Deadheading flowers or plants is very important to the health of plants and overall look of your gardens. Deadheading is practice of removing the old flower blossoms from a plant. This keeps your garden looking tidy and fresh plus plants bloom better if the old flower heads have been removed.
photo credit: audreyjm529

When the blossom remains on the plant seeds begin to develop and the plant uses extra energy to develop those seeds thus taking the energy away from future blossoms. Many plants just stop blooming and will sit the rest of the season, not reaching their full beauty and potential

Tips for deadheading flowers

• Deadhead a flower when the flower starts to brown, wither or looks tired and ragged.
• Cutting the stem of a tall flower that sits on a long slender stem should be done at the base of the plant. Other plants can be deadheaded by pinching the flower off or snapping it off with your hand. A pair of garden shears, scissors or a knife will work well too.
• Trim up annuals and perennials that have dying or ragged foliage by cutting back the foliage by one-third to two-thirds. The best time to trim the plants back is when the plant has stopped blooming or when it starts to get that overall tired look. This will encourage the plants to send out a new growth of healthy, fresh foliage with flowers
• Bushy plants with many small flowers react best to deadheading by trimming the whole plant at once. It’s much easier than trying to remove one flower at a time. Hand held grass shears or small hedge clippers will do this trimming job with the best results.

When I first raised flowers I didn’t deadhead the plants but it makes a big difference in the appearance of the plants and the flowers that is has. My neighbors flower always produce better and were fuller so I asked her why. The answer: deadheading.

So add more color and life to your gardens by taking up this practice. Your gardens will be more alive and colorful.

Technorati Tags: annual flowers, Backyard Flower Garden, perennial flower, plant care

With the garden season under way I realized I needed a few more plants. Looking for reasonable prices and unique plants I decided a trip to Amish country and their wonderful greenhouses would be the perfect solution.

photo credit: dougtone

Amish country is like stepping back 50 to 100 years in the past. As I traveled the dirt road, and I mean narrow dirt roads with buggy tracks and dust flying 15 foot high, I enter the heartland of our Amish country. I pass several lumber mills, a hand made furniture shop and a toyshop. The store with handmade quilts and weaving supplies is around the corner and then I will arrive at the greenhouses.

I have shopped at the Amish greenhouses for years. They have a great selection of heirloom tomatoes that I cannot find anywhere else and different flowers. They usually have baked good or homemade jellies and jams and besides the atmosphere is fun.

The one greenhouse business had several greenhouses spread out amoung their own gardens. Sheds with character add to the scenic view. Top that off with chickens, puppies and 20 or more small children and it’s a sight to see.

My trip was successful. I bought two flats of plants that will complete my spring planting and enjoyed the beautiful countryside. Amish horse and buggies, farmhouses and sheds for maple syrup and old mills added to the trip. The one school was also letting out and children with bare feet were running up the road to help in the gardens or play.

photo credit: Bob Jagendorf

A trip to Amish country always remind me of simpler times and kicking back and taking time to enjoy the sunny days and quiet times. I also grew up on one of those winding dusty dirt roads so the day brought back many memories.

Technorati Tags: Amish communities, Amish living, country living, heirloom tomatoes, spring planting and Amish greenhouses

The Chinese Lantern plant is most commonly known for its use as a dried flower in fall arrangements. They last for a long time once dried and look great in bouquets and on wreaths. One use that many people do not know of is that the orange berry inside the orange lantern shaped flower makes a great jelly.

These plants can be started from seed but it’s easier to but plants and divide the plants every few years. The easiest way to divide the plants is to lift the plants and separate them into rooted pieces in the spring, then replant them. These plants spread by runners underground.

If you start them from seed, sow in flats of sandy soil or directly outside. Those sown directly outside should be thinned to 6 inches apart before they become too crowded.

These plants will spread if they are grown in a sandy area that drains well and that has six hours of sunlight. I keep my area that I grow them in somewhat contained to help keep the plants under control. They do like to spread if grown in the right conditions.

I use Chinese lanterns for many crafts and dried arrangements so like to grow a large area of the plants. I am moving some from a house that was decently torn down and hope to add an additional two rows of the flowers to my garden area plus share some with friends.

To dry the flower for use in arrangements, pick them at their height of color and hang upside down in a dark room for a few weeks.

The Chinese Lantern is part of the potato family. The Chinese lantern is most commonly known by this name but is also called the Winter Cherry. Its Latin botanical name is Physalis  Alkekengi.

Tags: Chinese lanterns, growing Chinese Lanterns, how to separate Chinese lanterns, using Chinese lanterns as dried flowers,