Top Tips For Indoor Flower Gardening

Indoor flower gardens are great for many reasons. Firstly, they brighten up any decor, adding a touch of life and color. Secondly, for those folk who are housebound, or who have no yard, indoor gardens are a way to keep the thumb green. Thirdly, and most importantly for some, indoor gardens can alleviate those pesky issues such as wrong soil, bad weather, and insufficient light, that can prevent your favorite blooms from living or flowering in your great outdoors.

Try these handy hints for growing indoor flowers.

Indoor Vegetable Gardening.

For those of us who do not live in the Tropics, growing vegetables indoors can be a great way to have fresh home grown produce, without being constrained by Mother Nature.

Basically, when you choose to grow your vegetables somewhere other than the backyard or the vegetable patch you are going to be controlling the temperature of both the air and the soil, along with the amount of irrigation, and the lighting. For those who don't have a yard, well then gardening indoors is the only solution. So how do you control light, water, and temperature? What can you actually grow? Read on for the answers.

CONTAINER GARDENING

Nearly every house and garden presents numerous attractive settings for container plants. Suburban gardens, estates, small city backyards, and summer cottages—all can be enhanced by this type of gardening. A few of the seemingly endless possibilities include entranceways, steps, courtyards, walls, rooftops, balconies, patios, breezeways, lawns, driveways, walks, sundecks, windowsills, porches, summer houses, even tree stumps can be utilized.

Let us start with the entrance, a focal point for every house. A simple arrangement consists of similar container plants at each side of the doorway. If the house is informal, painted tubs will make a cheerful note, while urns or ornamental pots are more appropriate if the architecture is formal. The arrangement, however, need not be symmetrical, since a single container at either side, particularly if the doorway is off-center, is pleasing. A large specimen can be balanced by a grouping of small pots, and various other interesting combinations can be worked out. Sometimes, the front entranceway can qualify as an outdoor place for house plants, but be sure they are not exposed to strong sun and wind.

Unexpected areas like side and rear entrances can also serve as backgrounds for pot plants in casual groupings. For sunny steps, consider tubs of petunias, or dwarf dahlias, or boxes of herbs to be used in cooking. Tuberous begonias, fuchsias, patient Lucy, and fragrant nicotiana solve the problem of what to grow in shade.

Porches or verandas, traditional or contemporary in style, offer numerous settings for pots, window boxes, and hanging baskets. Indeed, the entire container garden can be concentrated there so that plants can be easily cared for. If the porch is open on three sides, it will afford exposures to suit a variety of specimens.

The patio or terrace, beside or beyond the house, where family and friends gather to eat or relax, is an ideal location. If it is formal, select clipped evergreens and arrange pots in symmetrical rows, perhaps lined up against the house or along the edge of the terrace. If the site is informal, make casual groupings of one or two tall plants with smaller ones in front. Either way, allow for a few large plants in tubs or boxes for accent and height.

Container plants may line walks and paths that lead to the house, garage, or garden. They can rest on paved areas along fences and walls and on driveways where they are not in the way. If the driveway adjoins the foundation of the house, plant containers may be placed there.

Tops of garden or terrace walls are ideal places, too. Put small pots and boxes on tall, narrow walls and large containers on low, broad surfaces. Hanging plants of ivy geraniums in the sun and fuchsias in the shade will cascade from walls, as they do in the patios of Spain, Portugal, and Italy. On Rhodes, I recall a fifteen-foot wall topped with a row of thirty gleaming green tin cans full of roses and other flowers.

Think of what you can do with rooftops and sundecks where considerable space is usually available. Here sun-loving plants, like geraniums, most annuals, cacti, and succulents can be grown, but, again, include large specimens for height to give a garden feeling. A few large boxes and planters for trees and shrubs are sufficient but be sure to include some evergreens for year-round green.

Many gardeners like to insert container plants in flower borders to introduce unusual specimens, such as tropicals in the North. Large tubs can be set at the corners and small pots may be scattered among the permanent flowering plants. One gardener keeps a supply of potted pink Fiat Enchantress geraniums on hand to fill bare spots in her wide borders, moving them about as needed. Most of the geraniums are in four-inch clay pots, but there are larger specimens for the center of each grouping. Make sure their secure, sink pots a few inches into the ground.

You can always dress up the lamp post in your yard with container plants at the base or you can suspend a hanging basket of lantana, perhaps from the top. Ivy geraniums in an old-fashioned black kettle are nice for the base. Bare posts that support sectional roofs over patios or paved surfaces of contemporary houses look more attractive if potted plants are clustered around the bases or permanent boxes for plants are built there. Try planting climbing ivy in a pot and train it to climb the posts.

Novelty containers—donkey carts, wheelbarrows, and spinning wheels—can be fun in some places, but, of course, such planters must not be overdone. Usually they are set on lawns, on a terrace or beside a gate or doorway. (If you life in a neighborhood that has a house owners association check with them first to see if this is allowed). Steps leading to a driveway or street or to different levels in a garden can be emphasized with pot plants. A few can be arranged at the top or at the base of the stairs. And, there are other possibilities. Tree trunks cut to the ground or left a few feet high make good pedestals for large containers. In fact, this can be a solution to the problem of what to do with a trunk too expensive to remove. If you have a tree with heavy shade, why not construct a pretty sitting area around it and decorate the space with containers of coleus, wax and other begonias, caladiums, ferns and other shade-tolerant plants.

These are just a few ideas for using container plants around your house and garden. Use your imagination and have fun.

Happy Gardening!

NY Farmers Markets

Mouth watering fruits and bushels of just-picked basil. Crates overflowing with fresh picked veggies. They’re all in a convenient location, crawling with friends and neighbors. Local farmers markets across the State offer consumers farm-fresh, affordable, convenient, and healthful products.


Self serving, and a lot of fun for the whole family. If you haven't checked out one of your local area Farmers markets your missing out on good food that is also good for you.

Wondering where to find them?

Check out this web page if you’re a NY state resident. It provides a handy search tool by county. Just click on the Farmers' Market drop down menu above and click on the region. You'll be taken to a complete listing of all farmers' markets in that region.

NY Farmers Markets
http://www.nyfarmersmarket.com/fv.htm


Now that’s worth getting out for.

STARTING A CONTAINER GARDEN

Container gardens are the ideal solution for people who enjoy gardening but simply have little to no space. With this type of garden, you have the opportunity to plant a wonderful selection of vegetables and flowers, but instead of using land outside, you use small containers. Obviously, for individuals living in apartments, city dwellers, or homes without outside yard space where only a small balcony or patio is available, a container garden makes perfect sense.

Regardless of the size your space is, your garden can be designed with wonderful variation for color and fragrance. The first thing is choosing the containers for your garden. Interestingly, with a container garden, you can use literally anything. For instance, some great choices include things such as old bathtubs, washtubs, whiskey barrels, glass jars, kitchen bowls, ceramic pots, watering cans, you name it, and you could probably start a container garden in it.

As long as the container will hold soil, plants, and water, you are set to go. With a container garden, the type of container you choose will need to have a good drain hole in the bottom. If not, you can put two pieces of masking or duct tape in a crisscross pattern on the bottom and then with a small drill, begin to drill through the center, slowly working your way outward until the size is approximately one-inch in diameter. Then, prior to placing soil in the container, we suggest you place broken potshards or gravel in the bottom to help keep the soil inside the pot, especially when watering.

Popular choices for container gardens are wooden containers. In this case, just make sure the container is quality wood or you might be dealing with a bad case of wood rot. In addition to this, never use pretreated wood. With this, the wood has been treated with preservatives that can leak down into the soil, causing damage to the plants. Therefore, if you have your heart set on wood, simply choose something such as redwood or cedar, both excellent options.

You also want to make sure you have fun creating your container garden.

Many times, you can find colorful trinkets or figurines already around the house or garage that would be perfect to enhance the look of your garden. If not, rather than spend a lot of money, you could check out local thrift stores, shopping for containers and knickknacks. With a container garden, you can create a sophisticated look, something Victorian, perhaps a rustic country look, or a garden that is colorful and whimsical.

Another important aspect of the container garden is the soil. Since you are planting in a confined space, soil from your yard is generally fine but you might consider buying a bag of good soil, which typically costs less than $5.

The reason is that bought soil provides you with a cleaner mix, which is both disease and weed free. An important tip to remember when and if you ever report any of the plants - never reuse soil form the containers.

The growing mixture you use with container gardening is also designed so water will drain off quickly. The importance of this is to allow enough moisture to keep roots moist without the plants sitting in soaking wet soil, which can lead to root rot and other diseases. You also want to consider the plants that you grow since some may require different balances of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Just be sure you leave two inches from the top of the container between the top of the soil.

Because the soil for your container garden is formulated to drain quickly, fertilizer is important. A good rule of thumb is that the lighter the soil the more frequent you will need to fertilize. We suggest you go with a diluted type of liquid fertilizer. Two of the best options for healthy fruits and vegetables, as well as vibrant flowers are liquid seaweed or fish emulsion. However, remember that again, different plants have different nutritional needs to try to purchase those with the same requirements.

Typically, container gardens need about five to six hours of direct sunlight daily. Now, if you plan to grow vegetables such as carrots or beets, they would need more with fruits like tomatoes and cucumbers needing even more. For flowers, this would depend on the type of flowers being grown. In this case, your best option is to read the sunlight recommendations for plants when buying and purchase flowers with like requirements.

If you plan to grow flowers in your container garden, now the fun part starts with choosing what you will grow. Although you have literally hundreds and hundreds of possibilities, the following are some of our recommendations:

Browallia – Upward facing chalices that are simply beautiful. These desert bluebells can handle all types of conditions. Additionally, these flowers are beautiful as the main attraction or filler plants. Coleus – This type of houseplant produces magnificent leaves of bronze, white copper, gold, yellow, red, pink, and purple. Hardy and strong, Coleus are a perfect addition to any container garden.

Impatiens – The flowers of Impatiens are dainty yet prolific. The petals shimmer with a magnificent coral, peach, and pink color with a darker petal margin that makes each bloom distinct.

Periwinkle – This type of flower is virtually disease and pest free. Best of all, it readily reseeds itself. The flowers are a beautiful white and pink color, adding gentle color to your garden.
Snapdragons – Everyone loves Snapdragons. If you have a container garden that can accommodate some height, these flowers provide a magical carpet of color with vibrant yellow, orange, pink, and red.

Black-Eyed Susan – Perfect for container gardens, these flowers are actually fast-growing vines that produce incredible yellow, orange, and white flowers with solid eyes, thus the name.
Keep in mind that these flower recommendations are just a few that you might consider. The best thing with any container garden is to do what you like. Once you have decided on a container and soil, choose flowers, plants, vegetables, herbs, or fruits that you enjoy. You will be amazed at just how rewarding a container garden can be.

Grow and Harvest Sunflowers

Sunflowers are large, lively, cheerful flowers and adding them to your landscape will certainly bring a smile to your face. The brilliant flowers can be found in many colors including traditional yellows and newer pinks and shades of red. Sunflowers are easy to grow and offer a long season of colorful bright flowers. The seeds are very useful and can feed wildlife and humans alike. Sunflower oil is also made from sunflower the seeds. The larger variety of sunflower becomes so tall that they make for an exciting maze or hid-out for kids of all ages! Sunflowers come as annuals or perennials. There are two main varieties: the dwarf and the larger variety. The larger variety can become as tall as 10 feet whereas the dwarf variety is usually around two feet.

Requirements:

Sunflowers are easy to grow and can be found in many varieties to ensure flowers all season long. Sunflower’s requirements include lots of sun, lots of water, support and room to grow. If sunflowers do not receive enough sunlight, the flowers will stretch to reach the sun and require additional staking. Sunflowers do not tolerate cool weather well, so be sure to plant after all risk of frost is over, usually sometime in May. If you are planting from seed, plant at least two feet a part as sunflowers need plenty of room to grow and require a lot of nutrients. Once sunflowers are planted and growing, they do not transplant well, so choose your location carefully. An additional consideration to remember for planting is that a sunflower’s “face” will follow the sun so select an appropriate sight.

Traditional, tall-variety sunflowers do get top heavy and staking them for support might become necessary, especially if planted in a windy location. Another option is to plant them so they have support from an outpost such as a fence, gate or outdoor building.

Germinating
If you are growing sunflowers from seed, one simple step to help ensure you grow strong plants is to germinate them and select the seeds that germinate first. These are usually the strongest plants. Germination involves three easy steps:

· Take a couple of plates and dampen some paper towels. Place towels on plates.

· Put the individual seeds between the damp paper towels and place on the plates. Place in a sunny location.

· Check the paper towels daily to make sure they are consistently damp (not wet!). The seeds that germinate first will usually make the strongest flowers. Some seeds may not germinate at all; If this happens throw them out.


Sunflowers reach maturity between 75-110 days and seeds can be harvested at this time. Near the end of the season when other flowers have little to offer except spent blooms, your sunflower seeds are ready to be harvested! You will know your sunflower seeds are ready to harvest when the back of the heads are brown and dry. Many of the yellow flower petals will have dropped off. The seeds will be plump and the color of the seeds will be black and white stripped. You can simply cut the flower head about 12 inches down the stalk and rub the dried seeds by hand; they should easily fall out. They are then ready to dry and enjoy!