Category Archives: Techniques

The Lavender plants are one of the most fragrant plants one can have in the garden. This is one such plant that can bring about a beautiful aura to your garden. The lavender plant is essentially a woody plant and the fragrance of the lavender plant, which has a magical effect, is also considered to be an aphrodisiac. The lavender plant is available in many different species and many green thumbs have tried to grow lavender plants successfully for their sheer beauty and fragrance.

Growing Lavender Plants: Tips and Tricks
Growing lavender plants from its seeds can be a difficult task therefore it may be a better idea to use the cuttings or purchase a healthy plant from a nursery. Once you have the lavender plant, remove it from its container. The space that you have allotted to your garden for the lavender plant should be spacious enough to accommodate all the roots.

The soil plays an important part for any plants growth. Growing lavender plants at home would require you to consider a few things regarding the soil. You must note that the soil should be well drained and you need to work the components well to have a rich soil for the lavender plants. A lean soil helps to have a higher concentration of oils in the soil. Having an alkaline soil helps in the growth of the lavender plants and also helps to enhance the fragrance as well.

Lavender plants can also be grown in the containers or pots if you do not have space for an indoor garden. In case you are planning to grow lavender plants in pots, always remember to keep it in the sun. The pot for the lavender plants should be enough to accommodate the main root although this plant has an enormous root system. This is because the lavender plant should be grown in tight containers to avoid an excess of dampness in the soil, as excess dampness is not beneficial for the roots.

Lavender plants also need to be pruned regularly to keep them well shaped. The pruning also depends upon the variety of the lavender plant. In case of tall lavender plants, cut them to one-third their height. Where as for the small varieties, you need to only cut a few inches.

The mulch is also very much important for the lavender plants. You can use sand or even pea gravel to make a good mixture of mulch. Sand helps to maintain the temperature of the soil. This also helps to reflect heat and light onto the plant, which helps in creating fragrant blooms.

The right proportion of sunlight and water are very important for the lavender plants. When it comes to growing lavender plants, these need full sunlight for their proper growth. Therefore, the location of the plant is very important. Lavender plants need at least 8 hours of proper sunlight. The first one-year of your lavender plant is very important as it needs to be watered well. Otherwise, there is no frequent requirement to water the plants as they mature.

If you are planning to plant plenty of lavender plants then make sure they are evenly spaced out from each other. They should have enough circulation of air so that these plants can grow well and subsequently flower well. Once the lavender plants start growing, ensure that their branches do not touch each other.

When the lavender plant blossoms, it would also be the most rewarding part of your efforts. The flowers of the lavender plants are used for a variety of reasons. In case you wish to pick the flowers, pick them only when half of the flowers have opened up. These fragrant flowers are bound to uplift your mood!

Thus we see that growing lavender plants can be quite an enjoyable and rewarding hobby. Here’s hoping you have blossoming and flowering lavender plants in your home!

Description of Smoke Tree

Smoke tree is a small tree that is approximately 15 feet in height as well as width and the flowering period of this tree is from late spring to early summer. They are of two varieties, which are Smoke Tree and Smoke Bush. It is given such a name since when the tree begins to flower that is from June to August, it starts appearing like a red smoke. This appearance can be attributed to the panicles, which are branched cluster of flowers. Due to the appearance of the flower it is generally classified as an “Ornamental Tree”. Smoke tree has small and smooth leaves, which are round in shape, and their color would vary from blue-green to purple in various species. The leaves have red veins and the edges of the leaves are bordered with red. When the leaves of Smoke tree are crushed they smell like crushed orange peel. The fruit of the Smoke tree is irregular in shape, brown in color and approximately half of an inch in size.

Growth Requirements of Smoke Tree

It is very easy to grow a Smoke tree since it adds to the beauty of a place and has minimum growth requirements. This tree also remains free of pests and insects thus proving it to be a potential option for gardens and parks. Smoke tree grows well if it gets enough sunlight. In regards to the type of soil it requires, it can do well in all kinds of soil if it is well drained. This tree does not require much moisture; in fact it can also resist drought conditions as well as wet soil and climate. In fact it is observed that Smoke trees grow well in unproductive soils, thus facilitating the use of barren soils to get something fruitful. Moreover these trees when planted in fertile soils grow up to become huge with unhealthy foliage due to the fungal disease (Verticullum). As a matter of fact when this particular fungus attacks these plants they die early, due to which flowers fail to grow. The growth rate of the tree is medium. It can be found in the states of Tennessee, Alabama and Texas in the United States.

What are the Uses of Smoke Tree?

The tree can be used for decorative purposes as they have the pink, red or purple inflorescence, which would enhance the beauty of your patio or garden. You can also use the coppice of the plant as a fence for your garden or property. As stated earlier if you have a patch of barren land, plant these trees and add some vegetation to that part of land than keeping it empty and prone to erosion. During fall this tree makes a colorful picture since the leaves and the flowers both show such bright colors that it adds a character to the place where it has grown.

Smoke Tree comes in many varieties like Daydream, Grace, Nordine, Velvet Cloak, Royal Purple. Most of these types show similar characteristics with a few variations related to colors of the foliage and inflorescence.

The onion genus, allium has more than 600-750 species plus and still counting within its genera in the Alliaceae family. Allium is a perennial bulbous plant with members like such as onions, shallots, scallions, leeks, garlic, chives, etc. Although alliums are mostly regarded as a vegetable or a herb crop, there are a few species grown for large bright colored flowers too. This article is about these species. Native to the Northern hemisphere, mainly in Asia, ornamental flowering alliums can be grown in most suitable regions around the world.

Allium
It is very difficult to describe allium species, as each varies in height (about 5 to 150 cm), growth habits, with foliage that can either be long and narrow or slightly curled up. The only thing common are the flowers, only in the way they grow, as each species has a different color as well as may vary in flower density on each stalk. The flowers form an umbel produced at the top of a leafless flowering stem known as scapes mostly shooting from the base. It is amazing to watch an inflorescence umbel flower, with the outside flowers blooming first and progressing to the inside. Read about growing more members of the allium family; how to grow garlic bulbs and growing shallots.

Although, all alliums bear flowers, it’s species and hybrids such as Allium pulchellum, Allium senescens, Allium oreophilum, Allium caeruleum, Allium cowanii, Allium nigrum, Allium karataviense, Allium unifolium, Allium siculum, Allium hollandicum, Allium Firmament, Allium Globe Master, Allium schubertii, Allium rosenbachianum, etc are the ones that have a high ornamental value and can be easily found in most plant nursery stores.

Allium Bulbs Planting
Flowering onions as sometimes these species are called, can be propagated through allium bulbs as well as seeds. However, bulbs are preferred more than seeds, as they take long to seed and have a higher failure rate. They look better when mass planted in flower beds, borders and edgings than in pots. When to plant allium bulbs – do it around late fall or early spring.

Prepare flower beds by digging deep and apply bulb fertilizer or organic compost such as bone meal, peat moss, well rotted manure, etc. Make sure you choose a sunny spot or at least one that receives 4-6 hours of sunlight everyday. Plant allium bulbs four inches deep in grouping of 4-5 bulbs spacing them about six inches apart, leaving the tip lightly covered in soil. Water adequately. Mulch heavily with dried barks if there is fear of extreme frost and snowfall. The tall varieties can be stalked as it gets heavy during a full bloom. Allium bulbs flower mid summer through late summer and in certain conditions even in early fall.

Allium bulbs do not need much feeding, a single application when the flower buds begin to appear should suffice. There aren’t many pests that attack onion, the pungent smell of onion bulb mostly keeps away troublemakers. However, a few diseases like damping off, botrytis, onion smut, downy mildew can damage the plant. But they can all be taken care of with effective and timely pesticide applications. It is recommended that allium bulbs be left undistributed in the ground, and divided every 3-4 years.

Add more bulbous flowers to your landscape: