Spring Begins with a Flower

March 1st is the day spring officially starts, but what the calendar proclaims makes a little impact for those who are still bothered by the cold weather. Symbolically, spring starts with a single flower, that timidly raises its head from beneath the snow or the dead leaves. Green plants give the sign, but people feel it in their hearts only when the colorful symphony of flowers begins, because they associate it with the season of renewal.

Serenata flower orderIt comes as no surprise that these are the months when most flowers are offered, regardless of special occasions or festive events. Not everyone has a garden and flowers planted in it, so that as soon as the first one emerges can offer it to a special person. Those who live in areas where winter lingers longer than it is supposed to, will have little options locally and will look online for solutions.

With Serenata flower order is a simple formality and also a pleasure, because these people render distance irrelevant and serve customers nationwide. Contrary to popular belief, this does not reflect in the price tag, so there is no chance for buyer’s remorse after placing an order and having the flowers shipped.


How to Garden on a Budget part 1

Good gardening can be very expensive or extraordinarily cheap. It all depends on your approach. If you have plenty of time and energy, it is amazing what you can achieve with very little money. If you are in a hurry and need to hire help and buy large plants, costs will spiral upward just as far as you let them.

In most gardens, the biggest costs are the construction of hard landscaping paths, steps, water features, fences and walls, and tree surgery. Next to these expenses, the price of planting or replanting can be low.

Hard landscaping
Think about this as you plan the work. As a general rule it is much better to install good-quality hard landscaping and wait for a little longer for the plants to mature than it is to do a quick, cheap job on the hard landscaping for the sake of affording bigger plants. When steps begin to crumble and paving starts to sink, you will only regret it. So spend as much as you dare on the hard landscaping, and don’t scrimp on the quality of the materials. This will be the skeleton of the garden on which the planting will hang. The better its quality, the better the finished picture.


Tips for Cuttings

Many plants will root in water. So try cuttings from your houseplants, or any garden plant that takes your fancy such the likes of willows and winter jasmine are especially easy.

When taking clematis cuttings, use the softwood or semi-ripe method, but always cut halfway between leaf joints, rather than just below. The smaller “species” clematis roots much more readily than the large flowered hybrids.

When chopping up a long stem for hardwood cuttings, make a slanting or oblique cut at the base of each portion and a straight cut at the top. That way, you’ll be sure to put them in the right way up.

Always remove flowers from cuttings as you need to keep their energy focused on rooting, rather than letting their energy be.


Credit: Goldberg

How to Grow Fruit in Your Garden part 1

A succulent, sun-warmed strawberry; a sweet, ripe pear dripping juice down your chin; a crisp, rosy apple fresh from the tree – all it takes to grow fruit is a finely tuned set of taste buds, and a little care.

how to grow fruitsFruit trees and bushes can be beautiful in their own right – apple blossoms in spring, fruit-laden trees in autumn. The gleam of golden raspberries and the translucent globes of gooseberries. A feast for the eye as well as the stomach. The fruits we recommend here are all on our “easy” list -those that you can grow with a minimum of fuss to produce maximum crops. Have a try. It’s tremendously satisfying.

Growing success
Most fruit needs a sunny location, though raspberries, currants, and gooseberries will tolerate some shade.

Bearing fruit year after year is hard on plants, so give them the best possible start by enriching the soil with generous quantities of well-rotted manure or other organic material.

Place container-grown fruit at the same level in the ground as it was in the pot, and bare-root plants (available in the dormant season) with the junction of stem and roots just below the soil level (there will be a dark soil mark to guide you), spreading the roots as wide as possible.

Water plants regularly during their first summer; in future years, tree fruits benefit greatly from a thorough watering during prolonged dry spells. Feed with a high- potassium fertilizer such as rose food in spring and add a mulch of organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure to keep the soil in good condition.

Pruning varies according to the type of fruit, and we have advocated the simplest possible methods for each one. One important tip – always cut just above an outward facing side shoot or bud. If you grow and take care of your fruit, serious problems are unlikely.


Credit : pkirsch