|
Check out ‘Fascinating Facts’ each month for new and interesting facts about some of your favorite perennials. Great for dinner party conversation, or to share with your garden center customers.
|
- Bugged by mosquitoes in the garden? Mosquito-repelling substances are found in such plants as Yarrow, Thyme, Monarda, Summer Savoury, Rosemary, Bay and Mint. Plant them near your patio for carefree summer evenings.
- Annoyed by ants in the garden? Camellia, Digitalis and Lythrum contain a substance that drives them away.
- If eelworms have become a nuisance, the best thing to do is to sow Tagetes erecta (marigolds). These contain substances that kill eelworms. But if you don’t care for their looks, perennials that control eelworms include Achillea, Agastache, Anaphalis, Artemisia, Inula helenium and Helenium. For a shady location, Macleaya cordata is the best choice to control these pests.
|
|
- If you have a spot where you removed plants susceptible to eelworms, try planting some Helenium there. These plants kill the eelworms and clean up your soil.
- In terms of evolution, magnolias belong to the oldest flowering plants that still exist. This can be seen by the fact that the number of petals, stamens and fruits produced by each flower is random instead of being a multiple of 3, 4 or 5 as is the case in most of the more modern flowering plants.
- Fine particles in the air increase health-related complaints. Trees and deciduous shrubs planted along roads can capture and neutralise 15 to 25% of these fine particles and dispel up to 75% of them.
|
- Aucuba japonica is one of the rare broadleaf evergreen shrubs that tolerates deep shade. This makes it a perfect shrub to plant beneath large trees.
- The greener the living environment, the healthier people are. For every 10% more green material added, the number of health-related complaints decreases by 0.15% per resident.
- Poplar wood can be used to produce large quantities of bio-ethanol for use as biofuel. The presence of a fibrous material (lignin) in the wood makes the extraction process difficult and inefficient. Now, new cost-effective varieties with less lignin have been developed.
- Marinating tough meat in kiwi pulp will make it nice and tender. Even kiwis from the garden that are not yet ripe can be used for this.
|
- Beetles bothering a plant? Try establishing a Rosemary plant nearby. It contains a substance that shoos them away.
- Slugs and snails taking over their gardens? These pests are dispelled by Monarda (Bee Balm), Thyme, Sanguinaria canadensis (Bloodroot) and Caulophyllum thalicthroides (Blue Cohosh).
- Troubled by eelworms? As these pests dislike many culinary herbs, suggest planting basil, mint, thyme, rosemary, summer savoury, bay and lavender. Many of these herbs are so attractive that they also make a welcome addition to the ornamental garden.
|
- Increasingly mild winters in are adding to the life span of Viburnum tinus. Several years ago, these plants could not survive a hard winter. Plants older than ten years are no longer an exception in northern Europe.
- Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) purifies water and is thus a commonly used water plant in natural water filtering systems for purifying surface water.
- Many heather (Erica and Calluna) varieties flower early in the year when few other sources of nectar are available. This makes them very important for bumblebees. The bees can then collect enough food to develop their colonies or establish new ones.
- Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) are known for their wonderful autumn color but northern European weather conditions during some years fail to produce the desired effect. Some cultivars such as ‘Osakazuki’, however, turn a bright color every year — good to know for all sorts of zones.
- The autumn colors of Liquidambar styraciflua (Sweet Gum) can differ from year to year in our changeable climate. Some cultivars that guarantee a beautiful color display are ‘Worplesdon’, ‘Burgundy’, ‘Festival’ and ‘Lane Roberts’.
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 1 of 2 |
