The Gardners Path

Growing celery from the base of the stalks is a fun, easy garden project that produces fast results. There are two ways to do it: using just water in a container or planting the base in potting soil. You might get more leaves than stalks when growing celery from its base, and your celery might not be as big as a store-bought bunch. However, there are great ways to use celery leaves in cooking. Not only is garden celery better-tasting than store-bought types, but also it’s less chemically laden. In cool spring and summer regions, plant celery in early spring. In warm spring and summer regions, plant celery in mid to late summer for harvest in late autumn or early winter. Think of them as an herb: They taste like mild celery and work well in soups, stews, and more; some people even use them as a substitute for cilantro. Here’s our advice on sowing, growing, and harvesting celery.  WHAT IS CELERY? Celery is considered both a vegetable and an herb belonging to the genus Apium and the f...

Botanical Name: Philodendron scandens Common Name: Philodendron Heartleaf, Sweetheart Vine If there were ever a plant that’s perfect for people who are terrible with plants, it’s the sweetheart or heartleaf philodendron. Not only are they easy to keep healthy but they come in a variety of beautiful shades and can be kept as cheerful, bushy plants or graceful trailers. Heartleaf philodendron is a popular house plant because it is extremely easy to grow. The Philodendron Heartleaf is a fast-growing, easy, vining plant. Its graceful, heart-shaped leaves are dark and glossy green in color but almost look transparent at times. Native to Africa and the Canary Islands, the Heartleaf can be grown as a trailer or climber. This full, trailing plant is perfect on top of bookshelves or in a plant hanger where its vines can ‘spill’ out. The Philodendron Heartleaf is incredibly forgiving and will tolerate all kinds of neglect including low light, poor soil, and inconsistent watering. This is a gre...

Hoya Carnosa is also commonly referred to as a wax plant due to its thick, you guessed it, wax-like leaves. A tricolor Hoya Carnosa is recognizable by the color of these waxy leaves. Green, white and pink, this variety of hoya has pink stems that branch out into colorful leaves. Wax plants have beautiful, long slender stems covered with thick, glossy, succulent leaves. It is popular as a houseplant due to its attractive foliage and clusters of sweet-scented, star-shaped pink-white flowers. Wax plants are found vining along with trees and cascading out of available crevices. Owing to their epiphytic nature they have the ability to draw nutrients and moisture out of the warm damp jungle air. These are truly majestic houseplants that are a must-have for any plant collection. Height 2m indoors and 6m in its natural habitat. Soil Chose a well-draining soil mix for this Hoya as you would for most other houseplants. If you mix your soil on your own use a combination of peat moss, vermiculite,...

With its lush green leaves, the Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata) is a very popular indoor houseplant. They can look like they are on death’s door, and then come back to life quickly with a bit of care. This species of fern is a part of the Nephrolepis genus, popular after its discovery in 1894 within a batch of Sword ferns. Ferns might have a reputation for being fussy, but they are truly very hardy plants. Boston Fern Care Boston ferns appreciate a little TLC. They like warm and humid conditions. And they don’t enjoy temperature extremes, either outside or from drafts, air conditioners, and heating vents indoors. It’s important to maintain stable growing conditions for Boston ferns, as an element to their care that’s out of whack can quickly damage the plant. Light Boston ferns do best in bright, indirect light. Too much shade can result in sparse fronds that aren’t their typical bright color. And too much sun can burn the fronds. So both outdoors and indoors, make sure direct sunli...

Calatheas are identified for their bold patterned foliage. The leaves of most Calathea varieties fold up slightly during the nighttime, revealing the oftentimes colorful undersides of their striking leaves. Rattlesnake Plants (Calathea lancifolia) aren't the easiest houseplants to nurture, but, if you give them the care they need, you will be rewarded with an awesome display from their foliage. This tropical calathea species is native to the rainforests of Brazil and gets its common name from the distinctive decorative markings that are displayed on its leaves. You can grow this tropical plant outdoors in USDA plant hardiness zones 10 and above. In cooler climates, rattlesnake plants can easily be grown indoors. The plant can grow up to 30 inches tall, and the large leaves have a variegated pattern with various shades of greens and a wavy pattern along their edges. Even the undersides of the foliage are eye-catching with their beautiful purplish-red tones. Gorgeous Foliage Just lik...

If you eat a lot of eggs, you naturally end up with an abundance of eggshells. Instead of throwing them in the trash or down the disposal, you can make good use of them in your garden. It’s no secret that eggs, full of protein, vitamins, and minerals (enough to grow a baby chicken from just one cell) are one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. Worldwide an average person consumes about 170 to 200 eggs annually. That’s over a trillion eggs per year! Now ask yourself this: “What happens to all of those eggshells?” Eggs will provide you vitamins, minerals, and proteins, and are one of the most nutritious foods in the world. You can pass these nutrients to the plants if you add eggshells to your garden. The benefits of the eggs are endless if you just use eggshells in your garden. Fertilizer Eggshells are a great way to add calcium to your compost. Because shells have a very high surface area to volume ratio, they decompose very quickly. Don’t even worry about sterilizing or grindi...

If you love the tropical look of a palm tree but don’t live in a tropical region, try growing Kentia palm (Howea forsteriana). The kentia palm is one of the world's most popular indoor palms. Elegant and stately, shade tolerant, cold tolerant, and doesn't grow overwhelmingly large. Under the right conditions, a kentia palm will grow slowly into a magnificent specimen that can reach up to ten feet tall (and even higher outdoors). As part of our Hawaiian Collection, it comes to us with a strong root system that has grown in lava rock giving it long-lasting properties with very little fuss. If this plant is added to your favorite room, you will not be disappointed. Native to the islands of the South Pacific, the kentia palm is usually sold with two to five palms planted together, giving it the appearance of having multiple stems, all topped with graceful, arching foliage. It has a long history as a parlor palm (Queen Victoria added them to all of her homes) and was the feature of ...