Mountain Lavender
It is flavored with stews, fish, vegetables, even salt and sugar! And add to desserts, pastries and frozen in ice cubes.
Growing lavender is easy if you follow simple rules. She adores the sunny location, although she will be subdued with penumbra. All that the flower needs is abundant watering, light soil, periodic hilling and pruning at the end of flowering. But do not cut too low, to the stiff roots - this will ruin the lavender. If there are severe frosts in your lands, it is better to grow the flower not on a balcony, but in a closed, cool room, adding drainage to the ground. In the winter, watering is kept to a minimum.
Sacred Grass
This is how Hippocrates called sage, which is added as a spice in salads, marinades, fish and meat dishes. The main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise the effect will be reversed.
The plant has an impressive root system, so plant it in a large 12-15-liter pot. Choose for it a well-lit place or purchase special lamps for beautiful and flowering useful plants (however, conventional fluorescent ones are also suitable). Sage will suit any of the soil mixtures, the main thing is not to re-crush it. Let in the clay pot (which absorbs excess moisture well) there will be 4 parts of the purchased soil, 3 parts of drainage and a little bit of gravel. The plant adapts to any level of humidity in the range of 50 to 90%, but if it gets used to it, then a sharp change in humidity will not be pleasant to him. To benefit the sage will go nitrogen fertilizer and spraying with succinic acid, which is sold in flower shops.
Sea dew
So translated from Latin the name of rosemary - Rosmarinus officinalis. As a seasoning, its leaves will give the original aroma of barbecue, and lovely blue flowers will decorate soups and salads.
For reproduction, it is better not to take seeds, but cuttings of already strong and beautiful flowering plants: first put them in water, and when the roots appear, plant in fertile soil. Once a month, apply fertilizers and do not get too carried away with watering. Fresh air and sunlight - that's all you need to rosemary for a full development. If in your edges there are no strong frosts, the plant will perfectly feel on the open balcony. But keep in mind: "grass" can grow up to two meters high! So immediately put the rosemary in a spacious pot.
The fierce enemy of ... mosquitoes
Basil miraculously harmonizes with the taste of pizza and spaghetti. His tender leaves are better not to cut, and to tear his hands - the smell will be sharper. And the dry leaves, ground into powder, replace the pepper!
Basil prefers to moderately moistened and enriched with minerals and fertilizers, so it is better to buy such a mixture of land in the store, rather than recruit from the garden. Seeds can be planted in a pot and safely grow the flower all year round in a roomy environment. But remember: the rosemary can not stand drafts, but loves to bask in the bright sun and take a shower, and not some, but the morning! An important detail: if you want to preserve the delicate flavor of basil for your culinary masterpieces, be sure to remove the spikes from the plant as soon as they appear. And the smell of basil scare off the summer attacks of mosquitoes!
Thyme, he's a thyme
Fresh and dry shoots of thyme are added to marinades, salads, soups. A pot on the window of your apartment will completely replace the thyme garden patch. This cold-resistant perennial plant is unpretentious. Choose for it a light, dry, limestone-rich soil and put it on the window sill or on the balcony - wherever there is a maximum of light in your house. Observe moderate watering, water the flower as the soil dries. To the plant normally developed, once in 3-4 years, you need to do a transplant, using seedlings. And to rejoice in the fragrance - cut off young shoots before flowering.
Magic herbs should not only be grown, but also dried properly - in a well-ventilated room, where direct sunlight does not fall, laying a thin layer or hanging in small bundles.
Dangerous to children plants
We have a lot of flowers at home, but my daughter is growing up, and I'm afraid that some plants can be poisonous to her. What species can be dangerous for children?
Some types of indoor beautiful and flowering plants can actually cause poisoning if you chew on their leaves. This diffenbachia, spurge, philodendron, azalea and hydrangea. Individual types of ficus with milky juice can cause allergies. Decorative nightshade and pepper are poisonous because of the berries, so attractive in appearance. But cacti, prickly pears and some milkweed are dangerous for the child only because of their sharp thorns.
How does the "reindeer tongue" blossom? What plant is called "deer tongue"? Is it possible to grow it at home?
"Deer tongue" is called gemanthus-for wide flat with delicate hairs leaves, and really reminiscent of deer tongue. Pour a mixture of turf, peat land and sand in equal proportions into a wide and shallow pot and plant the gemanthus into it so that the bulb is 1/3 above the ground. Put the plant on a light window, water moderately, as the earth coma dries out. After 2-3 months, the hemanthus will please you with its flowering, and the flower of it looks like ... a white paint brush.
Christmas tree - all year round
Tell me, is it possible to grow an herringbone in an apartment? I really want a live spruce for every New Year, and the felled trees are pitiful.
It is difficult to grow a coniferous plant in an apartment, but it is possible. It is better to choose dwarf varieties of "Conic", "Maxwell", "Little Jim" height of 15-20 cm. Plant spruce in a pot with a diameter of not more than 50 cm in light acid soil. Find the soil from the spruce forest - it contains the special mushrooms necessary for tree growth. Often Christmas trees dry up in the apartment because of the warm and dry air. Well, if the tree will live on your balcony! She needs very low winter temperatures and moist air. And for the New Year tree can be made for a short time in the apartment.
Handling of palm trees
I have a date palm tree growing in my house. I have not transplanted it for several years. Is it necessary to transplant a plant into a new pot and how much land will it take to transplant?
Large specimens are transplanted once every 3-4 years. Palms do not like transplanting, so transshipment is preferable, whereby the old earth does not shake off the roots of the plant, but the earthen can simply be transferred to a larger pot. The volume of the new pot or tub should be 5-10 cm wider and depth than the previous one. At the bottom of the tub is laid a three-centimeter layer of drainage - expanded clay, pour a little ground, then in the center set an earthen clod with the plant. Between the roots and the wall of the pot, the earth is covered, slightly priming it. On the surface of the tub, you can lay wet moss or plant small ground cover plants - for example, soleroleolium. This will better retain moisture in the ground.
Chrysanthemums in ... entrance
My chrysanthemums are going to bloom, when at night the frosts begin already. Because of the frost, the buds turn black and fall off. How to save chrysanthemums and admire the flowers?
Build a film shelter in the garden above your chrysanthemums. Or, with the onset of cold weather, dig out chrysanthemums, plant each bush in a bucket, a box or a deep trough. Put plants on unheated summer verandas or ... in the entrance, if only daylight would penetrate the windows. So chrysanthemums can bloom until January, provided that the veranda or porch do not freeze.