Flowers To Plant This Spring Season

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  • 1. Pansies
  • 2. Marigolds
  • 3. Petunias
  • 4. Zinnias
  • 5. Sunflowers
  • 6. Sweet Pea
Continue reading Flowers To Plant This Spring Season

Recycle For Your Planting

Save Your Plastic Containers

If you don’t have any soda bottles handy to create your own mini greenhouse, you can also use plastic to-go containers from restaurants. Plastic clamshell containers are the perfect place to get your seeds started.

Clamshell Food Container for Gardening
Family Handyman

Wash your container thoroughly after you finish your food and fill the bottom with soil. Then place your seeds inside with enough space between them for each seed to grow. Close the container and set it near the window where it can soak in the sun. The plastic container keeps moisture locked inside while still allowing sun and warmth to reach your plant. Your seeds will sprout in no time!

Golden Euonymous Shrubs~

Growing golden euonymous shrubs (Euonymus japonicus ‘Aureo-marginatus’) bring color and texture to your garden. This evergreen offers forest-green foliage that is broadly trimmed in bright golden yellow, making the shrub ideal for bright hedges or accent plants. You’ll find another enticing reason to start growing golden euonymous shrubs if you learn just how easy golden euonymous care can be. Read on for more golden euonymous information. Golden Euonymous Information Golden euonymous information tells you that this is a very dense shrub with an oval shape if grown in full sun. The thick foliage makes it ideal for a privacy or even a sound hedge. The shrubs are really striking in the garden. The eyonymous leaves are leathery to the touch and grow up to three inches (7.5 cm.) long. The boldly variegated foliage is the star here. Most leaves are emerald green splashed liberally with buttercup yellow. But, occasionally, you’ll get branches where all of the leaves are solid yellow. Don’t expect showy flowers. The greenish-white blossoms appear in spring but you may not even notice them. They are inconspicuous. Golden euonymous shrubs can grow to 10 feet (3 m.) high and 6 feet (2 m.) wide. One alone can make a stunning statement in your garden. However, the dense foliage of these evergreen plants adapts readily to pruning and even shearing, so they are often used as hedges. How to Grow Golden Euonymous Shrubs If you are wondering how to grow golden euonymous shrubs, it isn’t very difficult. You’ll need to plant them in a sunny spot, provide weekly irrigation and fertilize them annually. Consider growing golden euonymous shrubs if you live in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6-9. When you start growing golden euonymous shrubs, you’ll do best to select a site with moist, fertile, well-drained soil. However, don’t worry too much about your soil type as long as it drains well. The bushes are tolerant and will accept almost any kind of soil. Caring for Golden Euonymous Shrubs Euonymous shrubs are not high maintenance. However, caring for golden euonymous shrubs requires more effort the year they are planted. They will require regular water – up to twice a week – until the root system has established. After that, a weekly watering is usually sufficient. Provide a balanced fertilizer in early spring. Use a slightly lower dose than recommended on the label to avoid burning the roots. If necessary, repeat in mid-autumn. Golden euonymous care includes an annual pruning if planted in a hedge or you want your garden to look neat and tidy. Left to their own devices, they may outgrow the space you have set aside for them.

Read more at Gardening Know How: Golden Euonymus Care: Growing Golden Euonymus Shrubs In The Garden https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/golden-euonymus/golden-euonymus-care.htm


If you’re looking for an easy-to-grow shrub that can provide coverage, Euonymus plant might be just what you’re looking for. The green-and-golden-leaved varieties provide a classic but colorful look for the garden. One of the most popular varieties of Euonymous is Wintercreeper, Euonymus fortunei. Eunonymous is an evergreen shrub that is part of the Celastraceae family and native to East Asia.

Wintercreeper’s scientific name, forutnei, comes from plant explorer Robert Fortune, while its common name indicates that it will creep higher and higher as it grows. Wintercreeper can climb up to 66 feet as a juvenile plant, if it has support, creeping high enough into the crowns of surrounding trees to get more light. However, it stops creeping as an adult. Without support, the vines can grow to between 5 and 15 feet. It can also be grown as a shrub (up to about 2 feet tall) or as a ground cover (less than 1 foot tall).

  • Botanical Name: Euonymous fortunei
  • Common Name: Wintercreeper
  • Plant Type: Evergreen shrub
  • Mature Size: 2 to 4 feet tall (shrub), 2 to 6 inches tall (ground cover), 5 to 15 feet tall (vine)
  • Sun Exposure: Partial sun to full sun
  • Soil Type: Moist, well-drained
  • Soil pH: Alkaline
  • Bloom Time: Summer
  • Flower Color: Flowers typically are ornamentally insignificant and often not visible
  • Hardiness Zones: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
  • Native Area: China

How to Grow Euonymous Wintercreeper Plants

Wintercreeper is generally easy to grow and is tolerant of unfavorable conditions, such as poor soil, drought, and pollution, making it suitable for urban environments. However, because it’s technically an invasive plant, it can spread into surrounding lawns and garden areas, as well as climb adjacent trees if it is not kept in check.

Light

Wintercreeper thrives in full sun to part shade, but it can tolerate a significant amount of shade.

Soil

Wintercreeper grows easily in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil. It prefers alkaline soil but will tolerate many different soil conditions, including compacted soil, various pH levels, and dry (drought) soil conditions. It does not do well in wet soil.

Water

Water Wintercreeper when the top 3 inches of soil are dry. If the plant is already established, it can also tolerate drought conditions. If you live in a cold-winter climate, you can help prevent common winter problems, such as desiccation, by watering the plants well in fall, before the ground freezes.

Temperature and Humidity

Wintercreeper does well in a range of temperature and humidity levels, including USDA planting zones 5 through 9. Some other varieties of Euonymous are very cold-hardy, while others do best at the warmer end of the scale. In areas with harsh winters, Wintercreeper can suffer some winter damage from ice and dramatic temperature fluctuations. Wrapping plants in burlap can help minimize damage. Fortunately, this resilient plant is very good at recovering from the effects of winter.

Fertilizer

As an evergreen shrub with insignificant flowers, Wintercreeper may need no fertilizer for general health. If desired, you can feed it once a year, in fall, using a small amount of fertilizer and keeping it at least 2 inches from the plant’s trunk.

Varieties

There are three varieties of Wintercreepers:

  • Euonymus fortunei var. fortunei is native to China and Korea. This is the only variety that features the green-and-gold leaf pattern.
  • Euonymus fortunei var. radicans is native to Japan. This variety has plain green leaves.
  • Euonymus fortunei var. vegetus is native to northern Japan. Some experts say it’s not distinct from var. radicans.

Additionally, there are three cultivars, though not all will offer the emerald-and-gold coloring that many gardeners desire:

  • Emerald Gaiety has green and white leaves.
  • Emerald ‘n’ Gold has green leaves with wide yellow margins.
  • Emerald Surprise has green foliage with smaller yellow margins.

Toxicity

Fortunei is considered to be a toxic plant, but is it poisonous only if it is consumed in large quantities, so there’s no need to be too concerned.

Common Pests

One of the most common problems you may face with many types of Euonymous shrub is Euonymus scale, an armored insect that attacks the leaves and stems of infected plants. Treat for scale by pruning off infected branches and/or by applying a horticultural oil at the appropriate times of the growing season. In many areas, this is late May to early June and late July to early August, during the two hatches of the insect.

Comparing Wintercreeper to Japanese Euonymous

A similar species to Wintercreeper is the Japanese Euonymous (Euonymous japonicus), which is native to Japan, Korea, and China. Like the Wintercreeper, it’s an evergreen shrub that grows to be around 10 to 15 feet tall when grown as a vine. However, Japanese Euonymous is most commonly used as a hedge plant, growing 6 to 8 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet wide in its natural form. It has hardy, leathery foliage and dense growth, making it a good choice for a topiary plant.

There is a green and yellow cultivar of Japanese Euonymous, known as Bravo, while other cultivars—Albomarginatus, Latifolius Albomarginatus, and President Gauthier—have green and white leaves. There is also a dwarf variety, microphyllus, that’s about 2 to 3 feet high and is often used for edging.

https://www.thespruce.com/emerald-n-gold-euonymus-shrubs-2132073

Companion Plants!


Swiss Chard And Chamomile
Companion planting is the practice of placing plants in the garden so that they help one another in some way, such as growing better, fighting pests or sheltering or supporting one another. Many herbs, including chamomile, attract beneficial insects like parasitic wasps or hoverflies. These insects attack chard pests, such as aphids. Other good chard companions: lettuce, beans, peas, cabbage. Do not plant with beets or spinach.


Tomato And Basil
Tomato and basil are a classic companion planting, with basil said to repel pests and diseases. Basil, especially in flower, attracts beneficial insects, including various wasps, which prey on caterpillars like the tomato hornworm. Plant basil on the edges of tomato rows, not between plants, so they get enough sun, or place pots of basil and tomato side by side on a patio. Other good tomato companions: lettuce, chives, garlic, borage and marigold. Do not plant with corn, dill, fennel, peas, potato or cole crops.

Swiss Chard, Kohlrabi And Kale

Swiss chard (in the beet plant family) is a great companion plant for cabbage family members, including kohlrabi and curly purple kale. The plants also stage a beautiful edible planting with contrasting colors and leaf textures. Other good cabbage family companions: lettuce, carrots, rosemary, oregano, marigold, nasturtium. Do not plant with beans, tomato, pepper or strawberry.

Leaf Lettuce And Sweet Alyssum

Small-flowered plants like sweet alyssum and thyme are great companions for leaf lettuce. The blooms attract beneficial insects, which feed on aphids, a common lettuce pest. Lettuce pairs well with many different plants. Other good lettuce companions: carrot, onions, garlic, radish, broccoli, beans, mint. Do not plant with parsley.

Syrphid Fly On Dill

Dill is a helpful plant in the vegetable garden because its small flowers attract beneficial insects, including hoverflies and ladybugs (both prey on aphids), wasps of all sorts (prey on caterpillars and other insects), spiders and pollinating bees. Other good dill companions: cabbage, onion, cucumber, corn and lettuce. Do not plant with fennel, tomato, carrot or cilantro.

Bumble Bee On Bachelor’s Button

Include flowers planted among your vegetables to lure in pollinators, like bumble bees. Arrange flowers in drifts or clusters. Some of the best bloomers to use include calendula, sweet pea, cosmos, alyssum, bee balm and nasturtium. Bachelor’s button makes a great companion for corn, which helps to shade the bloomer as summer heat arrives.

Sunflower In Vegetable Garden

Add sunflowers to your vegetable garden to beckon bees of all types, which help pollinate squash, pumpkin, peppers, cucumbers, and melons. These sunny flowers also lure ladybugs, which prey on aphids. Other good sunflower companions: corn, cucumber, watermelon. Do not plant with potato.

https://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/outdoors/gardening/10-ways-make-your-yard-buzz-worthy-and-help-the-bees-pictures

Planting Tips

planting siberian squill

Denis and Yulia Pogostins

Get your garden off to a good start by planting your perennials at the right time and handling them the right way. One guiding philosophy: Perennial plants are all about the roots. Keeping the roots strong and healthy is the number one consideration when planting perennials. It’s those roots that will keep the plants coming up year after year. Here’s what you need to know about planting perennials to give them what they need to grow up and be beautiful.

Fall or Spring?

Knowing when to plant perennials is essential. Spring is generally the best time to plant, for obvious reasons. The soil is warming, the sun is shining, the days are lengthening and the rain if falling. Spring is also a good time to divide existing perennials that have gotten bigger and better and plant the smaller pieces in other locations.  
 
Fall is a good planting time for perennials that bloom in the spring or summer. Fall planting gives them time to grow strong roots to prepare for the big flower show the following year. Another plus to fall planting: Nurseries are cutting prices on perennials at the end of the season, so you can save a lot of money. 

Do not plant in the summer. It’s too hot, the days are too long and rain is unreliable in many climates. There’s too much stress for a new plant to thrive. And winter? No. Just, no. 

How Do I Plant?

New plants come in three forms. Knowing how to plant perennials correctly depends on which form you’re planting.

Container-grown perennial plants are the ones you buy at a nursery or plant center, already growing in a pot. They’re the easiest to transplant successfully. Dig a hole twice as wide as the container but no deeper. Pull the plant out of the pot, gently loosen the roots and place in the hole. Fill the hole with soil mixed with compost and water well. Fertilize a week after planting.

Bare-root perennial plants are less expensive than the container-grown ones, but they’re a little trickier. They are just as billed: a clump of plant roots. They’re not for beginners. Soak them in water before planting them in the ground. Add compost to the soil at time of planting and pamper them till they sprout leaves.

Seeds are the least expensive way to start a garden of perennial plants. Growing from seed takes more skill and patience than transplanting container-grown perennial plants. Perennials are slow growing, so if you sow seeds directly in the ground after the last frost you won’t have adult plants till late in the season. Best to start them in the winter, indoors, in small pots and pamper them until they are large enough to transplant outdoors.

Life thoughts~

Hey out there on the world wide web! Hope everyone is doing okay and feeling good, or at least trying their darn level best.

I thought I would write some about things that I have had on my mind. Everyone else seems to do that, so I said, “Why not?”

MwsR

I am loving the days of sunshine around where I live. It is great to see and helps a person feel much better than a dreary rainy day. I have been preparing my garden area lately. I already have seedlings that have started sprouting. I am not sure if the chance of frost is a definitely thing of the past though. I have read where we, in my case, are going to see chilly weather, hopefully not freezing temperatures.

I really like getting my hands in the dirt and working the ground. It is something I contribute to my grandmother, whom I watch growing up as a kid. She could get anything to grow and much like her, so can I. I love the beautiful flowers as well as the vegetation and find that I am in my element when I am out in the dirt or planting something. I do not see much of an interest in two of my three kids but hopefully the one that seems interested, will find herself a lot like me in that department.

When a person finds something they are good at, they should delight in it and do that something with all the love and effort they have. I see our world so baffled with much of our stresses, instead of enjoying the things we really have reason to enjoy. Sure we are going to have rotten days and painful days and days when we wish to give up but mostly we have so many gifts we cannot see them for all those other things we are letting hold us down. I am guilty of this as well as the next person. Sometimes I think to myself how am I going to enjoy life again, and without warning it sneaks up on me and I find comfort in things again. That is not to say that I do not carry stress or burdens but I try not to let those dominate my whole life.

I know easier said than done sometimes. It really can happen though, give it a chance.

MwsR

One thing a person must remember is that there is lots in life one can always find the thing that brings them comfort and joy, just might take some time.

I cannot wait to taste all the things I am going to plant this year. I hope to have enough to sustain my family once again, at least in vegetables.

So I think that is what I had mostly on my mind. Hope everyone enjoys this week. Thanks again for commenting, following, sharing my webpage and blog and I shall see you on this side of the rainbow!

Peace and love,

Michelle, aka MwsR