FLOWER OF THE MONTH: LILY OF THE VALLEY

Happy May! I can't believe how quickly time has gone ( and how quickly the days are blending into one due to the quarantine ) we are continuing the flower of the month series and wanted to showcase this beautiful little specimen, Lily of the valley. It’s a beautiful plant with a delightful and aromatic scent, but adding it to the garden without the right preparation can lead to major headaches in the future ( aka it's a spreader ) 

GROWING TIPS

1) Scout out a nice area where your soil drains well. For drainage peat moss, compost, ground bark, or decomposed manure all work well and are widely available. Lily of the valley plants like soils that provide average amounts of moisture but will not be happy in waterlogged settings.

2) Plant your bulbs where they will get light to moderate shade. 

3) After planting, water generously, soaking the soil to settle it around the roots. Top growth will begin to form quickly, usually in just a week or so, depending on the amount of available warmth. 

4) When in bloom, feel free to cut the petite bell-shaped flowers for bouquets. This will not hurt the plants whatsoever. 

5) After blooming has finished for the season leave the foliage in place; don’t cut it off. The leaves will gather sunlight, create food through photosynthesis, and strengthen the plants for the future. Water as needed. Leaves may be removed if they yellow later in the season. This depends on location as lily of the valley make a nice evergreen groundcover in many areas where the weather is warm to moderately cold. 

6) Your lily of the valley will rest for a few months before beginning the next growing cycle in spring.



We hope this blog post helped you with any of your gardening needs, 
till next time!

FLOWER OF THE MONTH: SWEET PEA

Every time I see sweet pea I always think of Spring, these little florals are so beautiful and smell amazing! They bloom throughout Spring and Summer and but stay evergreen throughout Fall and Winter and come in a shrub or vine variety. Since Sweet Peas is this month's "Flower of the Month" we wanted to showcase how you can grow these lovely flowers in your garden. 

GROWING TIPS 

1) Plant them in very late winter or early spring as soon as the soil is dry enough to work.

2) Sweet peas are happiest with their heads in the sun and their roots deep in cool, moist soil. When possible, plant low-growing annuals in front of them to shade their roots.

3) Prior to planting, you’re going to want to dig a nice deep trench of about 4 inches in depth.

4) KEEP SOIL MOIST, if you touch the soil and stick your finger in up to the first joint and it's dry make sure to give it ample water. 

5) Except for the bush types, sweet peas are real climbers. Give them at least 6 feet of good support. Some varieties may climb to 9 or 10 feet.

6) When plants become established, mulch well to keep the soil cool and moist. If you mulch, you may not need to water your sweet peas unless the soil gets dry.

we hope this post helps you with your plant care needs

till next time! 

TYPES OF INDOOR POTHOS

Hanging plants can really brighten up your space and make it cozier. Especially when it's an awkward corner and you don't know what to use to fill it up, hanging plants are the best option. The best part about these types of plants is that they are SO easy to take care of, they are usually very low maintenance. My favorite type of hanging plant is the pothos, they come in different varieties but I love the pothos jade because of the beautiful, dark green, vibrant color. These types of plants do require med water but you can tell when it's thirsty because it will start to droop slightly. They will bounce back once they get some water, they also like low-med light (honestly depends on the variety) the darker the foliage the less light that it needs. These are some of the varieties of the pothos species: 

              POTHOS JADE 

    POTHOS N-JOY

          POTHOS MARBLE QUEEN

        POTHOS GOLDEN 

      POTHOS NEON

we hope this post helps you with any of your plant needs! 

till next time 

HOW TO CONSERVE: RAIN WATER HARVESTING

Have you guys ever heard of rainwater harvesting? We were recently at a convention when the topic came up, naturally, we were curious as to what that is and what kind of benefits it has. Rainwater harvesting is collecting the run-off from a structure or other impervious surface in order to store it for later use. Traditionally, this involves harvesting the rain from a roof. The rain will collect in gutters that channel the water into downspouts and then into some sort of storage vessel. Rainwater collection systems can be as simple as collecting rain in a rain barrel or as elaborate as harvesting rainwater into large cisterns to supply your entire household demand and landscaping needs! 

Here are some of the benefits of switching to a Rainwater harvesting system 

Rainwater is a relatively clean and absolutely free source of water

 You have total control over your water supply (ideal for cities with water restrictions) 

It is socially acceptable and environmentally responsible 

It promotes self-sufficiency and helps conserve water Rainwater is better for landscape plants and gardens because it is not chlorinated

It can solve the drainage problems on your property while providing you with free water

 It uses simple technologies that are inexpensive and easy to maintain

we hope this post helps you with all of your landscaping needs, 

till next time!

TYPES OF INDOOR FICUS PLANTS

As well all know there are so many different varieties of plants and different factors (such as lighting, watering, and height) so it can all be a little overwhelming when choosing a plant that will work best in the designated area that you want to put it in. In this series, I want to showcase the species of indoor plant and it's different varieties. This week it will be all about Ficus's, the ficus plant is a little temperamental and I definitely wouldn't recommend any type of ficus to a beginner, it's more of an intermediate/hard plant due to its many needs. It requires high light, medium watering and fertilization every 6 months.  Here are the different types of indoor Ficus's:

FICUS ALLI 

FICUS AUDREY

FICUS BENJAMINA

FICUS RUBBER TREE

FICUS LYRATA

I hope this blog post help with all of your plant care needs

till next time! 

TOP 10 INTERIOR PLANTS FOR YOUR OFFICE AND HOME

Hazart Khan once said "some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful" I personally love to make my space beautiful by filling it to the brim with plants. Luckily, I have a green thumb ( THANKS MOM! ) as I've grown around plants my entire life and there are so many great attributes as to why you should have plants in your space ( be it home or office ) 

1) Boost mood, productivity, concentration and creativity

2) Reduce stress, fatigue, sore throats and colds

3) Clean indoor air by absorbing toxins, increasing humidity and producing oxygen

4) Add life to a sterile office, give privacy and reduce the noise level

5) Are therapeutic and cheaper than a therapist

Here are some of my favorite plants that I personally love for interior spaces 

SNAKE PLANT

POTHOS 

SWISS CHEESE PHILODENDRON

ZAMIIFOLIA 

BOSTON FERN

RUBBER TREE

DRACENA LISA

PEACE LILLY

CALATHEA 

I hope this post helped you will all of your plant care needs! 

till next time 

TOP 10 CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANTS

California, there are so many good things that I could say about this beautiful place but I may be biased since I was born and raised here. From the coast to the desert there are a lot of stunning native plants from California ( over 700 to be exact ) but today I wanted to share my top ten favorite plants that were also born and raised in sunny California. 

DESERT MARIGOLD

ROSA CALIFORNICA

SALVIA SPATHACEA

CEANOTHUS LEUCODERMIS

CHILOPSIS LINEARIS "DAZZLEWINE DESERT WILLOW"

ESCHSCHOLZIA CALIFORNICA "ROSE CHIFFON" 

EUPHORBIA XANTII

FREMONTODENDROM "CALIFORNIA GLORY"

IRIS DOUGLASIANA 

ARBUTUS MENZIESII

I hope you guys enjoyed this blog post

till next time!!