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 […]
Spring Bulbs
colorful spring bulb look in front of brownstone For a Fabulous Spring Look call Plant Specialists today – the choices are endless !! PLANT SPECIALISTS GREENING NEW YORK FOR OVER 52 YEARS ! Article written by our Staff Horticulturist, Peter B Morris, BSc, MSc, MBA All photographs used with permission […]
The Color Purple
Green Most leaves look green, but many are red, brown, purple, yellow, and orange! What’s up with that ! Green The green comes from the vast amount of the pigment chlorophyll (used in photosynthesis) inside the cells. From sunlight, it absorbs many wavelengths (think rainbow) except one – GREEN ! It reflects […]
Acclimatization of Indoor Plants
To acclimatize is when an organism adjusts to a change in its environment in order to survive. When dealing with INDOOR FOLIAGE PLANTS this becomes most apparent to anyone whom recently purchased one ! Most indoor house plants sold in the northeastern US are grown in shade houses in Florida. A land of abundant sunshine, […]
PARENCHYMA
THE UBIQUITOUS PARENCHYMA Plants contain many types of tissues and within each, various specialized cells – but none of them beat Parenchyma ! These are the biochemistry machines of the plant. They are alive at maturity (unlike wood) and specialize into many forms. The basis for all plant function – they are everywhere and in […]
OFF WITH HER HEAD !
Perhaps the Queen of Hearts would have said it about the Queen of Flowers but we will never know! A rosebud Deadheading It is of course the practice of removing spent flowers to promote more new flowers. By doing so you redirect all the energy it would have made into seeds […]
