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the flowers in your gardens will look even more beautiful and enjoy even better growth when your trim back any dead or wilted portions. Learn the secrets of "Dead-heading" in this free video on flower gardening.
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anther of one flower to the stigma of the same, or another flower. The process is typically initiated by a pollinator, a bee or a bird for example. Once the pollen is deposited in the stigma, the flower can be fertilized and the plant can reproduce.
As one of the most hardy and vibrant flowers of spring, daffodils give so much gratification for so little effort. They live just about anywhere you plant them, whether in carefully cultivated soil or wooded areas of your yard. If the ground drains well, they will last for years. Cut daffodils are good vase flowers, lending their cheer to your rooms for at least a couple of weeks.
Just as a hen's egg cannot hatch into a chick without a rooster to fertilize it, plants cannot create more of their own kind without pollination. The pollen produced by the flowers of one plant must be transfered to those of other plants for fertilization to take place, a process carried out entirely by insects, animals, wind, water and sometimes human beings.
As exotic and beautiful as Asian lilies are, the yellow pollen contained in their anthers creates a terrible mess that is difficult to remove from surfaces and clothes. The pollen-filled anther is on the tip of the long slender stamens protruding from the center of the lily flower. Removing the anther from the flower will not harm the flower, whether it is growing in your garden or featured as a part of a fresh-cut bouquet. Once removed, you can enjoy your Asian lilies without fear of incurring stains.
Flowers are a staple in most garden landscapes because they add color and visual interest. Planting flowers properly gives them a healthy start, increasing the chance that they will grow to maturity. The flowers you plant may be in seed form, bulb form, or you may have young plants that must be transplanted. Each flower form requires slightly different care when planting, and maintenance varies by each flower species' needs.
Cut flowers in an arrangement require a container that holds an ample supply of water to keep the flowers fresh. Flowers in transit are not usually shipped in water because of the weight the water adds to the shipping cost. The flowers are wrapped and shipped in boxes that retain moisture but are not filled with water.
Piping bags allow you to decorate cakes by creating detailed designs and elegant writing or just simple lines and shapes. They come with different nozzle ends that you can use to form different designs that add character to your cake. Cakes can be elegant, funny, simple or extravagant and using piping bags to decorate a cake will help you to design the cake you desire. Decorating cakes with piping bags are also fun for an activity to do with your kids. Practice using your piping bags until you are comfortable using them to decorate your cake.
Flower pollen is widely used in alternative medicine for its healing properties. Flower pollen can be extracted from flowers and preserved for use in plant hybridization or as a food. All it takes is a garden or a field of flowers, a few basic pieces of equipment and patience.
Hand pollination is the most secure method of plant breeding. By extracting the pollen from the anther of one plant and depositing it on the pistil of another, you ensure that only the plants you desire pollinate one another. The hybrids you create may grow into prize winning plants. To ensure that no unauthorized cross-pollination goes on behind your back, remove the anthers of the flowers after you pollinate.
One of the most important staples in a cake decorator's arsenal is royal icing. Made from meringue powder, royal icing is used both for covering cakes and making cake decorations, like flowers. Making daisy flowers out of royal icing may be a little fiddly at first, but once you give it a couple of attempts, you will be able to make enough to cover a whole cake if you wish. To make the finicky work of daisy flowers a little easier, a special flower-making tool called a nail is needed. Nails are small concave cups on top of a handle…
While perennials grow nicely in permanent flowerbeds and alongside foundations and other structures, annuals make suitable plants for growing in containers. Using containers for annuals reduces your weeding time and allows you to create individual or group displays along porches and patios. The container characteristics play an important role in the health of your annuals and the appearance of your landscape.
Container gardening helps add color, fragrance and blooms in areas where traditional garden beds are not possible. For the urban dweller with a cement patio instead of a lush backyard, or the renter who cannot till up the land, container gardening is an ideal choice. Best of all, containers can be filled with an diverse array of plants, colors and combinations, to add a splash of natural colors to your personal space.
In nature, pollen is carried from one plant to another by the wind, or by pollinators such as bees, butterflies and some species of birds and mammals. While this method works well in the wild, horticulturalists who breed specific plants to each other cannot use natural pollinators. Instead, they transfer pollen from one plant to another by hand. This gives the plant breeder control over which plants breed and what their offspring will be like.
Container gardening is a viable choice for your garden when you do not have the space or time to devote to a larger flower garden. Patios, porches, decks and windows are ideal locations for these types of gardens where sunlight is plentiful and watering and fertilizing is not a problem. Spruce up your flower container garden by using various sizes and colors of containers in which to house your blooms.
No matter what climate you live in, potted plants can flourish when kept inside where the temperature can be controlled. Flowers bring color and variety both inside and outside. There are thousands of potted flowering plants available, many as close by as your local gardening supply store. Many of the more popular potted flowering plants are also the easiest varieties to care for.
Creating potted plants is an enjoyable and creative gardening project. When two or more containers are placed together, they create a small garden in an otherwise colorless landscape spot. Potted plants decorate patios, porches and poolsides. The best potted plants are well designed, combining plants selected for colors, flowers, textures, shapes and sizes. Creating the best potted plants also means good soil and care. Annuals are the primary plants used in containers.
A balcony can present harsh conditions for flowering potted plants. With no available shade, sunlight will create extreme temperatures on the balcony space and cause soil in potted plants to dry out.
When you receive a dozen long stemmed roses, you want to enjoy the lovely blossoms as long as possible. It's a sad day when the roses wilt and end up in the trashcan. Instead of tossing the flowers, preserve the blossoms by drying. Use the dried roses in a dry floral arrangement, craft projects or remove the dried petals from the flower heads and make fragrant potpourri. Begin the drying process before the flowers begin to wilt. Ideally, dry the flowers before they fully open.
Some smells bring you to a memorable time and place. The smell of bayberry can take you back to the Christmases of your youth. Many department stores around the busy holiday shopping season perfume the store to smell like Christmas by using bayberry-scented sprays, oils and candles. You, too, can have that delicious scent in your home for the holidays and all the way through the winter.
Flowers bring cheer both indoors and out. Growing and displaying flowers need not be expensive. A wide variety of salvaged, non-breakable metal containers can be used to grow annual flowers on your patio, front stoop or windowsill, while metal containers for cut flowers range from earth-friendly recycled cans to elegantly re-purposed silver vessels.
Each month has its own designated birthstone and flower. People commonly give these stones and flowers as gifts to commemorate birthdays occurring throughout the month, a tradition that dates back to the Roman Empire. If you are looking for a gift for an upcoming birthday, a bouquet of flowers or a piece of jewelry containing the recipient's birthstone are appropriate choices.
Attractive flowers nestled securely into a garden container, pot, planter or hanging basket add color to the landscape and brighten up the spot during the long, hot and weary summer. Select long-blooming, hardy annuals and perennials in your summer container garden that add continual color and beauty to the landscape for many months. Depending on personal taste create uniform container gardens by growing the same colored blooms, or mix different colors for a brighter blend.
Azaleas, also called rhododendrons, are flowering shrubs and small trees that produce pink and purple blooms. While attractive in your yard, they can be health hazards for pets.
Princess flowers grow on a shrub that is a member of the genus Tibouchina. It blooms profusely in the summer with large, purple flowers on vine-like stems that can reach 15 feet in length. Native to Brazil, princess flowers thrive in frost-free regions, most specifically U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 8 through 12, depending on the species. Some regions within zone 8 experience frost in the winter and, while princess flowers have been known to revive when the weather warms, some gardeners prefer to protect their plants in the winter and grow them in containers.
Royal icing is made from meringue powder and is one of the most common icings used by cake decorators. Royal icing dries to a hard finish so is perfect for making confectionery flowers, like daisies, and other decorations for cakes. It also keeps well, so royal icing flowers can be made and stored weeks before they are needed. Royal icing flowers are typically made with a piping bag and different piping tips on a tool called a nail--a small concave cup on a stick. This handy tool makes finicky piping work much easier to pull off.
Hops are the flower that grows from the Humulul lupulus, or hop vine. This perennial vine has both male and female plants. Commercially, only the female is allowed to grow so that the hops remain unpollinated. This way the maximum amount of pollen, or resin, can be extracted. Hop resins are used mostly for brewing beer, though herbalists also tout the health benefits of hops and they are also used medicinally. Once harvested, the resin from hops can be extracted.
Separating the pollen from a plant's anthers is an essential step in plant breeding and the production of fixed hybrids. The proper collection and storage of pollen is necessary to control the genetic lines and develop a true breeding strain of flowering plants. Pollen must be collected to prevent open pollination and to create desirable cultivars when growing both indoors and outdoors. Hand pollination will often make your garden plants more productive.
Traditionally, flowers used in the casket spray are chosen according to their type and color. Each type of flower has a specific meaning. Some flowers have more benefits to the floral design in their capabilities to last longer. Casket sprays can be made in two styles: The foot spray covers half of the casket, while the full spray sits atop the casket and covers the casket's length. The family of the departed are the ones who decide upon the choice of flowers for the casket spray. Designing a casket spray is an honored position.
A wedding bouquet is perhaps the most meaningful floral arrangement at any marriage celebration. Carried by the bride, it reflects her personality and taste, and symbolizes one of the most momentous days of her life. Wedding bouquets come in a virtually endless array of styles. Some are hand-tied, which means the stems of the bouquet’s flowers are simply bundled together and secured with a ribbon. Others are arranged in bouquet holders, which is generally made of white plastic. Wrapping the handle of a wedding bouquet holder in ribbon lends it a more elegant, polished look.
The "Cosmic Orange" variety of the cosmos flower, Cosmos sulphureus, grows double blooms with bright orange hues. The plant is hardy and grows even in poor soils. Cosmos requires full sun to reach maximum growth. The flower can grow in very high heat without wilting. All varieties of cosmos attract butterflies. Cosmos makes a good container plant for even a beginning gardener.
Fresh flowers add color and interest to an otherwise dull room. The problem is finding the right container for them. Many companies now charge extra to deliver flowers in a vase, and you may find that you don't have a suitable one in your house. You might be tired of traditional flower vases, and want a more unusual container to display your expensive fresh or artificial flowers.
Flowers can grow in a variety of containers other than just the classic flower pot. If you are looking to add a bit of creativity and flair to your garden or around your home, simply choose a different style of planter for this season's plants. With a little extra thought, you can give your garden a whole new look with a variety of flower containers.
Container gardening offers flexibility since the plants are easily moved to different locations and easily changed in accordance with the season. According to Cornell University, any flower that can grow in the garden can also flourish in a container. Gardeners should choose an array of colorful flowers and provide the plants with a properly sized container, soil, water, nutrition and light.
Growing wildflowers in containers can be easy and rewarding, provided that the ideal conditions for the flowers are recreated in the pot. Without the appropriate soil moisture or sunlight, not even native plants can survive. Wildflower container gardening is perfect for apartment-dwelling gardeners and yard gardeners alike. It has the added advantage of allowing gardeners to cultivate specimen plants that garden soil can't support, or that have excessive water needs. Container plants are easy to relocate without damaging the root system.
Flowers reproduce by spreading pollen. In most cases, insects such as butterflies and bees carry pollen and disperse it in suitable locations. However, conifer flowers reproduce by dispersing pollen on the wind. Unlike most flowers, conifers' ovaries are exposed and are fertilized by a drop of fluid. This is known as a pollen drop.
With their varied, colors, shapes and scents, flowers can improve any environment in which they are placed. Whether they are cut or potted, flowers generally require a vase of some sort to hold them. A vase or container can be more than purely functional, however; if carefully selected, a vase or container can serve to complement and enhance the beauty of the flowers within it.
Pollination and fertilization of flowers make possible the production of much of the world's food supply. They facilitate transport of genetic material and ensure the production of seeds. However, not all pollination results in fertilization, and some plants produce seeds without fertilization. Botanists define pollination as the transfer of pollen from the male part of the flower to the female part. They define fertilization as the union of sperm and egg cell.
The hibiscus family, also called the mallow family, bears the scientific name "Malvaceae." The family, as traditionally constituted, is a well-defined group with interesting floral characteristics. It is notable for its large, showy flowers, which occur especially in the genera Hibiscus and Malva. Other species are a useful source of food, clothing, medicine, and cosmetic products.
Container gardens are growing in popularity with both gardeners who have land available and those who don't. The simplicity and ease of having a container garden on your deck or patio are evident anytime you plant, water and maintain your container garden. To plant flowers in a container garden all you'll need is a good pot, some soil and a good location. Once your garden is planted you'll find you have more control over garden pests, diseases and watering than traditional gardens.
Passiflora Incense is an easy plant to take care of because the roots are hardy enough to survive temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a perennial, meaning it comes back every year when the weather gets warm enough. In cold regions this plant can be brought inside during the winter so that it can be enjoyed year-round.
Just about any container that can hold soil can be made into a flower pot. To grow flowers, all a container needs is enough depth to accommodate the roots and a way for water to drain out. Reusing items is a way to make creative flower pots and prevent useful objects from ending up in landfills. Making your own flower pots at home is also a good project for kids to get involved with, because they can help decorate, plant and arrange the containers while learning about the importance of helping the environment.
Whether you keep flowers in your home for the aroma or the beautiful look, arranging them is the key to getting the best effect. Using floral foam, fresh cut flowers, and a free-standing container, arranging can be an easy process. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be a professional to get the look you want.
Gardens and landscaping make your yard look and feel inviting. if you're short on space or money, with some creativity and imagination you can create flower containers that will make any outdoor living space more pleasant.
Deadheading flowers in container gardens is a process of removing the spent flower heads to promote more flowering growth. Deadhead flowering plants all season long for a container garden full of blooms with helpful advice from a professional horticulturist in this free video on gardening.
When a potted plant becomes overcrowded, it's time to divide the flowers. Learn how to transplant bulbs in this free gardening video about how to plant flower bulbs in containers.
Just like nature, soak your flower containers well with water and then let them dry. Learn more tips for watering in this free gardening video about how to plant flower bulbs in containers.
To care for potted plants, remove dry and wilted leaves and water regularly. Learn how to maintain a healthy flower bulb contain in this free gardening video about how to plant flower bulbs in containers.
Caring for potted plants differs from season to season. Learn how to protect flower bulb containers during the summer, winter, fall, and spring in this free gardening video about how to plant flower bulbs in containers.
Before planting flower bulbs in containers, consider where you are going to put the container. Learn where to place a flower container in this free gardening video about how to plant flower bulbs in containers.
Different flower containers do well in specific areas. Learn where to place flower bulb containers in this free gardening video about how to plant flower bulbs in containers.
If you live in a small apartment or want a window flower arrangement, planting bulbs in containers is a great idea for home decor. Learn more about the benefits of flower bulb containers in this free gardening video about how to plant flower bulbs in containers.
To deliver flowers, place the arrangement in a sturdy container that will not tip over, place it on the floor of the car, and drive slowly around corners and over bumps. Deliver a flower arrangement carefully with helpful advice from the owner of a flower shop in this free video on flower arrangements.
Placing one type of annual flower in your container makes a pretty display, but why not try mixing flower heights? You could choose a flower or vine that trails over the side or add tall plants for balance or use short plants to add bulk. If you choose spring flowers, plan summer flowers to take over as the spring blooms fade. Flower containers come in all shapes and sizes. You can choose from round, square, or rectangle, and in various heights. Flower containers are typically made of clay, plastic, or ceramics for easily movable plants. Wood, stone, or concrete containers,…
Calendula, a member of the daisy family, is an annual bright yellow-orange herb. It is valued as an antiseptic and a healing agent when used on minor skin wounds. It's also been found to have anti-viral properties. Calendula can be dried and put to use in pro-health teas, oils or tinctures. You can easily do this at home--under the right conditions, drying calendula is a simple process.
Watch as a seasoned professional explains how to pick containers for your flower arrangements in this free online video on decorating.
Preparing a spring flower arrangement container is important for the look and health of your flowers. Learn how to prepare the vase or container in this free floral arrangement video.
Spring flower arrangements make great home decor, so learn how to pick out a container for your spring flowers in this free floral arrangement video.
Tips on how to prepare the container for a floral centerpiece in this free how-to flower video.
Love flowers and gardening, but don't think that you have the space? Container flower gardens are the answer. Anyone can make a container flower garden; they're fun and easy to make and lend beauty to any deck, patio or balcony.
