My cart 0

Growing Instructions

Home » Growing Instructions (Page 12)

  • Potatoes

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Potatoes - A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Potatoes are members of the Nightshade family of plants which also include the Tomato and the Eggplant. The potato is native to the Andes mountain regions of Chile and Peru. Archaeologists believe that the potato was being cultivated by pre-Columbian farmers as early as 5000 B.C. Remains of potatoes have been found at Incan burial sites which date to 500 B.C. In 1540, the potato was discovered by Spanish explorers who eventually introduced the plant into Europe around 1560. The potato was not popular in the United States until the mid-19th century. Many people thought that the tubers were poisonous and others did not like the yellowish color of the flesh. In 1811, potato with white flesh was introduced

    View more

  • Portulaca

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Portulaca - 
A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Portulaca is an annual member of the Purslane family that is indigenous to the tropical regions of the world. It is also known as the Moss Rose. It is one of the few ornamental plants that can be used to stabilize a sandy bank. Portulacas have been a part of American gardens since the 1700's. In his 1851 book, The Flower Garden, Joseph Breck said of the plant, "Every person who has had any experience in the garden is too well acquainted with the weed Purslane, or Pursly, and would gladly see an extermination, not only of that plant, but all its kindred. It is indeed a troublesome weed; but no one should be condemned because he happens

    View more

  • Poppies

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Poppies - 
A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Poppies are native to the temperate regions of the world and have been known and cultivated for thousands of years, primarily for medicinal purposes. There are more than 50 species of annual and perennial poppies native to Europe and at least 100 varieties that are indigenous to other areas of the Northern Hemisphere and California, in particular. The Romans are believed to have introduced the poppy into Great Britain. The Latin name, Papaver, comes from the word, Pappa which means milky juice. The plants have a long history in the mythology and legend of most Western cultures. They were recognized as symbols of fertility (a single seed pod can contain as many as 32,000 seeds), fecundity and

    View more

  • Nigella

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Nigella - 
A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Nigella, also known as Love-In-A-Mist, Jack-In-The-Green or Lady-In-The-Bower, is an annual and member of the Ranunculus Family. It is native to southern Europe and the northern regions of Africa. It has been cultivated in British and European gardens since 1548, but it has been known since Biblical times when in Isaiah 28:27, it was called the "Bitter Fitch". The name Nigella comes from the word, niger, which means black. It refers to the color of the seeds which are used in medicinal and culinary applications. The seeds, when crushed into a paste, were used to banish freckles. The leaves are used in various recipes as an aromatic. The plant was introduced into the United States by colonists in the

    View more

  • Nasturtium including Canary Creeper

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Nasturtium including Canary Creeper - 
A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Nasturtiums, also known as Indian Cress or Flame Flower, are annuals, native to Columbia, Bolivia and Peru where they grow as perennials. They were discovered by the Spanish conquistadors and brought to Spain in the sixteenth century. The first nasturtiums brought to Europe were a variety, Tropaeolum minus, which produced a small yellow flower with a purple blotch. This nasturtium is now very rare. The more familiar nasturtiums, Tropaeolum majus, were introduced in the 1600's and gained almost instant popularity for their ability to hide almost anything with their climbing habit. Nasturtiums also quickly established themselves as a culinary delight - their seeds, when cured in vinegar, could be used as capers and their peppery flavored

    View more

  • Money Plant

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Money Plant (Lunaria) 
- A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Money Plant, also known as Lunaria or the Honesty Plant, was originally native to the central and southern areas of Europe, but the plant has proliferated throughout the temperate regions of the world. It was introduced into Britain before the 1600's and was brought to the United States by the pilgrims. The plant was prized for its decorative, translucent, disk-shaped seed pods which when dried are lovely in floral displays. The plant is a member of the Mustard family. Its white, tapered roots can be eaten either boiled or raw. Joseph Breck in his 1851 book, The Flower Garden, described the plant in this way, "Honesty is an old-fashioned plant, flowering the second year from seed,

    View more

  • Marigolds

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Marigolds - 
A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Marigolds, both French and African, are indigenous to Mexico and Guatemala. They were discovered in the early 16th century and brought to Europe and Northern Africa in the late 16th century where they were quickly adopted into gardens. The family name, Tagetes, is derived from a mythical Etruscan deity. In the wild, the French Marigold, Tagetes patula, is an 18 inch tall, bushy plant with heavily scented, feathery leaves. The flowers are daisy-like and pale yellow. The wild African Marigold is 4-5 feet high with 2-4 inch flowers that vary in color from pale yellow to deep orange. By the time the plants were introduced into Britain in the early 1600's, the African Marigold, Tagetes erecta, had naturalized along

    View more

  • Lupines and Texas BlueBonnets

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Lupines and Texas BlueBonnets - 
A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Lupine is a family of annual and perennial flowers which were native to the Balkans and the Aegean. The oldest Lupines were annuals, white flowered, and had been cultivated since Egyptian times. These plants were used to improve the soil, fixing nitrogen because they are legumes and as a fodder crop. The yellow lupines, also annuals, were also used to improve soil, but they were also prized for their incredible fragrance. Joseph Breck in his 1851 book, The Flower Garden, had much to say about Lupines. "Lupinus perennis is a well-known species, indigenous to many parts of New England, found, frequently, in large masses, from a yard to two rods in circumference, occupying the very

    View more

  • Larkspur

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Larkspur - 
A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Larkspur, for years, was considered to be a member of the Delphinium family, but has been recently re-classified with the new name Consolida ranunculaceae. This re-classification makes it a member of the Ranunculus family. The plant, an annual, was introduced into Britain in the mid-1500's from its native habitat the Mediterranean. The name, Larkspur, probably originated in England and refers to the horn-shaped nectary of the flower which resembles the spur of a lark's claw. Gerard (John Gerard, 1545-1612, author of the definitive horticultural text of the period, The Grete Herball, 1597,) made these notes about the Larkspur, "that in England the plant is known as larks spur, larks heel, larks toes, larks clawe and munkeshoode". Soon

    View more

  • Hollyhock

    Mar 02, 2016 Categories: Growing Instructions

    Hollyhock 
- A Little History and Some Growing Instructions Hollyhocks whose current Latin name is Alcea rosea were known in Gerard's time (John Gerard, 1545-1612, author of the definitive horticultural text of the period, The Grete Herball, 1597,) as Malva Hortensis and in Breck's time as Althea rosea. The plant is a biennial native to Turkey and other parts of Asia, but the Hollyhock that was introduced into Britain in 1573, and the plant with which we are familiar, probably came from China by way of Palestine. The name Hollyhock is believed to have derived from the Anglo-Saxon term, 'holy-hoc' or holy mallow - mallow being a common name given to all members of the althea family. The word, althea, comes from the Greek, altheo, meaning, to

    View more
Prev Entries
Page 12 of 17 First ... 10 11 12 ... Last
Next Entries
Top