Plants, Flowers & Herbs

Have you ever been outside in the Pacific Northwest and wondered what kind of trees you're hiking through? Has your child ever asked you, "What's that tree called?" Or maybe you just looked out in...

Save money by harvesting seeds for next year. Give gifts of seed packets to gardeners, or trade them for other types of seeds. Take the right steps to gather good quality seeds, pack them...

Manchurian apricots can be grown in USDA zone 3 to 7. The spreading tree can tolerate many types of well-drained soil, grows 20 to 30 feet tall, and can live to be 30 years old. It requires a...

Limes are a popular citrus fruit for home growers. Their foliage is a deep, glossy green, and the fruit is both visually appealing and useful. On top of that, their bright white blossoms bring a...

You can preserve the harvest of your garden by drying items like fruits and flowers. Fruits are an ideal food to preserve because you can choose edibles that are not always in season and dehydrate...

Avocado trees are a highly valuable crop in the Sun Belt due to the popularity of the fruit. Large-scale avocado groves produce thousands of tasty avocados. Home gardeners like to grow the trees...

Watermelons are perhaps the most iconic fruit of summer: their sweet, juicy flavor is a welcome respite during the blistering months of July and August. These days, as gardeners are becoming...

Fruit trees are a wonderful addition to any yard or garden. There are many types of trees. Some produce flowers and fruit while some produce only leaves and needles. A fruit tree will flower in...

Tomato plants are very popular with home gardeners. They are relatively easy to grow, and will produce large numbers of delicious fruit under the right conditions. Many gardeners plant their...

Tomatoes are some of the most popular plants to grow in gardens because they take up a minimal amount of space and produce delicious fruit. But if your tomato plants aren't producing enough fruit,...

The acai palm tree is one of 1,200 species of palm native to South American rainforests. It has been a source of food and building material to the native population for thousands of years. Its...

Growing your own wild blackberry bushes will provide you with plenty of fresh fruit for baking, canning, or freezing. You will not need to scour the forest for an available patch of fresh berries,...

The Dragon Fruit plant is actually a cactus that produces large red or pink colored fruit that are edible. They are most often found growing in tropical zones as they prefer high temperatures....

Flowers or flower arrangements that are received as a gift or for a special occasion can be kept for long periods if they are properly stored. The key to storing flowers is to slow down the...

Dwarf fruit trees are perfect for a backyard garden. These trees will reach no more than 15 feet in height, require little space to grow and produce fruit crops earlier than standard-size fruit trees.

Lemon trees are plucked all over the world for refreshing pies, juices, and meringues. Gardeners identify lemon tree varieties by singular leaf, twig and tree trunk combinations. Some lemons are...

Perhaps you've inherited a yard full of young fruit trees along with your new house, or maybe someone has gifted you with a seedling that doesn't have fruit yet. You can identify each tree using...

Eggplant is a member of the nightshade family and is related to tomatoes and peppers. Much like these vegetables, eggplants require warm and sunny weather in order to reach maturity. Eggplants...

Pear trees are a popular choice when it comes to growing fruit trees, because they mature faster than other fruit trees available and they are also easy to maintain. Growing a pear tree means...

Peaches are truly a juicy jewel of nature. With their sweet smell, soft fuzz and mouthwatering flesh, it's no wonder this fruit has become so popular with home and commercial gardeners. Whether...

Remarkable among the many trees both native and nonnative to Illinois are the fruit trees. Known for lush foliage, spring blossoms and fruit from summer to fall, fruit trees provide more than...

Apple trees are a popular part of American folklore and tradition. They also are one of the most popular trees in home landscaping and personal orchards. Their wide, spreading branches are perfect...

Jersey tomatoes are tart, firm, deep red tomatoes with smooth flesh and juicy meat. Jersey tomato varieties are similar to beefsteak tomatoes and produce medium to large fruits. Ramapo types...

Tomatoes can be challenging plants to grow. They can, on occasion, grow to great heights but bear no fruit. The battle is not over: stimulate your tomato plant to bear fruit in just the right...

It's easy to grow pineapple plants and fruit from the leafy tops cut from store-bought fruit, but it does take time. You can expect a well-established plant in a few months, and it will grow...

Cultivated for more than 4,000 years, the coconut palm tree plays an important role in many cultures for its remarkable versatility. The towering trees, with their enormous feather-like leaves and...

Raspberries are a popular edible crop that is enjoyed in jams, jellies, fruit pastries and fresh fruit desserts. Cultivated summer-bearing and ever-bearing raspberries canes are purchased and...

Peaches are truly a sweet, juicy jewel of nature. With their sweet smell, soft fuzz and mouthwatering flesh, it's no wonder this fruit has become so popular with home and commercial gardeners....

Peaches are truly a juicy jewel of nature. With their sweet smell, soft fuzz and mouthwatering flesh, it's no wonder this fruit has become so popular with home and commercial gardeners. Whether...

The banana passionfruit, or curuba, a close relative of the common passion fruit, is a longer, thinner, yellow version of its cousin but some believe is even sweeter in taste. Passionfruit vines...

The green flesh of the fruit of the avocado is a tasty addition to salads and salsas that is packed with nutritional value. Avocado contains many vitamins, and is rich in heart-healthy soluble...

Spraying your nectarine trees is an important step in making sure your tree stays healthy and bares delicious fruit. Spraying will protect your nectarine tree from disease and bacteria and also...

Dogwood and Bradford Pear trees share a lot of common traits. Their shared characteristics can make telling one from the other challenging. In spite of their similarities, Dogwoods and Bradford...

Planting tomatoes upside down is an option for almost everyone. Upside-down tomatoes are pulled away from their branch by gravity, which puts less stress on the branch. Regular tomatoes pull down...

Cutting down grapevines during the grape plant's dormancy stage is essential to ensure a good crop in the upcoming year. If cutting back is not done, grapevines will become overcrowded and weak,...

Passiflora is a genus of flowering and fruiting tropical vines. They are prized for their rapid and climbing growth habit, impossibly intricate exotic blooms and sweet tangy fruit called maypops....

It is often a delight for bird watchers to spot birds stopping by a bird feeder in their back yard, but when the feeder is one of your trees and you're watching all the fruit disappear from it,...

Apples are one of America's favorite fruits. Apple trees also are popular with homeowners due to their easy maintenance and their regular harvests of sweet fruit. These hardy trees are often found...

Many gardeners would love to have fruit producing trees growing in their backyard. Until recently that was an impossible dream for many homeowners. When dwarf fruit trees became available, it gave...

Harvesting seeds from plants is a simple, inexpensive way to propagate plants from your own garden, or with permission from the gardens of friends and family. You can also make sure that the seeds...

Trees provide oxygen and absorb toxic pollutants, they enhance wildlife habitat and offer summer shade and protection from winter winds. They help control erosion, provide lumber and paper...

Grafting fruit trees can produce multiple results. Some fruit trees require grafting to produce generation after generation of consistent fruit. You can also use grafting to grow multiple...

Sometimes it is necessary to uproot our beloved fruit trees and replant them in a different location. Replanting a fruit tree is a delicate operation. Leaving the tree's roots exposed to air could...

The apricot is an early ripening stone fruit similar to the peach and nectarine, though smaller in size. With pale orange to reddish-orange skin and pale orange flesh, the apricot tastes sweet and...

Tomatoes are a warm-climate plant, which makes them highly suitable for Zone 8, where it rarely freezes. As with most spring planting, tomatoes should be planted when all danger of frost has...

The art of bonsai has been around for many generations. The concept of growing a mighty to scale tree in a container as small as a walnut shell has enthralled people for thousands of years. Though...

The banana palm tree (or simply, banana plant) is a native of Southeast Asia. It is grown in the American South, as an outdoor fruit-bearing plant. In spite of its tropical origins, it is a...

Many apple growers find themselves battling insects on their trees each year. Insecticides will take care of many of the pests, and other tools such as white latex paint and hanging red sticky...

Because summer squash is one of the easiest vegetables to grow, it is a good choice for beginning gardeners. Summer squash varieties include zucchini, yellow squash and pattypans. Squash plants...

The akparata tree, better known as the "akee apple," is the national fruit of Jamaica. The tree produces fleshy, oval leaves and four-lobed red fruit. The fruit should never be eaten before it is...