Garden Decor

Fertilizing your flowers is all about the food, much like yourself a well balanced fertilizer can make the difference in your sprouting flower garden this year.

Depending on how in depth you want to get, it is not all that necessary to go out and have your soil sampled and analyzed. I usually stick with a tried and true fertilizer that contains a full spectrum of plant nutrients. With so many brands and the opinions of professional gardeners it should be easy to make an educated decision. The main focus after selecting a well balanced fertilizer will just be focusing on not over-feeding the plants as this can cause damage to root structures, even kill the plant.

Read the directions carefully and keep in mind that you will not want to place the fertilizer directly on the leaves and flowers of the plant. Everything involved from there is pretty much straight forward. Keeping in mind the ideal lighting and watering situation afterward will help in effectively obtaining a great bloom.

Spring brings with it that time of year for home improvements, which can sometimes follow a much neglected winter. Indoors and out there is much to do, and on those warming summer days there is no better way to earn the relaxing summer days than enduring the spring cleaning your garden needs.

It is coming upon that time where your garden needs a good upkeep. Spring clean your garden, now that the snow has melted and the debris hopefully settled for a nice calm spring afternoon.

Perhaps one of these sunny days, you too will break out the rake and begin the process. I usually begin the process with an overhaul of the grounds, from garden beds to the lawn. I want to get a jump on the chance to start the spring off with some fresh fertilizer as the sun and warmer showers will enable the grass to grow in thick for summer.

Transplanting can also be an important part of your early spring garden to-do as well as trimming the overgrowth on your small bushes and ferns. Hopefully the win, rain and hail did not inflict too much of a beating on your plants but all can be salvaged with the proper knowledge and care, perhaps the makings of a future post.

Pre-Season Hellebore 

The genus is native to much of Europe, from western Great Britain, Spain and Portugal, eastward across the Mediterranean region and central Europe into Romania and Ukraine, and along the north coast of Turkey into the Caucasus. The greatest concentration of species occurs in the Balkans. One atypical species (H. thibetanus) comes from western China; another atypical species (H. vesicarius) inhabits a small area on the border between Turkey and Syria.

The flowers have five “petals” (actually sepals or tepals) surrounding a ring of small, cup-like nectaries (petals modified to hold nectar). The sepals do not fall as petals would, but remain on the plant, sometimes for many months. Recent research in Spain suggests that the persistent calyx contributes to the development of the seeds.

Although the flowers of some species may resemble wild roses (and despite some of their common names, such as “Christmas rose” and “Lenten rose“), hellebores do not belong to the rose family (Rosaceae).