of both light and moisture provide attractive plants in the office environment.

Common office plants that are found around employee desks include several varieties of ivy, wandering jew, spider plants and dieffenbachia. All of these plants are common house plants however all of them can thrive in the office environment given the correct amounts of light and water.

Plants in the office environment provide more than just an enhancement to morale and productivity. Plants in the office environment also help clean noxious chemicals from the air. Common products like drywall and electronic equipment such as printers, fax machines and copiers all produce noxious odors and emit noxious chemicals. The plants in the office clean the air of these odors and chemicals and can help a building from becoming a sick building. With the proper office plant maintenance, companies can increase employee morale along with productivity while keeping the air in the office fresh and clean. - 29708

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The Landscape Effects

By Keith Markensen

When considering for your landscape plan trees that are considered primarily as flowering trees, remember that the blossoms are there for only a short time - perhaps two weeks out of each year, and that it is more important to consider the form of the tree, than its flowers. However, with a little advance planning, you can usually work the ornamental flowering tree into the landscape plan so as to get value from its flowers as well as its shape.

As an example, visualize a flowering dogwood in the public area of a property where the house is but one story tall - perhaps of the ranch type. With its horizontal branches, it will fit in beautifully not only while in flower as well as before and afterward, especially if placed a little away from the corner of such a house; it would hardly grow more than 25 feet tall and 20 feet broad.

Now picture the same situation with, instead of a flowering dogwood or yucca plants, a weeping Japanese flowering cherry. As it grows it will begin to spread too far to the sides for the size of the house. Eventually, it may even get too tall for the house, for such weeping cherry trees can reach 40 or 50 feet.

Most of the trees considered primarily for their flowers are usually small in stature. Some exceptions are locust, empress-tree, tulip-tree, Japanese pagoda-tree, and the magnolias. However, being of large size, they are rarely used expressly for their flowering display.

Flowering Trees for Shade

Fortunately for the owners of comparatively small properties, flowering trees can serve a dual purpose, giving displays of color and, in addition, filling a strategic spot in the landscape scheme. Such trees as Japanese snowbell (Styrax japonica), flowering dogwood, and the flowering crabapples, for example, can be used as specimen plants when in bloom and at the same time can also be trimmed of enough of their lower branches so that small sitting areas can be made under them. All this is in addition to the fact that they will not outgrow the properties. - 29708

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Beautiful Flowers - A Valentine's Day Staple

By Adriana Noton

How Valentine's Day evolved is a fascinating story. In early Roman times, the Roman Feast of Lupercalia was a celebration of pagan fertility held on February 14 that honored the Queen of Oman known as Juno, the Roman gods and goddesses, as well as the goddess of marriage and women. During the celebrations, women would write special love letters and place the letters in an urn. The men would then retrieve a letter from the urn and passionately court the woman who wrote the particular love letter.

The most well known origin of Valentine's Day comes from a 3rd century Roman priest by the name of Valentine. Against the explicit orders of Emperor Claudius II, Valentine performed secret marriages. The Emperor prohibited marriages because he thought that unmarried soldiers were more apt to enlist in his army. Valentine was caught and sentenced to death. The story says that Valentine conveyed a letter to a friend which was signed 'From Your Valentine' just prior to his execution on February 14 in 270 A.D. In 496 A.D., in honor of St. Valentine as the patron saint of lovers, Pope Gelasius named St. Valentine's Day on February 14th. Ever since that time, people all over the world have been celebrating Valentines Day.

Flowers have become a staple of Valentines Day. The rose as a symbol of love, is the most widely used flower to give someone on Valentine's Day, especially the traditional bouquet of a dozen red roses. Over the years there have an increase in the diversity of flowers chosen for the special day. Different types of roses include multi-colored roses, white roses, red roses, yellow roses, long stemmed roses, pink roses, and special valentine roses. Other types of flowers now chosen include: carnations, lilies, hyacinths, crocuses, buttercups, tulips, and daisies. Men will send a beautiful bouquet of flowers to their special sweetheart. When giving Valentine flowers as gifts to men, popular colors of flowers include purple, orange, and red. Women love such colors as red, lavender, peach, and pink.

By giving a flower to your special loved one, you are expressing how you feel about that person. The choice of Valentine's Day flowers will depend on the sentiments you want to express.

For instance, a red rose expresses strong feelings and love. Lilac roses are a symbol of love at first sight. Peach Pink rose is a symbol of gratitude, sympathy, gentleness and friendship. Red Roses and White Roses mixed in a bouquet means truth and love, union and harmony, or true love. Lily means that one is a nurturing person. A red carnation means admiration. A white Carnation means pure love, faithfulness, innocence, and sweet and lovely. Chamomile/Golden Marguerite/Anthemis means cheerfulness and friendship. Iris means promise in love, wisdom, faith, and hope. Purple Lilac means the first emotions of love. Ambrosia means love is reciprocated. Pink Camellia means longing for you. White Chrysanthemum means truth and loyal love. Forget-Me-Not means true love, hope, and memories. Gloxina means love at first sight. Pansy means the recipient is being thought about warmly. Yellow and orange roses being mixed together means passionate thoughts. A yellow tulip means hopeless love.

Valentines Day is a day to let that special someone how you feel. Giving flowers to your loved one is a thoughtful and romantic way to share your sentiments. - 29708

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A Year Round Beauty For Camellias

By keith Markensen

Camellias are permanent plants. Grown in pots or tubs, in a soil mixture of two parts sandy loam, two parts peat and one part coarse sand, their deep green glossy foliage is attractive the year-round. They need partial shade in all but the coldest months. During the summer, they are best plunged in a protected spot outdoors where they will benefit from a weekly soaking and a dose of a water-soluble fertilizer about every 10 days.

After flowering, they need a rest period and should almost dry out between waterings. More failures with camellias are due to overwatering during the winter, than to any other one cause. They also resent sudden temperature changes and cold drafts. When repotting is necessary, it should be done in the spring after new growth starts, seldom more often than every two or even three years. Attention to such details is more than compensated by the wide-spread waxy blossoms.

Still another plant commonly seen in the late autumn greenhouse, yet no less worth growing on that account, is cyclamen. Because it takes 18 months from seed to produce a flowering sized tuber, all too often cyclamen plants are bought in full flower from a florist. In most cases, such plants have been forced to such an extent that they soon fade.

If it is possible, therefore, to find a source, it is far preferable to buy the tubers, or get young potted plants, before buds have formed. Not only will they be less expensive, but allowed to develop naturally, they will bloom for months. Under such conditions, buds start to open one or two at a time and gradually increase until anywhere from 25 to 50 orchid-like blossoms lift their recurved petals above the heart-shaped leaves.

Cyclamen Offers Challenge

When the last flowers fade, often not until March, watering should be continued until the leaves turn yellow and die: Then the pot can be put on a back shelf and kept almost dry until August or September, when signs of new shoots signal the start of another cycle. If a grower who has raised common perennial flowers or cyclamen from seed is rightly proud, it is only slightly less of a triumph to bloom a second year.

Chrysanthemums, camellias and cyclamen all do best in a cool greenhouse, although they grow well in an intermediate house. Obviously there are many other worthwhile flowers which will bloom at the same time, with the same temperature range. For fragrance, there are for instance, the tea olive (Osmanthus fragrans), paper white narcissus, and annuals such as mignonette and heliotrope. Vines include swainsonia sometimes called the winter sweet pea and Solanum jasminoides, whose white flowers are also fragrant. For hanging baskets, lachenalia, oxalis in variety or alonsoa are well worth trying.

Plants with brilliant fruits are especially effective at Christmas time. Ardisia, a small evergreen shrub, with long-lasting scarlet berries, is ideal in spring or summer. - 29708

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Growing Condition Awareness - Keys For Growing Success

By Thomas Fryd

Like any other garden plants, landscape flowers, bulbs, seasonal color and vines respond beautifully to good growing conditions and reasonable amounts of care. But because of their wide variety and widely varying environmental preferences, it would be misleading to set down concrete cultural rules. Culcure varies not only from areas and temperature conditions but even within micro-climates.

Consider the many kinds of climate in this country: tropical Florida, subtropical Gulf Coast, arid desert areas in California and southern Arizona. "Severe" means one thing in Maine, something else in Wyoming or on the Pacific Northwest coast. North Carolina is "mild," and so is Long Island. In any one state there may be a dozen different combinations of winter cold, summer heat, blistering and freezing winds, rainfall and drought, fertile and infertile soil.

This much we know - that every plant has its own set of circumstances in which it will thrive, and that the landscaper and gardener most likely to succeed either grows plants that naturally like the climate and other growing conditions he has to offer, or adapts his conditions to the plants' liking.

For this gardener, there is a wide, wide world of fascinating varieties to choose from. By his willingness to make intelligent adaptations like applying lime to neutralize acid soil, or providing winter protection, he broadens his horticultural horizons with a choice of delectable vines.

And so any cultural information is of a general nature, not meant to be followed literally. Likewise, the notes on hardiness and culture for specific varieties like hardy asters, you may find described are not specific for every garden. Soil may vary considerably from one end of a 50 100 foot lot to the other; the sun may be hotter on the south side of your house than your neighbor's; two plants of the same variety and age, purchased at the same time, may even differ in vigor.

That is one of the fascinations of growing plants. We can all experience something different in our growing space. - 29708

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Now Is The Time For A Garden Roundup

By keith Markensen

Chill November winds spur us on to get things done before the ground freezes in cooler sections of the country. Now is the time to finish cleaning up gardens before the appearance of the first snow or colder weather.

Some General Chores

Continue to rake up fallen leaves, dead annuals and vegetables and to shear perennial tops, placing them on the compost pile. Destroy corn stalks and other vegetables tops which harbor diseases. Sanitation practiced now will do much to prevent pests and disease next year.

For Cleaning Tools

Clean tools to prevent them from rusting. Go over lightly all metal parts with a stiff brush and then rub with light oil. On very rusty tools, use a commercial rust remover and rub down handles with equal parts of linseed oil and turpentine. Sharpen grass clippers and lawn mower blades before putting away and remember to grease and oil metal parts of garden furniture.

To Winter Mulch

Mulch flower beds, perennials and bulbs after the first frosts have frozen the ground. Use only material which will not mat down plants. Cranberry tops, straw or hay, marsh hay or pine needles or boughs are all excellent materials for mulching. Leaves tend to pack too closely and should only be used in a layer of one-half inch thick. Mulching prevents the ground from freezing and thawing, one of the chief reasons for its use.

Bring in Potting Soil

Bring inside garden soil, compost, sand and pebbles, as well as other materials that will be needed during the winter months for repotting house plants, forcing bulbs or for starting seeds next February or March. Keep the soil covered to retain its moisture and keep the bacteria alive.

Pruning Trees and Shrubs

Many trees and shrubs may be safely pruned now that the leaves have fallen, removing broken, dead or diseased wood. Do some pruning of summer blooming hydrangeas, rose of sharons, vitexes, and tamarisks by thinning out crowded branches. Shrubs that flower on old wood should be pruned just after flowering is past in the spring. These include flowering quince, forsythia, weigela, vanhoutte spirea, viburnums, deutzias and bush cherries.

On House Plants

Syringe house plants frequently if room is dry to provide some of the humidity they need. All house plants will benefit from this syringing except succulents and cactus. Shift plants around every week or two so they will not lean towards the light. Watch for mealy bugs, scale and other insects, spraying with neem oil or an insecticidal soap. Re-pot plants that become pot bound. It is a good policy to water plants thoroughly less frequently than to water often.

In the Vegetable Garden

Mulch strawberries with marsh hay or sawdust, as well as asparagus after the tops are cut to the ground. Blackberries, raspberries and currants will also appreciate a mulch as they are shallow rooted. It is too early to mulch in warmer parts of the country, but get the materials ready.

Trees and Shrubs

Continue to plant deciduous trees like the ficus benjamina and shrubs until the ground freezes. Also plant evergreens and water well as they give off more water during winter than they can replace. By watering woody plants freely before the ground freezes, their barks will be less apt. to suffer from sunscald, while the leaves of evergreens will be in less danger of windburning.

Care of Roses

Finish planting roses in well-prepared soil that is rich in organic matter. Mound new as well as old plants with soil, taken from elsewhere, to protect from winter injury. Fill depressions with leaves or marsh hay to prevent water from settling in these low spots. With standard or tree type roses, bend carefully and cover the tops with soil to prevent winter killing. Plants may also be lifted, placed in a trench and covered with soil where winters are very severe. - 29708

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Window Gardening With Gloxinia

By Kent Higgins

True Gloxinias, charming plants for window gardens, the home greenhouse, or protected shady spots outdoors in the summer, may be started from tubers, young plants, leaf cuttings or seeds.

Growing gloxinias from leaf cuttings makes pleasant window gardening. Select green, robust leaves while the plant is still in bloom or in bud. Sever the leaves as close to the main stem of the plant as possible, where the leaf-stems are hard, and insert in a mixture of sand and peatmoss or vermiculite. Or if you prefer, leaf cuttings will root easily in a glass of water. In about two months well-formed tubers will appear at the base of the leaf stems.

If you root gloxinia leaves in vermiculite or in peatmoss and sand, remember to water them at least once a week after the leaves die. When they show signs of sprouting, remove them to four- or five-inch pots of soil. Cuttings always come true to color.

Growing gloxinias from tubers is the easiest method of all. Simply set dormant tubers on moistened sphagnum moss, partially sterilized sand, vermiculite or some commercially prepared soil mixture. Or you can plant them directly in a 4-inch pot of soil. Then set in a warm place and water slightly until growth appears. As soon as leaves spread apart, transplant to individual pots and place in an east or south window.

You may also buy young seedlings in 2 -inch containers. Pot these as you would tubers and they will produce blossoms in three months. This method is the easiest for the beginner.

After the first crop of blooms, cut the old growth off, leaving the last two leaves. New growth will appear and you will get another crop of blooms, not so many or large as the first, but still worthwhile. After the second crop of bloom, do not try for a third, but give the tuber a rest.

Gloxinias sometimes refuse to go dormant. They are unpredictable in that some rest a week, others three months. The bulk of the hybrids, however, require little, if any, rest. After the plant has ceased flowering, cut it back to the last two leaves and decrease the amount of water. If new shoots spring up in a week or two, the plant will not need rest and will perhaps favor you with more flowers.

Tubers can be stored in the pots in which they grow by placing them in a basement or other storage quarters where the temperature is about 50 to 55 degrees F. Sprinkle the soil with water once a week to help keep the tubers firm and plump. If some sprout, and you do not have time to plant them, it is better to remove the sprouts and, if possible, find a cooler storage place than to let them grow spindly in the dark.

The window gardener is likely to have gloxinias that are willowy if they do not have enough light. If so, give them more sunlight or boost them closer to the fluorescent lights, if you grow them that way. By placing them a few inches from the lights while they are growing, and then lowering them when they come into bloom, you can have well-shaped specimens.

A lack of diseases and pests has helped to make gloxinias popular. Tiny, black, thread-like thrips will take a devastating toll if not arrested. These leave a reddish, excrement on stems and the undersides of leaves. To eradicate use spray-type insecticide soaps made especially for house plants or neem oil.

Tuber bacteria is likely to set in and ruin dormant tubers if they arc left in a soggy, wet condition. Occasionally a gloxinia that seems to be in perfect condition, even in full bloom, will suddenly wilt, and close examination will show that black rot has enveloped the tuber and started up the stems of the plant, cutting off all food. A light, well-aerated soil, rich in organic matter, is likely to avoid this rot, but if troubled with it, cut off the leaves or top growth that is not infected. Root the salvaged portions and destroy rimed parts.

Keep Water off Buds

Spilling water on the buds and allowing it to remain inside the sepals over night is likely to rot buds. Lack of humidity is another problem. In this case set the pots on trays of moist sand and peatmoss.

Not enough water, or too much, will cause buds to dry up before opening. Placing a plant which is in full bloom in hot sunshine will cause the blossoms to wilt badly and shorten their endurance. The ideal growing temperature is from 62 to 85 degrees F., and a few degrees below or above are not harmful.

Equal parts of peatmoss, leafmold, garden loam and sand make a standard growing mixture. There are packaged mixtures prepared especially for gloxinias, handy when one has but a few tubers.

North Exposure

For a window box or in great apartment plants with a north or northeastern exposure nothing can compare with gloxinias. For bedding in shaded, protected spots, they are excellent, and if you live in a very warm climate, where it might be hard to keep them in good condition indoors, they will luxuriate outdoors from late spring until fall.

The true species of gloxinias are always charmingly delightful. Sinningia regina and S. macrophylla (Brazillian gloxinia) sport beautiful reddish leaves, veined with silver, and rosy red on the undersides. They have darkest purple, tiny slipper flowers.

With all the hybridizing going on all over the country and in Europe as well, we are wondering what we will find in the way of gloxinias in years to come. One thing is certain - we will not only have better kinds, but also many new ones. Furthermore, there will be thousands of new enthusiasts! And who knows, gloxinias might he the most popular window gardening and greenhouse plant of the day! - 29708

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Best Plant Growing Temperature - Your Plants Will Tell You

By Keith Markensen

What is the best temperature for growing house plants? Here again, consider each plant's preference, and also the relation of other cultural factors, like humidity. Some plants prefer to grow cooler than average house temperatures, some need more warmth. Optimum figures vary widely.

Except for vines specifically noted as requiring lower or higher temperatures, you can expect most varieties recommended for growing indoors to be content with the average 65-75 degrees in the home, with a drop of about 10 degrees at night. But since warm air is drying, humidity needs to be stepped up for some varieties, and more frequent watering may be necessary.

When you measure temperature, take the reading in the growing area, not in a cooler window, or over a radiator, or in a far corner of the room.

Plants will usually show you when the temperature is not to their liking. If it is too cool, they will not grow at their usual speed and will refuse to flower. If it is too warm, growth will be sickly and often elongated, particularly if warmth is combined with lack of light. "Bud blast," in which plants drop their flower buds before they open, frequently results from too much warmth and dry air.

Humidity

Except in arid areas, the air in most of the outdoor locations where plants like peace lily outdoors grow naturally contains more moisture than inside a heated home in winter. This is humidity, correctly called "relative humidity" because it is a percentage comparison of the amount of moisture in the air with the total amount of moisture the air can possibly hold at a given temperature.

Plants indicate need for higher humidity by crisping and drying leaf edges and flower buds, and by failing to grow and bloom. When humidity is too high - and particularly when high humidity combines with cool air, moist soil, and lack of light - leaves go soggy, stems feel limp and watery, rot and mildew may result. Adequate circulation of fresh air is a better preventive than cure. - 29708

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Green Thumb Secrets - Making Nature Natural

By Keith Markensen

Large or small, climbing or hanging, ordinary or exotic - any plant is only as decorative as it is healthy and thriving. And here, I disagree about the proverbial "green thumb." I contend that this is a misguided figure of speech and that, instead of having some "magic power" over plants, successful growers have intelligent interest in learning what growing conditions plants need and in satisfying those needs. It's neither difficult nor troublesome to grow plants well, but it does require some thought and care.

Let's start with a simple concept of how plants are constituted. In the first place, they are inhabitants of the out-of-doors, where they get light from above and from all sides. Secondly, different types and varieties of plants grow naturally in different climatic and other conditions. Some are adapted to the hot, dry desert; some to humid jungles; some to the cool, crisp air on a mountain slope. Each has its own preferred habitat with its own preferred temperature, type of soil, moisture, active growing season, full sunlight or lack of it. A plant may even have other types of plants it prefers to associate with. For every plant there is a combination of cultural conditions in which it naturally grows best out-of-doors.

We can't expect to tuck the roots of these outdoor inhabitants into pots and bring them indoors, into completely opposite conditions, without making some adjustments for their needs. Light, for example, is absolutely necessary to any plant's life processes.

Indoors, it is not only less intense, but also usually comes from only one direction. Indoor winter temperatures in our well-heated homes are often too high for plants like the indoor palm trees. Soil moisture, fresh air, humidity, and fertile soil of the proper type can be provided by a careful grower.

If you will try to make your home habitable for house plants, most plants will meet you halfway and adapt amazingly well to indoor growing. Sun-lovers will accept less of it, for example; cool growers will tolerate warmth. The difference may be merely setting the thermostat up or down a notch, or rotating a window-sill plant every few days so that over a period of time it receives equal light on all sides, or providing a suitable pot or type of soil. - 29708

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Plant Requires Light For Success

By Keith Markensen

Light, sunlight, temperature, humidity, soil, and other cultural factors are necessarily of a general nature, because the plants with which we grow come from all parts of the world and have widely varying natural growing needs.

Daylight

Animals and humans have digestive juices and a complicated apparatus for transforming food into energy and growth. Plants have chlorophyll and roots. The roots take up food from the soil. The chlorophyll uses water, carbon dioxide from the air, and light to manufacture starch (which later becomes sugar) on which the plant lives and grows.

This is, of course, an oversimplification of a complicated botanical phenomenon. But it helps to explain the importance of light. Without it, and without enough of it, plants starve - not because of insufficient food, but because of inability to use it. This is the reason why few plants will live, and none will look lush for long, in a dark hall or on the top of a coffee table ten feet away from a window.

Intensity of light is important, and the intensity needed varies according to type of plant like for example the african violet plant. The amount needed by each type depends on the light available in its natural habitat. Consider, for example, the philodendrons, usually regarded as requiring less light than most plant groups. The vining types were first found climbing and draping trees in Central and South American jungles - but not in the dark. If you measured the light, you would find it far brighter than that in an awning-shaded window, for example.

This brings us to a frequent question - which window exposure is best for plants? There is no rule to go by. It depends, first, upon the window - its size, whether it is shaded by a tree or the house next door, and even whether it is in a city or country house, in winter or summer. In Connecticut a north-facing window in the country where air is clear, if it receives no shade of any kind, will usually provide good light for foliage plants, but little sunlight except for a short period in midsummer.

In the same situation, in summer, an eastern exposure has good light and sunlight in the morning; western, in the afternoon; and southern, the most sunlight of all. But move the window farther north, or into a sooty city; or shade it with even the high branches of a tree, and light intensity decreases. The farther south it moves, the more intense the light and the more hours it is available every day.

Always look at the lighting, intensity and period of light when placing plants indoors and outdoors. - 29708

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Distinctive Foliage Colorful Houseplants

By Kent Higgins

Shop for those with Distinctive Foliage since they Lend Needed Color to Winter Living then Choose those Suited to Your Decor with an Eye to Size, Form, Color and Texture

1. Dracaena deremensis warnecki - requires moderate moisture and strong, indirect light. A sturdy plant, it will reach several feet in height.

2. Scheffiera arboricola - grows luxuriantly in a rich, well drained soil, but it can take considerable neglect.

3. Dieffenbachia - improved varieties of an old favorite, it prefers uniformly moist soil and indirect light. Dust leaves periodically.

4. Spironema melnikoffi - appreciates moderate light and well drained soil.

5. Vriesia - grows best in a gritty soil. An unusually decorative and handsome plant. When in active growth, feed once a month with liquid fertilizer.

7. Tradescantia fluminensis variegata - grows easily in subdued light in soil or water. Root cuttings in water to make new plants.

8. Alocasia amazonica - grows luxuriantly in indirect light, preferably under humid conditions. Pot in a mixture of loam and peatmoss, since alocasias thrive in a light airy soil.

9. Peperomia pericatti - appreciates medium light and moderate moisture.

10. Setcreasea Purple Heart - likes well drained, porous soil in light.

11. Maranta leuconeura kerchoveana - give indirect light, since leaves scorch in strong sun. Keep on moist side.

12. Peperomia hederifolia - keep uniformly moist but not wet, in indirect light.

13. Cryptanthus - an air plant that needs a light, airy soil so roots are not smothered.

14. Dichorisandra warsawiczi - grows easily in well-drained soil in bright sun or indirect light.

15. Syngonium - needs support as it begins to climb. Syringe occasionally to make happy.

16. Calathea rosea-lineata - prefers indirect light. Syringe leaves occasionally when dry.

17. Spathiphyllum or Peace lily plant - provide uniform moisture when in active growth.

18. Coleus - needs bright light and some sun to bring out foliage color. Do not allow to dry out.

19. Peperomia magnolifolia - enjoys light and more water when growing.

20. Dichorisandra albo-marginata - thrives in indirect light. Water freely when in active growth. - 29708

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Know the secret why many people are interested on Peace lily plant. Join us http://www.plant-care.com/peace-lily-spathiphyllum.html.

Dealing With Court Ordered Paternity Test Accordingly

By Benedict Perez

Court ordered paternity test is one of the most important things that thousands of people need to deal with accordingly in the most appropriate manner. Thus, it is pretty important to choose only the right DNA testing company to do such test. But how will you be able to ensure having the right one?

Among the many things you need to ensure is the accuracy of the result, conclusiveness of such result and the real good quality customer service a testing company. You need to ensure that the company you shall trust to do this certain test for you must have these reputations otherwise you will only be wasting your money and time. The said company should also be accredited by appropriate government agencies.

It is also important that you also go for companies which are accredited by appropriate government agency. Court ordered paternity test should only be done by accredited testing laboratories which you can definitely find either from friend referrals or from different websites in the Internet. This is a must for you to ensure that the result shall be accepted by the court.

Knowing that such test is done for varied reasons, you need to ensure to be able to come up with the most reliable and accurate result. It should therefore have the most the most conclusive result. Hence, the needed legal DNA test should be done by accredited laboratories known for having the reputation for accuracy and conclusive results otherwise you will only be wasting both time and money.

If for any reason you need to do court ordered paternity test it would be very essential for you to have it done appropriately and accurately by accredited laboratories. The accurate result will be of great help for a successful chain of custody process. It also satisfies all blurring matters that maybe lurking in your mind which can only be enlightened by an accurate and reliable result of DNA test.

The reputation of the company doing such tests is very essential to take into consideration. This way you can ensure to have that results that will be admissible in paternity courts. You need to remember that it is essential for you to get a legally admissible DNA test result for court ordered paternity test.

Another thing you need to consider in choosing the right company to do the DNA test is the price it shall charge for such a tedious service. You just have to make sure you will have this kind of laboratory test done by a reputable company that does not charge more than what is in accordance with the law. You still can have the most accurate and reliable result for court ordered paternity test without having to spend too much.

You need to deal only with DNA testing company that is not only known for quality service and reliable result but also those that will not charge so much for such a service. It is therefore important to make sure to look for companies of this kind which are now proliferating in the Internet. Therefore, you should seek professional assistance from such company for court ordered paternity test. - 29708

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As a father who wants certainty to father a child with unknown existence, you may want to submit yourself through a court ordered paternity test. In this way, you are guaranteed that the child is really yours. Or you may want to try paternity test.

Ready-Made Containers Growing Interest In Container Gardening

By Keith Markensen

Whether the container garden consists of a single tub or window box, a set of matched urns, or many modular units grouped in various ways, the container is an integral part of the decorative design. It should, of course, be pleasing to the eye, but not so striking that it becomes the main object of interest at the expense of its plants. Its design - line, size, shape, color, texture - should be in harmony with both plants and setting. It should have an air of "belonging," not of having been placed willy-nilly simply because a plant needed something to grow in.

Tall, tapering plants often look well in tall containers. Round, bushy plants are suitable for squat, square containers. Horizontal lines or bands around a container will make it seem lower, and vertical lines the reverse. Sometimes architectural style dictates the design of a container, sometimes an outstanding container will lead you to create or locate a setting for it. The theme can be antique or contemporary, simple or ornate, rural or urban.

And containers should, of course, be culturally practical. They should provide sufficient root space and adequate drainage facilities. They should be sturdy enough to hold the weight of moist soil, and lasting enough (rust- and rot-resistant) to hold together despite the weathering of sun, rain, and wind. They should have a wide base so they won't blow or tip over. Good design is decorative, functional, and culturally practical.

Ready-Made Containers

Fast-growing interest in container gardening has encouraged manufacturers to increase the variety of available boxes, tubs, urns, and other movable planters and to give them more interesting design. The familiar hexagonal or octagonal redwood tub is available in a number of different sizes and proportions, and with rolling platforms that make moving it easier. Planter boxes are no longer just boxes; they come in a selection of sizes and shapes. Artistic new stone and ceramic urns are joining the well-known classics. Planters are available in many different materials, including new plastics with lasting weather-resistance.

The creative container gardener will also consider some of the less usual possibilities just like doing a tropical garden design and the huge urns made by winding sisal rope around a skeleton frame. Dealers in Japanese and other antiques offer beautiful old stone or metal containers. Contemporary ceramic artists are turning out handsome new designs. At country auctions you can pick up antiquities like copper wash boilers, iron kettles, stoneware pickle crocks, even wheelbarrows. The possibilities are limited only by your budget and the time you can devote to shopping.

Try a pair of matching urns, tubs, or boxes on either side of the front door, with vines climbing a trellis or the wall and meeting at the top to form a frame. Try one urn with a specimen shrub and vines at the base. One container, two, or three can be arranged at the edge of patio or terrace to bring yard and garden into closer harmony. Use one or several, with vines on trellises, as a screen or divider between two outdoor areas. Find just the right design to suit a garden bench or arch, or to line up along the edge of steps, or beside a large window. - 29708

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Find out more as Keith Markensen shares his experiences on indoor plants, landscaping and gardens at http://www.plant-care.com. It's time to clear things up on the subject of tropical garden design.

Understanding The Needs Of Growing Orchids

By Thomas Fryd

The pseudobulb, a green, banana-like object at the base of the leaves, is a very interesting and vital part of the orchid plant. In it the food and moisture obtained from the air and water (the orchid's sources of nourishment) are stored.

This fleshy plant part is a sort of gauge of the plant's health and wellbeing. If wrinkled and dry, more moisture is needed. If yellow, the plant needs more light or may be getting too much water. If it rots, much less water is the prescription. If fat and full and green, all is well. One soon learns to strike a happy medium.

The few minutes daily care that orchids require is mostly a matter of watering. Those grown loose in the living-room should be submerged, pot and all, in a pail of room-temperature water for half an hour a week. The plant tops should be sprayed a few times a day.

Orchids grown in a case should get thorough soaking once a week till water runs out the bottom of the pot. Leaves should be syringed daily. The chemicals in most city reservoirs aren't fatal to orchids but neither are they beneficial. We use rain water collected from one of our house gutters. In winter we use melted snow stored indoors till it is room temperature.

The reason why orchids are so dependent on top spraying and humidity for their general health is because most kinds are incapable of taking in adequate amounts of water through their roots alone.

They absorb additional quantities through their leaves. In a sense, they have amphibious instincts. Their roots need air as well as moisture and their tops want water as well as air.

Grow-pause-flower-rest is the annual growing cycle of the orchid. When the plant is growing actively it needs more water. When its new growth is complete, the orchid must make a decision.

If the plant is kept warm and wet, it makes more fresh greenery. But if at this point it is given less water, its urge for reproduction is quickened and the decision is made in favor of a flower spike.

When a new plant is bought it is usually properly potted. It needn't be disturbed for a year or longer. If you are a gardener, it is a must to know when to repot a plant. Three ways to tell when an orchid needs repotting are: when the potting media rots or disappears; when the plant looks sick (due, perhaps, to inadequate drainage) ; when it outgrows its pot.

Orchids have a cheery habit of sprawling new growth right across the pot from one side to the other. When it dangles new, pale green roots over the edge of the rim, it's time to repot it. - 29708

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Find out more as Thomas Fryd shares his experiences on landscaping and gardens at http://www.plant-care.com. Get cleared up on when to repot a plant.

Serious Planting During Southern Frost

By Thomas Fryd

Frost is in the air in the Middle and Upper South. This is the time to think seriously about planting the hundreds of different kinds of shrubs, trees and fruits, for after the middle of November these plants make their appearance in seed and garden center stores. Balled and burlapped plants are the first to be featured. Then the bare-rooted deciduous shrubs, trees and fruits follow in great quantities. Roses, too, are offered everywhere but don't be in a hurry to plant them. There is still plenty of time. December and January are also good planting months.

Vegetable Gardening is at its lowest ebb in the Upper South where lettuce, cabbage, onion and lettuce seeds can be started in coldframes for transplanting to the garden later on. In the Middle South you can plant, in addition to the above, endive, kale, lettuce, radish, spinach, rape and onion sets directly into the garden. In the Lower South beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, celery, collards, Swiss chard, endive, kale, lettuce, onions, parsley, English peas, radishes, rape, rutabaga, spinach and turnips can still be planted.

Hotbeds are handy to have close by the kitchen door. Even a coldframe can be planted to radishes, green onions, parsley, carrots, beets and lettuce to be pulled from time to time for fresh green table vegetables through the winter.

Fruit Trees And Berry Bushes of all kinds will be ready for planting this month. If your garden space is small plant at least some, such as loganberry, blackberry, raspberry or boysenberry, you can also learn some small front yard landscaping ideas. If you have more room, include peach, pear, apple, plum, apricot, nectarine and fig trees. Grapes, too, should be included in the fruit garden.

Bulbs of all kinds can still be planted in the Middle and Upper South. Although they can be planted even into December the best selection of varieties is liable to be gone by that time. In the Upper South, plant paper white narcissus, Soleil d'Or and Chinese Sacred lilies in pebbles and water. Use freesias, Dutch and Roman hyacinths to force in pots.

Refrigerated tulips and hyacinths can be planted in the garden after Thanksgiving in the Lower South. The weather must be cold enough to prevent the plants from coming up before they have a chance to develop a good root system. If warm, wait until December. The average date for the first frost in the Jacksonville, Florida area is November 24. - 29708

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Join Thomas Fryd at http://www.plant-care.com as he continues to explore more effective ways on small front yard landscaping ideas.

Why Houseplants Are Not Growing Well

By Thomas Fryd

If your house plants are not growing well, here are a few generalizations to help decide whether or not the problem originates in the soil mixture. An over-heavy mix (contains too much clay-like soil, not enough humus or sand) packs hard in the pot, which in turn makes it is difficult to moisten or thoroughly wet; the result is that the plants make little or no growth.

Conversely, a light mix - one that drains fast and holds no water - has no "substance," dries out too fast, so the plant suffers from lack of moisture, wilts and dries up. This may result from too much humus, or sand, or both. Where there is an oversupply of humus, the soil mixture may be constantly soggy. If there is too much sand, water runs through the pot so fast it is of little or no benefit to the plant. A soil mixture for hanging baskets that may dry out quickly can go heavier on humus; but for pots to be set inside watertight containers, go easy with humus and heavier with sand.

Plants can be grown in several types of sterile mediums, without any soil at all. Coarse sphagnum moss is excellent for many plants; but before using it, get complete information on how to water and fertilize. (There is little or no nourishment in these "soil substitutes.") Osmunda fiber is a growing medium for epiphytic, or air-growing plants like bromeliads and orchids. Plants can be grown in vermiculite, a mixture of vermiculite and sphagnum, or equal quantities of these two and peat.

You can find many brands of bagged soils at your local garden center for all kinds of needs. Potted material versus soil for staring plants may be different. These mixes are usually weed free and contain a fertilizer charge to get the plant going or feed the plant over a few months. It is also helpful to avoid lawn fertilizer burn.

These substitutes have the advantage of sterility, and harbor no harmful insects or disease. They also allow you to control a plant's rate of growth. You can induce them to speed up by feeding balanced fertilizer; they will stand still indefinitely without food. - 29708

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There is much more to unearth on lawn fertilizer burn. You're only a click away - www.plant-care.com/lawn-fertilizer-burn.html.