Ornamentals

By Tom Oder, MNN

Pinching them back, giving them good sunlight and a night rest in the fall are the keys to re-blooming the signature plant of Christmas.

Shrouded in ivy, this 15th century cottage looks like it could play the part of a sinister house in Hollywood's next horror blockbuster.
But the ivy that has created this scowling face on this building in North Wales has chosen a much more innocent target.
It is in fact the Tu Hwnt I'r Bont ('Beyond the bridge') tea rooms, near the picturesque market town of Llanrwst.

Sinister: The ivy covering this house makes appears to give it a face and presence more suited to a horror film - but it is in fact an innocent tea room near the market town of Llanrwst in North Wales

By SAIF MALIK, 19:25 13 March 2011

The horticultural wonder which has already engulfed one home and is on its way towards another.
Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) has been determined by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the largest blossoming plant in the world. The single wisteria vine covers over an acre in size. It has more than a million blossoms and weighs 250 tons.

Dragon's blood trees are a distinctive and slow-growing species of dragon tree native to the Socotra archipelago off the horn of Africa. The famous red resin that gives it its name is exuded from the bark after wounding. The medicinal and colouring properties of this resin, and that from other dragon trees, was recorded by the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome. It continues to be used in medicine, dyes, varnish and incense to this day.

In the scorching summer heat of the Chihuahuan Desert in southwest Texas, air temperatures can hover around 97°F (36°C) while at the surface of the soil temperatures can exceed 158°F (70°C). Encountering these extreme temperatures, plants must utilize creative methods to not only survive but thrive under these difficult and potentially lethal conditions.

This new work by Dr. Gretchen North and colleagues, published in the December issue of American Journal of Botany, sheds light on how one desert resident, the cactus Ariocarpus fissuratus, copes with the effects of high temperatures.

A "living rock" cactus (Ariocarpus fissuratus) in a large container on the roof of the biology building of Occidental College, Los Angeles, in June 2008 after 8 days of high temperatures. This particular plants was embedded in sandy soil with surface rocks. Scale bar = 10 mm. (Credit: Gretchen B. North, Occidental College, Los Angeles)

Unless you suffer from severe allergies, you likely appreciate all of the good that accompanies the presence of greenery. Unfortunately, most people spend almost every day entirely indoors, sacrificing quality time with Mother Nature. People trapped in insufferable and almost inhumane dorms or offices have it the worst, as both can become depressing relics of a time when aesthetic, psychological and health considerations weren't included in design and development. But even the worst of places can be livened up with the presence of indoor plants and their many benefits. Here are 10 great reasons to grow plants in your dorm or office.

BY Miranda Kimberley

These deciduous shrubs can provide beautiful late summer colour in the garden, says Miranda Kimberley.

In the warmer climes around the world, Vitex produces vigorous evergreen trees and shrubs with striking upright spires of lilac flowers. On our shores, where the climate is a bit more mean, Vitex never achieves such a dramatic display. But there are a few deciduous shrubs in the genus that can be grown in our temperate conditions, and given the shelter of a wall they can provide beautiful blue late summer colour in the garden.

In the Nineties, Holland's most creative gardeners pioneered a 'new perennials' style that swept the world.

There’s been a huge shift in planting style in the past 15 years. It has been called the “new perennials” style, as key plants include tall grasses and relaxed late-season perennials that persist into winter, but it first caught on as “prairie planting”, a phrase that tends to conjure up a wide-open American landscape. However, many of the most popular plants have complex German names.

By SAIF MALIK, 02:15 18 September 2010

Autumn is on the verge of beginning and the splendid autumn grasses have motivated  me to publish on them. These ornamental grasses are splendid in autumn but they can really transcend any season. Many of these grasses like Ravenna, Calamagrostis and tall Miscanthuses, can be left standing all winter. They perform elegantly in the garden for almost ten months of the year when they are cut back in very early spring to spur them intio another season's growth. Some of Carexes and other few retain their color for the whole year.

Two new compact oakleaf hydrangea cultivars ideal for small gardens have been released by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.

New evidence suggests that deforestation and increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are creating a meaner poison ivy.

Poison ivy is feared, respected, and most of all, avoided. But new evidence shows that the beast of the wild is getting stronger, tougher and decidedly angrier. NPR reports on a highly developed poison ivy that is spreading through our forests. And like Frankenstein’s monster, this disaster is one of man’s making.

In Japan the previously developed concept of a plant factory again receives attention and in contrast with previous attempts it appears that the concept will be successful now. This is also thanks to the worries of Japanese customers regarding food safety and the low level of self-sufficiency. The plant factory is a closed growing system, in which throughout the year a constant production of high quality vegetables can be achieved. Artificial control of growing conditions, such as light, temperature, moisture, carbon dioxide concentration and the possibility to add culture solutions are added advantages because of this growers can plan their production better.

Fossils and their surrounding matrix can provide insights into what our world looked like millions of years ago. Fossils of angiosperms, or flowering plants (which are the most common plants today), first appear in the fossil record about 140 million years ago. Based on the material in which these fossils are deposited, it is thought that early angiosperms must have been weedy, fast-growing shrubs and herbs found in highly disturbed riparian stream channels and crevasses.

Scale bar = 1 cm. The specimen is from the Smithsonian Institution (USNM 222855A). (Credit: Courtesy of Dana Royer, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.)

By Miranda Kimberley, Horticulture Week

Caution is needed when sourcing these dramatic, late-flowering perennials.

With their bold, banana-like foliage and bright-coloured flowers, Canna species are a popular choice when a touch of the tropical is called for, particularly in late summer.

Canna National Collection Holder Keith Hayward even goes so far as to call them "garish and brash", but says this is precisely what makes them so attractive to consumers.

Griffith University researchers have found native lemon grass, used by Indigenous Australians as traditional medicine, has the potential to relieve headaches and migraines.

The findings of the five-year study were reported in the most recent edition of the academic journal Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Research by Professor Lyn Griffiths, Dr Darren Grice and Dr Kelly Rogers has scientifically proven the lemon grass plant Cymbopogon ambiguus may be as good as aspirin when it comes to treating headaches.