Gardening on the Moon ( GOTM )

Written by Jeff
Non-GOTM pictures credited by hover notes – move cursor over image

Follow Jeff on Twitter for daily garden tips and news!

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  GreenhouseGrower.com – This site has many short clips of Allan Armitage talking about some of your favorite plants: Hardy Geraniums, Euphorbias, Fuseables, Favorite Winners, Heucheras, etc.

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  A Fallen Beauty – Noelle is a “horticultural” professional who lives and works in the Sonoran Desert. She shares her sad story of how one of her favorite trees had to be taken down. I agree with her that it is more cost-efficient to do it yourself if you know how. A landscape or tree company will charge between $300-$500 dollars to do the job. That will pay for a lot of equipment to do it yourself. I took down a Palo Verde earlier this year. I bought a new saw for $100 +/- and did it myself. Not only did I save a bundle, I was sure the job was done correctly (and if not, I knew who to blame.)

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  Calling All Butterflies – Amy from GO AWAY, I’M GARDENING, explains how she uses specific plants to attract butterflies to your garden. We get butterflies in the desert as well and some of the same plants provide the same enticement for the winged beauties. If you like butterflies, this post is for you.

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  One Mighty Sunflower -I am always amazed how such a big plant can grow from such a relatively small seed. This picture will highlight that point.

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  Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

  
  

  
  
  

Written by Jeff
Non-GOTM pictures credited by hover notes – move cursor over image

Follow Jeff on Twitter for daily garden tips and news!

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  Before and After – Garden Transformations – Take those UGLY before pictures to amaze everyone after the transformation. It is always exciting and often amazing how a landscape project changes the views and terrain. Even small landscape projects can make a big difference. Take photos throughout the project to help remember how things have changed. Use the pictures to share and amaze your friends and other interested parties!

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  Add a vertical element to your garden in a hurry with a simple tuteur and some vines (I never heard this term before either. A tuteur is a four-sided trellis.) The tuteur pictured above is not the one from the post!

http://www.finegardening.com/item/16223/a-simple-tuteur-for-annual-vines

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  What elements help make Japanese Gardens so serene? Whenever I visit a Japanese Garden I am always impressed with the simplicity of design and the mood it creates. Usually there are not a lot of flowers, but the water features, sculptures and greenery all add up to a special experience. The Washington Post has an article that might help those who want to bring peace, serenity and calm to their garden designs. Be sure to check the picture gallery to see how these elements work together.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/12/AR2010081207241.html

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  Mr. Brown Thumb shows off his Venus Fly Trap, Francis, and gives some pointers about growing this interesting carnivorous plant. He even went out of his way to provide food for his pet plant!

http://mrbrownthumb.blogspot.com/2010/08/venus-flytrap-catches-fly.html

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  Curb gardens can be a big problem because of the proximity to the street and all that brings with it such as automobile emissions and salt damage from winter road de-icing. Homestead Gardens explains how to make the best use of the curbside space for plantings.

http://homesteadgardens.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/super-tougstainable-plants-for-curb-gardens/

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

Written by Jeff
Non-GOTM pictures credited by hover notes – move cursor over image

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  VIDEO: Rose Anatomy – I have been growing roses for a good number of years. This video will be very helpful if you are new to roses or if you just need a refresher course about rose anatomy. Among the topics discussed are basal breaks, bud unions and bud eyes.

http://www.finegardening.com/item/16036/anatomy-of-a-rose

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  Galvanized Planters – This is an interesting “how to” explaining one way to create galvanized planters that look special. The author gives hints to help extend their usefulness and make them especially nice by painting designs on them.

http://lessthanperfectlifeofbliss.blogspot.com/2010/06/galvanized-planters-whose-idea-was-this.html

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  NOTE – THE LINK BELOW was down when I wrote this post (as is much of the site), but I hope it reappears. If not, here is another link for you to look at to “get the idea!” Alternate Link

  Coffee can herb garden – This might be of interest to those who like to give “living presents” to their friends and acquaintances.

http://thegardenersrake.com/make-an-easy-coffee-can-herb-garden/

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  Do You Know Which Fish Are Safe to Eat? Now that the oil spill in LA is winding down somewhat, I am afraid we must be even more aware of what is and is NOT healthy to eat. This article gives some information about generally health/unhealthy fish mainly because of mercury. With the oil and the dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico, I am personally adding many others to the list until I am satisfied they are safe!

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/low-mercury-fish

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  From Park Seed Co. – An article explaining a few tricks to help your plants “Beat the Heat” In my area, the Sonoran Desert, where temps hover above 100 for weeks on end during the summer, survival starts with selecting the correct plant for the correct location. Very few plants can take full sun all day in the desert. One annual that we have had success with this year is the portulaca. As long as they have enough water and steady fertilizer, they have been able to take the sun and heat. (We did have to rescue them from the rabbits once!)

  Park Seed Co. offers additional ideas to help your plants “enjoy” the summer heat.

http://images.parkseed.com/parksgardens/pem002185/aug10pem002185tb.html#beatheat

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

Written by Jeff
Non-GOTM pictures credited by hover notes – move cursor over image

Follow Jeff on Twitter for daily garden tips and news!

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  How to Dry Hydrangeas – This is the time of year when many hydrangeas are showing their dazzling array of colors. I love the blue hydrangeas, but if I can’t have blue, then the white/green buds are my favorites. Of course if I can’t have those, I will settle for any color. I enjoy the variety of colors and forms. If you want to preserve your flowers and some of that bounty of color, here is some advice.

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  Foliage plants for sun and shade – Gardners (including me) often overlook our fancy foliage friends when it comes to managing color in the garden. There are so many varieties of coleus, begonias, etc. that can put a contrast to a specific spot or lighten a garden area. P. Allen Smith shows us some of these beauties exhibiting their Sunday’s finest!

http://www.pallensmith.com/articles/top-10-foliage-plants?mnt=12

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  Wood Carving: Trees as a Medium – Many a gardener has faced the dilemma of “the dead tree.” Some of the time the tree is in the most conspicuous spot which may present a more urgent situation. Why not have the tree carved into a garden statue? Here are some examples of tree carvings. I once saw the Statue of Liberty carved from such a stricken tree in New Jersey.

http://webecoist.com/2010/07/15/wood-carving-trees-as-a-medium/

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  Video – How to make a Luminary Gourd – If you can make it through the onslaught of puns at the beginning of this video, it will provide a brief tutorial of how to use your garden gourds as luminarias or garden lights!

http://thegardenersrake.com/how-to-make-a-luminary-gourd

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  Pride in Produce – Mind busting vegetables/fruits: Gardeners show off their unique, huge bounties. Growing an especially large, long, heavy or colorful vegetable takes a lot of work. Why not brag about it and share it with others. These pictures may boggle your mind. The cabbage is humongous! Have you ever grown a super veggie or fruit?

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/60237

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

Written by Jeff
Non-GOTM pictures credited by hover notes – move cursor over image

Follow Jeff on Twitter for daily garden tips and news!

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  Beautiful and Strange Trees – Trees can be stately and/or weird. When we visited the Sydney, Australia Botanical Garden we saw some interesting trees. One had bats hanging from it and was endangered of being destroyed. The one tree that caught my eye and is pictured here was this majestic fig tree. What can be more commanding than a mature tree? See some more outstanding trees at the link below.

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  No need to leave kitty inside when you can have a catio. Apparently there is a new movement afoot for cat lovers! On our local garden tour in March one of the houses had a newly constructed catio for their NINE cats. I guess if I had nine cats I would have an outside area for them as well. All “kittyng” aside, read more about this apparent trend.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/garden/17catio.html

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  Houseplants that are hard to kill – I favor the ZZ plant pictured in the article (not here). It appears to do well as an indoor plant even in the desert. I have grown several other plants mentioned and they are relatively “easy” as houseplants go.

http://webecoist.com/2010/06/21/no-green-thumb-13-healthy-hard-to-kill-houseplants/

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  Roses bred to resist “bugs” ALSO surrender their fragrance. The loss of the old world rose scent has long been a topic of consternation starting way back in the 1960s (or before) as a wave of hybridizing swept the world and with it took out many of the genes of those wonderful-smelling roses! Read more about this dilemma from the NY Times!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/garden/24roses.html

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  Patio paver planters – I am always on the lookout for a way to gather unusual or at least different planters. These seem simple and straight forward to make AND you get to pick your color; any color!

http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2010/05/paito-paver-planters.html

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post