Your All Things Plants weekly news: January 4, 2014

News from vic:
The members of the Garden Art forum are having a contest and details will be posted on the forum January 6.

https://allthingsplants.com/forums/view/gardenart/

You will need wooden spoons for this contest. Many of the dollar stores have packages that have several for 1 or 2 dollars. Spoons in the garden? Come and join us to find out all about it!

There were 8 new gardening ideas posted last week:

ATP's Top Cold Weather Crops List

By dave
January 4, 2014
ATP's Top Cold Weather Crops List

Let's open this week with a look at a few of the most popular Cold Weather Crops from our Plant Database. (509 words - Read the full article)

(8 comments)

Grow Tatsoi, A Delicious Asian Green.

By Newyorkrita
January 4, 2014
Grow Tatsoi, A Delicious Asian Green.

Looking for something new to add to salad? Try Tatsoi Asian greens. Or serve as a quick stir-fry side dish. Steam it, stir fry it, or add it to soups. Tatsoi is versatile, pretty, and so easy to grow. (100 words - Read the full article)

(4 comments)

How To Cut Spent Amaryllis/Hippeastrum Bloom Stalks in Difficult Spaces

By mcash70
January 3, 2014
How To Cut Spent Amaryllis/Hippeastrum Bloom Stalks in Difficult Spaces

Once the beautiful blooms have faded on your Amaryllis plants, the bloom stalks will need cutting if you are not letting the plant set seed pods. This will let the energy go into the production of the leaves to feed the bulb. (243 words - Read the full article)

(6 comments)

Quick Way to Germinate Daylily Seed in a Cold Climate

By mainer35
January 2, 2014
Quick Way to Germinate Daylily Seed in a Cold Climate

Northern daylily hybridizers can use at least two methods to germinate their daylily seed. This can be done by planting the seed outdoors in a preferred growing medium. In this case, you can usually expect seed germination the following spring. If, however, you want bigger seedlings next spring, a quicker way is needed to germinate the daylily seed. (152 words - Read the full article)

(no comments)

Growing Strawberries in Cold Climates

By Joannabanana
January 1, 2014
Growing Strawberries in Cold Climates

Strawberries are of the rose plant family Rosaceae and genus Fragaria. There are over 20 different species and hundreds of varieties. In addition, there are three different "Types" of strawberries: June-Bearing, Ever-Bearing and Day-Neutral. The different types do require some different growing maintenance to achieve a good size crop in your home garden year after year. (1,370 words - Read the full article)

(5 comments)

American Pokeweed, Pokeberry, Phytolacca americana

By frostweed
December 31, 2013
American Pokeweed, Pokeberry, Phytolacca americana

What a beautiful and useful plant this is! This plant is really attractive with its red stems and white flowers that turn into lovely red berries. The leaves also turn gorgeous colors in the fall. It can grow as high as six or eight feet. (269 words - Read the full article)

(27 comments)

Tulip 'Beauty of Apeldoorn' for Beautiful Colors in Spring

By Newyorkrita
December 30, 2013
Tulip 'Beauty of Apeldoorn' for Beautiful Colors in Spring

Sometimes they are solid yellow and sometimes solid red, often yellow with red streaks, or red with yellow streaks. If you want similar warm colors that bloom at the same time, then plant 'Beauty of Apeldoorn' tulips.

(4 comments)

Safely Growing Invasive Plants

By patrob
December 29, 2013
Safely Growing Invasive Plants

Grow mints or other aggressively spreading plants in tubs partially sunk into the ground. Punch a few holes in the bottom of the tub for drainage.

(2 comments)

The most popular images last week from our plant database:

Photo of Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum 'Lucy Liu') by goldfinch4:
Image from plant ID 534424

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Blue Desire') by floota:
Image from plant ID 40443

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Coach Mo') by carolannz:
Image from plant ID 184245

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Linda Ingram Sims') by carolannz:
Image from plant ID 54745

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Wild Horses') by tink3472:
Image from plant ID 71415

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Frog's Eye') by Anne:
Image from plant ID 33012

The most popular Multi-Plant Photos from last week:

Multi-plant photo by goldfinch4:
Image by goldfinch4

Multi-plant photo by jmorth:
Image by jmorth

Multi-plant photo by ge1836:
Image by ge1836

Multi-plant photo by 4susiesjoy:
Image by 4susiesjoy

Multi-plant photo by ge1836:
Image by ge1836

Noteworthy acorn tips given this week:
8 people gave for the idea "American Pokeweed, Pokeberry, Phytolacca americana" by frostweed

6 people gave for a post in "Banner for January 2, 2014 by mcash70" by mcash70

5 people gave for the idea "Tulip 'Beauty of Apeldoorn' for Beautiful Colors in Spring" by Newyorkrita

4 people gave for the idea "Growing Strawberries in Cold Climates" by Joannabanana

3 people gave for the idea "Quick Way to Germinate Daylily Seed in a Cold Climate" by mainer35

3 people gave for a post in "Excavation shovel" by hazelnut

3 people gave for a post in "Banner for January 1, 2014 by Paul2032" by Paul2032

3 people gave for the idea "How To Cut Spent Amaryllis/Hippeastrum Bloom Stalks in Difficult Spaces" by mcash70

2 people gave for the Multi-Plant Photo #905 by goldfinch4

2 people gave for a post in "Banner for January 3, 2014 by dave" by dave

The most active threads this week:
Subject OP Area Replies
OT - The Porch Swing daylily Daylilies forum 235
Weather In Your Garden - Winter 2014 daylily Daylilies forum 87
Happy New Year!! What's for Dinner?? virginiarose Sandbox forum 35
Banner for January 2, 2014 by mcash70 mcash70 Site Banners forum 34
Our Orchid Blooms in January 2014 Happy New Year! Ursula Orchids forum 31
Our Favorite Pinks? Betja Daylilies forum 29
2013 Spring Bloom Season From Iowa ARUBA1334 Irises forum 27
Broken-hearted today. Trudi (Peachlily) is Gone. fiwit Daylilies forum 22
January, snow and rain and snow Kathleen Farming forum 20

Some new recommendations from our members:
JulieB recommended Annie's Annuals & Perennials and wrote:

Beautiful, healthy plants well-packed, well-shipped. No drama! Great follow up, great customer service. A pleasure to deal with!

poisondartfrog recommended GeoSeed and wrote:

Excellent customer service and wide-ranging array of ornamentals. This is a grower's catalog, but no minimum order and low shipping on bulk seeds make it appealing to resellers, market growers, and serious home gardeners alike. Prices compare favorably with other wholesalers', and over several years my selections have been true to name, unlike a well-known competitor's track record.

dyzzypyxxy recommended Tropical Plants & More and wrote:

Just received a very nice order of orchids from Tropical Plants & More. They are all nice healthy looking plants, the sizes were what I expected, and prices are very reasonable for the good cultivars Ken offers. I can't say enough about the excellent packaging job. Flowers in bloom came through the mail without a single bruise. Of special note are the excellent plant tags on each pot, laminated with the plant name on one side and a color photo of the flowers (to come) on the other. The tags are secured to the pot with twist ties, which seems like a great idea, given my problems with tags disappearing.

Some numbers from last week: