The Green Thumb Site

Welcome! This site contains information for anyone interested in gardens, flowers, plants, or in making things from flowers. Read on and enjoy your stay! If you have comments or questions, feel free to contact me at webmaster@roseflowers.com Container Gardening To grow healthy container plants, you need to do a little research about your plants. For example, how far apart should they be? How tall will they grow? This is particularly important if you are planting a window box with a variety of plants. For example, if sunflowers need constant sun, don’t plant them with a flower that cannot endure full sun. In container gardening, you also need to ensure that plants have effective drainage and good soil. Place small rocks at the bottom of your containers so water will drain, and dampen potting soil before placing it in the pot.

Featured Flower: A Rose By Any Other Name . . . Roses were brought to the United States by a French man in the 1800s. Since then, they’ve become ever-popular, so much so that they are New York’s official state flower. Roses carry romance with them, yet they are surprisingly sturdy and easy to grow. Roses come in many varieties, including climbing roses, tea roses, rose hedges, and so on. Roses also have meanings associated with their color. For example, pink roses mean grace, yellow means joy and friendship, coral equals desire, white are associated with purity, and red, of course, means romantic love. more@roseflowers.com

Drying Flowers
For best results, flowers should be dried before fully open. When drying flowers, hang them upside down in low-light (light will fade your flowers) but in a setting containing good ventilation. After they are completely dry, spray them with hair spray so they’ll keep their position.

Caring for Cut Flowers
Cut flowers from your garden in the morning for best results. Before arranging them in a vase, recut them at an angle under running water. Place them in a vase of lukewarm water, preferably with a packet of floral preservatives. You can also put 7-Up in the water, which acts as a plant food. Keep cut flowers out of direct sunlight and away from fruit.