Tulip Care Tips

Viridiflora Tulip

Cindy — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:51:36 +0000

One of the most unusual colors in tulips! We can almost guarantee that your bulb garden will be one of a kind in your neighborhood when you add this outstanding Viridiflora Tulip variety. Green flowers are accented by greenish-white edging. Blooms late spring.

Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Soil Test Kit

Cindy — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:46:49 +0000

Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Soil Test Kit

Why Use a Soil Test Kit?

Helps gardeners grow greener lawns and more abundant flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Testing the levels of pH, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash takes just 3 easy steps: 1) mix soil with water, pour off liquid after soil settles into the chambers of the color compactor, 2) dissolve tablet, and 3) compare the color for test reading chart that is included in the kit. Kit contains 40 tests; 10 each for pH (acidity alkalinity), nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash. Complete instructions are included for adjusting soil conditions and fertilization.

Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Soil Test Kit Features

An innovative and inexpensive soil test kit that features a capsule system and unique color comparators
Contains tests for ph, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels
Also has a chart of pH and NPK levels on over 100 plants
No experience is required to operate this kit is simple, fast, and accurate kit
Includes complete instructions for adjusting soil conditions

Available Now from Amazon.com

Luster Leaf Rapitest Soil Thermometer #1618

Cindy — Sat, 01 May 2010 19:25:37 +0000

Soil Thermometer

Why Use a Soil Thermometer?

It’s pretty typical to see planting instructions like “seed when soil temperature reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit,” but how do you know? Simple! Use an inexpensive tool like a soil thermometer and you’ll always know you’re planting at the right time.

Luster Leaf Soil Thermometer Features

Improve your seeding and transplanting results by planting at the safe and proper soil temperature.
Gives readings in both Fahrenheit and Celsius and is encased with durable aluminum.
Transplanting shock in seedlings can be avoided if the soil temperature is checked before planting.
Timing planting based on soil temperature helps assure plants get a good start.
Fast and easy to use!

Available Now from Amazon.com

How Much Water do Plants Need, Anyway?

Cindy — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:23:58 +0000

Rain guages can be beautiful as well as functional

Over at The Garden Professors, there’s an interesting article about the dangers of over-watering your garden. I’ve talked before about how too much water can leave you with a dead tulip garden, and it’s a pretty common cause of death among houseplants as well – although not my houseplants. They succumb to desert conditions more often than not.

What I never realized, though, is that over-watering can actually kill mature – and otherwise hardy – trees. In fact, it seems to be a pretty common problem in some areas of the country. But how do you know when enough is enough? Do you withhold water until the leaves begin to droop? Until your grass is crispy? Until the ground begins to turn to dust and blow away? When is the right time to break out the sprinkler?

Probably the best way is to monitor the condition of the soil. You can do that with a simple little device called a moisture meter. Simply insert the probe into the soil and you’ll know instantly if you need to water or not. Be sure to buy one that includes instructions for many different plants, because every plant has different needs.

Or if low-tech is more your speed, you can use a handy rain guage to keep track of how much rain you’ve received. Your local cooperative extension office should be able to tell you how much water the native plants in the area require, and then it’s just a matter of adding more if necessary.

Mini pH/Moisture Tester-Check Moisture/ Acidity of Soil

Cindy — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:22:01 +0000

Includes: Mini pH-Moisture Tester, complete instructions for testing moisture and pH and charts with the watering needs for over 100 plants and the pH preferences of over 50 plants.
No batteries required.

The Rapitest pH-Mini Moisture Tester is designed for simplicity of use with accurate results. It is an economical way to test for moisture and pH levels in the soil.

Why Should You Test Moisture
One of the most common problems for experienced and novice gardeners alike is providing the correct amount of moisture to the soil. Damage from overwatering is often difficult to remedy after the fact. Knowing how much moisture your plants are getting help you get better results from your gardening efforts.

Why Should You Test pH
One of the key measures of the suitability of a given soil is its pH, or acidity level. The pH level determines which plants will thrive in a given soil and which may struggle. Mainly, it affects how effectively a plant can access available nutrients. For example, many plants growing in a soil with a high pH level (an alkaline soil) will have difficulty taking up available Iron and Manganese. This can cause yellowing of the leaves and general underperformance of the plant. Knowing the correct pH level for your plants will help you get better results from your gardening efforts.

How Does Rapitest pH-Mini Moisture Tester Work
Simply use the switch to select what you would like to measure, insert the meter into the soil, and take a reading.

Product Features

* No batteries required
* Complete instructions for the water needs of over 100 plants
* Complete instructions for the pH needs of over 50 plants
* Designed for simplicity and accuracy
* Economical way to test pH levels

Available now from Amazon

Tulip Rain Guage

Cindy — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 12:10:52 +0000

Tulip Rain Gauge: Quality Craftsmanship & Design Inspired by nature. This charming rain gauge features a spring-time favorite, the tulip, in solid cold cast material. Handcrafted from cold cast bronze, the antiqued finish gives them a traditional beauty. The distinguished and natural beauty of the gauge would make it a welcome – and useful – addition in any space.

4.3″W x 3.75″H x 3.1″D

Available now from

Growing Tulips Together With Summer Bloomers

Cindy — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:00:09 +0000

If you love tulips, but hate that they fade so quickly, you’d probably like to find a way to combine your spring garden with a later blooming one, to keep the color alive in your yard.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Simply plant complimentary plants alongside your tulip beds. But how do you know which plants are compatible? If you’re not careful in your choices, you might just end up killing one plant to save another.

You need to know a bit about the life cycle of a tulip to make a good decision.

First, the reason you can’t cut back or otherwise restrain those yellowing tulip leaves is because the tulip is gathering energy through photosynthesis and storing it all up inside the bulb. The very same bulb you are hoping will bloom again and again. Without those leaves, the bulb won’t have enough stored energy to produce a bloom next year.

During this time, your tulips need water and sun and food just like any other growing plant. Once the leaves have yellowed and withered, though, they require a dormancy period, preferably a dry one. This is why tulips tend to fare better in areas with hot, dry summers. You won’t find tulips in the rain forest!

Here’s where the problems come up. Say for example you’ve planted some annuals along side your tulips so that you can have some summer color in your garden as well. Those annuals are not going to take well to the hot dry conditions your tulip bulbs need, and unless you water them well, you’re likely to end up with withered and dying annuals. But, if you do water them, you’ll be drowning your tulip bulbs.

There are a couple of possible solutions to this dilemma. One, you might want to lift your bulbs after the leaves have yellowed and been removed. Store them away someplace dark and dry until fall, when you can replant them. This plan works, but it’s labor intensive.

You might also just decide to buy and plant tulip bulbs again in the fall. This is how a lot of people do it, and it does work, but again it’s labor intensive. The advantage to this method over the last is that you don’t have to let the leaves die off on their own. You can cut them down as soon as the flower is gone, since you’re not worried about the bulb storing up energy for next season.

If you truly want to naturalize your tulips, though, you need to find plants that are compatible with the conditions required by dormant tulip bulbs. Look for plants which are known to be “drought tolerant” or “drought resistant.” Many varieties, such as coneflower and Caryopteris will flower mid-summer through autumn, making them the perfect companions to a spring tulip bed.

Sluggo All Natural Slug Control

Cindy — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:16:45 +0000

The only snail and slug control product not based on Metaldehyde. This is a nontoxic and naturally occurring slug killer that breaks down into fertilizer. Safe for use around wildlife, pets or children without fear of toxicity unlike metaldehyde products. Once eaten by the snail or slug they stop feeding and die within 36 hours. Due to changes in shipping regulations, we cannot ship this item to California.

Buy Now from MasterGardening.com

Rumford Gardener PP1650 Bulb Planter

Cindy — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:14:56 +0000

Made of polished die-cast aluminum of substantial weight and balance. Gardenpro hand tools are the Rumford gardener at its best. Quality one-piece construction and durable non-slip handles make these tools the ones to serve a lifetime.

Buy Now from Unbeatable Sale

Bond 8050 Adjustable Release Bulb Planter

Cindy — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:10:37 +0000

Bond 8050 adjustable release bulb planter with red, easy-squeeze handle for quick, efficient bulb planting.

Buy Now from Unbeatable Sale