This video is about the beautiful, yet tasty lemon balm herb, how to care for it, and suggestions on how it will thrive. Enjoy!
This video is about Stan and James DeFreitas Visiting Folly Farm in Safety Harbor, Florida. With the one, the only Tanja Vidovic. Enjoy!
Stan and James visit Sunken Garden in St. Petersburg, Florida for part 2 showcase some more of their more unique and interesting plants.
East Coast Home Show will most likely be in August 2018. And as always yours truly will be giving talks Saturday and Sunday. Please come out and support local businesses. Bring your soil samples as I will be doing free pH testing. If you would like more information please visit: https://www.tampahomeshow.com/
Talks on Saturday and Sunday are TBD.
Everybody calls it “Bons Eye” but it’s actually pronounced “Bone’s Eye” These plants are trying to be miniaturize trees. It doesn’t matter if it’s an elm or a pine, you are going to keep them a small plant. This often involves root pruning and trimming of branches in order to keep a tree like appearance.
The Christmas season is upon us, and this is a plant that has all kind of historical and biblical implications. What most people may not know is that despite being that crown that the Romans put atop Jesus’s head it also has beautiful flowers.
4/25/16
Ancient Palms
Palm trees have been with us for a long time. It has been estimated that palms have been growing in our world for 80 million years. Palms also were mentioned 20 times in the Bible. The coconut and date palm have been food sources since man discovered them. No doubt without palms man’s early development would not have occurred as quickly as they did, or as successfully. There are thousands of species of palms and all are important. Early building in the Middle East was done with the use of palms. Although mainly thought of as large grass members, they are monocots. This means one seed leaf, a major division of the plant kingdom. Palms can be cold sensitive, and yet some palms can grow in quite cool areas even below freezing with the help of greenhouses and malls. Many of us have seen palms today in areas where they would not have grown naturally. Palms like all plants need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and also seem to require extra manganese and magnesium. Newly planted palms need frequent watering until they become established. For a lush, tropical look in your garden, you cannot choose any plant more suitable than a palm tree. Palms are easy to grow and play a huge role in the world.
6/13/2015
Many people are familiar with the edible Ficus. They may not realize that this family predominates in the indoor arena. This family is one that has a number of species of the Ficus family. Many of these plants are used as indoor houseplants. The edible fig is somewhat interesting in that its flower is a fruit like cavity with an opening on the end. Once an insect pollinates the flower, the fruit forms around the inner flowers; this is the fruit that we eventually eat. For houseplants, often we have a number of species like the weeping fig, the fiddle leaf fig, and even the small little ficus pumila or creeping fig. These can be seen growing in malls and in dark halls because they are adaptable plants. This is also one reason it has become the most grown indoor plant. Remember most Ficus, and for that matter, other houseplants grow best when there is a fairly high light level. When the light level is too low, the plant is on a one-bean-a-day diet.
Remember, we get rubber from ficus and also shade. Some members of the large Ficus family have been known to travel up to a quarter-mile in distance. In South Florida, Ficus have often been used as huge trees that will be 80-90 feet across and reach 60-70 feet in height. Anything that grows this large will have a massive root system; because of this, I often encounter people and advice against planting Ficus too close to their homes. As an indoor plant, they are most popular. Occasionally, you will get some yellow leaves and dropping of leaves; this can be normal. If possible leave your plant in the same spot for best results, don’t play musical chairs with your indoor plants. Trees under stress will normally drop leaves as a protection mechanism. If you do see brown tips on the end of your Ficus leaves, it may be attributed to a water problem. Make sure the whole root system gets a good soaking and dries between the next watering.
One of the most important species for man, the Ficus was mentioned back in the first chapter of the Bible and has been found near the walls of Jerico. In other words, it has been hand-in-hand with man throughout history.
Come on out on November 7, 8, 9 2014. Yours truly will be giving talks Saturday and Sunday. Please come out and support local businesses. Bring your soil samples as I will be doing free pH testing.
Talks on Saturday and Sunday are at 1pm.
They get their name from the fact that you can gently squeeze the sides of the intricately shaped flower and see the jaws of a dragon head snap closed.
