Invite Amaryllis’s Rebellious Cousin ‘Cybister’ in to Your House This Winter

I’ve never grown Amaryllis before, they seemed pretty enough, but they never really grabbed me the way other bulbs like Iris or Hyacinth grabbed me. That is, until I saw a short article in Organic Gardening Magazine about Cybister Amaryllis. WOW! Have you seen these Amaryllis before?

Photo by Erick Lux

Cybister look like the black sheep, punk rocker of the Amaryllis family. They’re definitely not your grandma’s Amaryllis! The plant pictured above is called ‘Chico,’ but also be on the look out for ‘La Paz,’ ‘Emerald,’ ‘Lima,’ and ‘Ruby Meyer.’ Lima in particular is stunning. The top three petals are a deep mauve edged in cream, while the bottom three petals have mauve throats and cream tips.

According to FloriData, Amaryllis need bright indirect light and well-drained soil. And Martha says to plant the bulb with the top third to quarter above the soil line in a pot only a little bigger than the bulb. Apparently if the bulb is well taken care of, it will rebloom multiple times (if you dead head) and can be stored and replanted next year. Considering that the going rate appears to be ablout $12-$15/bulb for the cybister varieties, it’s good to know that the bulbs can be saved!

Bulb Sources:

December 2, 2008 | Filed Under General, Good Reading | 5 Comments

Winter Balcony Gardening Tips

Have you heard? Winter is just around the corner!

As it’s a little more than a month away, I thought I’d collect some of my own posts and as well as others’ that will help you take care of your container garden during the colder months of the year. Also, winter is a good time to read some of the great container gardening books out there.

Photo by mstradling

Homemade Squirrel Repellent to Save Your Bulbs: Amy shares her homemade recipe for deterring squirrels from eating your bulbs.
Overwintering Hyacinth in Containers: Louise has some ideas on growing hyacinths in containers in Zone 6 (brrrrr!).
What to Plant for Winter Balcony Gardens: Some unusual plant suggestions for winter gardens in temperate climates
Overlooked Shrubs for Winter Color: Gen points out five shrubs that provide great winter interest that you might not have thought of.
Winter Container Gardening…For the Birds: How to attract birds to your garden during the winter months when they could use the free meal and you could use some excitement on your patio or balcony.
Winter Container Gardening Tips, Tricks, and a Recipe: Some things to think about for container gardening during the winter, and a little inspiration as well.
Are Your Terracotta Pots Frost Proof?: Philip explains how to tell if your pots can withstand freezing winter temps, and if things aren’t looking good, how to upgrade your pot to make it frost proof.
Winterizing Tropical Plants: Sunset Magazine’s Jim McCausland interviews a tropical plant seller to find out his method for overwintering tender tropical plants.
Ideas for Over Wintering Plants in Pots: Kathy’s suggestions for overwintering hardy plants. She is an expert on cold climate gardening, so if you’re living in a place with harsh winters, Kathy is the gal to help you get your garden through the winter.

Hurry! Today is the last day to win a copy of Bountiful Container and the seeds you need to create a lavender inspired container design described in the book. Click here for more details, but all you need to do to enter the contest is comment on a post! Any post. The more comments, the more entries you have in the contest!

November 17, 2008 | Filed Under Good Reading | 8 Comments

Check Out This Great Guide to Growing Carrots in Pots

I found this informative and funny tutorial on growing carrots in containers and thought I would pass it along. I am growing these adorable little ball-shapped carrots. This is actually my first time growing carrots. Has anyone out there have tips for growing carrots? I think they’re supposed to be pretty easy…?

Photo by see.wolf

November 9, 2008 | Filed Under Fruits & Vegetables, Good Reading | 9 Comments

Grow Your Own…Great DIY Balcony Gardening Ideas

Grow Your Own … Food So Your Kids Will Eat Healthily
Grow Your Own … Winter Herb and Vegetable Garden
Grow Your Own … Salad Bowl
Grow Your Own … Herbal Tea Garden
Grow Your Own … Natural Mosquito Repellant
Grow Your Own … Privacy Screen

November 7, 2008 | Filed Under Good Reading, How To | 3 Comments

Great Gardening Posts to Ponder Over the Weekend

Here are some of the posts I really enjoyed reading this week. As there is less and less work to do outside, there is more and more time to read gardening blogs!

Winter-Blooming Annuals to Help Your Garden Shine: Gen has some great tips for how to use winter-blooming annuals and also some plant recommendations. I think she is right that you can get away with guadier flowers in Winter and early Spring than you can the rest of the year. It’s been so foggy in my neck of the woods, stuff with really bright flowers or foliage really grabs your attention (in a nice way).
A Quick Seasonal Container Idea Using a Pumpkin Instead of a Plant: Sharon posted a photo of a container she saw at Roger’s Gardens (a pricey nursery is South Orange County, CA) that used a blonde pumpkin in place of a focal point plant.
Pumpkin Seeds Are Good For Ya: Marye writes about all the good things the seeds from the pumpkin decorating your balcony can do. They can help you fight colds, lower your cholesterol, and…You’ll have to click over to find out the rest.
How to Grow Garlic on Your Porch: Cindy responded to an emailer’s question about growing garlic in a pot. With economic times pinching a lot of pockets, growing your own food, is a smart choice.
Recession Proof Gardening: Stewart provides a link round up and philosophical point of view about gardening when financial times are tough.

p.s. Bah Humbug! I hate Halloween!!!

October 31, 2008 | Filed Under Good Reading | 2 Comments

Fall Gardening — Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall Color

Photo by Hamed Saber

Libertia ixioides ‘Taupo Blaze’ — fall color contained: If you have enough room for a plant that only reaches 18 inches tall, then you have enough room to add some fall color.
Porcini–The What, The Where, The How to Find Them: Everything you ever wanted to know about collecting porcini mushrooms.
Grassy Plants in the Garden: What grass offers the fall garden
Summer…….it’s time for you to move on: A nice post appreciating the change in seasons with tons of beautiful fall garden photos.
The Un-Mum Brigade: All the other plants that are nice in a fall garden.

September 29, 2008 | Filed Under Good Reading | 1 Comment

Are You a Locavore?

If you try and eat food grown locally, then you are a “locavore.” The reasons for growing your own food or eating food grown by someone else in a nearby location are endless. Better taste, good for the environment, supporting family farmers, are just a few of the reasons.

ANYWAY, if you are in to that sort of thing, or just curious, you should definitely check out Sunset Magazine’s blog, One Block Diet. The gist of the project is that a few dedicated Sunset Magazine editors decided to try and eat only food grown or raised on a piece of property roughly the size of a large, subruban backyard. On the blog, you’ll find funny, interesting, informative posts about raising chickens, growing tomatoes, improving on the BLT, beekeeping, beer brewing and more.

September 27, 2008 | Filed Under Good Reading | 2 Comments

Review of You Grow Girl by Gayla Trail

In one sentence, You Grow Girl by Gayla Trail provides you with easy to read information and projects to get you started in the world of container gardening.

The book is written in a conversational tone, as if the author was your knowledgeable, friendly, next door neighbor, who noticed that you’ve taken an interest in growing a few things on your balcony. You won’t be bored with overly detailed information nor overwhelmed with a two mile laundry list of things you “must” do to have a successful garden. Gayla’s advice is pared down to the essentials and she gives you enough information without over doing it.

The book is broken down in to five sections: Plan, Plant, Grow, Bounty and Chill. As the chapter titles suggest, Gayla starts off with advice about assessing your available gardening space and how to take advantage of it. She then proceeds with information about growing plants and helping them do their best. The last two chapters cover what to do with the bounty and what to do when winter comes a knockin’.

While much of the book is written with the beginner in mind, more experienced gardeners can still get something out of the book. Besides enjoying the sassy/quirky illustrations, there are a number of projects in the book that are more more interesting than your normal gardening book fare. For example, there is a recipe to make a hand salve and instructions to make a gardener’s tool apron, among others.

I defintely reccommend this book. And if you still need more convincing, how many books have you seen on Amazon that have had 22 reviews and every single one is a 5-star review?

September 19, 2008 | Filed Under Good Reading | Leave a Comment

Good Reading

Kathy of Skippy’s Vegetable Garden has a very interesting post up about figuring out how well the bee population is doing in your area. The trick involves sunflower seeds. Intrigued? You’ll have to click over to find out more.

A different Kathy, Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening, is having a contest in honor of the fact that she has been blogging about gardening for…SIX years! The challenge is tough, but the prizes are pretty good. Check it out if you’re a plant identification expert. She also has a really awesome looking Lemon Cornmeal Cake recipe up. I think I am going to try it out for dessert tomorrow night, but tweak it slightly to make it gluten free so my mom can have a slice.

Update: I made the Lemon Cornmeal Cake linked to above. The only substitution I made was to use gluten free flour mix instead of all purpose flower. My mom, grandpa, husband and dad all loved it!

Finally, Elizabeth (which is one of my favorite names, btw–In Hebrew it’s Elisheva which I think is so, so beautiful) of Gardening While Intoxicated has a useful list of five non-suggestions about keeping your garden looking fresh into Fall.

September 4, 2008 | Filed Under Good Reading | 3 Comments

Books for Your Balcony Garden Library

Everyone could use another book. Or at least that’s the philosophy I live by. There may be families that love books as much as mine, but I am confident that none love them more.

I am a very curious person, so I have a wide variety of books, many of them on rather bizarre topics. Need a book arguing against using animals in laboratory tests? I’ve got it. Jews of China? Got that one too. When I find a topic I really like, then I stock up. Needless to say, I have a lot of gardening books…

Photo by fabooj

Here are some great books to consider the next time you need some gardening inspiration or information. The selection below is mostly geared toward container gardening that can be done on balconies and patios, but you’ll also find some books suitable to small, in-ground gardens.

Trees

If you just must have a tree, or two or three, it is important to be realistic about the size of your space, and whether you will be planting the tree in the ground or a container. Check out these books well suited to the needs of a small space gardener:

400 Trees and Shrubs for Small Spaces is a beautifully illustrated reference book highlighting trees suitable for small spaces and includes information on care and pruning.
Trees for the Small Garden more than just an encyclopedia. The author carefully selected 100 trees suitable for small spaces and provides a lot of information about the trees and their care.
Topiary and the Art of Training Plants is a great book if you’d like to trim that Italian cypress growing in a pot next to your front door into a beautiful spiraling spire.

Fruits and Vegetables

If you can only afford one gardening book, and you want to grow sometime you can eat, then the obvious choice is Bountiful Container. But if you have room on your shelf for a few more fruit and veg books, check these out:

All New Square Foot Gardening discusses an easy to reproduce technique to grow a lot of food in a small amount of space.
Little Herb Gardens, or if you prefer an easier to digest format, check out the Little Herb Gardens Deck

Container Gardening

Here are some great books if you just want a few pots that look gorgeous.

You Grow Girl is written by Gayla Trail of yougrowgirl.com fame. It is a great book for those just getting started growing stuff in pots.
Easy Container Gardens. If you want easy to follow container recipes that will look great and are easy to take care of, then this is the book for you.
How to Grow Fresh Air contains 50 houseplants that look great and will add lots of great smelling oxygen into the air of your home.
P.Allen Smith’s Container Gardens. If you like his show on PBS, you’ll enjoy this book with easy to follow recipes for beautiful containers. Even if you’ve never seen his show, you’ll still get a lot from this book.

What books would you recommend to a novice? To an expert? To someone who wants to grow a few vegetables?

August 28, 2008 | Filed Under Book Review, Good Reading | 5 Comments