Monday, March 30, 2015
Friday, March 13, 2015
Ranunculus
Common name : Paper flower
Outdoor Beds
- Find a location where the soil drains well. If there are still water puddles 5-6 hours after a hard rain, scout out another site. Or amend the soil with the addition of organic material to raise the level 2-3 inches to improve the drainage. Peat moss, compost, ground bark or decomposed manure all work well and are widely available.
- Site your ranunculus where they will receive full sun.
- Dig holes and plant the ranunculus bulbs 2” deep and 4”-6” apart. The bulbs look like small, dark bunches of bananas, a curious shape that makes it easy to determine which side is up and which is down for planting. Tuck your ranunculus into the planting hole with the “bananas” pointing down.
- After planting, water well to settle the soil around the bulbs. Roots and sprouts will form in the autumn. Winter will bring taller growth and flowers will develop in the spring.
- When in bloom, feel free to cut ranunculus flowers for bouquets. This will not hurt your plants, in fact, the more you cut the more blooms your ranunculus will produce. Snip away.
- After blooming has finished for the season leave the foliage in place; don't cut it off. The leaves will gather sunlight and provide nourishment for next year's show. Water as needed during active growth periods. Ranunculus actually prefer not to be watered while dormant.
- At the end of the summer the leaves will yellow and die back as the plant slips into dormancy. Foliage many be removed at this point. Your ranunculus will rest for a few months before beginning the next growing cycle.
Pots, Barrels, Tubs & Urns
- Fill your containers with good quality, well-drained soil. Almost any commercially available potting medium will work fine. Make sure there are adequate drainage holes; ranunculus bulbs must never sit in waterlogged soil or they will rot. Keep in mind the mature size of the varieties you have chosen and plan your container sizes accordingly.
- Site your ranunculus where they will receive full sun.
- Dig holes and plant the ranunculus bulbs 2” deep and 4”-6” apart. The bulbs look like small, dark bunches of bananas, a curious shape that makes it easy to determine which side is up and which is down for planting. Tuck your ranunculus into the planting hole with the “bananas” pointing down.
- After planting, water well to settle the soil around the bulbs. Roots and sprouts will form in the autumn. Winter will bring taller growth and flowers will develop in the spring. (Spring planted ranunculus will bloom the first year in late summer and in the spring subsequent years in frost-free areas.)
- When in bloom, feel free to cut ranunculus flowers for bouquets. This will not hurt your plants, in fact, the more you cut the more blooms your Tecolote ranunculus will produce. So snip away.
- After blooming has finished for the season leave the foliage in place; don't cut it off. The leaves will gather sunlight and provide nourishment for next year's show. Water as needed during active growth periods. Ranunculus actually prefer not to be watered while dormant.
- At the end of the summer the leaves will yellow and die back as the plant slips into dormancy. Foliage many be removed at this point. Your ranunculus will rest for a few months before beginning the next growing cycle.
Special Considerations/Tips for Outstanding Ranunculus Blooms
- These bulbs perform best when they have 6-8 weeks of cool weather in which to sprout and grow. Ideal conditions are typically 35-50 F degrees at night, with daytime highs in the 60-75F range. For this reason we do not recommend planting bulbs in late spring or early summer where temperature rise above 80 degrees. At these high temperatures, ranunculus bulbs slip into dormancy and fail to sprout.
- Ranunculus are winter hardy to Zone 8. They can tolerate a light overnight frost, so in mild years they may overwinter in the warmer parts of Zone 7. Typically, to grow Ranunculus in zones 4-7, we recommend planting in the early spring when the chance of frost has passed. Then enjoy late spring blooms.
- These banana-bunch looking bulbs are unusual in that they will hold well out of the ground for extended periods of time, sometimes more than a year. If you wish to hold your bulbs to plant at a later time - perhaps when weather is more suitable - simply tuck them in a brown paper bag and store them in a cool and dry environment. Warm, dry air may cause the bulbs to dry out and high humidity/excessive moisture may cause them to mold.
- Ranunculus produce complex, multi-petal flowers and use a lot of energy doing so. To encourage strong flowering, add some all purpose fertilizer when you plant and suppliment with half strength fertilizer every two weeks while the plants are actively growing.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Daisy
Daisies belong to the daisy family of Compositae, now known as Asteraceae in flowering plants. Daisies are native to north and central Europe.
The origin of the word Daisy is the Anglo Saxon “daes eage†which literally mean “day’s eyeâ€. It was called this because daisies open at dawn as the day just starts to begin.
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Phylum
- Anthophyta
- Class
- Magnoliopsida
- Order
- Asterales
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Genus
- Bellis
Some Interesting Facts about Daisies
- A Daisy is a perennial whose evergreen leaves form a basal tuft or a rosette.
- Daisy flower plant has a prostrate fashion or a growing habit of spreading.
- Daisies can be propagated by division in spring or through sowing seeds in spring or late autumn.
- English Daisy is a serious weed in the northwest United States.
- The Daisy flowers open at dawn and are visited by many small insects.
- Daisies are used by children to make daisy chains.
- The Daisy's leaves are edible and can be used in salads.
About the Daisy Plant and Flower
A Daisy flower is composed of white or yellow petals and a yellow center, although the flower can sometimes have a pink or rose color.Daisies are not made of just one flower. A Daisy is made up of two types of flowers - disk florets and petal-like white ray florets. The disk florets are at the center and the ray florets are at the periphery but they are arranged to give the impression of being a single flower. This arrangement on Daisies is a type of inflorescence known as a capitulum.
The stems of Daisies are smooth and leafless and support a single flower. Daisy plants have 3 - 4 inch flower stalks. The Daisy leaf texture varies and may be smooth or hairy, narrow at the base and slightly lobed. The Daisy flower stalks are generally longer than the leaves.
Varieties of Daisies
Some of the varieties of Daisies are the white Daisy-like flowers, the Spanish Daisy, Blue Daisy, Lazy Daisy or Prairie Daisy, African Daisy, Michaelmas Daisy, Swan River Daisy, Tatarian Daisy, Painted Daisy, Paris Daisy, Shasta Daisy, Crown-Daisy, Ox-eye Daisy, Nippon Oxeye Daisy, Giant Daisy, African Daisy, Kingfisher Daisy, Sunshine Daisy, Gerbera Daisy, Transvaal Daisy or Barberton Daisy, Tahoka Daisy, Livingstone Daisy, Gloriosa Daisy, Dahlberg Daisy and Butter Daisy.
Pansy
Cool weather is just what pansy prefers. It's an annual that
gardeners flock to because it's one of the best flowers to plant in
spring for early-season containers and window boxes, relishing the variety in bloom color as much as the cheery uplifted petals.
Name: Viola x wittrockiana
Growing conditions: Sun or part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 10 inches tall and 12 inches wide
Zones: 4-8
Spring flowers
Name: Viola x wittrockiana
Growing conditions: Sun or part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: To 10 inches tall and 12 inches wide
Zones: 4-8
Light:
Part Sun,
Shade,
Sun
Type:
Perennial
Height:
Under 6 inches
Width:
6 inches or indefinitely wide, depending on variety
Flower Color:
Blue,
Orange,
Pink,
Red,
White
Foliage Color:
Chartreuse/Gold
Seasonal Features:
Fall Bloom,
Spring Bloom,
Winter Bloom,
Winter Interest
Problem Solvers:
Deer Resistant,
Groundcover
Special Features:
Cut Flowers,
Fragrance,
Good for Containers,
Low Maintenance
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