Waiting For Spring

We can't wait for spring to arrive in Charlotte! We're planting seeds, potting containers and ordering plants to get ready for the big season. Meanwhile, for those with a hankering to have more green indoors, our greenhouses are loaded with Houseplants, Tropicals, Succulents and Bonsai. It's a great place to escape grey skies and enjoy some nice humidified and oxygenated fresh air. Come see us!
Visit Oakdale Greenhouses Website

Photo Credit: Raymond Cathode 

BOOKS WE LIKE: Urban Jungle: Living and Styling with Plants

More and more, people are getting into the indoor plant craze. This book is a great read and full of photogenic examples of how folks are using plants to create unique environments for themselves. Click the book image to "read all about it."

From Amazon.com

HOW TO: Croton Plant Care

So, you've just brought home one of these colorful beauties and you want to keep it lush and beautiful. Allow us to help!

Crotons are offered in different types, wide and narrow leaf varieties, even ones with curling leaves. But they all crave the same basic care needs: Bright light (not direct sunlight), proper watering and the right size container. Inside the home, temperatures should be between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures above 80F may cause your croton to wilt, dry out and drop leaves.

Between waterings, allow the soil to dry out. Do not over-water your plant, for it will cause the leaves to yellow (and possibly rot). Slowly add water and allow it to soak into the soil.
Fertilize your plant once a month with a fertilizer low in nitrogen. Back off the fertilizer during Winter. If you place your croton outdoors during Summer months, a dappled sunlight is best (you could "cook" the plant in full sun).  Use a pot with a draining hole and saucer and good potting soil that retains moisture.

Come see the varieties of Crotons we have at Oakdale Greenhouses – ours are specially selected for robust growth inside your home. Visit our website for maps, hours, directions and more information: www.OakdaleGreenhouses.com.

STUFF WE LIKE: Test Tube Bud Vase

Really loving this wood stand with three test tubes. Pretty decent piece, takes well to spray painting a color that you like. Ours is in the kitchen window with plant cuttings that are rooting and getting ready to place into small pots. It's also useful for cut flowers.

Propagate plants you like in a simple, easy, sweet looking device. Click the image for details.

From Amazon.com

ARTICLE FIND: Guide to Choosing Houseplants

We constantly scour the website in search for informative articles. This one, from Better Homes and Gardens, features ways to select the best houseplants for your home. You'll find these plants and more at Oakdale Greenhouses in Charlotte!

Guide to Choosing Houseplants

Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens

PLANTS WE LOVE: Ponytail Palm

Ponytail Palms (also known as Elephant's Foot Palms) are a long-lived indoor plant that thrives on neglect. Easy to grow, adaptable to various light conditions and rewarding.

The Ponytail is not a true palm -- it's actually closely related to Dessert plants like Agave or Yucca and is native to eastern Mexico. Bases of the plant are a large, water storing stump which tapers off to a thinner stem. Atop the stem, long green leathery leaves form to create a unique look. As the plant ages, the leaves grow longer and atop the plant more form. With proper care, this plant may grow to become several feet tall over time.

Sometimes you'll find Ponytails with multiple base stumps, shown in our photo. The stumps may be divided into separate plants, or allowed to cluster providing an interesting overall effect.

This is a rather easy to care for plant. It likes a filtered light and will adapt to various locations. Should the end of the "leaves" become brown, a quick trim restores the plant to wonderful glory. Water only when the soil becomes dry, they don't like to be overwatered. You may place them outdoors in a dappled sunlight by gradually acclimating them to the selected environment. Don't leave them out when evening temperatures are lower than 55 degrees. Fertilize them in Spring and mid-summer with a "Cactus" fertilizer mixed with their water.

Use a fast draining soil, such as a cacti and succulent potting mix. Create your own mix with 1 part perlite, one part sand and one part quality potting mix. Select a container with a drainage hole and do not allow the plant to stand in water - clay pots are preferred as they will absorb water and dry the soil out more quickly. Be careful when moving the plant around, as it has serrated edges that may cut skin.

Take home a Ponytail from Oakdale Greenhouses, we have many sizes available! Hours, directions and more are on our webite: www.OakdaleGreenhouses.com

Photo Credit: Raymond Cathode

Let there be light ...

Give your indoor plants a helping hand with an LED grow light!  We have this one

From Amazon.com

STUFF WE LIKE: Vivosun Grow Bags

We grow many vegetables in containers as well as raised beds. Forever tiring of pulling weeds, combined with the desire to move veggie plants inside during occasional cold nights in early Autumn, we gave these recycled material grow bags a try.

After rolling out a layer of weedblock, the grow bags were filled with a quality potting/garden/compost mix and plants inserted. The five gallon size is just right for Chile Peppers, but a little small for tomatoes (seven gallon size will definitely be ordered for the next growing season).

These things are great - lightweight with handles making them easy to move about. Instead of heavy clay pots, or plastic pots that sunfade and crack, the grow pots are darned nice. Several brands were researched before we landed on the ones from Vivosun - nothing fancy but they work. Its even possible to use tomato cages in the simply by bending the ends that would normally penetrate the ground - they stayed put pretty well.

Future seasons will certainly see more of these wonderful containers in our garden. Hope you'll try them!

From Amazon

ARTICLE FIND: Chrysanthemums Are Not Just for Autumn

You see them every year: Chrysanthemums flooding garden centers for fall planting. But learn how they can be year-round assets to your landscape and accent plant desires in this article from Gardenista:

Gardening 101: Chrysanthemums

Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer

Got Bugs? This stuff will wipe them out!

I recently discovered mealybugs on my Hoya plant. Grrrrrr. I couldn't understand how they got into my pristine plant environment: I hadn't added anything new in that room for a while yet there they were, sticky white remnants where the leaves met branches.

After hosing down the plant in the sink, I immediately ordered a container of "Systemic Houseplant Insect Control" and got to work, adding it in the prescribed amount to all of the plants in the environment. After a few weeks, no more infestation.

Now you don't want to go using a product like this on food you're going to eat, nor do you want pets or kids getting into the stuff. But it works, and works well, eradicating the little buggers by poisoning them from the inside of the plant. "Systemic" insecticides work by introducing itself via the roots and circulating throughout the entire plant, killing off various bugs that dare dine on it.

Highly recommended that you keep an eye on your plants, for apparently infestations can hit you even after a few years of a clean environment.  Here's the product I purchased:

From Amazon.Com

ARTICLE FIND: Why Some People Hate Cilantro

Many people love fresh Cilantro added to salsas, salads and many more creations from the kitchen. But is it possible those that despise the taste of Cilantro have it in their genes?

This article from THE KITCHN could explain things:


There's a Very Specific Reason Why You Hate Cilantro

Image credit: Africa Studio (shutterstock)

ROAD TRIP: Daniel Boone Native Gardens

To learn more about native plants (and to escape one of those hellacious hot Charlotte days), we journeyed up to Boone, NC to visit the Daniel Boone Native Gardens.

Tucked up winding road on a hillside, the gardens are certainly impressive. At first glance, it doesn't seem like much, but wait... there's more! Discovering many winding paths leading to more winding paths, the gardens are certainly worth the trip and larger than one might think.

You'll find hundreds of native plant varieties, mostly marked with signage so you may determine what you are looking at. Wildflowers, ferns, trees and a "bog" area, plus cabins and a large gathering spot for weddings make a place that's perfect on a sunny afternoon. You won't want to leave.

The gardens are open to the public from May through October. "Admission" is a small donation to the box at the entrance. Afterwards, travel back down the hill, park your car and wonder through Boone's beautiful and vibrant downtown. Enjoy a meal at one of the many great restaurants there, "front porch" dining and people watching made for a beautiful day, along with a stop at Blowing Rock on your journey back home.

All in all, it's a great way to spend a day outdoors, for up in the mountains the Summer temperatures were about 15 degrees cooler than Charlotte and the Piedmont the day of our trek.  Visit the Daniel Boone Native Gardens Website to learn more.

Photo Credit: Daniel Boone Native Gardens

ARTICLE FIND: Innovative Raised Beds

We LOVE gardening outdoors with vegetable and flowering plants. This article features some pretty awesome designs for the creative folk out there that are interested in building their own:

Savvy Gardner Article on Raised Beds

Photo Credit: KITCHN

PLANTS WE LOVE: Proven Winners® JAZZ HANDS Chinese Fringe-Flower

Here's the "JAZZ HANDS" Variegated Chinese Fringe-Flower. It features year round color with Purple, Pink and White leaf colors, flowering a beautiful bright pink in the Spring. Likes full sun or part shade and grows up to 6' tall and 4' wide (one may keep it trimmed to a smaller size). A perfect accent plant for your garden - a Proven Winners® shrub available now at OakdaleGreenhouses: www.oakdalegreenhouses.com. Enjoy the video below …

Photo credit:  Proven Winners®

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Hello and Welcome

 

Welcome to Charlotte North Carolina's discussion about Plants, Gardening, Dirt and whatever we may think of. We're CHARLOTTE'S GREEN THUMB: A Royal Tale of Gardening Greatness! 

We invite you to visit our Greenhouses and Garden Center in Charlotte. Maps, hours, directions and more at www.OakdaleGreenhouses.com