Some Helpful Tips

#1 Many of you have houseplants that spend their summers outside on decks and porches but spend their winters indoors.   It is safe to bring them out when the nighttime temperatures stay above 60 degrees.  Be sure to acclimate them slowly.  For plants that require full sun, slowly increase the duration and intensity of sunlight they receive.  It is also beneficial to periodically hose off the foliage to increase the humidity around the plant, as most houseplants are tropical from humid environments.  Be sure to do this early in the morning before the sun becomes too hot.  You will also want to begin increasing the amount of fertilizer and water you give your houseplants now that they will be actively growing again.

#2 Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a corm and a bulb?  Here are some basic definitions of these underground storage organs.  A true bulb is a short underground stem, surrounded by modified fleshy leaves (scales), which are visibly layered.  Roots grow off of the basal plate of a bulb.  An example would be an onion.  A corm is also a swollen underground stem base but with solid tissue (unlike bulb scales).  Corms also have a basal plate the roots grow out of.  Gladiolas have corms.  Rhizomes are thickened stems that grow partially or entirely underground, such as an iris.  It is a horizontal stem that has roots and shoots along its nodes.  Tubers are swollen underground stem bases like a corm but without the organization of parts the corm has.  On a tuber, roots can grow from all sides and multiple growth points are distributed over the upper surface.  An example of a tuber is a potato.  A tuberous root is actually a root that stores nutrients, for example Dahlias and Daylilies.  The roots grow in a cluster with the swollen tuberous portions radiating out from a central point.  Regardless of whether it is a bulb or a rhizome, when in doubt of which end is the growth node and which is the roots, plant it on its side and it should come up just fine.

#3 Were you aware that there could be male plants and female plants?  Sometimes they are separate plants and sometimes both male and female structures can be on the same plant.  Plants that have male and female reproductive structures on the same plant are referred to as monoecious.  Plants that are one or the other are referred to as dioecious.  It is important to know the reproductive habits of plants.  Often when a plant is dioecious, the female bears the larger quantity of berries, making for a showier plant.  A male must be present in order to ensure a good berry crop.  This is the case with Winterberry Hollies.  Sometimes you may not want the fruit, such as with the female Ginko tree whose fruit is smelly and messy.  A male would be a better choice.

#4 A recent magazine ad for an antihistamine fired up a pet peeve I have.  Goldenrod gets a bad reputation for being an allergen.  That is not true. Goldenrod, the bright yellow blooming wildflower seen from summer until fall, has heavy, sticky pollen that is carried by insects.  The unseen allergy-inducing culprit is Ragweed.  Ragweed blooms at the same time as Goldenrod but has green flowers that are often overlooked.  Ragweed pollen is carried by air and is known to cause peoples eyes to water and sinus’s to stop up.  So keep this in mind when viewing advertisements, sometimes companies will do things that can be misleading, just to make an ad look good.