Fennel is a multi-purpose herb. It looks so graceful swaying in the breeze and the flowering heads look stunning regardless of the time of year.
A beautiful addition to any perennial herb garden, fennel has thick, 5 to 6 foot tall stems, feathery green or bronze foliage and impressive rays of tiny, umbel-shaped yellow flowers.
Fennel attracts butterflies, beneficial insects, and birds.
You will find many varieties of butterflies visiting your fennel for its delectable nectar. This herb is also a favorite host plant for ladybugs and other beneficial garden insects. TIP: The dried plant is an insect repellent.
When fennel starts to go to seed watch for tiny zesty-spirited songbirds such as the Bushtit. These feathered friends visit for the seeds and to gobble any insect that dare to venture onto the plant.
NOTE: If you plan to use the seeds yourself, be sure to collect them before the birds do. Maybe you can plant extra, and then you both are able to enjoy this fruit.
Fennel tastes great, contains medicinal properties. It contains iron, histidine and amino acids These elements are useful in the treatment of anemia. And, Read More→
Studies show that growing tomatoes has a great physical and mental healing property. Tomatoes aren’t only nutritionally healthy for you, they also benefit your health to merely grow them.
*1. Physical Activity For Your Body & Mind
Growing tomatoes is physical activity which is very beneficial. And, it is mentally beneficial as well because it is a release for emotions and creativity.
Growing and tending your own tomatoes is a powerful stress reliever.
*2. Gives You A Sense of Accomplishment & Raises Your Self-Esteem
Planting tomato seeds, watching it grow, tending to its needs, and harvesting the fruits of your labor can do wonders to gain a sense of accomplishment and raise self- esteem.
*3. Allows You To Stay Healthy
Eating more fresh produce is one of the most important things you and your family can do to stay healthy. When tomatoes are grown in your backyard, you won’t be able to resist them. Their vitamin content will be at their highest levels as you bite into them straight from the garden.
If you grow your own tomatoes, you are more likely to eat them within a few hours of harvesting. This means there will be a greater number of nutrients in them, and therefore in you.
A greater number of vitamins, antioxidants and minerals will boost your immune system and help expel harmful free radicals from the body (free radicals attack the body’s cells, and can lead to the development of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s).
*4. Gives You a Chance to Enjoy Better Taste & Flavor
Fresh tomatoes is the best food. How long has the tomatoes on your supermarket shelf been there? How long did they travel from the farm to your table? And, Read More→
Hibiscus is one of my favorite happy flowers. Hardy hibiscuses are happy-looking creatures, coloring summer gardens with 10-inch-wide flowers in reds, whites and pinks.
It blooms in late summer just as gardens and gardeners are looking a little worn out.
Its generous flowering habit, exquisite blooms and long flowering period, from early summer to late autumn, just can’t be scoffed at! Once they start blooming, they usually keep blooming until a killing frost in fall. And, Read More→
In winter gardeners dream of daffodils. By late February or early March the dream becomes a reality and here they are standing tall and proud and shining in their unmatched beauty by saying that spring is here.
Daffodils are constantly recurring flowers with at least 50 species and many hybrids! The garden Daffodil’s ancestors come from the states around the Mediterranean Sea, such as Spain and Portugal, and the Middle East, such as Turkey.
The earliest record mentioned about Daffodils was around two or three hundred years BC.
No matter where you live, certain daffodils bloom earlier than others. My first blooms are always on miniature cultivars. You can get miniatures which begin the season, and other miniatures which end the season. And, Read More→
Success With Rhubarb For A Truly Lazy Gardener
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Growing rhubarb is easy…it needs very little from you. Very few plants are as beautiful, produce as well and love neglect as rhubarbs.
Though they are a vegetable, we generally treat them as a fruit…so, I celebrate their spring arrival with visions of baked goods dancing in my head.
Unlike most vegetables rhubarb is a perennial and so can be left in the ground and will return a crop for many years (around 10 to 15 years).
Rhubarb is quite a hardy crop and is able to withstand lack of water. Apart from applying fertilizer, rhubarb will survive and produce good yields with little other tending.
There are several different varieties of rhubarb grown all over the world and used in a variety of cooking preparations. One characteristic consistent with all rhubarb is the toxicity of the leaves and roots. And, Read More→
