General Gardening
Flowers for Shady Apartment Patio
I was thinking of getting flowers for my apartment patio, but my patio is on the ground floor and does not get much light. Any suggestions?
How to Harvest Calla Lily Bulbs
Most calla lily flowers have waxy-white flowers that gracefully twist and curl, ending in a delicate point. Other calla lily flower varieties are pink, orange or red, dark green or variegated with white spots. Calla lily plants are native to marshlands of South Africa but have gained popularity in gardens in the United States as marginal pond plants and potted plants. It is a popular flower for weddings and Easter, and cut calla lily flowers last a long time in floral displays.
Cactus Candy Recipe
Cactus candy is a delicious and unique candy that you can easily make in your kitchen. Odds are that you won’t have enough room in a container garden on your balcony to grow paddle cactus (aka prickly pear or nopal cactus), but you can harvest the cactus’ fruits if you live in the Southwest.
How to Repot Plants
When a plant outgrows its plant container, it is "pot-bound" or "root-bound." It no longer grows, and its roots begin to come up out of the dirt, as well as emerge from the drainage holes on the bottom of the plant container. The roots have become cramped and packed tightly into the container, like the roots of the bush lily in the picture on the right.
English Ivy and Other Invasive Plants
In the Pacific Northwest of the United States, there is a problem with invasive English ivy taking over local wildlife (it is native to Europe and western Asia). It's gotten so bad that the plant is actually banned in Oregon. In order to combat the ivy plant that has taken over local parks, volunteers rip it out. If you have a problem with ivy in your area, or any other invasive plant for that matter, you can volunteer to remove and destroy non-native plant species.
