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 […]
Synthetic lawn – isn’t that Astro Turf?
The Past Do you remember going to a friends place as a kid and their parents would have blue Astro turf around the raised hot tub or even up the wall ! Oh yes you do! OMG – platform shoes and a floral shirt with big old collar lol !!! – it wasn’t that […]
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 […]
Hair!
Trichomes Hairs in Botany are called Trichomes ( Greek). They come in every size, shape and color imaginable. Most importantly, what they look like tells you a lot about where and why they evolved to look that way. Typical glandular hair – a trichome Some have glands in their tips and others at their […]
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 […]
PHORESY
phor·e·sy ( /ˈfôrəsē/) Several years ago our Plant Health Care department noticed how despite some rooftop plants being totally isolated they suddenly got insects. We were perplexed and decided to investigate. That’s when we learned about this very odd form of insect dispersal called PHORESY. Phoresy is simply when one organism attaches itself and then […]
