What is butterfly gardening? Simply put butterfly gardening is the art of growing flowers and plants that will attract these colorful and dainty creatures to your garden. Delight your family and visitors with beautiful butterflies, but be sure to create a safe habitat for them. If you own cats rethink your plans, because it would be a shame to attract these lovely insects to their death.

The design your butterfly garden is a matter of personal preference. Typical points to consider are the size of your garden and the types of flowers and plants you want to grow. Pick a style of garden that appeals to you, but ensure it also contains the plants and flowers that appeal to the butterflies you wish to attract.

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It is important to find out which plants and flowers will attract the species of butterflies. that live in your area. This information can be found at the local library

To create the kind of environment that they find attractive, you will also need water of some kind. A birdbath will look attractive and keep the butterflies up off the ground, away from stray cats or mischievous puppies. A shallow dish on a post or hung in a tree will do just as well.

When planting your butterfly garden be careful how you coordinate the colors you choose for your flowerbeds. Although butterflies do not care about your choice of color, you don’t want your garden to be a hodgepodge of unrelated colors and textures. Butterflies are attracted to those flowers that have nectar rather than pollen, like honeysuckle, milkweed, summer lilac, Valerian, daisies, Purple Coneflower, Yellow Sage, day lilies and lavender.

Some people find it helpful to draw and color a layout of their butterfly gardening plan to see what the finished product would look like. Keep in mind that warm colors like red and orange are flashy and showy. These colors have a greater impact against a strong green background. Cool colors such as blue and purple are soothing and toned down and would work better with a white contrast to create the look of freshness and brightness.

There are several reasons why a grower of flowers would want to select a variety such as the astonishing double knockout roses to add to the landscape design of their property. This specific choice is one that is known by many for the very low level of maintenance that it requires. The rich color that they can add to the beautification of any flower garden is unbelievable, and it can be done with just a small amount of effort.

The amount of pruning that this popular variety in a rose will need is an easy task that will not take a large amount of your time, and for the first two to three years, you will not even have to worry about pruning at all. This is one of the many reasons why so many growers choose this particular plant.

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When you prune double knockout roses, you will want to use alcohol and some hot water to sterilize the shears that you plan to use. Then, after the season’s last freeze, and during the spring, you can jumpstart your plants into blooming beautifully and hardily by pruning them just a little. Sterilizing the shears will ensure a cut that is much healthier. You should also avoid using straight cuts; instead you will want to cut in an angle. By simply pruning your plants again during late summer or the early fall, it will help to keep their growth in a size of about 3 feet by 4 inches, and will help to keep them from overtaking the rest of your flower garden.

Double knockout roses add amazing color to a garden, but most people choose them because of their relative ease of care. These plants have become popular with gardeners due to being so resistant to diseases and their ability to produce buds almost continuously. They can withstand a large variety of temperatures and conditions. If you simply cannot fight the need to prune your plants, here are some easy steps you can use.

1. Remove dead and old canes – You can do this as needed. You should also cut the smaller sized canes that you find sprouting up.

2. 1/3 is the general guideline – Prune your mature double knockout roses by removing 1/3 of the first sprouting canes and any stems that may show signs of damage or disease.

3. Shearing – These particular plants are very sturdy which makes it difficult to make mistakes. Some gardeners choose to use power clippers to shear their plants, but this method is not recommended even though their plants were often growing back very well within a short amount of time.

These beautiful plants have been known to grow very tall, some of them even reaching to heights of 5 or 6 feet. Plant them in a spot where there will be lots of room. By doing this you will have more time between prunings and have less to remove from the plant when you do, meaning overall less time tending to your plants.

David S is a Rose expert. For more great tips on Double Knockout Roses and growing Roses visit http://www.myroseguide.com

Designing your flower garden may seem like a scary prospect.  Once you’ve planted your flowers, it might be a bit hard for you to tear them up if you don’t like the layout, so it’s very important to get it right from the beginning. [Read more...]

To begin flower gardening it’s best to have a good understanding about flowers in general.  For instance, it’s a good idea to know the difference between perennial and annual flowering plants.  Perennials come back each year, as annuals need to be replanted each and every year.  [Read more...]

Landscaping is usually a fairly big task, consuming much time and energy. But before you hire that professional, here are some tips that could save both time and money.

1. Spend some time thinking about exactly how you want the final design to be. You need to take account of the style and function of your landscape. Do you want to include an area for entertaining? A barbeque? Is there to be an area for children to play, a fishpond or a swimming pool? An idea of the plants you want to be there will also help. Focus on the area where you spend most of your time. That’s a good place to start.

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2. Think twice before hiring a pro. An independent designer might cost you hundreds of dollars when you may be able to access free plans on the internet or at a nursery. But if you have an awkward block such as very steep ground, a pro might give you the expertise to save costly mistakes.

3. The style of your home must be taken into account. If you have a rural cottage, formal gardens surrounding it will look out of place. Think also about your lifestyle. Do you want to spend hours caring for many beds of annuals or pruning beds of roses? If so, go ahead and plant them, but if you’d rather spend your free time at the beach, then go for an easy-care garden and landscape.

Here are the various landscape styles you can choose for your own garden:

a. Formal. This style uses lots of straight lines and perfect geometrical shapes. Orderly arrangement of plants instead of random positioning is employed. Close arrangement and pruning is seen on many landscaped gardens with this style.

b. Informal. This kind of landscaping workds well with cosy cottages. Beds with curved edges instead of straight lines and random placement of plants suit this landscape style.

c. English Garden. This style emphasizes the harmony between the house’s architecture and the garden.

d. Formal/Informal Garden. This style often comes with a brick walkway that exudes formality. This walkway leads to the rear with a circle of plants. The arrangement of plants resembles the English garden style but it has no formal borders.

e. Oriental. It is often the kind of garden found in small backyards. It uses rocks, evergreens and water. A wide variety of plants create several interesting angles with this style.

f. Woodland. This landscaping suits a house that has a wooded backyard and sloping ground.

Knowing how to care for your flower garden can make a big difference in the look and over-all health of your plants. Here are some simple hints to make your flower garden bloom with health

1. The essentials must always be given major consideration.

Your flower garden must have an adequate supply of water, sunlight, and fertile soil. Any lack of these basic necessities will greatly affect the health of plants. Water the flower garden more frequently during dry spells.

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When planting bulbs, make sure they go at the correct depth. When planting out shrubs and perennials, make sure that you don’t heap soil or mulch up around the stem. If you do, water will drain off instead of sinking in, and the stem could develop rot through overheating.

2. Mix and match perennials with annuals.

Perennial flower bulbs need not to be replanted since they grow and bloom for several years while annuals grow and bloom for only one season. Mixing a few perennials with annuals ensures that you will always have blooms coming on.

3. Deadhead to encourage more blossoms.

Deadheading is simply snipping off the flower head after it wilts. This will make the plant produce more flowers. Just make sure that you don’t discard the deadhead on the garden or mildew and other plant disease will attack your plants.

4. Know the good from the bad bugs.

Most garden insects do more good than harm. Butterflies, beetles and bees are known pollinators. They fertilize plants through unintentional transfer of pollen from one plant to another. 80% of flowering plants rely on insects for survival.

Sowbugs and dung beetles together with fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms are necessary to help in the decomposition of dead plant material, thus enriching the soil and making more nutrients available to growing plants.

Other insects like lacewings and dragonflies are natural predators of those insects that do the real damage, like aphis.

An occasional application of liquid fertilizer when plants are flowering will keep them blooming for longer.

Always prune any dead or damaged branches. Fuchsias are particularly prone to snapping when you brush against them. The broken branch can be potted up to give you a new plant, so it won’t be wasted.

Many times we buy plants on impulse then find there is nowhere in the garden that really suits them. Before buying plants carefully examine your garden to see how much sun and shade it gets, whether the soil is well drained or waterlogged and whether your aspect is sheltered or windswept. You’ll then be equipped to go and buy the best plants for your situation; shade-loving plants for the sheltered areas, sun-lovers for the warm spots, drought-resistant plants for the parched areas which may be either sunny or shaded, and swamp plants for the poorly-drained parts.

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But wait! Test your soil first, to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add, if any. Is the soil acid or alkaline? Most plants prefer soil that is slightly acidic, but there are some that must have alkaline soil to grow. You can alter the soil’s pH level, but it’s much easier to simply plant for the soil you have.

Now you are ready to plant. Well – almost. Will you plant in groups or singly? If you buy ‘one of everything’ your flower garden may seem rather spotty. Group plantings are organised, harmonious and you can vary the color for interest.

Before planting out, place your chosen plants around the garden bed in their pots to see how they will look. Re-arrange them until you are satisfied. Grouping plants in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Be sure that you have an interesting combination of colors and textures of plants. Tall plants should go to the back, or the centre if your garden will be viewed equally from all sides. Try to keep your plants away from trees. The roots of trees are fiercely competitive and will steal all the nutrients and moisture meant for your flowers.

The right color scheme is one way to maintain the harmony in your flower garden. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may clash with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, grey or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This means that they are still attractive well past the blooming season and so have added value.

Flowers are not immune from disease, and you should be prepared to take action to help your flowers if they fall prey to one of these diseases.  Flowers can be attacked by all sorts of things, like bacteria, viruses, and fungi.  [Read more...]

The flowers you pick for your flower garden will be based largely on personal preference, but you should also consider the rest of the plants in your landscape.  Your garden flowers should blend in well with the surrounding plants.  Also, you should be aware of the different flower meanings and symbolisms of popular garden flowers. [Read more...]