Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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Perennial Gardening News
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In This Issue:

- Falling In Love With An Orchid
- Seeds for 8 Perennial Varieties - Just $4.99
- Creating Container Combinations
- Create a Festive Fall Container Display
- National Audubon Society Jigsaw Puzzles
- Reblooming Irises



Falling In Love With An Orchid
by Sue La Rosa

My vanda orchid started to bloom on Friday night. This was a much
anticipated event for me. Not that I am an orchid person or that I
am a hybridizer of orchids or a horticulturist extraordinaire. No, I
am a person who bought an orchid one day and now find myself hooked.


I, like most people, knew orchids existed. To me, they were exotic
plants , linked to people who had greenhouses, lived in South
America or at least some tropical environ. My perception of orchids
was based on the movies or books where orchid growers were portrayed
as elderly and had these huge greenhouses where they doddered around
caring for these erotic plants that their ancestors had collected in
Victorian times. The other face of orchids was they were growing in
some plantation environment with coffee trees, banana trees, coca
plants and bamboo growing close by. In my mind, orchids were linked
with foreign food and culture.

Continued
http://gardenguides.c.topica.com/maacFX3ababUrcfOhqHeafpOkb/




Seeds for 8 Perennial Varieties - Just $4.99
This collection includes seeds for 8 garden perennials. The
individual packages include a minimum of 40 seeds of each variety,
and over 1,000 seeds of some small-seeded flowers.

Collection includes:

- Blanketflower (Gaillardia)
- Blue Lupine
- Lance-Leaved Coreopsis
- White Yarrow
- Blue Flax
- Yellow Prairie Coneflower
- Gayfeather (Blazing Star)
- Siberian Wallflower

Get free shipping when you use the PayPal button below to place your
order.

Visit our website for more payment options.
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Creating Container Combinations
Excerpted from the book 'Deckscaping' by Barbara Ellis.

Spectacular containers overflowing with plants are all the rage
these days. Although in books and magazines you can find
step-by-step plans for exact combinations to copy, it's much more
fun -- and satisfying to experiment on your own. Fortunately,
creating great container combinations is easy, and if you plant one
that doesn't do well or isn't to your liking, it's not a disaster.
Either replant with another mix next year or clump out the container
right away, move plants to the garden (or discard them), and try
again. It's a fun, creative way to learn about designing
combinations, using color, and growing plants. With experience,
you'll learn what you like.

Continued
http://gardenguides.c.topica.com/maacFX3ababWicfOhqHeafpOkb/




Create a Festive Fall Container Display
by Naomi Mathews

Almost without warning, the cool days and progressively colder
nights of autumn are beginning to take their toll on your once
brilliant blooming container displays. This is especially true if
you live in northern regions where the four annual seasons--spring,
summer, fall, winter--are respected.

Your container's flowers have served you very well during the lazy
days of summer, brightening up your balcony or patio with their
blazing colors and aromatic fragrances. Colorful summer visitors
such as butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds have had their fill of
sweet nectar from the lovely blossoms that graced your containers.
Even they know that it's time to seek warmer climes where they will
find new nectar sources until spring returns.

Continued
http://gardenguides.c.topica.com/maacFX3ababWncfOhqHeafpOkb/




National Audubon Society Jigsaw Puzzles
These jigsaw puzzles are of the highest quality. With approximately
500 pieces each, they're printed on linen paper using soy-based inks
and thick premium green board for a crisp, satisfying “snap” when
each piece is fitted. The incredible photography results in a final
product you'll want to frame.

See all 5 beautiful puzzles at our website
http://gardenguides.c.topica.com/maacFX3ababWtcfOhqHeafpOkb/




Reblooming Irises
If you've been hesitant to devote a bit of prime real estate in your
garden to irises because of their short bloom season, these irises
are for you.

A few years ago, horticulturists were hesitant to recommend
reblooming irises because of their inferior blossoms and colors, but
they've had to change their minds. The hybridizers that are
developing these irises have outdone themselves, and the vigorous
rebloomers are stealing the show.

Rebloomers typically bloom in spring as much as a week ahead of
standard bearded irises, then when you least expect it they will
surprise you with another flush of blooms in summer, and possibly
again in fall. Gardeners in warm, dry climates may get as many as 4
reblooms from their irises.

Gardeners in USDA zones 4-10 can enjoy reblooming irises, with the
exception of Florida and the Gulf Coast where the extreme humidity
and high rainfall inhibits them. Plant them in an area where they
will get at least 5 hours of sun a day. Reblooming Irises have an
accelerated life cycle, so they will need a little more fertilizer
than standard irises. Feed them with a balanced fertilizer in spring
and summer, and in warm climates you can feed them again in fall.
Avoid fertilizers with a high nitrogen content, such as lawn
fertilizer. An excess of nitrogen encourages the foliage and
discourages the blooms.

Save over 50% on the 2004 Twice as Nice Reblooming Iris Collection
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