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What is Cross Pollination? Cross pollination is when one plant pollinates a plant of another variety. The two plants’ genetic material combines and the resulting seeds from that pollination will have characteristics of both varieties and is a new variety. Sometimes cross pollinating is used intentionally in the garden to create new varieties. For example, a popular hobby is to cross pollinate tomato varieties to attempt to create new, better varieties....

What Causes Defoliation? Defoliation is defined as a widespread loss of leaves or stripping of leaves on a plant. There are many things that can cause this, such as grazing animals like deer or rabbits, insect infestation, disease, or chemical runoff from herbicides. If your plant is suddenly losing all its leaves, you should check it over thoroughly. Look for signs of chewing from animals or insects as well as signs of disease like spots, blisters, mildews, and molds....

What is a Gasteraloe? Gasteraloe plants, also known as x Gastrolea, are an unusual category of succulent plants that are hybridized from Gasteria and Aloe plants. It is thought that these plants first originated in South Africa. Gasteraloe plants have thick succulent leaves that are usually marked or spotted with each leaf having toothed margins. These plants sometimes produce tubular flowers that bloom on extensions that can be up to two feet (....

How to Grow a Medusa’s Head Euphorbia You may be lucky enough to find Medusa’s Head plants (Euphorbia caput-medusae) at a garden center that specializes in cacti and succulents. If you have a friend with a mature plant, ask if you can have a cutting to propagate your own plant. Let the cut end dry for a few days to develop a callus before planting. Medusa’s Head euphorbia is suitable for growing outdoors in USDA hardiness zones 9b through 11....

What is Plant Poaching? Plant poaching involves the illegal removal of rare and endangered plants from their natural habitats. Illegal plant poaching can occur on government land or on private property when plants are taken without regard to laws and regulations which have been created for the plants’ protection. In most cases, the plants are then shipped elsewhere to be sold via illegal plant trade. In a single day, plant poachers are able to remove hundreds of valuable plants from their native habitats....

Some tips on harvesting broomcorn will get you in a crafty mood. What to Do with Broomcorn Our ancestors didn’t have the ability to go to a hardware or big box store to pick up cleaning tools. They had to get creative and make their own. Consider the modest but indispensable broom. These were handmade from wild or cultivated plants such as broomcorn. There are more broomcorn uses, though, than just this practical device....

Gardeners in many zones may wonder, “Is it too cold to plant vegetables or other plants?” The answer really relies upon the zone, but surprisingly there are many plants that thrive when planted in fall. Knowing when it is too cold to transplant plants is key to the subject’s survival. We often think of spring as the optimal time to plant, due to spring rains, warming soil, and more sunlight....

Types of White Strawberries Probably one of the more commonly grown, the white alpine strawberry is one of several varieties of white strawberries. Before we get into that, let’s get a little background on white strawberries in general. While there are several varieties of white strawberry, they are hybrids and don’t grow true from seed. There are two strawberry species, Alpine (Fragaria vesca) and Beach (Fragaria chiloensis), that are true white strawberries....

While some flowers are easily started from seed in spring, growers may find themselves frustrated by other types which fail to germinate. A common reason for this is that the seeds’ required conditions for growth have not been met. These requirements can include exposure to light, moisture, soil temperature, and even prolonged exposure to cold. Prolonged exposure to cold, often referred to as cold stratification, can help growers improve both rates of germination and overall seed starting success....

What is a Hairy Potato? A potato with hairs is actually a potato plant with hairy leaves, not hairy tubers. The original hairy potato, Solanum berthaultii, is a wild species native to Bolivia, and probably the ancestor of the domesticated South American potato plant. The hairy potato grows three feet (1 m.) and taller. It produces purple, blue, or white flowers and green, speckled berries. The tubers are too small to be valuable for eating and the plant naturally grows in dry regions of Bolivia at high elevations....

Wood Fern Information With their upright foliage and interesting color, wood fern plants are highly ornamental additions to the garden. Some varieties emerge reddish or coppery pink in spring, maturing to a bright, shiny green as the season progresses. Others are an attractive, bluish-green. Although many wood ferns are evergreen, some are deciduous, dying down in winter and springing back to life in spring. Wood ferns grow in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 through 8, although some may tolerate chilly winters as far north as zone 3....

How to Create a Year-Round Backyard Can you have a four-season outdoor space, even in cold climates? The answer is yes. By simply adding a few design elements to an existing porch or patio, you can turn your summertime entertainment spot into usable living space all year-round: Add warmth – A fire pit, outdoor fireplace or a patio heater is a must-have to chase away the chill of winter temps and make sitting outdoors more comfortable....

About Growing Blueberries in Zone 3 USDA zone 3 means that the range for minimum average temperatures is between -30 and -40 degrees F. (-34 to -40 C.). This zone has a fairly short growing season, meaning that planting cold hardy blueberry bushes is a necessity. Blueberries for zone 3 are half-high blueberries, which are crosses between high-bush varieties and low-bush, creating blueberries suitable for cold climates. Keep in mind that even if you are in USDA zone 3, climate change and microclimate may push you into a slightly different zone....

Hardy Palm Trees If you live in zone 6, your winter temperatures dip down to zero and sometimes even to -10 degrees Fahrenheit (-23 C.). This is not generally considered palm tree territory, but zone 6 palm trees can happen. You’ll find hardy palm trees in commerce. Some of the hardiest available include: Date palms (Phoenix dactylifera) Canary Island date palms (Phoenix canariensis) Mediterranean fan palms (Chamaerops humilis) Windmill palms (Trachycarpus fortunei)...

Growing Vines in Zone 7 Winter temperatures in zone 7 can get as low as 0 degrees F. (-18 C.). This means that any plants you grow as perennials will have to withstand temperatures well below freezing. Climbing vines are especially tricky in cold environments because they latch onto structures and spread out, making them nearly impossible to plant in containers and bring indoors for the winter. Luckily, there are plenty of hardy vine plants that are tough enough to make it through zone 7 winters....

Plants that are hardy in Zone 1 accept the coldest temperatures, while plants in the higher zones only survive in warmer areas. USDA Zone 8 covers most of the Pacific Northwest and a great swath of the American South, including Texas and Florida. Read on to learn about plants that grow well in Zone 8. Growing Plants in Zone 8 If you live in Zone 8, your region has mild winters with the low temperatures between 10 and 20 degrees F....

When your zucchini fruit is hollow, they’re weird looking but safe to eat (although hollow fruits may be hard to get rid of). Read on to learn how to avoid this problem in the future. What Causes Hollow Zucchini? The fruit of the zucchini is an overgrown, fleshy ovary designed to protect the seeds and encourage animals to carry them far and wide. When zucchinis are hollow, it’s usually because the seeds didn’t get properly pollinated or aborted soon after the fruits began to form....

Plants like tomatoes and peppers do not like cold temperatures and will signal their distaste for cool weather by dying back. If you still have fruit that needs to ripen, consider ways to protect plants from cold. How do I protect my plants from the cold, you may ask? Some simple cultivation actions will assist, as well as easy plant covers during the night. How Do I Protect My Plants from the Cold?...

Growing Allstar Strawberries You can grow Allstar strawberries in USDA plant hardiness zones 5-9, and maybe as low as zone 3 with a generous layer of mulch or other protection during the winter. Allstar strawberries aren’t grown commercially because the delicate skin makes shipping difficult, but they’re ideal for home gardens. Allstar strawberries need a location with full sunlight and moist, well-draining soil. If your soil drains poorly, consider planting strawberries in a raised garden or container....

Almond Tree Insects There are quite a few bugs that eat almonds, or rather more commonly the tree’s foliage. Ants, specifically southern fire ants and pavement ants, love almonds as much as you do. Large colonies of these can decimate a nut harvest but are not usually a huge problem. Aphids and scales, tiny sap sucking vampires, feed in colonies and cause yellow leaf spots and deformity in leaves and flowers....