Melinda's Garden Moments

Low E Glass Impact on Houseplants

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You can conserve energy and still grow healthy houseplants. Light, water and nutrients are the keys to growing healthy plants. Many energy conscious indoor gardeners are concerned when considering replacing their windows with Low-E glass.  Fortunately, it only reduces the visible light needed by our plants by an additional 5 to 10 percent. A side benefit to your plants is that the Low-E glass moderates temperatures indoors keeping plants, especially those growing near windows, warmer at night and cooler during the day. And no matter what type of glass is in the windows – keep them clean to maximize the amount of light reaching your plants.

Melinda's Garden Moments

Maypop Brings Summer Blooms, Edible Fruit in Fall

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Go vertical with the fragrant unique white and purple blooms of purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata). Hardy in zone 6 to 9 the purple passionflower will often survive in sheltered zone 5 locations. Grow it in full sun to partial shade and well-drained soil. Once established, it is drought tolerant. This vigorous grower is native to the Southeast U.S. If happy, it will send out suckers and cover large areas of the landscape.

Melinda's Garden Moments

Hot and Cold Weather Tomatoes

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Don’t let the weather ruin your tomato harvest. Select the variety best suited to your area. Weather extremes can prevent tomatoes from forming fruit. When daytime temperatures rise above 90 degrees and night temperatures remain above 70 degrees blossom drop and poor fruit development can occur. Combine this with low humidity and the pollen is not viable.

Melinda's Garden Moments

Celebrating the Gumbo-Limbo Tree

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This month we celebrate a big tree located in Bradenton, Florida, a 90-year-old Gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba) tree. You may know this tree by its nickname “tourist tree.” The bright red peeling bark looks like sunburned skin that so many tourists experience when traveling south in the winter. The lightweight wood from this tree was used to make carousel horses before the advent of molded plastic. It’s still used for decking and valued as a shade or specimen tree. This beauty grows naturally in coastal hammocks of southern Florida, the West Indies, Central America and northern South America.

Melinda's Garden Moments

Hugelkulture, Hill or Mound, Gardening

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Extend the growing season, conserve moisture and recycle twigs, branches and logs into a raised bed of rich garden soil with hugelkulture. This unique gardening technique has been practiced in Germany and Eastern Europe for hundreds of years. Start your garden in a sunny or shady location, depending on the plants you want to grow. You can create your hugelkulture garden on the soil surface or start it in a trench. The lowest level consists of larger branches and logs.  Avoid cedar and black locust that break down slowly and black walnut that can be toxic to plants.

Melinda's Garden Moments

Barrenwort is Made for the Shade

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Use the versatile shade tolerant Barrenwort as a colorful groundcover, in rock gardens, natural spaces and any mixed planting bed. This beauty, also known as Epimedium, provides four seasons of interest. The green leaves emerge in spring with a red tinge. This is also when the white, yellow or red blooms begin.  The flowers fade, but the heart shaped leaves on wiry stems provide texture in the garden. In fall, the leaves turn red and some persist over winter.

Melinda's Garden Moments

Add Dahlias to your Garden Designs

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Plant a few easy-care dahlia tuberous roots directly in your garden this spring and enjoy colorful blooms mid-summer through the first fall frost. The early season foliage provides a nice backdrop for earlier blooming annuals and perennials. Boost their ornamental value by including a few of the burgundy leafed varieties. Then enjoy the colorful addition to the late season the blossoms provide. Use shorter border dahlias along walkways, next to the patio or at the front edge of a flower garden.

Melinda's Garden Moments

Grow Your Own Celery Indoors or Out

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Celery, an unassuming vegetable has long been used as a flavorful ingredient in soups, stews and casseroles. You’ll also find it fresh on a relish tray or as a crunchy low calorie snack. Its value is being recognized and celebrated during April, National Celery Month. This long season vegetable is difficult to grow in many areas. The plants are slow to germinate and the young transplants will bolt if subject to cool periods.