Illinois seed

Strawberries

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:32:26 +0000

Strawberries

Home-grown, vine-ripened strawberries are
among the garden’s supreme treats- sweet, succulent, and bursting with flavor. Serve them
in shortcakes, blended into smoothies, on ice cream, in cheesecakes or crepes, topped
with yogurt or whipped cream, or simply savor them “as is” fresh from the garden.
Grocery store strawberries, which are harvested early and ripened off the vine, can’t begin
to compare in sweetness and flavor.

Strawberries are also easy to grow in the home garden. The plants form foot-wide
mounds of lush dark green foliage that can serve as an attractive ground cover. They
require no staking or training, as do the larger berries, and only basic care. Once planted
they will spread and continue to produce for four or five years before they need to be
replaced.

Strawberry plants also grow well in pots, patio planters, even in hanging planters. While
there are many varieties of strawberries, there are basically only two types: June-bearing (Allstar) and Everbearing (Ozark and Quinalt).
The June-bearing strawberries bloom
in the spring and produce a plentiful crop that ripens during June. The Everbearing
strawberries produce both a spring and a fall crop, and continue producing some berries
throughout the summer, more when temperatures aren’t too hot. For the home gardener,
the best strategy is to plant both types and harvest ripe berries over a long season.

Flower Bulbs

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:26:03 +0000

ABCs Of Bulb Gardening

Flowering plants that overwinter and multiply by means on fleshy stems of leaves are called bulbs. The bulbs we grow in our gardens today are native to temperate zones all over the world, the woodlands, meadows and mountains of the Mediterranean, Middle East, and North America. The Dutch have been extremely successful over the centuries in collection and hybridizing new species of bulbs and improving them for reliable garden performance. Tulips in particular, once played an important role in the Dutch economy.

There is no easier plant to cultivate than a bulb. Planted at the right time, in a loose, well-draining soil, bulbs will bloom punctually year after year and even spread (“naturalize”) if conditions are to their liking.

By planting a sequence of spring-, summer- and fall-flowering bulbs at the appropriate time, you can enjoy their blooms practically year ‘round.

Fall (late September through late November) – Plant hardy, spring-flowering bulbs: tulips, narcissus (includes all types of daffodils), crocus, eranthis (winter aconites), erythronium, fritillaria, hyacinths snowdrops, scilla, hardy cyclamen, lilies. In California and milder areas of the Southwest, also plant ranunculus, freesias, anemones and paperwhites outdoors. Store tulips, crocus and hyacinths in refrigerator for 6-8 weeks before planting. In all regions, store potted bulbs in refrigerator for forcing indoors.

Winter – In California, plant prechilled- hardy bulbs outdoors. In all regions, remove sprouted bulbs from refrigerator for indoor forcing.

Spring – Plant more tender, summer-flowering bulbs: achimenes, gladioli, alliums, calla lilies, tuberous begonias, ixia, crocosmia, dahlias, cannas.

Late Summer – Plant the late bloomers: fall crocus, fall- and winter-blooming hardy cyclamen.

Click here to browse bloomingbulb.com for #1 quality plants and bulbs.

GeoDome Greenhouse

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:56:07 +0000

You dont have to spit far these days to hit an urban garden. The trend, says the New York Times in an article about an Urban Farm in Milwaukee, has everything to do with the recession and the growing awareness of the impact that shipping food long-distance has on our climate and our pocketbooks. Of course, not all of us will be able to feed ourselves with what we grow in our back yards during the lean, mean growing season here in Southern Colorado. But there are ways around it, and John Sondericker has built an inexpensive Geo-Dome greenhouse in hopes of growing enough vegetables to supply his family of 5 for the better part of the year, if not year-round. We visited John and his dome for a brief tutorial on how he did it and how its going thus far.

Building a Greenhouse

admin — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:43:12 +0000

NESFP Builds a greenhouse in Dracut, MA

Growing Beans HD Timelapse

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:26:13 +0000

HD Timelapse video on growing beans.

This was taken with a Canon Powershot G3 camera and GB Timelapse for remote capturing. This video covers about 10 days of growth.

Sunflower seeds timelapse

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:25:07 +0000

Cherry tomatoes time lapse

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:34:15 +0000

Snap Pea Time Lapse

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:18:21 +0000

HD footage of a snap pea plant sprouting from the ground. The days listed in the bottom left corner of the screen are days since planting. I planted a pea on the left side as well, but for some reason it didn’t do too well.

Details:
Seeds: Snap Pea
Soil: Premium Potting Soil
Lighting: 4 x 40W (160W) Sylvania cool white fluorescent bulbs (shop lights)
Camera: Canon Rebel XT (full manual mode) 100 ISO, f/16, 1/15
Interval: 10 minutes/ 5 minutes
Photo Count: 2,820

Giant Sequoia Time Lapse

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:15:47 +0000

Giant Sequoia tree seedling time lapse photography from seed

Orchid

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:41:18 +0000

Time lapse video of an orchid blooming.

Lapse from1min x 12h time Dendrobium Orchideae, Photographed with Nikon S620