Check this out! It's called the Floating Garden - the newer, more modern version of the Peace Lily betta*.

The floating garden eliminates fish waste and keeps the tank clean by filtering the water over a sand-filled device and absorbing nitrates from fish poo to fertilize the plants.  Pretty cool, huh?

From the press release:

"It gives concrete form to a ‘passion for waterworks’ shared by Benjamin Graindorge and Duende Studio. What with Graindorge’s ‘Domestic landscapes’ and the ’Local River’ project developed with Mathieu Lehanneur by Anthony van den Bossche, it only needed one step more (and a lot of experiments) for the principle to be turned into a commercially-viable product, realistic but full of poetic potential. Elegant design associated to extended function make ‘Floating Garden’ an object rich in paradox – thoughtful and forward-looking."

Because of how the tank is created, each is unique in design, and will begin being sold in spring of 2010. And I imagine for a mighty price tag.

*Peace lilies, also called Mauna Loa or The Closet Plant, are easy to grow with exposed roots in water. However, this is not, nor has it ever been, a reccomended environment for a fish, especially a betta, which needs to come to the surface to breathe.

Scented geraniums are rooted deep in the culture of herbal tradition, finding their prominence in 17^th century homes freshening hallways and masking body odors. Think of them like Old Spice with flowers.

Their varied smell and relative growing flexibility make them a favorite amongst herb enthusiasts, and not only is their aroma inviting, but many types can be used to flavor your home and your food. For those especially interested in herb gardening, scented geraniums, or more accurately pelargoniums, were the 2006 Herb of the Year.

You may have heard someone speak of a plant as being a “tender perennial.” This means that that particular plant is likely to overwinter well, either by bringing it indoors as a houseplant or sitting it in a cool, sunny window in a garage to rest for the winter.

Geraniums can even be dug up or removed from their pots, shaken free of soil and hung upside down in a cool, humid place to encourage plant dormancy over the winter – but this can be a fairly difficult process to master, and you’d have to be willing to take the risk. Every few weeks, the roots should be soaked for a few moments in water.

Having said that, it’s important to note that most geraniums grown originally outside will do only moderately well inside your home. But with a little bit of determination and a couple bits of advice, you can enjoy these beautiful aromatic plants all winter long.

1. The single most important thing you must do when you transition outdoor plants indoors is to thoroughly wash them. When a plant is outdoors, even if it is infected with insects, it’s likely the pests will be kept in check by natural predators.

When you bring a plant indoors, you create a dry and warm environment ideal to most household plant pests especially aphids and spidermites, which are very likely to hitch a ride on your plants and pots. So use an insecticidal soap not only on the top and undersides of all your leaves and stems, but also on the soil surface and the pot itself.

2. If your geranium is planted in the ground, uproot it and plant it in a very normal potting soil, but one that doesn’t boast any kind of amazing fertilizer power, because you want your plant to have nutrients, but not be overfertilized. In most cases, you’ll fertilize your plants half as much in the winter as in the summer, because plants will naturally go into a dormant phase and fertilizer is more or less unnecessary. 

Most potted plants will also need to be transplanted as they have depleted the nutrients in the potting soil you used at the beginning of the growing season. However, in neither case should you use garden soil.

3. For the winter, most geraniums will like a cooler temperature with ample humidity and plenty of light, so placing a tray of pebbles filled with water under your planter will help keep the moisture consistent. Make sure, however, that your pot is not sitting in the water, but rather elevated above it. To do this, you can fill a large saucer with pebbles and water, turn over smaller terra-cotta saucer, and set your pot and its saucer on top.

Or, if you have a sunny bathroom window, that would be an ideal spot to raise your geranium.

4. Finally, cut the geranium back to 1/3 its original size and plant in a pot an inch or two larger than the rootball to allow the roots to spread. If you do not cut it back, leaves, stems and flowers are likely to become spindly and make for a homely-looking plant.

While most will be successful using these tips, it’s important to understand that gardening is often just a gamble, and results will be impossible to predict.  Do not be discouraged if at first you don’t succeed – just try, try again.

Economic and financial issues plaguing the globe have spawned a new wave of interest in sustainability, fostering the need for more urban gardeners. For those living in such a densely populated area, growing space is often limited, and you need to think creatively and maybe even squint your eyes a little to make it work.

Such space concerns are why vertical planters are becoming increasingly popular. A year ago, I picked the top Top 8 Gardening Products for Fall 2008, and among them listed the Living Wall by ELT.

This year, another company sent me a different kind of wall-hanging potter called the Woolly Pocket, which prides itself in adding a touch of class to any home (and it does). The long, almost windowsill-type potters are made out of a dense fabric that feels like a wool peacoat, and they come in coated and uncoated varieties, depending on if you’re planning on using it indoors or out.

I requested the coated version so it would not leak, but opted to set it up outside for the summer – and maybe clean it for reuse indoors for the winter. The Pocket was easy to install and within a few months tomatoes were producing and producing well in the Pocket compared with those on the ground. This is a major advantage if you’re wanting to keep animals away from your plants, especially indoors where most common houseplants are toxic to your pets.

The Woolly Pocket website gives detailed information on all of their planters with colorful photos like this one that make you see both the company and the product as unique. While the imagery with the naked people doesn’t really bother me, nearly every plant shown in this photo is toxic to animals (we’ll hope the dog wasn’t hungry), so I wouldn’t recommend using a sitting planter if you have an indoor pet.

The fabric of the Pocket, unlike with the Living Wall, prevents scratching on your walls and is a better safeguard to leaking because of the inner-coating. The coating covers the inside of the planter, protecting your walls and floor from leaks that may come from overwatering. However, this is a particular concern, because those of us that tend to give our plants more water, will be more likely to kill a plant or create an environment susceptible to root rot.

So, if you were planning on using the Pocket indoors, I might suggest lining the bottom with 2 or 3 inches of Perlite for the best possible drainage.

Other than that, the Woolly Pocket, which comes in many shapes and sizes, would make a great gift for anyone and everyone with a bright, empty wall considering starting a new garden or consolidating some of their favorite houseplants.

It may be the thought of winter – the death, the icy roads, the erratic temperatures … the ridiculous decorations – that makes me want to protect my garden indoors every autumn. The thought of that perfect pot of mint, that fragrant rosemary or even those tangy chives sullied and soggy under the lush Kansas snow is too much. Woe is winter.

But I’m a realist – there are only so many things that can survive indoors, and without a lot of experience or a gardening expert on your side, it can prove difficult to predict what will and what will not work.

Fortunately for us, we live in the golden age of technology, and there are tools in our belts fit for such a project. Meet EasyBloom, your plant diagnostician in a box.

The premise is easy – plant, plug and play. Plant the EasyBloom anywhere in your garden, indoors or out, for 24 hours, plug it into your computer, and download a reading of all the environmental conditions for that particular spot, including soil moisture, light exposure, humidity and average temperature.

Then, EasyBloom’s website will generate a list of plants that would grow well in those conditions, helpful when you’re planning for next year’s garden. Explore thousands of plants in its extensive database and connect with other like-minded gardeners from amateur to extraordinaire.

After you’ve downloaded the information from one spot in your garden – say, where your mint pot lives – then, try different sites inside your home that might be environmentally similar. You will not find conditions that are exact and you are bound to lose some plants no matter what you do. But with the EasyBloom you can figure out where in your home might provide you with the best probability for survival or where to shelter your plants for the cold to come.

Cool, huh?

This late in the summer, conditions are ripe to begin testing environmental conditions indoors and out, so you can plan on starting the great plant migration in late September and early October.

The EasyBloom is easy-to-use and relatively affordable, considering how much you have probably already invested in your plants, and it could only be improved with the ability to test soil acidity or pH. But, all in good time, I suppose.

The EasyBloom retails on the company’s website for $59.95 and makes a great gift for any age.

For a full list of tips and tricks on indoor gardening, check out my post, Five Tips for Indoor Gardens, or, for any gardening question, shoot an e-mail over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com.

I think I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m an awful cook.  Desperate, really. But with a backyard of herbs, it’s tough not to do some experimenting and, with me, desserts are the way to go!

Here are some great recipes I’ve made, perfect for any mint-grower. And believe me, if I can make them, you can too!

Candied Mint Leaves:

Serve these easy-to-make candies as an after-dinner mint or a garnish to a sorbet. They’ll leave you with a surprisingly refreshing taste like you’ve never experienced.

My candied mint leaves were a big hit at my 4th of July party. I served them aligned in rows on a platter I bought from Natural Home magazine (which is now on clearance!)

• 1 egg white
• Small amount of water
• Handful of rinsed mint leaves (chocolate-mint, spearmint, peppermint, lemon-balm, orange mint and/or cinnamon-mint)

1. Beat egg white with water.

2. Dip or brush mixture on to mint leaves.

3. Coat mixture in granulated sugar.

4. Cool in refrigerator for one hour and serve. 

“Hint of Mint” Dark-Chocolate Truffles:

So easy to make and always in demand, these dark chocolate truffles can be a bad-cook’s best friend!

Inspired by truffle mushrooms, good chocolate truffles should have a fresh-from-the earth look. Pictured here are a few of my truffle variations rolled in cocoa: mint, orange-almond and coffee. I served them with a sprig of chocolate mint and I used a recycled glass bowl from Natural Home magazine (which is also on clearance!). 

• 1 large handful of freshly-cut chocolate-mint leaves (substitute peppermint leaves)
• 1 pound dark chocolate baking chips or baking chocolate bar, chopped
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Rinse mint leaves and crush in a mortar and pestle until smooth. You can also chop them using a food processor or  just crush them with a spoon.

2. Pour chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate bars) and crushed mint leaves into a mixing bowl

3. Bring cream to boil in saucepan and immediately pour over chocolate chips. Let cool for 60 seconds

4. Next, take a whisk and, beginning in the center, very gently stir the mixture at the surface in small circles. As the cream melts the chips, you can continue to stir deeper and more quickly until the mixture is even and shiny. This smooth, almost pudding-like mixture is called a ganache.

5. Now, you should let the ganache chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. When you remove the mixture, it will have firmed and can be sculpted.

6. For my truffles, I used a small melon-baller to scoop spheres and rolled them in cocoa powder as a coat. You can also roll in crushed cookies, graham crackers, hot chocolate powder, or you can coat with chocolate syrup that hardens.

Substitutions:

By simply substituting other ingredients for the mint in this recipe, you can completely transform the flavoring of your truffles for a wonderful mixture of candies.

- Lemon Truffles: Substitute lemon balm and a pinch of lemon juice for the chocolate-mint leaves to punch up a citrusy flavor.

- Lime Truffles:  Peel, chop and mix-in half a lime and all its juice.

- Lavender Truffles: Crush and chop finely a handsome bunch with a touch of mint leaves to taste.

- Orange-Almond Truffles: Substitute freshly-chopped orange zest or orange oil extract and a small bag of chopped almonds.

- Coffee Truffles: Use instant coffee and a bit of cinnamon to taste. A little can go a long way in terms of flavor.

- Spicy Truffles: Add a few shakes of cayenne pepper (I would half this recipe with another variation of truffle if you’re not sure you’ll like it).

The variations really are endless, try ginger, white-chocolate and saffron, peanut butter, etc. Any basket of truffles would make for a thoughtful, homemade gift.

If you've got a question, I've got your answer! Shoot an e-mail over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com.

Continued from 7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 1.

Also read 7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 3.

8. Use Newspaper to Line Garden Beds – Unlike plastic tarps or cloth weed killers, newspaper is a great solution for lining garden beds.

Resolution: When the paper is wet, it mats down grass and weeds, killing them in a few short days. This gives you a fresh canvas in which to plant, and it breaks down quickly, to assure you aren’t harming nature in the process. Lay down newspaper and attach to the ground using garden staples (or dry-wall nails - see the next tip!), wet with your hose, wait a week, cover with top soil and begin planting your new, weed-free garden.

9. Think Outside the Garden Box – However, funnily enough, if you ever HAVE used garden staples, you know what a pain they can be: one side goes in, the other bends out of shape and you push and push with all your might, but your efforts fail.

Resolution: I’ve discovered that, where possible, using dry-wall nails is an excellent substitute. The nails come in boxes of hundreds (compared with the 30 or so that come in a box of garden staples), puncture the soil more easily than garden staples and keep your weed-cover down more securely because you can use more of them per square foot than with a garden staple. Tada!

10. Bring Back Healthy Tulips, Lilies and Daffodils – When spring flowers fade and fall, it can be tempting to cut back the green foliage nature left behind, but don’t. A plant invests a lot of energy building greenery before it blooms, and it needs that energy restored in its roots to come back at full strength next year.

Resolution: Wait until the leaves of the plant begin to yellow, and then snip away.

11. Water in the Morning or the Evening – During warm summer months, you may have to obey certain city water ordinances, especially daytime “curfews” allowing you to water only during designated time slots.

Resolution: Watering early in the morning and early in the evening assures your plant absorbs the maximum amount of water before it evaporates off, meaning you’ll use less water for the same plants than watering in the heat of the day.

12. Know Your Mulches – Mulching is an essential part of any garden. It prevents weeds, retains moisture, deters some pests and can add a finishing touch to any pleasant garden.

Resolution: Say you have a flower garden you want to garnish with a beautiful mulch: Choose un-dyed cedar. The warm brown hue creates a palette from which your flowers will pop – plus, insects hate it. Cedar mulch also lasts longer than other mulches, and smells amazing, making it an investment for any long-time flower garden.

Now let’s say you have a vegetable garden, and you want to add as much organic matter to the soil as possible. Here, you should choose pine mulch, which breaks down much quicker than cedar, inhibits weeds and also helps to insulate the soil from extreme heat or cold, protecting your plants.

13. Easy Pesticides – You have animals you’d like to keep, and bugs you’d like to … sleep. (Sorry, best I could do.)

Resolution: Ants hate cinnamon. Sprinkle it around infected plants, under potters, along the side of your house. It is easy, safe and healthy to use around family members of all ages and breaks down easily in rain without infecting our water sources – reapply as needed.  

Spiders hate cinnamon oil. Mix a little cinnamon oil with water and spray on annoyingly placed webs. While some spiders are dangerous and others just scary-looking, killing them off could make other, more annoying, pests worse. Just divert them where possible.

Aphids on the other hand, should die, and at the hands of rubbing alcohol. Mix 1 part rubbing alcohol with 2 parts water, spray directly on the plant, around the plant and make sure to spray the undersides of leaves. Reapply twice a day for two weeks, then taper off over the next three. (read more about killing aphids, in my blog post: When Aphid's Attack)

14. Mulch your Grass Clippings as Often as Possible – It is very tempting to want a "Brady Bunch lawn," but there is a smarter solution.

Resolutin: Your grass and your back will be happier if you use a mower-plug to shoot clippings out the side of the mower instead of collecting them. The residual grass clippings are rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, breaking down to add a  quarter of your lawn’s fertilizer needs and a wealth of moisture back into your soil.

Stay tuned for part 3! UPDATE: Also read  7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 1  and  7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 3 . 

If you've got a question, I've got your answer! Shoot an email over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com 

Also read  7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 2  and  7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 3 . 

1. Kink Your Hose – Ever been dragging your hose around the garden, just to have it kink right before you get to the plant you want to water? “I just want to water that flower right there…no.” And then you shake the hose like a jump rope dreading to walk those 10 or 15 feet to the kink, don’t you? Or, do you have difficulty rolling up the hose in a nice circular pile when you’re through, ending up with something more closely resembling a five-pointed star than a circle?

Resolution: The trick is to keep water pressure in your hose so it maintains its shape. Just kink the end you’re holding or use a water nozzle that shuts off the flow of water while you're moving from plant to plant or rolling it up. It’s not fool-proof, but it works pretty well!

Photo by Eric Vondy/Courtesy Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/vondy

2.  Enjoy Summer Nights Bug-free – You’re sitting on the patio, enjoying the cool breeze from a warm summer day. Frogs are croaking, crickets chirping and June bugs are smacking you in the face.

Resolution: String large-bulb lights around the garden away from your lawn furniture. You get to enjoy the pleasant twinkle of the lights from afar, while your bugs enjoy them up close and away from you.

3.  Keep Dirt from Under Your Fingernails – Let’s not front, garden gloves are good for your hands, but you lose a lot of dexterity through that thick cloth. That in mind, you also want to keep your fingernails shiny for a night on the town later.

Resolution: Scratch all your nails on a bar of soap before going into the garden. This will seal off spaces under your nails, and will wash out more easily than dirt. Plus, you’ll be clean!

4.  Easily Train Vines – Say you have some up-growing vines like morning glories or Virginia creeper you want to train around a doorway for that cool, welcome-to-my-cottage look. You’ve tried sticks and twisty ties, but they’re just not cutting it.

Resolution: Use jute twine! Texture from the twine makes a great growing medium for most vining plants, blends well with natural foliage (especially if you use a green), and bends easier for a customized look. Tie down the ends to a rock or nail for extra support; the jute can be trimmed and sometimes removed after the vine is trained.

Photo by jozephine/Courtesy Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/7790557@N07

5.  Fresh-smelling Cars Go Great with Dried Herbs – Your car stinks and you need some dried herbs in a jiffy.

Resolution: Cut herbs as desired, lay in a single layer on a newspaper on the front-seat of your car and leave to set in the sun.

6.  Worm Poo Works! – Let’s say you're growing food and want to fertilize your garden more organically.

Resolution: Worm “castings” as they’re called, are rich in nitrogen and certain bacteria, which help your plants grow, and the best bit, they don’t stink like other manure! You can buy a worm composter (like this one) and use your kitchen scraps to cultivate healthy, rich organic material that your flowers and herbs will love. You can even compost things like dryer lint or used tissues! Wild!

7.  Encourage New Blooms – Some tips may seem common sense, but many people wouldn’t know that more blooms can be encouraged if spent blooms are removed.

Resolution: Cut off the dead flower stems to the base without removing any leaves like with geraniums or daisies. With day lilies, pinch off only the flower leaving the green stick for texture. When the plant fades in the fall, the stick will brown and can be easily pulled from the ground for fun crafts, like this authentic-looking witch’s broom I made for Halloween.

Check back next week for seven more outdoor gardening tips! UPDATE: 7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 2 and 7 Tips for Everyday Outdoor Gardening, Part 3. 

If you've got a question, I've got your answer! Shoot an e-mail over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Missouri Botanical Garden while visiting St. Louis. The 79-acre national landmark features a beautiful display of flowers, herbs and plants from across the world, including an amazing orchid garden, a Japanese strolling garden, a geodesic dome, an arid-climate garden, a Victorian garden (complete with hedge maze), a rose garden and even an iris garden.

The first stop on the tour, conveniently located near the restrooms, was the orchid garden. Lately, I have become fascinated with orchids. Right now, I have a 4-foot moth orchid (Phalaenopsis amabilis) and a jungle monarch orchid (Oncidium maculatum), both of which are doing surprisingly well. However, neither of them are nearly as exotic as some of the ones in the display! This is a Brassia rising star, which is a spider-like orchid.

These beautiful red flowers, which I believe to be ginger blossoms, were everwhere in the geodesic "rainforest" dome of the garden called the Climatron. The Climatron is the first climate controlled green-house dome of its kind and, in my opinion, the single most fascinating part of the botanical gardens.

Here are a couple shots of the interior of the Climatron geodesic green-house dome. The dome covers a half-acre area and contains thousands of plant species - a microcosm of the rainforest. It includes a handful of tropical, medicinal herbs and spices such as banyan (used to treat diabetes), ginger (for motion-sickness), neem (a repellant against viruses, bacteria and insects, such as lice), pineapple (aids in the treatment of swelling and inflammation), artemisia (calms stomach aches and fever), nutmeg (said to fight diarrhea) turmeric (a spice in curry that may reduce the risk of cancer) and wild plum (used for treating various skin conditions like acne and eczema).

In the footer of our trip, we visited the extensive gift shop, where, in addition to the many garden tools, plants and books for sale, there was one item I just couldn't leave without. Meet Henry the Talking Gnome.

Simply press and hold the button on Henry's foot, record your message and listen to a gnome-version of your voice peep from your new petite pal. Hours of fun if you're like me, and one of the highlights of our trip. I would definitely recommend this as a gift. While it was a little pricey, the gnome should be sure to get a laugh out of you and your friends.

Fortunately for us, the talking gnome has created something of a cult-following on YouTube, spawning hundreds of "webisodes" of the gnome's life. See one YouTube user's demonstration of the talking gnome below, and follow this link to get your own! Tell them The Garden Gnome sent you.

The fifth of May, or Cinco de Mayo, is traditionally celebrated in the Mexican state of Puebla. It is a commemoration of Mexico’s defeat of French forces in its 1862 war toward gaining independence (not to be confused with Mexican Independence Day, which is September 16).

The date has become a celebration of Mexican culture worldwide, often jubilated with traditional Mexican dishes, which feature some fun and flavorful herbs, and is a cherished part of my life as a Spanish-speaker and, let's face it, as a future-crazy-Spanish-teacher!

To celebrate, I’ve gone and scanned the InterWebs to find four great, unusual recipes that my friends and I can enjoy using some of the herbs growing in my garden!

Photo by BenSpark/Courtesy Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/abennett96/ 

1. Cilantro is used often in Mexican dishes as the perfect tangy offset to its strong, spicy components. I planted my cilantro a little too early in the season, but it started coming back last week with a vengeance! 

Try this recipe for Black Bean Salsa With Cilantro, courtesy of www.grouprecipes.com.

2. Featuring a less common herb, epazote, these authentic Mayan tortillas are stuffed with a hard-boiled egg filling covered with a pumpkin-seed sauce. Sounds wild, right? I also discovered last fall while making a cheese plate for work, that the biting, spicy flavor of epazote tastes great sandwiching a slice of white cheese; I used Manchego.

Try this recipe for Papadzules, courtesy of www.about.com.  

3. An important dessert herb in Mexican cooking is what is known regionally as la hierba buena (yerba buena), which we often call wild spearmint, the perfect ingredient in a fabulous mojito, and a great companion to my party dishes.

Try this recipe for Mint Mojitos, courtesy of www.stephscafe.blogspot.com.      

4. I also found a strange dessert, that really has no mention of herbs, but sounded so fantastic I felt compelled to include it! To make it even tastier, add a bit of chocolate mint to the recipe to give it that extra herbal kick.

Try this recipe for Chocolate Banana Burritos, courtesy of www.gourmetsleuth.com.

Wow, yum. Stomach pangs. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat. But, in the mean time, if you've got a gardening question, I've got your answer! Shoot an email over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com, and I'll try to answer it on the site!

Way back in September, I requested some exotic bulb samples from Dutch Gardens. This spring, I have been impressed by the results the freshman tulips and hyacinth have produced. They are both way more vibrant and fragrant than any pre-grown perennial I've bought at local nurseries.

But, don't take my word for it, have a look for yourself! Here are some photographs I shot in my backyard garden.

Early in the fall, I planted the bulbs in the new garden I built based on an Herb Companion garden space design, Mexican Herb Garden. The design uses a four quadrant grid with a tree in the center. I built mine around a honey locust and built a circular garden in the middle that I covered with these tulip bulbs. Find more intricate garden space designs in our new book, Creating Custom Garden Spaces, available in e-book format or on CD-ROM. 

This is one of the hyacinth flowers that came up this spring, I should have taken the photos a little earlier in their bloom, because here, they have become a bit spent. However, even with our strong Kansas winds and some invading rabbits, these compact flowers have weathered well and still smell more fragrant than any I could find for sale early this spring.

Several of the tulips are multi-colored, are striped or have differently colored petal tips. I had several people ask me where I found such unusual varieties, different from the solid yellows and reds they had in their own gardens.

I would suggest these bulbs to anyone who asked - the service was prompt, the flowers bloomed immediately and they weathered the freezing temperatures, the rain, the wind and ... the rabbits with class. Visit DutchGardens.com for more details and ordering information, just in time to collect some flowers to plant this spring! 

If you've got a question, I've got your answer! Shoot an email over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com

(Photos used with my permission for this blog post only. Please do not use without consent.)

Q:  Taylor, my question is multi-layered. I live in the Western NC mountains (Waynesville) at about 3500 feet. Last summer, I put out two upright rosemary plants in areas with Eastern exposure, also a winter-hardy gardenia and a trailing gardenia, none of which survived our winter this year. I learned a very expensive lesson. Therefore, they're going to need to be pot plants. My question: What dimensions/depth should the planters be for:

• Upright gardenia
• Trailing gardenia
• Upright rosemary
• Trailing rosemary
 
Also, finally, how long could they each stay in their respective planters at these dimensions?  How will I know they're unhappy?
 
Thank you so much for your help,
–Lanie

A:  Admittedly, I’ve never grown gardenia plants before, but like I say to users who submit questions, either I will have an answer, or I’ll go out and find one for you. So, I spoke with a couple gardening experts, did some heavy reading, and arrived at a few learned suggestions for Lanie and the blogging community regarding gardenias, which are some of the most beautiful, most fragrant white flowers out there.

First, the quick answer: Pick a pot 2-4" wider and 4-6" deeper than the rootball of the plant you buy to start off the summer. You'll need to transplant them before the summer is through. Find out how to tell when they're ready, below.

1. Know your growing environment: 

Gardenias originated in an oriental environment with mild winters and warm summers – so in a region 6 growing zone, even when labeled “hardy,” if they aren’t in a protected area, they’ll freeze. So, at least with the gardenias in your area, you’re right to pot. (Note: Gardenias will thrive in warmer growing zones throughout the winter.)

While outside, your gardenia will want bright, filtered light (not direct sun), and it will want to stay at a temperature around 73 degrees Fahrenheit. When you move it indoors over the winter, however, it will need the brightest window.
 
2. How to pot: Gardenias are very finicky and like acidic, moist (but not TOO moist) environments, like azaelas, so it’s smart to mix your own potting soil rather than using a standard “garden variety” like Miracle Gro.

Fill the pot half way with organic top soil and then add a handful-or-so of coffee grounds to lower the PH level (make it more acidic). Mix thoroughly. Now add a third more top soil and find some dead leaves to mix in. Leaves will help the plant with moisture, but more importantly, this organic material will help the soil retain acid from the coffee. Finish with enough top soil so that the plant sits right below the mouth of the pot.

Gardenias will want an acidic PH level between 4.8 and 6.2. When mixing your own soil, especially when it’s this specific, it’s best to make only enough for what you need at the moment. Occasionally top soil will come with a PH reading, but if not, any garden center should be able to test the soil for you if you are really concerned with a correct balance. You will also want to refertilize your plants in mid-summer, near the end of June. This can be done with either more coffee grounds or an azaela fertilizer that's commercially available.

Most resources say that, outside of over-watering, an alkaline soil environment will kill your plant fastest, or prevent root formation, which inevitably stops the plant from coming back in the spring. Although they may have been fine during the growing season, it is possible that the plants had stored most of their resources in their leaves and could not grow back from their roots.

(About PH: A soil PH of 7 is neutral. Anything below is acidic and above is alkaline. Stones and building materials like limestone, gravel and concrete are alkaline and can affect the surrounding soil, so if you plant gardenias into the ground, it is best to plant them away from the foundation, walkways and driveways of your home to avoid difficult PH balancing.)  

3. Don’t over/under water: Water your plant every second day, because unlike most outdoor plants, gardenias are very susceptible to root rot, so you only want to water when they are nearly dry. On the second day, you’ll want to soak them well but make sure the plant is not sitting in water (drainage holes in pots are essential with gardenias), and saucers should be emptied.

The best way to ensure that your gardenia is watered (but not overwatered) is to mulch. Using a cedar mulch around the base of your plant will discourage pests (which are common with this flower) and will hold mositure in for a long period of time. This moisture is released more slowly into the soil, so the roots aren't sitting in a pool of water.

Some say that misting gardenias is important, which is in a way, true. Gardenias need humidity - but if they are over-misted and water begins accumulating, their leaves may also begin fostering black fungus, so take it easy with the misting, if you do it at all. Much like with indoor orchids, a better option when you bring the plant inside is to set it on a pebble tray filled with water. (Note: Do not sit roots in the water, instead set the pot above the pebble tray using a small clay saucer turned upside down).

When is the plant unhappy? You will notice that your plant needs to be upgraded to a bigger pot when the soil dries out very quickly because of the size of the roots eating up all the water. Gardenias like to be tight in their containers but not root-bound. And they should be transplanted when necessary, perhaps a few times throughout the growing season, to encourage the maximum amount of growth.

Several sources say that the best gardenia flowers for pots are the more vigorous growers, such as Belmont or Miami Supreme.

About your rosemary:

Herb Companion garden columnist and herb expert, Jim Long, said that it is possible for you to raise rosemary outside your home in your growing zone in North Carolina, and may be preferable to potting it. He said he learned an important lesson about rosemary from one of his mentors, Madalene Hill, late president of International Herb Association: It’s not the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter, but how you treat your plant.

Clipped directly from Jim’s blog:

“[Madalene] went on to explain that rosemary plants have very small root systems and suggested I try this: Plant the rosemary plant in the garden in the spring, regardless of what size the plant is. Grow it all summer and after the first frost, dig the plant, repot it and bring it indoors. Keep the plant in an unheated room, with light, like a garage window or unheated back enclosed back porch. The following spring, unpot and plant the rosemary back in the garden, then leave it alone. And by golly it works! I followed her advice and have rosemaries in the garden that have been there almost 10 years, growing quite happily.”

After reading that, I think it’s still important to exercise caution with your rosemary plants. So, try an experiment; plant two rosemary plants directly into the ground and two in pots following the instructions above. You might find that, when the plants are sown directly into the ground, they will develop larger and more fully than those grown in pots. It is also very difficult to give rosemary the requisite amount of humidity it needs when planted indoors (and not allowed to go dormant).

Plant rosemary in full sun, or slightly filtered light, allowing the potting soil in containers to almost dry before watering; it’s also important that your potted plants have good drainage. Transplant at the same depth as they were growing in the nursery, with a neutral soil PH. Cactus soil with a bit of perlite is your easiest option

You can read more about growing rosemary in challenging conditions from Jim’s post and check out his blog.

If you have a question, I've got your answer! Shoot an email over to tmiller@ogdenpubs.com.

Last week you might have seen that for my final hurrah in the editorial department at The Herb Companion, I shot and edited a holiday video greeting, from our editors especially for our readers.

This holiday greeting came with bloopers. You know, ultimately, writers and editors just don't like being on camera - and when you're holding that camera, they let you know. 

What we ended up with, was great. But, what you didn't get to see, was better (don't you love my Santa Shirt?). Take a look:

You may remember from my blog “The Best Gardening Products of This Fall” that I touted The Aerogarden as the favorite of my Herb Companion samples.  But, I don’t think you appreciate just how much I love it!

They sent me the Aerogarden Classic, which has room for 7 different plants, each in “pods” or pieces of foam you plug into holes on top of the Aerogarden bowl.  The light is adjustable with your plants and goes to a ridiculous height of something like 37”, which was much too high to put under my kitchen cabinets.

So “The Mexican Herb Garden” (with epazote, curled parsley, oregano, basil and thyme) was moved to a shelf in my bedroom.  The kit was supposed to come with two pods of cilantro, which did not grow, so I planted chives (my favorite) and tomatoes, and they’re both growing at an amazing rate.

Let me just say that all hydroponic potters are not created equally.  Sitting right next to my Aerogarden is Prepara’s Power Plant, which hasn’t grown a plant or flower to maturity yet.

So, I bought myself another Aerogarden, this time a much smaller 3 podder that can fit under my kitchen cabinets.  I planted strawberries (!) mini chili peppers (!) and Chinese lantern flowers.

Go buy one!  Seriously, they’re awesome and SO easy to take care of!

Tangently, while brainstorming a title for this blog, I thought of the nursery rhyme:

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

I had no idea that this poem is based on the Tudor Queen known as Bloody Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, who executed those who dared continue Protestantism. Silver bells and cockle shells being her common forms of torture.  Silver bells refer to screws that were used to crush the thumb between two hard surfaces, and apparently cockle shells were affixed to the genitals and no further explanation is necessary.

The guillotine, known as the Maiden, refers to the "pretty" (read: easy) form of execution to replace manual beheading, which was, as I read, rarely successful ... within the first 10 blows.

I love experimenting with fruit sorbets – so when I stumbled across some research regarding the expansive health benefits of tart cherries – it wasn’t long before I discovered and requested a product called CherryPharm Cherry Juice – an all-natural 100% Juice (with tart cherries, never made from concentrate).

In about a week, I received 8, 8 oz. bottles and was excited to try it out.  The flavor was immediately rich and overpowering – like drinking a cherry pie – at first, sour.

Cherries contain anthyocyanins, the reddish pigments in berries that are high in antioxidants, which are best consumed in an unadulterated form (not from concentrate or in supplements).  Recent studies suggest that consistent exposure to anthocyanins may reduce levels of cancer, aging, neurological diseases, inflammation, diabetes and bacterial infections.

CherryPharm’s Web site also boasts the benefits of “precovery” providing a full list of potential benefits of a daily serving of tart cherry juice, such as lessening pain and speeding recovery after exercise and improving sleep quality.  Read why Tart Cherries.

The downside?  CherryPharm isn’t cheap – 8, 8 oz. bottles sell for $19.99 while 24, 8 oz. bottles go for $49.99.  But while, financially, CherryPharm may seem too rich for your blood, nutritiously, it ultimately isn’t.

And, as an Herb Companion reader, you are entitled to a 10 percent off coupon!  Just enter the code CPHC at checkout to collect your savings – and start getting healthy.

CherryPharm’s rich flavor is intense, and if you cannot enjoy it straight from the bottle, here are some great recipes to benefit from its library of nutrients – with a twist:

Recipes:

Taylor’s Super-Simple Spiked Cherry Sorbet

· 1 pkg. frozen cherries
· 2-3 8 oz. bottles of CherryPharm cherry juice
· 1/4 cup rum
· A bit of lime juice to taste

Blend on high, or mix in a blending food processor until texture is smooth.  Garnish with a cherry and/or whipped cream.

Collin’s Cherry Cocktail

· 1 ½ oz. CherryPharm cherry juice
· 1 ½ oz. Vodka
· ½ Lemon or lemon juice
· Club soda (as much or as little as you like)

Mix and pour into a tall Collin’s glass half-filled with crushed ice and fill in with club soda.  Garnish with a lemon slice and a cherry. 

Belizan Cherry Punch

· Orange Juice
· Apple Juice
· 2, 8 oz. bottles of CherryPharm
· White Rum to taste

Fill ¼ punch bowl with orange juice.  Fill another ¼ with apple juice.  Mix in CherryPharm and add rum to taste.

Click here to order.  

I don’t like tea.  I hate the taste of tinctures.  And I’m terrible at chefing (but trying to get better).  You could understand how these are ironic traits for an employee of The Herb Companion (I garden. That’s what makes me helpful).

So when my boss offered to share an immune boosting tincture with me for this terrible cold, I grimaced.  It was disgusting (no offense, KC).  But, then I remembered a product sample on our shelves – CAPSULINE – and wondered if that could do the trick.   

I dropped a pipet of tincture into a Capsuline flavored capsule (G-Cap, which are grape flavored empty gel capsules) closed the pill and swallowed – problem solved!  So, I used it for Meadowsweet to treat my heartburn (read my blog: Healing Heartburn [and yes, it's working]) then, I started thinking of other uses – powders, crushed herbs, other medicines, etc.  Because tinctures are liquids, you obviously can't fill them in advance, so sitting at a restaurant table filling a drug capsule with a mysterious brown liquid is bound to cause a few eyebrows to lift.  But it makes for a great prank.

When we first got the Capsuline flavored capsules, I winced at their display of “100% Bovine Gelatin” – not appetizing.  Searching their site, I found that the gelatin is Kosher and Halal certified and inspected, uses natural dyes and comes only from BSE-free (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) countries.  Bascially, from cows that are not mad.  Fish gelatin and vegetarian alternatives are also available, made from Kosher-certified preservative free materials that do not contain starch, sugar, corn, soy, wheat or dairy!

You can even get DOGCaps and CATCaps in various meat flavors, to make giving meds easier (and taste better) for all your animals.

Way healthier and animal-friendly than the meat I consume in my daily diet – (chefing [or fancy cooking] is the next goal on my action-item agenda).  I think I can give up hot pockets, but I just can’t do tea.*

I really recommend Capsuline flavored capsules - specifically the G-caps!  It’s much healthier using fresh herbal tinctures or powders from your local CO-OP, rather than those preservative-packed supplements.  And they come in other flavors too:  Strawberry, lime, berry, orange …. coffee.

* When people say something is "...not your cup of tea..." I sigh and respond, "I don't even like tea."

About 100 million Americans suffer or have suffered from heartburn, with 15 million suffering daily. You may take a Zantac, Tums or maybe a Prilosec, but when the problem goes away you tend to forget about it.

Experts say you should be more concerned – not only with heartburn, but what you’re taking to “cure” it.

Call it what you want, heartburn, acid reflux or gastritis – stomach-to-esophagus problems can have serious effects such as swallowing problems, adenocarcinoma, cancer of the esophagus and chronic or violent cough.

There are three levels of heartburn treatment – antacids, h-2 blockers and PPIs.

When I was alerted to the issue, I’d been using Zantac, which is a histamine-2 blocker (as are Pepcid and Tagamet).  Histamine 2 is what signals the stomach to produce acid.  Supressing acid in this way can cause an alkaline environment in the stomach that is ideal for the production of the bacteria Helicobacter pylori. 

This bacteria can ultimately cause stomach ulcers, which, paradoxically, result in reflux problems. Proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) [Prevacid and Prilosec] can have an even more severe effect. Antacids have high concentrations of Calcium carbonate, which can potentially lead to kidney stones.

More frustrating are the contradictory suggestions made online for natural treatments.  But here, I’ve sifted through the suggestions to find the most consistent natural prevention methods and treatments.  Hope they help – both in your case, and in mine.

Prevention:

1.  Avoid carbonated beverages, coffee, alcohol, whole milk and caffeinated tea.

2.  Avoid tomatoes, citrus fruits, chocolates, onions and peppermints.

3.  Avoid fatty and fried foods.

4.  Eat smaller meals more often with plenty of water.

5.  Elevate your head at night with pillows or sleep on your left side.

6.  Avoid eating right before bed or exercise.

Herbal Remedies:

To absorb stomach acid try marshmallow root or slippery elm bark.  To decrease acid use chamomile, licorice root, or meadowsweet. 

For more information, check out these Herb Companion articles:

My husband has acid reflux disease. Help! ... (scroll down for article)
Treating Heartburn Naturally (scroll down)
Holiday Heartburn

Two months ago, I received a complete worm composting system from Uncle Jim’s Worm Farms. Having 4,000 worms arrive in a package frightened one of my unsuspecting coworkers, but so far, my experience with worm composting has been deliciously disturbing. 

This is the Worm Factory, which advertises itself as an incredibly-efficient, easy and odorless method for recycling kitchen waste into nutrient-rich compost.  Or growing fishing worms!

Politically named a “vermicomposter,” each factory comes with several bins to fill with bedding and food material, along with red wigglers (Eisenia fetida).  The composting system recreates the recycling process in nature at an advanced pace using thousands of worms and millions of bacteria.  

The Worm Factory is most certainly efficient – perhaps a little too efficient.  The worms are expected to double in numbers by month 3, so, soon, I should have nearly 8,000 worms that require half a pound a food (minus meat and dairy) a day. That’s a lot of wigglers!

After the digestion process, worms secret “worm castings” (poo-poos) that are rich in natural nitrogen, an important fertilizer for soil.  Unlike with sensitive artificial fertilizers, worm castings won’t burn your plants.

You can use the soil-like material left in the bins after composting is completed in potting mix or top soil, or collect “Compost Tea” – liquid fertilizer – at any time from a spigot on the front of the factory. 

The composter, if used correctly, as an earthy smell, so it can be used indoors.  Odors occur only when meat or dairy is placed in the composter (a big no-no) or if there is too much food, in which case any kind of fiber can be added such as dryer lint, tissue, wood chips, egg shells, shredded paper, vacuum dust or junk mail (all of which are composted!).

I should say, that to date, my composter is very clean, no red wigglers have crawled out, and no offensive odors have been noted. 

But I just can’t bring the worms into my kitchen – just like I just couldn’t eat green or purple ketchup (remember that?)  The vermicomposter has to be in a temperature between 60 and 80 degrees, so for me, they are safe and out of the way in my garage.

Vermicomposters can ultimately attract other types of bugs, some good and some bad (such fruit flies or fungus gnats [read: Your Fungus Gnats are Showing]), and should be avoided around cats who might use it as a litterbox.

Why?  Cats can be infected by a parasitic protozoa called Toxoplasma gondii, which can result in an infection called Toxoplasmosis.  This infection is one reason why pregnant women should STAY AWAY from cat litter. 

But, in a creepy way, the infection is really cool: T. gondii affects a rodent's natural fear of cats (surgically precise - ONLY its fear of cats), so they are less likely to flee when a cat is near.  When cats prey on the affected rodents, they become carriers, with a high instance of the protozoa in their urine.

The infection, along with the high level of ammonia can be toxic to both you and your worms.  In humans, active toxoplasmosis can cause neurological disorders, organ infections and even death.  Latent infections can cause anxiety issues, feelings of in-security or neuroticism, just what we need, huh?

Keep your cats away from the worms, and all will be right in the world.  Rodents aren't a problem if you don't try to compost meat or dairy.

If you have any questions about vermicomposting, leave a comment or send me an email.  I’ll be happy to provide you with specific and further information about this delightfully disgusting art of recycling.  

October is my favorite month.  I get REALLY excited about Halloween*.  I especially love reading Martha Stewart’s Halloween issue.  But, when cutting out construction paper bats and applying a perfectly manicured mansion to the top of a three-layer cake just becomes too laborious, I go out and look for my own terrifying trinkets, and I’d like to share with you a few of my finds!

1.  Use your Hosta -- By now, your Hosta flowers should be about spent, leaving their white, lonely sticks jutting into the air like skeleton fingers.  Normally you might just trim them down, but this year, recycle your plant.  Using both hands, gently pull each of the sticks from the plant.  They are very brittle, so pull from the base.  The long shoots (three of mine are over 6 feet!) make for a creepy vase arrangement, but one that could work year-round.

2.  Use your Day lily – Harvested the same way, Day Lily sticks are much less brittle, which makes them more accessible for other uses.  I took last year’s sticks and with a long piece of jute twine, tied them to a small broken tree branch to make an authentic and unique witch’s broom.  You could also trim and de-leaf your Spirea bushes for a smaller broom.  

The chandelier in my dining room is boring, so I hung some sticks from it tied with spent Morning Glory vines, to up the creep factor.  Day lily sticks also look great just in a vase, and cleaned Morning Glory vines could be draped eeriely almost anywhere.

3.  Use your old records -- These record bowls are great candy dishes (especially for candy corn), not to mention great conversational pieces.  Plus, they’re easy to make:  Find an old record or buy one cheap at a thrift shop.  Put a terracotta pot upside down on a cookie sheet, place the record on top, set the oven at 200 and watch it melt, it won’t take long.

4.  Use your artistic skills – Art projects are fun for the family or for parties.  To make this Hocus Pocus inspired spell-book, I took a hollowed-out book from a craft shop and covered it in a polymer clay called Bake-n-Bend, which doesn’t harden until baked.  I found a pair of mannequin eyes and hand-stitched the cover to look like human skin as described in the movie.

5.  Use your imagination. --  Find things in your garden you could use and be creative.  These are birdhouse gourds I grew two years ago that are just waiting to be painted and hung from the ceiling.    

If you find or come up with any fun ideas, drop a comment!  Or, if you want any help with some of mine, email me.

* My love for Halloween is best represented by this lady’s love of surprise parties.  From SNL. Ooooomiiiiiiigodddddddd