Helen asks…
Where can I purchase a rare Parrot Plant?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi
http://www.growbyseed.com/Tropicals.html
Sharon asks…
praying mantises?
i live in taylor michigan, i want a praying mantis, i dont nowwere to look,please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GardenersCardiff answers:
Many garden Catalogs sell Praying Mantises in the spring. Try a farm and garden supply store, they will be able to help you.
Carol asks…
Brand new to gardening…Help!?
I am brand new to gardening. My husband rented a tiller and tilled up a spot to put our veggie garden. We bought seeds for bell peppers, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, cucumber, and yellow squash. I call my mother to tell her about it and she said we need to start it inside first, then move it outside to the garden. My hubby says we can plant the seeds directly in the garden. Can we? Any other advice to help our garden? Thanks!
GardenersCardiff answers:
Yes, you can plant outside once the weather has warmed. It is best to wait until the night temperatures are in the 60’s every night. We usually wait till the temps are between 68 and 70 degrees. Lots of people wait until after Mother’s Day to plant seeds. Your packets will have all the information on the back.
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You are gonna love gardening, don’t try to do it all in one year. Get to know where the sun shines the most, and where the shaded areas are. Because you will need flowers for the sun areas, and flowers for the shaded areas.
Since you are a beginner, this year start your garden with plants that you get from a garden center or nursery. They are called bedding plants and come in a six pack. Look for a little tag sticking in the six pact showing directions on how to grow the plants. If the tag is not there, ask for one or buy something else. Directions are VERY important.
Seeds are not always easy to grow. And wildflowers are the hardest so don’t be disappointed if they don’t show up.
Two good things to do for yourself is to call your local County Extension Service and ask for all the information that they have about gardening in your area. They usually have a packet/kit of things for the home gardener.
And number two would be to pick up a couple of beginner books. You really do need to know about soil, compost, mulch and etc.
To keep from over watering or not watering enough, buy a water analyzer from a nursery or garden center. Be sure to read the directions. This will be one of your best tools.
Send for some free gardening catalogs and get use to the different types of plants, colors, and when to plant. They are filled with good informtion and pictures. And they will keep you company during the long winter months. Here is a list of just a very few. There are hundreds more:
http://www.waysidegardens.com
http://www.dutchbulbs.com
http://www.jacksonandperkins.com (Roses)
http://www.parkseed.com
http://www.burpee.com
Other catalogs:
http://www.leevalley.com
http://www.gardeners.com
http://www.GardensAlive.com
http://www.deerbusters.com (all types of animal control)
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Container/pots/window boxes needs:
All need holes in the bottem for water drainage,
Potting soil that comes in bags,
Slow release fertilizer for flowers (not for green plants), OR liquid fertilizer that will need to be used more often-read directions,
Water crystals to be mixed into the soil for holding water,
Bedding plants or full grown plants.
Here is an excellent link to check out for color combinations and plants that look good together:
http://www.fernlea.com/awesomeaccents/recipes.html
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Carol asks…
Is it a good idea to grow your own flowers for a wedding?
GardenersCardiff answers:
I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are a professional or very experienced gardener. I grow my own garden every years with both vegetables and flowers that I grow for the purpose of having fresh cut flowers in the house. But I know my limitations. I grow peonies, dhalias, roses, gladiolus, hydrangeas, and gerber daisies every summer. But I am no professional, and most of the flowers I grow are not perfect. And I don’t use pesticides or sprays, so the flowers I cut often have bugs in them that need to be knocked off (mostly earwigs), and sometimes have bug feces in them. They also tend to get a few wholes in some of the petals due to bugs eating them. As I said, I am no professional. My fiance and I are also on a budget. So the only product I use to care for my flowers is Miracle Grow. It can get mighty expensive and complicated buying all the right products to get perfect flowers.
In addition, at any one time I only have maybe three or four fresh new flowers that are in good enough condition to bring in the house in a vase. For wedding flowers, you probably want flowers in excellent condition – free from bugs, bug feces, bug bites, or wilting. In order to get enough flowers in good condition for your wedding, you would need to spend a ton of money on gardening products, plant a very large garden to get enough blooms at one time, and spend a lot of time caring for your garden. In the end, it’s worth the money to just buy fresh cut flowers from a florist for this one special day. Plant a garden for flowers in your home – but I wouldn’t do it for your wedding.
Paul asks…
Need help on starting my own organic vegetable garden to grow indoors! will give points to most helpful :D?
okay..so i’ve never grown anything before,complete noob at this stuff..but i really would like to live organically & get practice on growing my own foods for the sake of my familys health & for the money in my pocket. it’s going to be winter soon,so i need to start with simple things to grow indoors for practice & eventually get outside & start a bigger better garden.. i don’t know HOW to start,what vegetables grow well indoors,how to have my own organic compost (i’ve heard coffee grounds are good to use) what to grow my veggies in ect..i would like to grow tomatoes,carrots,potatoes,spinach,sugar snap peas,a variety of different herbs,maybe some berries etc etc….please help! i don’t know how to get started & need creative ideas to grow these things indoors for this winter!! any tips & advice? MUCH APPRICIATED!^_^
GardenersCardiff answers:
You need to get proper soil for inside. (:
You could try multipurpose compost but you can sprinkle gravel or sand over it. I’ve never really done this stuff before.
You need a grow light. Or jusst alot of light. Foil helps to reflect.
To start yur own compost make sure you have a place to compost it. In your garden preferably. Use browns and greens- leaves for browns and greeen leaves, weeds, old plants for greens. COFFFEE grounds are great.
I heard that pepper plants do very good inside. Pineapple plants, pomegranete. Coco bean. Herbs on the windowsill- basil, dill, oregano etc. Beans and peas. Basically tropical plants do welll. You can try tomatoes.
Root veg although it won’t look as impressive but you can grow radishes, beet. Potatoes.
Blackberries, and lycheeberries are brilliant.
Leafy plants are goos too.
You need to keep your grow room warm and full of light as winter will be very cold you need to feel the heat when you walk into the room.
GOOD LUCK. (:
David asks…
How many of you grow some or all of your own vegetables/fruit?
and what methods do you use?
acowen: they might think your grow light was for something else huh;)
Fabulous: if you’re in Indy like your name suggests, I’m about 40 minutes north of you…
I’m trying to make our garden completely sustainable but that’s a project in the making……last year was not real great (sweet corn was terrible but we had a ton of squash and tomatoes)
Fabulous….I’m not veggie now, just used to be and I love vegetarian meals (I’m just outside Lafayette and we have a couple of really good health food stores, Nature’s Pharm and Sunspot)
Harley, companion planting is great and it’s not as commonly used as it should be!
Mike: I find it very disturbing that people can’t do what they want in their own backyards, especially when it’s something so good as growing your own food……zoning laws don’t prevent me from it yet but boy if they ever try…..
Andro…..oh how I agree, there are alot of resources on using native plants instead of turf (more natural and don’t use as much water) you can’t go to your states’ d.n.r. (if you’re in the u.s.) for regional sales of native plants.
GardenersCardiff answers:
I used to garden when we lived in the Berkshires on 47 acres and our planting was done in raised beds with bio-dynamic consciousness and companion planting. We also had a fabulous organic garden and orchard at Koinonia in Stevenson, MD years ago before it was sold. And there was an organic garden at the Merciful Lion too.
My grandfather had an organic farm on sandy Rhode Island soil that had never seen a chemical in 300 years. He gathered the sea veggies after a Nor’easter down at the beach to add minerals to his soil base. He also moved his hen house every three years to plant asparagus after a fallow season to grow the best asparagus in the state. Composting was very important to the success of all of these gardens.
If you are serious about gardening fruit and vegetables check out the work of Rudolf Steiner on BioDynamic Gardening. You may know about him through his educational philosophy — via Waldorf Schools. Steiner was a visionary and intellectual giant who had positive, practical ideas about everything from growing food to growing children and healthy living hich includes education. His work has which has stood the test of time. Weleeda products are connected to his philosophy.. Interesting man – great information.
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