Flowers ! – it’s what’s for dinner !!!
Gremolata ( a scrummy Italian sauce)
A story by Grahame Hubbard. A good friend and her daughter was staying at my house, and one night they cooked dinner and made Gremolata. Oh my goodness I was addicted. I immediately cleared a planter in the garden and filled it with Italian flat leaf parsley. Italian flat leaf parsley ! […]
Pods
Pods A pod is a pouch-like form on a plant which encloses the seeds. Sometimes it becomes dry and splits when ripe. They protect the nascent seeds from pests, and in some cases, the pod actively provides nutrients to the seeds to help them develop. an assortment of pods from Australia Food, […]
INOSCULATION
When trunks or branches (sometimes roots) grow together and bond or merge into each other – we call that inosculation. This biological oddity is actually used as the basis for the process of grafting – it is very uncommon in nature. Tree trunk grew into the adjacent tree trunk ! GRAFTING This […]
The Beginners Guide to Gardening
We get technical at Plant Specialists – you sometimes forget that some people have no idea on what is involved in a garden, or even where to start. So you want to start digging but don’t know where to begin? Here is Plant Specialists basic tips for any Gardening Newbie. Start by Volunteering ! […]
How to Age your Terracotta planter
Viva Italia ! Terracotta is an un-glazed, typically brownish- reddish clay earthenware from Italy. What you buy new is a bland Terracotta planter with no character at all! Well here is a trick that will help age your pot beautifully. Its an easy method to make them looked old and wise – like it […]
Moth orchid care
Phalaenopsis One of the many questions I get through the Plant Specialists blog is how to look after my phalaenopsis (moth) orchids. Believe it or not they are one of the easier plants to look after – and they can last a long time. They can certainly be expensive but they will outlast any […]
What is a Hybrid ?
HYBRIDIZING From a commercial perspective it is a process by which new, plants are developed with particularly desirable qualities therefore making them more marketable. Hybrids are developed for their disease resistance, growth rate, size of plant, flower, fruit or size of fruit, increased flowering, color, taste, or any reason a plant might be considered […]
Its Halloween month – time for some spooky garde
BOO! Touching or knocking on wood for luck is a superstition that exists all around the world. It is so common that many of us do it regularly without thinking about where this practice came from. The origin of the custom may be in Celtic or German folklore. Supernatural beings were thought to live […]
