Flowers Garden Plants

Summer is the perfect time to watch your flowers bloom into perfection. As a matter of fact, gardeners around the world enjoy planting certain types of annuals and perennials that can make any summer garden a paradise on earth. If you're planning to start your own summer garden, here are some of the flower types you should include:

Annual flowers for your summer garden

One key in maintaining a beautiful garden throughout the summer is to choose flowers that can withstand the summer heat day in and day out. Some of these annual flowers that thrive in the summer include sunflowers, marigolds, and cosmos. You can also include million bells, perillas, and angelonias.

Perennials for your summer garden

Aside from annuals, you can also take your pick from perennials that love the sun. These include daylilies, purple coneflowers, and cranesbills. Because perennials can thrive for 3 or more seasons, they are perfect additions in your garden if you prefer flowers that don't need to be replanted every spring.

Whatever flower or plant types you choose for your summer garden, make sure they can withstand the summer heat. To keep your garden looking fresh, make sure to water them when needed, especially those newly planted plants and flowers. When dealing with both annual and perennial flowers, make sure to equip your garden with the right kind of soil and gardening tools. Aside from flowers, you can also decorate your summer garden with heat-resistant tropical plants and vines. Summer-loving vines include cardinal vines, morning glory, and black-eyed susies.

Having a blooming garden in the summer is indeed a wonderful addition to your home. It makes your humble abode look more inviting and cozy. Plus, a beautiful garden is the perfect location for a summer picnic or a family get-together. If you're planning on starting a summer flower garden, read on for tips.

Flowers that are best for summer gardens

Some of the colorful blooms that are perfect for summer gardens include roses, irises, and peonies. When planning to plant roses, keep in mind that they need at least six hours of sunlight every day. The perfect soil for roses is well-drained but can hold enough moisture. Roses also prefer soil enriched with lots of compost and manure. As for irises, they thrive in well-drained soil. They also need six hours of sunlight every day. Peonies are known for their voluptous shapes and strong fragrance. To successfully grow peonies, you need to have well-drained soils and sunny flowerbeds.

Tips for starting a summer flower garden

Even before summer begins, it's best to plant some of the flowers as early as possible. During the summer, make sure to water your plants as needed. Newly planted flowers need lots of water especially during their first months. If you have roses in your garden, watch out for signs of black spot disease, which is caused by a type of fungus. To prevent this, spray your roses with a homemade solution of 2 liters of water, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, and a few drops of dishwasher soap.

Starting and maintaining a summer garden can get challenging, but the rewards are worth all the efforts. With enough determination, hard work, and little bit of elbow grease, you'll be able to see your flowers bloom just in time for summer.

Gardening doesn’t just require a few seeds, sunlight, and water. First-time gardeners should know the necessary precautions and rules to follow. Otherwise, they will just waste good soil and money by planting the wrong seeds in the wrong way. Before planting anything, one must prepare their soil.

Not choosing the right type of flower garden for your home

After preparing your soil, you must have the right flowers for your garden. Be sure to visualize how you want the flower bed to look. Get enough information on each flower so you can take care of them properly. There are nursery websites you can go to.

Misconceptions about gardening

Another mistake or misconception is not watering enough. Some people assume that a light application is enough but the plants actually need to be soaked thoroughly. Be sure to water the most during the summer. If you purchase the plant with roots, be sure to see if the roots are separated below. Otherwise, it will not grow since the roots are bundled together.

Keep these guidelines in mind so you can avoid the mistakes of gardening. Gardening requires utmost care and attention to detail. Without these, you will just waste your time and regret taking up the hobby.

The chamomile looks like a daisy. In fact, it is a flowering garden plant that belongs to the daisy family. It is originally from areas in Europe and Asia. The name is Greek in origin, meaning “apple from the ground”. This is a fair enough description of a plant that smells of apples.

Medicinal benefits of chamomile

The garden plant’s name itself is reflective of its soothing abilities. Chamomile reminds you of something mild and quiet. Indeed, the garden plant does play an important role in curing both anxiety and insomnia. However, chamomile’s medicinal abilities do not stop there. The garden plant can also be prepared as a cure for diarrhea, indigestion, skin irritations, and other digestive or skin ailments.

Chamomile as a popular tea ingredient

You probably first encountered the chamomile plant while drinking a cup of tea. In tea form, chamomile is more easily ingested. So if you want to relax, you can just prepare yourself some tea.

Though the garden plant presents so many benefits, using it during pregnancy and breastfeeding is prohibited. It is believed to have the ability to induce abortion.

Have you seen a field of sunflowers? The sight is definitely breathtaking. The big head of a sunflower consists of several florets. A sunflower can attract all sorts of creatures, such as birds, butterflies, and bees. This garden plant loves sunlight, so this explains the name.

A guide to growing sunflowers

To protect sunflower seeds during cooler weather, plant them indoors first before taking the grown plant into the sunlight. However, in summertime, the flower can survive being planted directly in soil outdoors. To allow your sunflowers to thrive, grow them in a sheltered location that sunlight can easily reach. Use soil with good drainage to avoid stunted growth.

Medicinal benefits of growing sunflowers

A sunflower has many medicinal benefits, particularly a cure for pulmonary ailments such as cough, colds, and bronchitis. The seeds, for example, can be baked to create a cure for whooping cough. Other sunflower cures are obtained by mixing seeds with wine.

Growing a sunflower does not only help you in attracting attention from the neighbors and from a few flying animals but it also provides medicinal benefits.

The lavender plant may have Mediterranean origins but it has been proven to thrive in areas that are cold and damp, such as England. Many of its varieties are highly scented though some do not exude a distinct smell. What you may believe to be plain and ordinary varieties may possess lovely scents. The lavender also has beautiful foliage, no matter what variety.

How to grow garden plants such as lavender

Lavender may survive cooler climates but it needs the sun’s rays for at least six hours daily. It also lives better in sandy soil, especially when lime is squeezed on it. Lavender can survive without fertilizers but compost can make its soil richer. This garden plant also needs room to breathe and grow. However, you can take the French variety indoors provided that it will get adequate sun, air, circulation, and rich sandy soil with lime.

Medicinal benefits of garden plants: lavender cure

Lavender is quite a doctor. It can fight bacteria, fungus, infection, inflammation, convulsions, and even depression. The list actually goes on. So better find a book with all its healing abilities and how to prepare it for consumption.

Lavender smells good, looks good, and cures. What more can you ask from a garden plant?

I have a classmate who knows a lot about scientific names of plants and trees. Her father is a botanist that's why she's taken interest in the same field as well. I often hear her say that she wants to become like her father. She used to tell us that all the trees and plants in their house have name plates where the scientific names are indicated. Myrtle, my classmate, was named after a famous medicinal plant -- Myrtle. The myrtle plant is widely used in the arena of alternative medicine as an antiseptic.

During our Botany class, our professor told us to do a research on any plant we like and we're going to present it next week. It's like a show and tell class where the students have to bring with them a plant sample and a research about that plant. Myrtle used the myrtle plant. She found a lot of information from her dsl broadband internet. She told us that Myrtle originated in the Mediterranean region. People cultivated this plant so that they can have an oil source. In fact, Greeks used this to clean and tend to their wounds during ancient times. Myrtle is really a wonderful and useful plant.

One late afternoon, Myrtle narrated to me (even though, I wasn't asking at all) the scientific name of the Myrtle plant. She told me it's called Myrtus Communis. I repeated the scientific name like a chant. I even teased her that beginning that day, I'm going to call her Myrtus Communis. She also informed me that Myrtle plant has medicinal use. The antiseptic and astringent elements of the plant enables it to cure wounds. If you have any digestive and urinary problems, you can use the leaves of Myrtle to heal it. The oil of Myrtle is used to cure any chest ailments. Myrtle may be a simple plant, but it has lots of uses.

One late afternoon, when my friend and I were chatting at Starbucks, she brought up the topic of marriage and wedding. She expressed her deep desire to get married in a beautiful garden with her prince charming. She also explained in detail all her wedding plans -- from flowers up to the reception. She said that she wants to use tulips as her flower for the big day. This is no surprise for me since I know that she loves tulips ever since we were kids. Between sips of capuccino and bites of oreo cookie cake, my friend imagines her wedding day. To remove her from dreamland, I decided to share with her the history of tulips.

I told my friend that originally tulips are from Holland and not from Canada. It was only after World War II that tulips reached the soil of the Canadians. I've read from the books that I used that tulips came to Canada due to Hitler and the Nazis. In 1940, Hitler suddenly attacked Holland, forcing Queen Wilhelmina and her family to escape from London. London at that time was not safe at all since Hitler was attacking the city. Queen Wilhelmina then decided to let her daughter, Princess Juliana to flee to Canada for help. Princess Juliana then went to Canada and the Canadian soldiers helped defeat Hitler's troops. As a sign of friendship and gratitude, the Queen sent 100,000 tulips in Canada. This is how tulips came to Canada from Holland.

As remembrance and symbol of friendship between Holland and Canada, the Canadians celebrate the The Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa every year. My friend and I always dream of going to this festival because it showcases the colorful and beautiful hues of tulips. I discovered from the internet that Ottawa is known as the capital city of Tulips in North America. This is due to the 100,000 tulips that Queen Wilhelmina and her daughter, Princess Juliana gave the Canadians. The first ever Canadian Tulip Festival was held in 1953, a few years after World War II. Today, Canadians continue to commemorate the special friendship by holding the tulip festival every year.

When I was cleaning my room, I found a newspaper that narrated the story of the world’s largest flower in 2003. It was found out that titan arum, the world’s biggest known flower, was blooming right at the heart of US Botanic Garden in Washington DC. According to science books, this flower rarely blooms since it only flowers every fifteen years. Aside from its enormous size, its stinky smell is also its distinct trait.

The flower of Titan Arum or Amorphophallus Titanium is about five feet high, up to twelve feet in height. For the record, the height of Titan Arum is double the size of the average height of people. The leaves of this plant are equally towering as its height. It can grow up to eighteen feet in height and fifteen feet in diameter. If you’re interested in this flower, you can visit the US Botanic Garden and savor its pleasing appearance using the best video recorder. You may also visit the rainforest areas of Sumatra, Indonesia to view this flower if you wish.

The stinky smell of Titan Arum is the reason it’s also called as corpse flower. It smells like a dead fish. Another intriguing element of Titan Arum is its flower only lasts for two days; afterwards, it will start to wither. So, bride-to-bes, who want to use Titan Arum for their wedding, should have second thoughts about using such. The guests and even the groom might leave the ceremony because of the deadly smell of the flower.

I don't know how else to get rid of the bugs that ravage my garden plants except by using screens or taking very good care of the terrariums. Trouble is, I don't have the time to wipe them clean or address the moss building around the flower-cages. I don't like the sight of this greenish gunk creeping up my azaleas at all. Nor the spider webs filling up the crevices of the garden screen, blocking the warm July sunlight that help in the growth of my geraniums. Somebody actually suggested I buy pitcher plants at Lowes.

My first glimpse of the X Judith Hindle freaked me out. If this is the plant that will devour the bugs in my garden (I hope the rodents, too), then I'd be happy to keep it at a price. I heard it was difficult to buy these plants outside of Lowes stores. I had chums who purchased Venus' flytraps and Cobra lilies to adorn their gardens and at the same time keep them clean from insects. No, but someone suggested if I didn't like the Scarlet Belle or the X Judith Hindle at Lowes, I can check out some cheap hybrids at Walmart.

But these plants take a beating in the cold weather. If you look at a regular pitcher plant, you may find a lot of bugs trapped inside, and an occasional spider or two, but none of them may be dead. The only insects that it seems to kill are the crickets and the bigger insects. It's great in my bog garden but I won't dream of watering it with tap water or putting on some Miracle-Gro. This plant doesn't care for fertilizer for the simple reason that it already gets its supply of nitrogen from the bugs it feeds on.

I've never known how to cook a tomatillo jam until I grew a shrublike plant with yellow flowers and thick-husked fruits. They are more often called ground cherries. Lots of gardeners in Texas (of various zones) dote on the tomatillo because these edible flower-fruits reseed like hell they don't have difficult time planting them. Another is that these tomatillos have been good sources of Vitamin C like any citrus fruit. So far, I've collected recipes which allows me to include the tomatillo in the meal.

For instance, I've tried salsa. There's no doubt that only in salsa will you be able to exploit the real taste of the tangy sweetness tomatillo. There are species that taste like pineapple. Some like to put the Aunt Molly variety into various chili recipes and jams. My cousin never thought it's possible to feed humans with tomatillos but he's done some experiment with the chickens in the backyard. As long as it's warm and sunny, there will always be tomatillos in the garden.

The sauce made of tomatillo, mixed with onions, olive oil, jalapeno, oregano, chili, beans, cilantro, chicken stock, and also lime juice makes for a really savory chicken stew. I'm sure no one likes to eat ground cherries stewed in a hot weather, but wait till the end of fall arrives. With a tomatillo in your garden, you don't have to visit Mexican restaurants each time you're craving for salsa and chili. A pureed version of the tomatillo salsa also makes for an amazing bowl of tortilla snack dips.

Flower-planting folks develop a love and hate relationship with Stella Doro. Sure, it needs a degree of coaxing to bloom, especially in the blisteringly hot weather, but it's still pretty to look at. The yellow blooms, however, die off and leave nothing but the green when the summer-fall season is over. Flower planters confess there are far better perennials out there than the Stella Doro. They'd suggest Mary Todd or Hyperion. This is such a huge injustice on Stella.

At some point, I have begun to love this perennial. It did cause me some migraine, though. I had to deadhead the old stems to give way to new ones. They are supposed to be ever-blooming daylilies so I presumed they would really bloom more often than not. Stella Doro has been advertised a great deal on most flower magazines, and I was impressed with how it looked - a golden yellow lily that could brighten a garden when in full bloom. But the process of deadheading is always a tedious one.

If you've developed a hate relationship with Stella Doro, fine with me. Some people just put the flowers in the compost because taking care of it was too consuming. Also, in the hot season, they're too stubborn to bear any beautiful bud. If you adore this perennial, you might as well learn how to deadhead quickly and apply fertilizer. A few more weeks, the flowers will begin to sprout. I don't believe in a perennial that blooms without being taken care of, at least even by Mother Nature.

I'm still thinking whether I should put my Nicotiana annual indoors. Fellow flower collectors told me that I should keep it indoors if it's winter, and in a partly shaded area in the home garden when it's summer. So I guess I would just let the Nicotiana adorn the window outside of my bedroom. If anyone passes by and smells the powerful fragrance, especially at night, I won't be surprised. Nicotiana has been known for its wonderful scent and purple, pink, green, or white flowers.

They do look common at first glance, but Nicotiana buds, a.k.a. Deep Purple, are an exciting sight. I don't water them very much as they drown easily. These flowers characteristically bloom even without enough cultivation. In fact, they can handle extreme drought cases and do not require special soil or fertilizer. Sometimes, I extract the flower's scent in a bottle, because it's heavenly. You can smell the flower's natural perfume better at nighttime.

Flower lovers who like vivid and outstanding colors should plant Nicotiana, as I did. If you choose the purple and the white ones, they really make your garden glow. The White Sylvestris is perhaps the best specie of Deep Purple. You can plant them even on old pots and they can live without too much caree, as long as there isn't too much water. In fact, it would be better to keep them away from flooded areas. Also, know when to cut the old stems so that the new buds have room for growth.